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I appreciated Rachel's honest commentary throughout. I read this not knowing what to expect. There were some points I agreed with, things I learned, and revelations that I came to. I also was challenged in my thinking and found points that I differed from the author. But as a reader, I did not feel like she was saying any side was "wrong". Coming away from this book, I had a renewed outlook and respect for those who interpreted the Bible differently than I do.
informative
I found this book to be enlightening and helpful. Women (and men) are constantly told what they should and shouldn't be in both secular culture and in religious circles. Growing up in a conservative Christian environment, I felt burdened with the expectation that I should become a "Biblical woman," which actually meant becoming a wife, mother, and homemaker. Even after I abandoned such a narrow view of what being a Christian woman looks like, I still struggled with guilt that perhaps I was doing something wrong. And while I had come to embrace more progressive views, I didn't have a solid foundation to explain why I had changed my ideas. So I'm thankful that the author of this book in a sense did the work for me and explored so many different perceptions of what a "Biblical woman" is "supposed to be." I learned a lot and made connections that I'd never made before. Evans doesn't shy away from the darker parts of the Old and New Testament. I like how she explores not just the definition of womanhood, but how we approach the Bible as a whole.
What I like about RHE is her willingness to take on the status quo and this book does that, and more. She's done her research for this book,and through that research--i.e., why was this particular passage written for this particular time and in this particular place and how can those discoveries apply to today? What she discovers give a reader plenty to think about--how much of what passes for Christianity today may be far from what the original authors of the various books intended.
She makes plenty of discoveries along the way, and she doesn't hesitate to share the good, bad, and the ugly about her year living according to "the rules."
She makes plenty of discoveries along the way, and she doesn't hesitate to share the good, bad, and the ugly about her year living according to "the rules."
funny
reflective
fast-paced
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Minor: Cancer
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
slow-paced
I discovered RHE only about 9 months before she passed. I have enjoyed every book. This was my favorite so far along with Inspired (which I read first)
If I could give it 10 stars I would! This book made me tear up, think deeply, and chuckle in just about every single chapter. Her writing style and honest words were a joy to read. I was very sad when I came to the end. Thankfully I’ve got two others of hers ordered and on their way. This is a must-read for any woman or man!
(Updated after second read 3/28/23)
Maybe I’ll make it a tradition of reading this book again every 2-3 years. Each time I glean something new and find a laugh hidden amongst the parts of the Bible I didn’t think I’d laugh at. Thank you RHE for being my favorite author. You are greatly missed.
(Updated after second read 3/28/23)
Maybe I’ll make it a tradition of reading this book again every 2-3 years. Each time I glean something new and find a laugh hidden amongst the parts of the Bible I didn’t think I’d laugh at. Thank you RHE for being my favorite author. You are greatly missed.
It is always fun to review what appears to be a controversial book. Though I am not sure why exactly A Year of Biblical Womanhood by Rachel Held Evans is so controversial. In the "evangelical Christian" world there are a diversity of views on gender roles. Some, called complementarians, see women as called to submit to men based on a reading of specific Bible passages. This submission takes different forms, but what unites it is a view that the man is the head of the household, the decision-maker, the leader. Also, men lead the church and in the church women ought to be silent, which varies in meaning but mostly means they cannot teach men. Others, called egalitarians, see men and women as called to equality and mutual submission. Egalitarians also have their Bible passages.
In the end, Rachel's book could be seen as just an argument for egalitarianism. Her arguments and Biblical interpretation are not really that different from someone like Scot McKnight who argues for egalitarianism in his book The Blue Parakeet.
Rachel just happens to surround her arguments with a fun experiment: what if she lived out all the rules for women in the Bible for one year? This sort of thing was first done a few years back by A.J. Jacobs in his book The Year of Living Biblically. Evans makes no claim to complete originality, she has read Jacobs book. The point of her experiment is to expose the fact that all Christians pick and choose. Very few complementarians urge women to be completely silent in church or to pray with head coverings on, which is Rachel's point. In doing this, they are picking and choosing which verses to obey.
I began reading this book after many reviews, both positive or negative, were in. I had skimmed a few but not really read them, because I wanted to come at the book without many presumptions. As I read, I noted that if a person does not like this book they either have no sense of humor or no heart. This book is funny! It cannot be critiqued as an academic paper one would hand in at grad school (I actually saw one reviewer criticize scholars who liked this book with the line, "if one of their students handed this in..."). Rachel's book is entertaining, rather then giving a dry academic tome she surrounds her argument with her life experience. On that alone, it is a good read.
Others have claimed that Rachel is mocking the Bible. Come on! I am at a loss for how anyone can read this book and see that. Her heart shines through, she is clearly someone who grew up in a Christian culture, faced all sorts of challenges to what she has taught, but on the other side continues to cherish and learn from the Bible. Rachel's experiment is a search for truth and she certainly grew through it as a person and follower of Christ.
So this book is entertaining and encouraging. But it also has the theological argument for egalitarianism. Rachel succeeds in something that I imagine would be very difficult: writing a book that at the same time makes you laugh, moves your heart and makes you think. She manages to show the problem with using "biblical" as an adjective, such as in the phrase, "biblical womanhood." There is no such thing, as the bible presents a diverse picture. Those who want to recreate biblical womanhood in the world today really do not want much of what the Bible actually teaches about women. Again, in bringing the Bible to bear on our life today, every person picks and chooses.
One flaw in the book is that Rachel does not sufficiently show the differences between various proponents of "biblical womanhood." She quotes a variety of people, lumping them all together. But there is diversity on both sides. Rachel has actually addressed this on her blog in a very helpful way, if anyone cares to look it up.
I feel like too much of this review has mentioned what other reviews have said. So I'll just end it by saying, this is a fantastic book. As I read, I thought of my 18 month old daughter. I often wonder what kind of world she is going to grow up in. What kind of woman is she going to be? Will she be a follower of Jesus? I think this is the sort of book I would want to hand my daughter someday because I think it would help young women struggling in their faith. Perhaps the most valuable part of the book is the few pages at the end of each chapter when Rachel introduces us to some awesome Biblical woman. I would also want my daughter to read it for the chapter on women worldwide and the fight for justice. I'd want my daughter to read this book so that she could learn that being a strong biblical woman means joining Jesus Christ in the great mission to restore creation. What that looks like may be different for every woman and I pray my daughter figures out what it looks like for her.
I'll give the last word to Rachel, reminding us of the calling to all men and women who follow Christ:
"Among the women praised in Scripture are warriors, widows, slaves, sister wives, apostles, teachers, concubines, queens, foreigners, prostitutes, prophets, mothers, and martyrs. What makes these women’s stories leap from the page is not the fact that they all conform to some kind of universal ideal, but that, regardless of the culture or context in which they found themselves, they lived their lives with valor. They lived their lives with faith. As much as we may long for the simplicity of a single definition of “biblical womanhood,” there is no one right way to be a woman, no mold into which we must each cram ourselves— not if Deborah, Ruth, Rachel, Tamar, Vashti, Esther, Priscilla, Mary Magdalene, and Tabitha have anything to say about it....And I believe that my calling, as a Christian, is the same as that of any other follower of Jesus. My calling is to love the Lord with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love my neighbor as myself. Jesus himself said that the rest of Scripture can be rendered down into these two commands. If love was Jesus’ definition of “biblical,” then perhaps it should be mine" (p. 295-297)
In the end, Rachel's book could be seen as just an argument for egalitarianism. Her arguments and Biblical interpretation are not really that different from someone like Scot McKnight who argues for egalitarianism in his book The Blue Parakeet.
Rachel just happens to surround her arguments with a fun experiment: what if she lived out all the rules for women in the Bible for one year? This sort of thing was first done a few years back by A.J. Jacobs in his book The Year of Living Biblically. Evans makes no claim to complete originality, she has read Jacobs book. The point of her experiment is to expose the fact that all Christians pick and choose. Very few complementarians urge women to be completely silent in church or to pray with head coverings on, which is Rachel's point. In doing this, they are picking and choosing which verses to obey.
I began reading this book after many reviews, both positive or negative, were in. I had skimmed a few but not really read them, because I wanted to come at the book without many presumptions. As I read, I noted that if a person does not like this book they either have no sense of humor or no heart. This book is funny! It cannot be critiqued as an academic paper one would hand in at grad school (I actually saw one reviewer criticize scholars who liked this book with the line, "if one of their students handed this in..."). Rachel's book is entertaining, rather then giving a dry academic tome she surrounds her argument with her life experience. On that alone, it is a good read.
Others have claimed that Rachel is mocking the Bible. Come on! I am at a loss for how anyone can read this book and see that. Her heart shines through, she is clearly someone who grew up in a Christian culture, faced all sorts of challenges to what she has taught, but on the other side continues to cherish and learn from the Bible. Rachel's experiment is a search for truth and she certainly grew through it as a person and follower of Christ.
So this book is entertaining and encouraging. But it also has the theological argument for egalitarianism. Rachel succeeds in something that I imagine would be very difficult: writing a book that at the same time makes you laugh, moves your heart and makes you think. She manages to show the problem with using "biblical" as an adjective, such as in the phrase, "biblical womanhood." There is no such thing, as the bible presents a diverse picture. Those who want to recreate biblical womanhood in the world today really do not want much of what the Bible actually teaches about women. Again, in bringing the Bible to bear on our life today, every person picks and chooses.
One flaw in the book is that Rachel does not sufficiently show the differences between various proponents of "biblical womanhood." She quotes a variety of people, lumping them all together. But there is diversity on both sides. Rachel has actually addressed this on her blog in a very helpful way, if anyone cares to look it up.
I feel like too much of this review has mentioned what other reviews have said. So I'll just end it by saying, this is a fantastic book. As I read, I thought of my 18 month old daughter. I often wonder what kind of world she is going to grow up in. What kind of woman is she going to be? Will she be a follower of Jesus? I think this is the sort of book I would want to hand my daughter someday because I think it would help young women struggling in their faith. Perhaps the most valuable part of the book is the few pages at the end of each chapter when Rachel introduces us to some awesome Biblical woman. I would also want my daughter to read it for the chapter on women worldwide and the fight for justice. I'd want my daughter to read this book so that she could learn that being a strong biblical woman means joining Jesus Christ in the great mission to restore creation. What that looks like may be different for every woman and I pray my daughter figures out what it looks like for her.
I'll give the last word to Rachel, reminding us of the calling to all men and women who follow Christ:
"Among the women praised in Scripture are warriors, widows, slaves, sister wives, apostles, teachers, concubines, queens, foreigners, prostitutes, prophets, mothers, and martyrs. What makes these women’s stories leap from the page is not the fact that they all conform to some kind of universal ideal, but that, regardless of the culture or context in which they found themselves, they lived their lives with valor. They lived their lives with faith. As much as we may long for the simplicity of a single definition of “biblical womanhood,” there is no one right way to be a woman, no mold into which we must each cram ourselves— not if Deborah, Ruth, Rachel, Tamar, Vashti, Esther, Priscilla, Mary Magdalene, and Tabitha have anything to say about it....And I believe that my calling, as a Christian, is the same as that of any other follower of Jesus. My calling is to love the Lord with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love my neighbor as myself. Jesus himself said that the rest of Scripture can be rendered down into these two commands. If love was Jesus’ definition of “biblical,” then perhaps it should be mine" (p. 295-297)
This book had a lot of really great insights into biblical verse and how we each interpret the Bible differently. I really loved some of the things she discovered; one of my favorite quotes from the book is "Faith isn't about finding the right bush, it's about taking off your shoes."
This book also made me want to learn more about the Jewish faith, and how particularly orthodox Jews interpret and live the teachings in the old testament (especially since the old testament has always been a bit of a mystery to me).
A great read for anyone who wants to be inspired by Bible teachings and how we can apply them into our lives today.
This book also made me want to learn more about the Jewish faith, and how particularly orthodox Jews interpret and live the teachings in the old testament (especially since the old testament has always been a bit of a mystery to me).
A great read for anyone who wants to be inspired by Bible teachings and how we can apply them into our lives today.