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awalker313's review against another edition
4.0
This book is one woman’s reflections on her faith that is similar to a lot of others who are disillusioned with evangelicalism or at least aspects of it. There are so many quotable lines in this book that help me articulate my own thoughts and where I am in my faith. Bessey’s experience is not exactly like mine, and there were a few sentences that I did not agree with, but these are minimal (and how much I agree with a book shouldn’t dictate my evaluation of it anyway). One idea that I especially appreciate is Bessey’s claim that while Christians may find a home in one tradition, different Christian traditions have something to learn from each other. I recommend this book to anyone uncertain about how to proceed with their faith, especially for women with evangelical backgrounds.
allisonbuzard's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
smbcoffee's review against another edition
4.0
There were so many things I related to in this book, from the author’s religious upbringing and her college years to her struggles with pregnancy loss. Overall, we have ended up in different places in our faith journeys, but I loved this book and shed some much-needed tears while reading.
hdkroon's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.75
nleinwol's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
lydiature's review against another edition
5.0
There were so many parts of this book that resonated with me, but there was one that really struck a chord.
“I used to call the Bible ‘the Word.’ I try not to do that anymore.
I would read the opening chapter of the Gospel of John and think it was talking about the Bible: ‘The Word was first, the Word present to God, God present to the Word. The Word was God, in readiness for God from day one’ (John 1:1-2 NLT). I’d characterize my time reading the Bible as ‘time in the Word.’ Capital W. When I had a problem, my first solution was ‘I need to get the Word on that’ — our cultural shorthand for saying that surely there was a Bible verse to cure whatever was ailing.
If I had kept reading that chapter of the Bible in context instead of cherry-picking, I would have seen it sooner perhaps: the Word is actually Jesus. John was writing about Jesus, not about a Bible that didn’t even exist yet. It was Jesus — the Word of God — who ‘became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood’ (John 1:14 MSG). In fact, the end of that exactly poetic and beautiful telling of the story of Jesus ends by showing us the way to understand the rest of Scripture in light of Jesus: ‘We got the basics from Moses, and then this exuberant giving and receiving, this endless knowing and understanding — all this came through Jesus, the Messiah. No one has ever seen God, not so much as a glimpse. This one-of-a-kind God-Expression, who exists at the very heart of the Father, has made Him plain as day.’
I think I used to elevate the Bible to being a fourth member of the Trinity. I yearned for systematic theology with charts and graphs and easy-to-decode secrets. I wanted answers and clarity — the cry of the modern reader. But the more I read of the Bible, the more confused I became. So much of the Bible didn’t line up with what I had been taught about the Bible. Old Testament scholar Peter Enns summed me right up when he said that the problem isn’t the Bible, ‘the problem is coming to the Bible with expectations it’s not set up to bear.’ My expectation was divinity, simplicity, infallibility, literalism, easy answers.
The Bible wasn’t meant to fulfill those expectations any more that it was meant to receive my worship.”
Powerful.
“I used to call the Bible ‘the Word.’ I try not to do that anymore.
I would read the opening chapter of the Gospel of John and think it was talking about the Bible: ‘The Word was first, the Word present to God, God present to the Word. The Word was God, in readiness for God from day one’ (John 1:1-2 NLT). I’d characterize my time reading the Bible as ‘time in the Word.’ Capital W. When I had a problem, my first solution was ‘I need to get the Word on that’ — our cultural shorthand for saying that surely there was a Bible verse to cure whatever was ailing.
If I had kept reading that chapter of the Bible in context instead of cherry-picking, I would have seen it sooner perhaps: the Word is actually Jesus. John was writing about Jesus, not about a Bible that didn’t even exist yet. It was Jesus — the Word of God — who ‘became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood’ (John 1:14 MSG). In fact, the end of that exactly poetic and beautiful telling of the story of Jesus ends by showing us the way to understand the rest of Scripture in light of Jesus: ‘We got the basics from Moses, and then this exuberant giving and receiving, this endless knowing and understanding — all this came through Jesus, the Messiah. No one has ever seen God, not so much as a glimpse. This one-of-a-kind God-Expression, who exists at the very heart of the Father, has made Him plain as day.’
I think I used to elevate the Bible to being a fourth member of the Trinity. I yearned for systematic theology with charts and graphs and easy-to-decode secrets. I wanted answers and clarity — the cry of the modern reader. But the more I read of the Bible, the more confused I became. So much of the Bible didn’t line up with what I had been taught about the Bible. Old Testament scholar Peter Enns summed me right up when he said that the problem isn’t the Bible, ‘the problem is coming to the Bible with expectations it’s not set up to bear.’ My expectation was divinity, simplicity, infallibility, literalism, easy answers.
The Bible wasn’t meant to fulfill those expectations any more that it was meant to receive my worship.”
Powerful.
nrt43's review against another edition
3.0
For many, faith is a struggle, a wrestling – filled with questions, doubt, mystery and conviction. Some divide active church-goers as “winter” or “summer” Christians. A summer Christian occupies high communion with God and low complaint factor. Their experience of God is generally free of negativity. By contrast, a winter Christian is equally engaged with God, but it’s filled with complaint and struggle and doubt.
If you resonate with the description of a winter Christian, Out of Sorts will probably resonate with you. Early on in the book she makes this observation and personal statement:
… I love that first idea. So true. And I appreciate her honesty, which gives a feel for where she’s coming from.
The Table of Contents
I always appreciate seeing the book Table of Contents. Here are the chapter titles:
1. Out of sorts: A beginning
2. There’s something about that name: on getting to know Jesus
3. Everyone gets to play: on theology and change
4. Getting into the Word: on reading the Bible
5. The people of God: on church
6. Be a person: on community and friendship
7. Truly human: on heaven and the kingdom of God
8. An unexpected legacy: on the ancient practices
9. Wild goose: on faith, the Spirit, signs, and wonders
10. Obey the sadness: on grief and lament
11. Beautiful façade: on justice and Shalom
12. Evangelical hero complex: on vocation and calling
13. Benediction
As you can tell, she hits a lot of subjects. Each chapter is a warm wrestling with how we sort out faith after it falls apart.
Parts/Ideas I loved
I would argue that a static faith is a dying faith. To grow in faith means we are asking questions – that we are changing and evolving. This is much of the point in chapter three, which was great!
If you have struggled with scripture, which for me the more I look at scripture, the more I struggle, then chapter 4 is a great summary. Here’s a fantastic quote:
For more on this, I recommend Peter Enns, who she quotes.
Chapter 10 was also so important – vulnerable and yet thought-provoking. The church can often be “happy clappy” and pretend things are fine, when they are not. We must acknowledge the darkness that we so often experience and feel.
Lastly chapter 12 is worth the price of the book, in my opinion. Evangelicals (and so many more religious people) divide the world into sacred and secular, thereby creating a hierarchy of jobs. Ministry is “sacred work,” and everything else is merely to finance the real work of saving souls. In this chapter she explodes this unhelpful division by telling her own story (and that of her family). It’s personal, powerful and profound. If only I had heard this idea (and taken it to heart) years ago…
Further Thoughts/Considerations
Books like this – which are part memoir, part theology – will impact you differently in different times in your life. At this point in her life, she seems to have wrestled through most of her questions and found satisfying enough answers for herself. If you are right in the mind of the struggle or the pain of sadness, she might rub you wrong. Or, if you are very beginning of your faith struggle, perhaps closer to high school, it may feel she has gone too far. Yet – if you find yourself in a similar place to her, I’m sure the book will speak joy and healing to your soul (as you
can find in many of the other reviews).
All that being said, you may have wrestled through your faith and felt Bessey stayed too close to the line. She is anything but some sort of radical heretic. Her love for scripture, the church, and especially Jesus is indisputable. She even ends her book with a beautiful prayer for us, the readers.
If you are looking for a sort of Christian agnosticism, I would recommend Wiman’s Bright Abyss or anything by Peter Rollins.
Conclusion:
Why just 3 stars? For me, it was good. Great for others, but unfortunately it did not resonate as much as I had hoped. Delightful, insightful, challenging, but left me wanting more.
Finally, one last quote:
If you resonate with the description of a winter Christian, Out of Sorts will probably resonate with you. Early on in the book she makes this observation and personal statement:
“We create Jesus in our own image, don’t we? It is always true to some extent that we make our images of god. It is even truer that our image of God makes us. Eventually we become like the god we create.
In my twenties I decided to not be a Christian because I did not want to be associated with the church. But I was still fascinated with Jesus. For some time, I had become disenchanted with the industrial church complex.”
… I love that first idea. So true. And I appreciate her honesty, which gives a feel for where she’s coming from.
The Table of Contents
I always appreciate seeing the book Table of Contents. Here are the chapter titles:
1. Out of sorts: A beginning
2. There’s something about that name: on getting to know Jesus
3. Everyone gets to play: on theology and change
4. Getting into the Word: on reading the Bible
5. The people of God: on church
6. Be a person: on community and friendship
7. Truly human: on heaven and the kingdom of God
8. An unexpected legacy: on the ancient practices
9. Wild goose: on faith, the Spirit, signs, and wonders
10. Obey the sadness: on grief and lament
11. Beautiful façade: on justice and Shalom
12. Evangelical hero complex: on vocation and calling
13. Benediction
As you can tell, she hits a lot of subjects. Each chapter is a warm wrestling with how we sort out faith after it falls apart.
Parts/Ideas I loved
I would argue that a static faith is a dying faith. To grow in faith means we are asking questions – that we are changing and evolving. This is much of the point in chapter three, which was great!
If you have struggled with scripture, which for me the more I look at scripture, the more I struggle, then chapter 4 is a great summary. Here’s a fantastic quote:
I had to learn that taking the Bible seriously doesn’t mean taking the bible literally. I had to learn to read the whole Bible through the lens of Jesus, and I had to learn to stop making it something it wasn’t, a glorified answer book or rule book or magic spell. I had to stop trying to reduce the bible to something I could tame or wield as a tool. I had to let the bible be everything it was meant to be, to cast away the idols of certainty, materialism and control.”
For more on this, I recommend Peter Enns, who she quotes.
Chapter 10 was also so important – vulnerable and yet thought-provoking. The church can often be “happy clappy” and pretend things are fine, when they are not. We must acknowledge the darkness that we so often experience and feel.
Lastly chapter 12 is worth the price of the book, in my opinion. Evangelicals (and so many more religious people) divide the world into sacred and secular, thereby creating a hierarchy of jobs. Ministry is “sacred work,” and everything else is merely to finance the real work of saving souls. In this chapter she explodes this unhelpful division by telling her own story (and that of her family). It’s personal, powerful and profound. If only I had heard this idea (and taken it to heart) years ago…
Further Thoughts/Considerations
Books like this – which are part memoir, part theology – will impact you differently in different times in your life. At this point in her life, she seems to have wrestled through most of her questions and found satisfying enough answers for herself. If you are right in the mind of the struggle or the pain of sadness, she might rub you wrong. Or, if you are very beginning of your faith struggle, perhaps closer to high school, it may feel she has gone too far. Yet – if you find yourself in a similar place to her, I’m sure the book will speak joy and healing to your soul (as you
can find in many of the other reviews).
All that being said, you may have wrestled through your faith and felt Bessey stayed too close to the line. She is anything but some sort of radical heretic. Her love for scripture, the church, and especially Jesus is indisputable. She even ends her book with a beautiful prayer for us, the readers.
If you are looking for a sort of Christian agnosticism, I would recommend Wiman’s Bright Abyss or anything by Peter Rollins.
Conclusion:
Why just 3 stars? For me, it was good. Great for others, but unfortunately it did not resonate as much as I had hoped. Delightful, insightful, challenging, but left me wanting more.
Finally, one last quote:
“I tend to agree with Scot McKnight’s belief that ‘Kingdom of God’ is one of the most misunderstood phrases in the church today. We either neuter it into a social gospel or reduce it to an individual salvation experience. No, the kingdom of God is the church active and alive today -the disciples of Jesus in the world. The kingdom of God was the message of Jesus and it’s the work of every believer now.… I am not in the business of sin management anymore. Instead, I’m being transformed into his likeness.”
emilyrowellbrown's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed Bessey's Jesus Feminist more, but I cannot quite put my finger on why. Her story will probably hit home for many raised in more conservative faith traditions. Because it is billed as a memoir, I expected it to be more raw, I suppose. I felt as though she was holding back on us.