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Rachel Held Evans has knocked it out of the park with A Year of Biblical Womanhood. Raised in an evangelical home and now a professional writer, she set out to discover what the Bible really says about being a woman.
After a year of faithful and dedicated application of various biblical passages, thematically arranged by month, and interviews with people as varied as orthodox Jews living in Israel, Amish mothers in Pennsylvania, evangelical (NOT fundamentalist Mormon!) polygamists, female preachers at mega-churches, and women living in destitute poverty in Bolivia, what Evans discovered was that there is simply not one single definition that can encompass the concept of biblical womanhood.
Woman have so many expectations and roles laid on them, personal, religious, social, cultural. Evans breaks through all of them to hone in on the single most important one. "As a Christian, my highest calling is not motherhood; my highest calling is to follow Christ. And following Christ is something a woman can do whether she is married or single, rich or poor, sick or healthy, childless or Michelle Duggar." We are called to follow Christ, and that may lead us in different directions from our sisters, even those who are also doing their best to follow Christ.
Of course, there are a multiplicity of denominations, groups, and organizations perfectly willing to preach (and sell you) their version of "Biblical Womanhood" emphasizing their specific cultural and social expectations, cherry-picking the passages they feel are important while ignoring others wholesale. And everyone is welcome to adopt the practices that they feel bring them closest to God. What is not acceptable, however, is condemning or judging others for making different choices than the ones you feel are best for you.
Evans uses the well-known story of Mary and Martha to drive this point home. You all know the tale: Mary is sitting at Jesus' feet, learning from him, when her sister Martha asks Jesus to tell Mary to help her with her work around the house. Jesus uses this as a teaching moment, telling Martha that "Mary has chosen that good part." Evans elaborates: "Martha certainly wasn't the first and she won't be the last to dismiss someone else's encounter with God because it didn't fit the mold...I guess we're all a little afraid that if God's presence is there, it cannot be here." God, however, is not limited to a single method of communication. "Slow down, let go, and be careful of challenging another woman's choices, for you never know when she may be sitting at the feet of God."
To read the rest of this review, visit Build Enough Bookshelves.
After a year of faithful and dedicated application of various biblical passages, thematically arranged by month, and interviews with people as varied as orthodox Jews living in Israel, Amish mothers in Pennsylvania, evangelical (NOT fundamentalist Mormon!) polygamists, female preachers at mega-churches, and women living in destitute poverty in Bolivia, what Evans discovered was that there is simply not one single definition that can encompass the concept of biblical womanhood.
Woman have so many expectations and roles laid on them, personal, religious, social, cultural. Evans breaks through all of them to hone in on the single most important one. "As a Christian, my highest calling is not motherhood; my highest calling is to follow Christ. And following Christ is something a woman can do whether she is married or single, rich or poor, sick or healthy, childless or Michelle Duggar." We are called to follow Christ, and that may lead us in different directions from our sisters, even those who are also doing their best to follow Christ.
Of course, there are a multiplicity of denominations, groups, and organizations perfectly willing to preach (and sell you) their version of "Biblical Womanhood" emphasizing their specific cultural and social expectations, cherry-picking the passages they feel are important while ignoring others wholesale. And everyone is welcome to adopt the practices that they feel bring them closest to God. What is not acceptable, however, is condemning or judging others for making different choices than the ones you feel are best for you.
Evans uses the well-known story of Mary and Martha to drive this point home. You all know the tale: Mary is sitting at Jesus' feet, learning from him, when her sister Martha asks Jesus to tell Mary to help her with her work around the house. Jesus uses this as a teaching moment, telling Martha that "Mary has chosen that good part." Evans elaborates: "Martha certainly wasn't the first and she won't be the last to dismiss someone else's encounter with God because it didn't fit the mold...I guess we're all a little afraid that if God's presence is there, it cannot be here." God, however, is not limited to a single method of communication. "Slow down, let go, and be careful of challenging another woman's choices, for you never know when she may be sitting at the feet of God."
To read the rest of this review, visit Build Enough Bookshelves.
This book means a lot to me. I read aloud many interesting parts and shared laughter and conversation with friends and family about it. There were many sections to highlight and read again. Really good book. Entertaining and a lot to think about.
A Year of Biblical Womanhood is both much loved and much hated by Christians, and it's no surprise why. Humans don't like to be made uncomfortable, especially not in our faith. During Rachel's life, her progressive ministry was seen as both offensive and genius. I have personally always been awed by Rachel's ability to question some of the more troublesome parts of the Bible while not losing faith in God. She was smart and unafraid of discomfort.
I found this book to be quirky & funny, but also educational. I loved the vignettes at the end of each chapter highlighting women from the Bible (esp the one on Junia, my favorite apostle). I appreciated Rachel's ability to take supposed "Biblical Womanhood" on and show us, in a comical way, that there is no such thing as Biblical Literalism.
She put many verses regarding women into context & talked about women no one bothers to teach about (i.e: Vashti, Huldah, Tamar) She reminded us that women were disregarded when they first shared the good news of the resurrection, that only the woman was to be punished in the story of stoning the adulterer, & that actual biblical marriages often included things like slavery, abuse & polygamy.
She pointed out that while modern day Christians treat Proverbs 31 as a guideline, it is actually a poem of admiration. It is humans that put women on unequal ground, not God.
My favorite line was after Rachel gives us 2 pages of very questionable passages, when she says "I have come to regard with some suspicion those who claim that the Bible never troubles them. I can only assume this means they haven’t actually read it."
Questioning things that are questionable is not equivalent to doubting Christ's sacrifice on the cross. It's time to stop equating progress to lack of faith. Thank you, Rachel, for digging deep where it's easier to bury, & for guiding us in an evolving faith. Eshet chayil, RHE.
I found this book to be quirky & funny, but also educational. I loved the vignettes at the end of each chapter highlighting women from the Bible (esp the one on Junia, my favorite apostle). I appreciated Rachel's ability to take supposed "Biblical Womanhood" on and show us, in a comical way, that there is no such thing as Biblical Literalism.
She put many verses regarding women into context & talked about women no one bothers to teach about (i.e: Vashti, Huldah, Tamar) She reminded us that women were disregarded when they first shared the good news of the resurrection, that only the woman was to be punished in the story of stoning the adulterer, & that actual biblical marriages often included things like slavery, abuse & polygamy.
She pointed out that while modern day Christians treat Proverbs 31 as a guideline, it is actually a poem of admiration. It is humans that put women on unequal ground, not God.
My favorite line was after Rachel gives us 2 pages of very questionable passages, when she says "I have come to regard with some suspicion those who claim that the Bible never troubles them. I can only assume this means they haven’t actually read it."
Questioning things that are questionable is not equivalent to doubting Christ's sacrifice on the cross. It's time to stop equating progress to lack of faith. Thank you, Rachel, for digging deep where it's easier to bury, & for guiding us in an evolving faith. Eshet chayil, RHE.
This book was really intriguing. I liked all the theological digging she did and the ways her husband supported her experiment. I think it would be a fun experiment to try. And she did so much! I wanna go back and look over the overarching themes—justice, silence, matters of the heart—and find what to apply to my own life.
This book was hard to get through. Half of the text is that magazine article/blogger style of writing that’s good for a snack or light lunch but gets agonizingly annoying for a four course meal. All of my complaints are in these sections of the book. First of all, I don’t believe a lot of it. Did she really get all her friends to start saying “woman of valor!”? Did she really throw an etiquette book across her own house seven times while reading it? Did she really curl up on the floor and cry in 45 minute episodes almost every month of her project? If she actually did that, I’d characterize her as a mentally unbalanced toddler.
Then there are the awful little inserts from her husband. He’s not given much personality in the books, so his “voice” isn’t really effective and he doesn’t give me any critical insights, just constantly reiterating that biblical womanhood makes him uncomfortable. And since she already has a credibility problem with me, I can’t help but suspect she wrote the husband sections too. (Is she even married? Is her name even Rachel??)
Where the book shines is her analysis of the bible stories surrounding women. It’s less than half the text—maybe 35-40% of each chapter but they’re the only sections worth reading. And honestly I shouldn’t give four stars to a book I mathematically mostly hated, but I’m a generous, tranquil, God-fearing woman so what the hell.
Then there are the awful little inserts from her husband. He’s not given much personality in the books, so his “voice” isn’t really effective and he doesn’t give me any critical insights, just constantly reiterating that biblical womanhood makes him uncomfortable. And since she already has a credibility problem with me, I can’t help but suspect she wrote the husband sections too. (Is she even married? Is her name even Rachel??)
Where the book shines is her analysis of the bible stories surrounding women. It’s less than half the text—maybe 35-40% of each chapter but they’re the only sections worth reading. And honestly I shouldn’t give four stars to a book I mathematically mostly hated, but I’m a generous, tranquil, God-fearing woman so what the hell.
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
I really appreciate Rachel Held Evans' writing style--it is down to earth, thoughtful, funny, all at once. I enjoyed reading this book, but I also had my perspective changed on many of the Bible stories that I had heard before. This wasn't mind-blowing, since I already had a broader imagining of the role of women in the Church, but I definitely still had new perspectives and understandings added to my worldview by reading this.
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
challenging
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
At times hilarious and always heartfelt, I really enjoyed reading this book. While it didn't exactly blow my mind or transform my faith, it was a fun read.
funny
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced