Take a photo of a barcode or cover
slow-paced
challenging
funny
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
One of the most impactful books I’ve read in a long time. Rachel you are missed but your beautiful voice is still heard and your work continues on!
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Interesting and funny at times, if a bit gimmicky overall. The whole project is tongue-in-check to the point of cringe in some parts. The author has some witty lines and clearly didn't take herself too seriously. I was surprised the book is pretty progressive, especially concerning the location and subject matter, and not what I expected when I decided to read it. I was very uneasy with how much she used Jewish traditions, because it bordered on appropriation in a lot of instances instead of her simply learning and educating her audience and what overlapped with the Old Testament parts of her project. I did not think it was appropriate when she said she would continue using phrases taught to her by the Orthodox woman she corresponded with and seemed excited her other Christian friends would too - it just felt like co-opting another religion she had no claim to. Some of her descriptions of her trip to Bolivia also came close to poverty porn as well, in my opinion.
I remember when this book came out. I was still heavily immersed in the Reformed world and in that world a lot of people consider The Gospel Coalition the gatekeeper of Who Is IN (the Kingdom of Heaven, one presumes) and Rachel Held Evans was most definitely OUT. She was Not To Be Read, Not To Be Countenanced by anyone who wanted to be Holy.
I am sad now for myself that I didn't start reading RHE till after her death. It's kind of surreal to read something that caused such furor in the evangelical world, and know that Rachel is now safe with the Jesus whom she clearly loved (despite the despicable comments of certain fundamentalist bloggers who metaphorically spit on her grave following her death.)
But it was also surreal, because even though I'm not part of that world any longer (and in fact am very much relieved and finding great freedom not being part of that world any longer, including the freedom to read all The Gospel Coalition's Banned Books) as I read I kept waiting for The Big... Thing, the Sketchy Conclusion, the Borderline Heresy, the Whatever-It-Was that made Rachel's name anathema to TGC. And I kept... not finding it.
Instead, I found Rachel asking questions and tackling stories of women in the Bible that I have wondered about myself (and, I will add, never felt safe giving voice to in the context of Reformed churches). Like Tamar. Like the fact that polygamy is never outright condemned in the Bible and men who are held up as fathers of the faith had multiple wives and concubines. Like the one-sided Levitical laws about the sexual behavior of women. I found the ritual remembrance which Rachel and her friend performed on behalf of the women in the "texts of terror" to be beautiful, and it left me pondering how often we conveniently overlook the terrifying parts of the Bible.
I was breathless with the beauty of a connection I'd never made before, when Rachel discussed the woman with the flow of blood who touched Jesus' robe and was healed. Of course I'd heard the story so many times it wasn't real to me. But Rachel made the connection for me that the woman's endless bleeding meant, because of the Levitical laws about purity, that she would have been cut off from her community. She had been unclean for nine years; it was not lawful for anyone to touch her, and it was not lawful for her to touch anyone. By touching Jesus' robe, she broke the law. By that unlawful touch, she was healed. I got goosebumps.
What was the beef of the conservative evangelical world (particularly the Reformed subsection) with Rachel?
By the end of the book– the funny, winsome, entertaining, gentle, challenging, soul-refreshing book– I could only conclude that for those who couldn't stand A Year of Biblical Womanhood , it was because they can't stand any woman who challenges their very precise and pre-formatted narrative, a narrative in which women don't preach (and they can only teach under the authority of Their Holinesses John Piper, Wayne Grudem, Kevin DeYoung, et al), in which the Bible can only possibly be interpreted one way (which happens to be TGC's way), in which all questions that don't fit the narrative are conveniently ignored, and labeling something "biblical" is really a power play which means "if-you-don't-do-it-our-way-you-are-going-to-hell." They can't stand women who think for themselves and point out the glaring logical inconsistencies and mental gymnastics in their definitions of "biblical womanhood" (John Piper's nonsensical blather about women not going into careers where they might exercise too much authority over men comes to mind.)
Rachel didn't follow the narrative; she encouraged women to think for themselves, she was humble enough to listen and learn from people with a wide variety of worldviews instead of assuming that she had nothing to learn from those heathens. She loved Jesus and her love for him led her in places that made TGC squirm. But instead of engaging, they just tried to shut her down.
I think it backfired, and I'm glad of that. A lot of people get tired of DO NOT ENTER signs in their theology. Me included.
I will be recommending this book to every Christian woman who has ever wondered just what makes their womanhood "biblical."
I am sad now for myself that I didn't start reading RHE till after her death. It's kind of surreal to read something that caused such furor in the evangelical world, and know that Rachel is now safe with the Jesus whom she clearly loved (despite the despicable comments of certain fundamentalist bloggers who metaphorically spit on her grave following her death.)
But it was also surreal, because even though I'm not part of that world any longer (and in fact am very much relieved and finding great freedom not being part of that world any longer, including the freedom to read all The Gospel Coalition's Banned Books) as I read I kept waiting for The Big... Thing, the Sketchy Conclusion, the Borderline Heresy, the Whatever-It-Was that made Rachel's name anathema to TGC. And I kept... not finding it.
Instead, I found Rachel asking questions and tackling stories of women in the Bible that I have wondered about myself (and, I will add, never felt safe giving voice to in the context of Reformed churches). Like Tamar. Like the fact that polygamy is never outright condemned in the Bible and men who are held up as fathers of the faith had multiple wives and concubines. Like the one-sided Levitical laws about the sexual behavior of women. I found the ritual remembrance which Rachel and her friend performed on behalf of the women in the "texts of terror" to be beautiful, and it left me pondering how often we conveniently overlook the terrifying parts of the Bible.
I was breathless with the beauty of a connection I'd never made before, when Rachel discussed the woman with the flow of blood who touched Jesus' robe and was healed. Of course I'd heard the story so many times it wasn't real to me. But Rachel made the connection for me that the woman's endless bleeding meant, because of the Levitical laws about purity, that she would have been cut off from her community. She had been unclean for nine years; it was not lawful for anyone to touch her, and it was not lawful for her to touch anyone. By touching Jesus' robe, she broke the law. By that unlawful touch, she was healed. I got goosebumps.
What was the beef of the conservative evangelical world (particularly the Reformed subsection) with Rachel?
By the end of the book– the funny, winsome, entertaining, gentle, challenging, soul-refreshing book– I could only conclude that for those who couldn't stand A Year of Biblical Womanhood , it was because they can't stand any woman who challenges their very precise and pre-formatted narrative, a narrative in which women don't preach (and they can only teach under the authority of Their Holinesses John Piper, Wayne Grudem, Kevin DeYoung, et al), in which the Bible can only possibly be interpreted one way (which happens to be TGC's way), in which all questions that don't fit the narrative are conveniently ignored, and labeling something "biblical" is really a power play which means "if-you-don't-do-it-our-way-you-are-going-to-hell." They can't stand women who think for themselves and point out the glaring logical inconsistencies and mental gymnastics in their definitions of "biblical womanhood" (John Piper's nonsensical blather about women not going into careers where they might exercise too much authority over men comes to mind.)
Rachel didn't follow the narrative; she encouraged women to think for themselves, she was humble enough to listen and learn from people with a wide variety of worldviews instead of assuming that she had nothing to learn from those heathens. She loved Jesus and her love for him led her in places that made TGC squirm. But instead of engaging, they just tried to shut her down.
I think it backfired, and I'm glad of that. A lot of people get tired of DO NOT ENTER signs in their theology. Me included.
I will be recommending this book to every Christian woman who has ever wondered just what makes their womanhood "biblical."
Way more than a gimmick. I highly recommend this to readers of all ages, but those who are 18 years old and up may get a little bit more out of it due to life experiences. This is part Bible study, part personal reflection through Rachel Held Evans journey of literally following the rules of biblical womanhood. She does a great job discussing what this actually means for the Bible, as well as for men and women today. Read it.
It took me forever to finish this book. Mostly because Rachel died a tragic and untimely death, and YoBW is a very personal reflection, funny, honest, and completely herself. It made me unbearably sad to think of this brilliant, thoughtful, kind, witty woman, a mother, a wife, an empowering theologian and speaker, a true lover of the Bible, who died so young. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and LOLed at many pages. (Some of the theology was a bit heavy and I would have enjoyed a separate deeper book on just that subject.)
“I think, at the surface, I was looking for a good story. And I certainly found one. But further down, in the deeper recesses of my heart and mind, I think I was looking for permission— permission to lead, permission to speak, permission to find my identity in something other than my roles, permission to be myself, permission to be a woman. What a surprise to reach the end of the year with the quiet and liberating certainty that I never had to ask for it. It had already been given.” -p 296
Oh how I am so glad that Rachel found this confidence and permission in the pages of her Bible and in her relationship with the Lord. How deeply she felt her convictions and opened the door for other women and men to do the same. How blessed I and so many others have been by her voice and her writing and her holy presence.
Eschet chayil, Rachel!
“I think, at the surface, I was looking for a good story. And I certainly found one. But further down, in the deeper recesses of my heart and mind, I think I was looking for permission— permission to lead, permission to speak, permission to find my identity in something other than my roles, permission to be myself, permission to be a woman. What a surprise to reach the end of the year with the quiet and liberating certainty that I never had to ask for it. It had already been given.” -p 296
Oh how I am so glad that Rachel found this confidence and permission in the pages of her Bible and in her relationship with the Lord. How deeply she felt her convictions and opened the door for other women and men to do the same. How blessed I and so many others have been by her voice and her writing and her holy presence.
Eschet chayil, Rachel!
This book was everything I needed and more. Evans was speaking right to me, filling me up, helping me discover how I could continue to pursue my goal of being a "Woman of Valor."
I recently got a tattoo that reads "Eshet Chayil." I feel the importance of that tattoo even more now.
I recently got a tattoo that reads "Eshet Chayil." I feel the importance of that tattoo even more now.
This book was a wonderful reminder that there’s no right way to be a woman of God.
This was an interesting book. I appreciated her research into the roots of various traditions and specific Biblical women. Her narrative of her experiment was often funny, but it wasn't the most compelling part of the book IMO .