Evolving In Monkey Town: How A Girl Who Knew All The Answers Learned To Ask The Questions (2010) - Plot & Excerpts
I am an evolutionist. This is how Rachel Held Evans (RHE) starts the book. She goes on to explain how she is an evolutionist not just in the physical sciences but in faith. How the Christian faith has had to evolve to stay alive, how her own faith has had to evolve. I deeply resonate with this book and her own faith evolution. The thing most people have against Christianity is not whether Jesus was divine or the problem of evil, but the perceived hypocrisy and seemingly rigid views about things. What leads most people to a crisis of faith isn't these mental gymnastics but not feeling safe to even ask the questions. Despite the title, this is actually a faith memoir by Rachel Held Evans. She describes growing up in a southern fundamentalist town where she thrived on winning a lot of "Christian awards" and "always having an answer" -until her senior year at a conservative college where she started having doubts. There was no event in her life that caused her to question her faith, she just got some exposure to other cultures and some cognitive dissonance at school/church. She confesses her doubts over the past five years (she's young), and uses anecdotes to share her process of finding her own version of faith. I'm not exactly sure what she is now (my guess is a more liberal form of what she used to be), although possibly smart for her not to claim a religious identity when she's in a period of upheaval. Overall I liked the book, it's authentic, and I liked it enough that I don't have the heart to list out the nitpicks/issues I have with it.
What do You think about Evolving In Monkey Town: How A Girl Who Knew All The Answers Learned To Ask The Questions (2010)?
I have simply loved and been facinated listening to this. Such an interesting perspective.
—gbhanda
I enjoyed the first half much better than the last which just seemed to repeat and repeat.
—ztdauseng
A good quick read, especially for faith searchers dissatisfied with simple responses.
—Drea
Not bad but concepts for me are not new. But still good
—Berney
