Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again

by Rachel Held Evans

In many ways, the Bible of my youth was set up to fail. While American evangelicalism instilled in me a healthy love and respect for Scripture (without which this book would never have been written, I’m sure), many of its institutions taught me to expect something from the Bible that the Bible was never intended to deliver—namely, an internally consistent and self-evident worldview that provides clear, universal answers to all of life’s questions, from whether climate change is real, to why God allows suffering in the world, to how to keep a marriage together and raise obedient kids. The Bible, I learned, served as a kind of owner’s manual for life, Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth. It came without flaws or contradictions and could be trusted to speak clearly and decisively on any political or social issue up for debate. As a result, I emerged from my conservative Christian college with what I thought was the biblical view of American history, the biblical view of economics, the biblical view of gender and sexuality, the biblical view of science, the biblical view of politics, the biblical view of pop culture. The problem was, in most cases, the texts I memorized to support those views were selectively chosen to support a particular set of ideologies—usually politically conservative ones—a fact that became apparent when, after graduation, I encountered devoted Christians who believed and voted and worshipped quite differently than me, and could just as handily cite ...