More specifically, faithful interpretation pays attention to both the grammar and redemptive historical setting of the passage in question. Literal interpretation, i.e., reading the Bible literarily, always discerns the different genres that are involved. With all the research that Evans does, she seemingly doesn’t understand the basic principles of biblical hermeneutics. In addition, I would attempt to follow as many of the Bible’s teachings regarding women as possible in my day-to-day life, sometimes taking them to their literal extreme.
This quest of mine has required that I study every passage of Scripture that relates to women and learn how women around the world interpret and apply these passages to their lives.
I vowed to spend one year of my life in pursuit of true biblical womanhood. And this is what Evans claims she will be doing for one year. Topics relating to our roles, virtues, behavior, and lifestyle are important for each one of us to examine against Scripture. The chapters in Evans’ book are topics that every woman struggles with in her Christian walk.
She tells a great story, and I really appreciate her witty observations and inability to small talk. The more I read, the more I understood her popularity among women. For Evans, it was a time of penance based on her interpretation of Proverbs 21:9, “It is better to live in a corner of the housetop than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife.” Even after I graduated and married I still couldn’t resist climbing out of the upstairs bathroom window onto my new, perfect roof spot for a different perspective.īut as I read her book, I discovered Evans and I ‘roof-sat’ for different purposes. Back in my college days, my roommate Michelle and I spent our free time sitting on our porch roof, listening to the Beatles, drinking coffee, and making up stories about the neighbors. The cover of her book boasts a picture of Evans sitting on the roof of a house. It seems that Rachel Held Evans and I have a lot in common. A Year of Biblical Womanhood: How a Liberated Woman Found Herself Sitting on Her Roof, Covering Her Head, and Calling Her Husband “Master”(Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2012). The following review, which will be published in the forthcoming Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, echoes those concerns and calls for a reading of Scripture that pays more attention to the gospel message and Scripture’s redemptive-historical context. It is written by another author, Aimee Byrd, whose book Housewife Theologian (P&R, 2013) will be reviewed later this year. These reviews have a recurring concern-Evans dismissive spirit towards the Bible and her errant interpretation of the same inspired book. Already there have been a number of penetrating reviews written by the likes of Kathy Keller and Trillia Newbell. As of October 1, Rachel Held Evans’ book, A Year of Biblical Womanhood, has been out for a full year.
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