Rachel Held Evans. Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again. Nelson Books, 2018. See here to buy the book.
Rachel Held Evans is a controversial religious author. She is known
for her writings about her struggles with conservative evangelicalism
and even Christianity in general, and she currently attends an
Episcopalian church.
Inspired contains her reflections about the Bible. She
talks about the Bible of her upbringing, as she learned the biblical
stories from sanitized versions or from cartoons. As she grew older,
she became troubled by aspects of the Bible, such as the Flood, the
Akedah, and the Israelite Conquest. She also came to believe that
conservative evangelicalism tries to tame the Bible and make it what it
is not, by explaining away biblical contradictions and troubling
passages. This book affirms the Bible, however, as it highlights where
the Bible was progressive for its time and attempts to offer a
constructive way to look at the Bible, one that takes into consideration
the cultural context of its authors, the positive moral and spiritual
trajectory of which they were part, and the complexity of moral and
spiritual questions. While the book includes Evans’ reflections, it
also has a creative element. There is a story about Jews in Babylonian
exile holding on to the Genesis 1 creation story in the face of the
Babylonian Enuma Elish, for example, as well as a modernization of the
Job story.
I was a little reluctant to read this book, to tell you the truth.
There was a time when I was somewhat of a RHE-groupie, in that I
diligently read her blog and shared her posts. But I have had a variety
of ideological seasons in my life, and right now I am in a season in
which I tend to roll my eyes at progressive Christianity. I was
expecting this book to be a smug, hyper-dramatic critique of “ignorant”
conservatives from an “enlightened” progressive, with a hefty dose of
Trump-bashing thrown into the mix. Well, the book had its share of
Trump-bashing, and Evans’ view of biblical inspiration probably falls
short of what a lot of conservative Christians believe. Still, the book
displayed some openness to conservative perspectives. Evans referred
to Greg Boyd’s thoughts about the Conquest, but also the thoughts of
Paul Copan, who has more of an apologetic approach. She mentions
midrashic attempts to defend or at least explain the Akedah. She
critiques conservative perspectives she has encountered, but also
progressive perspectives, and she speaks reflectively about her past as a
“Bible bully” who smiled disparagingly when conservative Christians
claimed that Paul wrote Colossians. Evans in the book comes across as
one who is self-reflective and is pursuing truth, from a variety of
sources, as she shares honestly and humbly what makes sense to her and
what does not. The book would have been better, perhaps, had she at
least tried to understand the perspective of conservative Christians who
feel persecuted: this feeling is not limited to being wished “Happy
Holidays” but extends to their livelihood being challenged because they
choose to hold to their religious convictions. Still, Evans’ political
viewpoint is understandable, in certain respects, especially when it
comes to social justice issues.
This book was helpful in terms of my faith journey and my own
attempts to come to terms with the Bible, especially when it coincided
with other things I have been reading or thinking. Evans speculates
that the Conquest story was developed as a way for ancient Israel to
affirm its dependence on God amidst challenges, and that reminded me of
Derek Leman’s insights on Deuteronomy, as he drew from Stephen Cook’s
work. Leman speculates that the Conquest story in the time of Josiah
served to give Judah faith as she was surrounded by imperial powers, and
he says that the author of Deuteronomy may have had legitimate concerns
about paganism but is over-zealous, at times. Such an approach is
different from a conservative approach, but it resonates with me,
somewhat. I end up sympathizing with the biblical authors as they
attempted to articulate, find, and practice their faith. Evans also
expresses her hope that God is renewing the world and that justice
ultimately will triumph, and she is willing to take a leap of faith that
such a hope is valid. I agree with her there.
I have been in seasons of disenchantment with conservative and
progressive Christianity; neither one is really my “speech community,”
if you will. Still, I respect the practice of wrestling with difficult
questions. There are conservatives who do this, and Evans is a
progressive Christian who does so.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through BookLook Bloggers. My review is honest.