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lisawhelpley's review against another edition
2.0
I didn't find this book compelling or interesting. Nothing particularly scandalous or inspirational.
ridgewaygirl's review against another edition
4.0
I'm having trouble marshaling my thoughts in regards to Susan Campbell's account of growing up within a rigid brand of Christianity and how that shaped her adult life. When I was sixteen, my family moved and the new church we attended was unlike what I had been used to. For a while I fell in with this new brand of American Christianity until the cognitive dissonance did me in and I had to walk away. From there it's hard to turn around and find a place for faith in my own life. Campbell's experiences were similar -- her church differed in some ways from mine, and I'm sure we would have been equally certain that the other was probably not really saved, but on the larger themes, it could have been the same place.
When my Catholic friends who are lackadaisical or worse about their Bibles call their chuch the "one, true church," I sit silently. If they knew their Bible, they'd know that that title belongs to my church, not theirs. I know they are in for a big surprise come Judgment Day.
This is a humorous account of the odd things Campbell believed growing up and her dawning conviction that even though she was a girl, that she wasn't designed to be secondary; a submissive helper to the men allowed to hold the power and make the decisions. But the book is also a history of the evangelical church in America and how changed drastically over the years, and the story of how Campbell was able to come to a qualified truce with her upbringing.
When my Catholic friends who are lackadaisical or worse about their Bibles call their chuch the "one, true church," I sit silently. If they knew their Bible, they'd know that that title belongs to my church, not theirs. I know they are in for a big surprise come Judgment Day.
This is a humorous account of the odd things Campbell believed growing up and her dawning conviction that even though she was a girl, that she wasn't designed to be secondary; a submissive helper to the men allowed to hold the power and make the decisions. But the book is also a history of the evangelical church in America and how changed drastically over the years, and the story of how Campbell was able to come to a qualified truce with her upbringing.
rwlongino's review against another edition
4.0
While I enjoyed this book, I found it to be a bit scattered (for lack of a better word). I picked up the book at the library from the Biography section and was hoping for an Anne Lamott type book (lots of bio, not so much ranting about religion and politics). I think I would have enjoyed it more if I hadn't read it right after reading Taking Back God which does an incredible job of talking about that subject (minus the bio part).
Despite all that, I found the author very likeable, and I found myself laughing at some of the stories she told because I experience similar things as I grew up in the church. It was an intriguing perspective of the fundamentalist world.
Despite all that, I found the author very likeable, and I found myself laughing at some of the stories she told because I experience similar things as I grew up in the church. It was an intriguing perspective of the fundamentalist world.
violinknitter's review against another edition
Campbell's excellent writing pulled me through the book. Some aspects of her upbringing in the church of Christ were similar to my own upbringing. Other aspects I was fortunate to not experience. An interesting book to read so soon after I finished Frank Schaeffer's CRAZY FOR GOD.
margyly's review against another edition
3.0
A woman describes growing up as a fundamentalist. Kinda charming, although not a book’s worth of story.
cremefracas's review against another edition
2.0
The church of Christ stuff was good, but then the book would veer off into woman's studies 101 bore-town repeatedly.
marie_gg's review against another edition
4.0
Read my review here: http://marie-everydaymiracle.blogspot.com/2010/03/book-recommendation-dating-jesus.html
nursenell's review against another edition
3.0
I didn't like this book as much I had expected to. The author goes into a lot of the history of fundamentalism but it is not presented in an organized way, rather in bits and pieces. I didn't grow up in a fundamental religion, I was looking more to understanding what it was like on the personal side. I did learn a few interesting facts about the history of feminism that I didn't know but I was reading the book to gain an understanding of what it was like to grow up a fundamental.
katenetz's review against another edition
3.0
The book started a little slow, with a fairly conventional narrative of growing up fundamentalist. But the second half of the book was terrific. Campbell includes some interesting theological re-tellings of Jesus' interactions with women, and a very thoughtful and smart analysis of her own life and her own ideas of God. Her analogy of fundamentalism as a knife with the point broken off inside you was spot on. And her final examples of being "Christ-haunted" were immensely compelling.
A good introduction to the Christian feminism memoir genre and an interesting read.
A good introduction to the Christian feminism memoir genre and an interesting read.