Reviews - Being Elisabeth Elliot: The Authorized Biography: Elisabeth's Later Years

48 reviews for:

Being Elisabeth Elliot: The Authorized Biography: Elisabeth's Later Years

What. A. Ride! Several years ago, I was privileged to read Becoming Elisabeth Elliot, and as soon as I finished that book, I knew I wanted to keep my eyes open for the sequel to come out. The sequel—Being Elisabeth Elliot—was well worth the wait! In my opinion, this book is just as good as its prequel—if not better. It carries a much different tone, but I loved the way it honestly (and lovingly) portrayed Elisabeth Elliot—a passionate, somewhat sensitive soul, someone who was very human, but at the same time someone who loved and served the Lord to the best of her abilities.

I don’t agree with all of the decisions Elisabeth made along the way, but one of the things I loved the most about this book was how relatable she was. Though our life experiences may be vastly different, I saw myself in many of her words and actions, and that made this not only just an interesting read, but it gave me pause to examine myself. That, in turn, drew me closer to Jesus as I processed different things…it was good. Really good.

One thing I was amazed by throughout the book was the depth of Elisabeth’s thoughts and the way she was able to convey that on paper. I admit that sometimes she used words I wasn’t familiar with (and I thought I had a fairly varied vocabulary—ha!), but it’s refreshing to come across stories of people who lived their lives deeply, intensely, and passionately. It’s also refreshing to see people that are willing to stick their necks out, even when they know they’ll likely face backlash.

If you are wanting to learn more about this well-known Christian, I’d recommend you read both books in this duology. They’re excellent, and I think I can just about guarantee that you’ll come away blessed and encouraged by the read. I certainly was, and I’d love to get these books in print someday. I’m also planning on keeping an eye out for other Ellen Vaughn books—her writing style is easy to follow, engaging, and thought-provoking in itself. Though these books are biographies, they are not dry, factual relating of facts—the books live and breathe. I also appreciated the depth of quotations and other research that went into these books. In all, I greatly enjoyed this read, and highly recommend Being Elisabeth Elliot!

(Note: This book does contain some adult content, mostly as related through Elisabeth’s journals. If you’re familiar with her writing, you will know her candid writing style.)

I was given a complimentary copy of this book, and this is my honest opinion of it.

kaylin_means's review

4.0

A fascinating conclusion to this duo of biographies about Elisabeth Eliot and the spectacular life she led. I loved hearing and learning more of her inner thoughts from her diaries and letters. This half of the story was heartbreaking in the extreme as it chronicled some of the most difficult years of her life living through singleness, the death of her second husband, and the complicated tumult of her third marriage. Altogether, this volume felt a little less cohesive than the first but I still very much enjoyed it. 4 stars.

lalatut's review

4.0

Definitely still processing this book.

I knew a bit of what to expect from others who have read and discussed it, but still. It’s heartbreaking. For me, it explains so much and puts some of her work in a different light.

I loved the middle section of the book about her first widowhood in her 30s after she returned to the US, disenchanted with the missions movement and evangelicalism at the time. Absolutely fascinating and so relevant to the current state of things.

I spent my college years reading a number of her books multiple times. Her books on loneliness & discipline helped me tremendously and I remember Quest for Love entering my life just when I needed it. I read her biography of Amy Carmichael and absolutely loved her novel, No Graven Image, which I learned (reading this) was extremely controversial when it came out!

It’s a book about how we can idolize ministry and attempt to manipulate God into doing and being what we want, which apparently didn’t go over so well at the time it was published. That theme makes sense based on her experiences and certainly resonates with me because sometimes God calls us to pursue things that fail (in our eyes) and seem meaningless. We unwittingly live in a prosperity mindset where, if we do things “right” we’ll achieve our goals. We think: if things are going well, God is blessing us. When things get hard, God has abandoned us or we’ve messed up. But that’s not how it works and it doesn’t mean we weren’t faithful or God wasn’t faithful. God breaks down our high places, even the syncretistic graven images we carve out of our ideas and ideals of ministry. He invites us to trust when we feel hurt and confused. Sometimes it doesn’t make sense and that’s okay because at the end of the day he’s still God and as Elisabeth Elliot would say, “You are loved with an everlasting love. And underneath are the everlasting arms.”

Those things are true and I see that as a major theme in all her work that I’ve read.

It’s devastating to learn her third marriage was so abusive and lasted for 38 years when the happy one/s were so short. That alone asks us to take everything she ever said about wifely submission and gender roles with a grain of salt because she was coping with a terrible situation. I’ve worked with enough survivors of abuse to know how quickly and thoroughly it twists a person’s thinking.

Elisabeth was a woman who knew suffering and was aquatinted with grief. She also had a vibrant life with God and the world is a better place for her ministry, difficult as it was. I am inspired by her life of the mind, habitual journaling, and willingness to do what she saw as right regardless of anyone or anything else. At least until she found herself married to a controlling and volatile man at age 50.