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I re-read this a chapter a month over the last year in a Bible study. My second time reading this. Absolutely loved it the first time, and once again. Highly recommend it!!!
Thoughtfully written and well-researched. Evans reminds us that the Bible is not a prescription or an answer key and that we should examine our own selective nature when reading the texts.
I really enjoyed this book. I thought the idea of seeing how a modern woman attempting to truly live biblical womanhood was quite intriguing.
What I learned it best stated in RHE's own words...
"Among the women praised in Scripture are warriors, 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 much each cram ourselves--not if Deborah, Ruth, Rachel, Tamar, Vashti, Esther, Priscilla, Mary Magdalene, and Tabitha have anything to say about it.
Far too many church leaders have glossed over these stories and attempted to define womanhood by a list of rigid roles. But roles are not fixed. They are not static. Roles come and go; they shift and they change. They are relative to culture and subject to changing circumstances. It's not our roles that define us, but our character.
A calling, on the other hand, when rooted deep in the soil of one's soul, transcends roles. 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." (pg. 294-295)
What I learned it best stated in RHE's own words...
"Among the women praised in Scripture are warriors, 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 much each cram ourselves--not if Deborah, Ruth, Rachel, Tamar, Vashti, Esther, Priscilla, Mary Magdalene, and Tabitha have anything to say about it.
Far too many church leaders have glossed over these stories and attempted to define womanhood by a list of rigid roles. But roles are not fixed. They are not static. Roles come and go; they shift and they change. They are relative to culture and subject to changing circumstances. It's not our roles that define us, but our character.
A calling, on the other hand, when rooted deep in the soil of one's soul, transcends roles. 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." (pg. 294-295)
challenging
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
In A Year of Biblical Womanhood, Rachel Held Evans examines what the Bible says about women and does her best to take everything it says literally throughout her year of living Biblically, with each month focus on a different virtue found in the Bible.
This was a fascinating read. Rachel really digs into all that the Bible says about being a woman, and chronicles her successes and failures of living as a "Biblical woman". I really appreciate that Rachel acknowledged the complicated nature of doing so. The Bible is a complicated book. It may have been inspired by God, but it was written by men - men who added their own biases and cultural contexts to their writings. Thus, the Bible needs to be read with historical and cultural context in mind. And even doing so, you still find "stories of horror," as Rachel calls them, that need to be remembered - stories of women who were abused and neglected, who suffered at the hands of patriarchal society. The Bible is messy and complicated, and Rachel sits in this mess in her quest to find God and figure out what it means to be a Godly woman.
As Rachel examines the various virtues, she acknowledges that so much of what people consider to be "Biblical womanhood" are not found in the Bible, or not found up in the Bible in the ways people think. As she says, "More often than not, we wind up committed to what we want the Bible to say rather than what it actually says." She also talks about Biblical literalism and how so often the people who tout Biblical literalism practice selective literalism - taking the parts of the Bible that serve their agenda literally, but ignoring other parts.
Ultimately, Rachel comes to the conclusion that there is no such thing as Biblical womanhood. The Bible simply doesn't present a single model for womanhood. Instead, all sorts of very different woman are praised in scripture.
Overall, this was a very interesting read. It really made me think about the Bible and what it says about women in new ways. Rachel's journey is definitely worth reading and engaging with. My only real complaint is that I listened to the audiobook and didn't love the narrator. I found her to be rather monotone in her reading.
This was a fascinating read. Rachel really digs into all that the Bible says about being a woman, and chronicles her successes and failures of living as a "Biblical woman". I really appreciate that Rachel acknowledged the complicated nature of doing so. The Bible is a complicated book. It may have been inspired by God, but it was written by men - men who added their own biases and cultural contexts to their writings. Thus, the Bible needs to be read with historical and cultural context in mind. And even doing so, you still find "stories of horror," as Rachel calls them, that need to be remembered - stories of women who were abused and neglected, who suffered at the hands of patriarchal society. The Bible is messy and complicated, and Rachel sits in this mess in her quest to find God and figure out what it means to be a Godly woman.
As Rachel examines the various virtues, she acknowledges that so much of what people consider to be "Biblical womanhood" are not found in the Bible, or not found up in the Bible in the ways people think. As she says, "More often than not, we wind up committed to what we want the Bible to say rather than what it actually says." She also talks about Biblical literalism and how so often the people who tout Biblical literalism practice selective literalism - taking the parts of the Bible that serve their agenda literally, but ignoring other parts.
Ultimately, Rachel comes to the conclusion that there is no such thing as Biblical womanhood. The Bible simply doesn't present a single model for womanhood. Instead, all sorts of very different woman are praised in scripture.
Overall, this was a very interesting read. It really made me think about the Bible and what it says about women in new ways. Rachel's journey is definitely worth reading and engaging with. My only real complaint is that I listened to the audiobook and didn't love the narrator. I found her to be rather monotone in her reading.
funny
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
funny
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
funny
medium-paced
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced