Faith Unraveled by Rachel Held Evans

Faith Unraveled

by Rachel Held Evans

Profoundly moving, fearlessly honest, and relentlessly hopeful, New York Times bestselling author Rachel Held Evans offers this must-read for anyone on the journey of doubt, deconstruction, and ultimately faith reborn.

Eighty years after the Scopes Monkey Trial made a spectacle of Christian fundamentalism and brought national attention to her hometown, Rachel Held Evans faced a trial of her own when she began to have doubts about her faith.

In Faith Unraveled, Rachel recounts growing up in a culture obsessed with apologetics, struggling as her own faith unraveled one unexpected question at a time.

In order for her faith to survive, Rachel realizes, it must adapt to change and evolve. Using as an illustration her own spiritual journey from certainty to doubt to faith, Evans challenges you to disentangle your faith from false fundamentals and to trust in a God who is big enough to handle your tough questions.

In a changing cultural environment where new ideas seem to threaten the safety and security of the faith, Faith Unraveled is a fearlessly honest story of survival.

This book was previously titled Evolving in Monkey Town.

Reviewed by Jeff Sexton on

5 of 5 stars

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Freshman Work Shows the Potential Author... Held. As I write this review, those who knew Rachel Held Evans during her nearly 38 years of life are gathering a few hundred miles away for her funeral, and numerous fans across the world are bringing up a site to watch the service on a livestream. But that's just it, I consciously chose to read this book today as my own way of saying goodbye to Rachel - though I'm told that she had finished writing one final book before the illness struck her nearly two months ago and ultimately took her life.

The book itself was Rachel's first, and it truly shows how good of a writer she was and it shows the beginnings of the transcendence that was Searching for Sunday, her third book. If you've ever wandered what Christianity might be like, if you've ever found yourself as a Christian doubting what you'd been raised to believe, if you've ever wondered if Christians truly are that... whatever, read this book. Rachel has a way of telling the story of her life but showing through her own journey just what Christianity might be like if we can just ignore the blowhards.

Truly an excellent work, and very much recommended.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 2 June, 2019: Finished reading
  • 2 June, 2019: Reviewed