A Year of Biblical Womanhood by Rachel Held Evans

Rachel Held Evans was a popular Christian blogger. She grew up as a faithful evangelical who did things like take chastity vows. 

Rachel grew more liberal as she got older, which often occurs with evangelicals.* She wanted to be a writer since she was a child and already had her first (autobiographical) book in her 20s. 

Her blog became a popular space for people to be Christians but think things through. She was particularly passionate about honoring women, including their right (resisted by some evangelicals) to express themselves. 

Her second book (2012) was entitled A Year of Biblical Womanhood. She briefly references another well-known book with a comparable title. But, as a Slate reviewer noted:

The secular Jewish writer A.J. Jacobs attempted a similar feat with his 2007 best-seller The Year of Living Biblically, but Jacobs is a humorist and commentator, not a believer. 

Conversely, Evans’ intended audience doesn’t think the Bible is a kooky ancient document—they believe it is the living, inerrant word of God and arrange their lives according to their interpretation of it. 

(See link at this article about some controversy arising from the book since she uses the word "vagina.") 

The Bible is a sacred collection of letters and law, poetry and proverbs, philosophy and prophecies, written and assembled over thousands of years in cultures and contexts very different from our own, that tells the complex, ever-unfolding story of God's interactions with humanity. 

Rachel argues the Bible should be accepted as a living thing. Ultimately, she notes that it "isn't an answer book" and there isn't one single model for womanhood. 

Determining "Biblical Values" is not an easy thing. It often involves a lot of "proof-texting," such as citing a few quotes to prove that women should be submissive. 

She corresponded with an Orthodox woman, who helped her understand the Jewish understanding of some "Old" Testament texts that were different from what some Christian evangelicals said.  

(Unlike her later book on the Bible, Inspired, she doesn't even drop a note that some of these commands are not even from letters likely to be from the actual Paul ... or Peter for that matter. For details, check out Bart Ehrman.

Thomas Nelson, the conservative biblical publisher, did publish the thing, and "vagina" used once in a discussion about purity promises was controversial.)  

Her "project" had to be somewhat artificial since you are not going to live for a year like an ancient woman of Israel. Plus, there are so many different rules. 

So, she focused on one theme a month (domesticity, beauty, silence, and so on) while having a few general rules (involving mild dress, listening to her husband, domestic affairs, and so on). 

She tossed in projects and special events (visiting an Amish household, interviewing a polygamist, etc.). Some things -- like camping outside for a few days while having her period (Orthodox Jews can't even touch their husbands for 12 days a month) -- were symbolic. 

The whole thing is a mix of interesting, a chance for her to muse, and some silliness. I liked Inspired (around 200 pages, summarizing the Bible using a range of methods, including a short play) the best. But, this is definitely a way to get a good taste of Rachel Held Evans. 

Her third book was more inside baseball. The details cover some ground that might be more of interest if you were evangelicals who experienced that stuff. 

I'm not totally sure she would have written the last one the same way if she had a chance. 

Yes. She died, with two young children, before she was 40. Some freak thing -- she had some allergic reaction, was put in a coma, and never came out. 

I was saddened when I heard about her passing and didn't even know about her at the time. Evans touched many Christians as she struggled with her faith while sticking by it throughout. A children's book about God also was published after she died. 

I won't say she is "with God" now. But, her search for God is not a bad way to go about it. 

[This is my second time reading this book. I read it for the first time five years ago. Almost exactly.) 

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* Her books are not quite like some books by authors who write about how they moved past harmful sects of Christianity, often coming out still as Christians in the end. 

She did eventually say on her blog that she was struggling with evangelicalism. It would have been quite interesting to me if she was around to respond to the ex-evangelicals book I linked. 

In 2016, she noted she was pro-life, but was voting for Clinton. Her overall views made that not surprising.