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Very interesting, thought provoking and funny. I read this for a book discussion and I can't wait to hear others perspectives on it
Let me say, this book really grew on me and I ended up enjoying it a lot more than I thought I would in the first couple chapters. Evans has a very engaging writing style and her willingness to admit her own failures goes a long way to cover any insults to people who disagree with her. But ultimately, the goal of this book wasn't overcome by the writing. The premise, of course, is that she will follow the Bible's varied commands to women for a year. There are several problems with this, including the randomness of her choices and the mixture of New and Old Testament attempts. More problematic for me is simply that she wasn't attempting any lasting life change with her "experiment" - she wanted to show us how ridiculous trying to follow some parts of the Bible literally looks, not explore these verses and see how she might come out different at the end of the year (it compares unfavorably in this aspect with another experiment, Jen Hatmaker's [b:7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess|12171769|7 An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess|Jen Hatmaker|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328764395s/12171769.jpg|17143199].) Also, the way she enacts this Biblical mandates is based on the way some modern Christians think they should look - which is not necessarily Biblical at all. But all that said, it was a pretty fun read and did give me things to think about.
Fantastic. I recommend this to all Christian women. You will laugh. You will learn. And, if you are like me, you might even get a little misty. Rachel, you are a Woman of Valor, and I thank you for your journey and for sharing it.
6/1/2014
This was my 2nd reading and I enjoyed it just as much the 2nd time.
Appreciate the author's ability to poke fun at herself. (Upon being interviewed by NPR near the end of her "biblical womanhood" project: "Let me tell you, nothing will make you forget just how fat and dysfunctional and asexual you've become more than hearing your own voice between a segment on North American oil reserves and a plea for listener donations on National Public Radio.")
Also appreciate her willingness to tackle hard issues through study and to politely but firmly make her arguments from a position of faith.
And, of course, I agree with her final conclusion: "The Bible does not present us with a single model for womanhood, and the notion that it contains a sort of one-size-fits-all formula for how to be a woman of faith is a myth . . . there is no one right way to be a woman."
This was my 2nd reading and I enjoyed it just as much the 2nd time.
Appreciate the author's ability to poke fun at herself. (Upon being interviewed by NPR near the end of her "biblical womanhood" project: "Let me tell you, nothing will make you forget just how fat and dysfunctional and asexual you've become more than hearing your own voice between a segment on North American oil reserves and a plea for listener donations on National Public Radio.")
Also appreciate her willingness to tackle hard issues through study and to politely but firmly make her arguments from a position of faith.
And, of course, I agree with her final conclusion: "The Bible does not present us with a single model for womanhood, and the notion that it contains a sort of one-size-fits-all formula for how to be a woman of faith is a myth . . . there is no one right way to be a woman."
challenging
funny
reflective
medium-paced
I really loved this book. Everyone should read it.
In brief: God is everywhere and in everything. Do what you love and do it well and you are doing God's work.
I know a lot reviewers found this book gimmicky. I've never read Held Evan's blog - I discovered her after her death. But I think this was a heartfelt project that comes out of her recovery from evangelicalism; what does it mean to live Biblically?
The answer is that the Bible is not just a straight forward how-to manual. It's confusing and contradictory and anyone who says otherwise is disingenuous.
The world lost a woman of valor when she died.
In brief: God is everywhere and in everything. Do what you love and do it well and you are doing God's work.
I know a lot reviewers found this book gimmicky. I've never read Held Evan's blog - I discovered her after her death. But I think this was a heartfelt project that comes out of her recovery from evangelicalism; what does it mean to live Biblically?
The answer is that the Bible is not just a straight forward how-to manual. It's confusing and contradictory and anyone who says otherwise is disingenuous.
The world lost a woman of valor when she died.
Not the sort of thing I usually go for but interesting, especially with an interpretation of biblical teachings that I certainly wouldn't have considered!
This was a recommendation from a friend. I'm probably pretty far from the target audience, but I found it interesting enough to chew through in less than 12 hours :) I think there's a lot of bogus "biblicalism" in supposedly-secular America & this was a different take. It was nice to see someone thoughtfully analyze biblical verses in context, which seems more rare than it ought to be.
A couple of inconsistencies bugged me, and it was (deliberately?) reminiscent in tone of Julie & Julia (with an outright nod to Julie Powell at one point). But while her techniques of "research" (ie, go talk to someone who knows more than you) reminded me of Susan Cain's Quiet, at least Evans didn't pretend to be an expert. And Evans dealt with a much broader range of expertise, so I'll give her that - and she clearly did a lot of her own textual work.
(I think reading it on the iPad encouraged me to read faster. The pages were so short!)
A couple of inconsistencies bugged me, and it was (deliberately?) reminiscent in tone of Julie & Julia (with an outright nod to Julie Powell at one point). But while her techniques of "research" (ie, go talk to someone who knows more than you) reminded me of Susan Cain's Quiet, at least Evans didn't pretend to be an expert. And Evans dealt with a much broader range of expertise, so I'll give her that - and she clearly did a lot of her own textual work.
(I think reading it on the iPad encouraged me to read faster. The pages were so short!)
There were parts that made me laugh, parts that made me rant and rave, and parts that made me cry. The entire book, however, was an excellent study of Biblical womanhood. I like how the author added mini biographies of women from the Bible throughout. God seemed to lead me to a few particular passages at just the right moment, too. It was certainly a growing experience. Well done, Rachel Held Evans. Woman of Valor!