Rachel Held Evans – Inspired

I've finally contributed my two cents on Rachel Held Evans' book "Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again."

Originally I'd planned to do several posts on it. But, as one reviewer has noted, it would take another larger book to address all its issues. I'm under no illusions as to my limitations regarding writing reviews, let alone as an apologist. Yet because of Evans' enormous influence, I feel it's important that her book is responded to. 

Fortunately, others have done some exemplary work in addressing Inspired's problems - notably Allen Nelson VI and Jim from The Domain for Truth (see the side links). You can read my small contribution, plus all the highly recommended links over at Zeteo 3:16.

The Bible Tells Me So

Peter Enns has written a book called The Bible Tells Me So: Why Defending Scripture Has Made Us Unable To Read It. See his bio HERE He has become somewhat of a mentor for (what I call) progressive popular Christians such as Rachel Held Evans, Jen Hatmaker and others.

In a previous post, I linked to Michael Kruger's The Power of De-Conversion Stories. Kruger has also responded to Enns. The article was written in 2014 but still very relevant... 

I confess that I do judge books by their covers. Or at least by the back cover. I read (and review) a lot of books and am always careful to read the endorsements on the back and the description on the inside flap. Although endorsements aren’t everything (and are sometimes even misleading), they can reveal quite a bit about where a book is headed. That’s their purpose anyway. In this case of Peter Enns’s new volume, The Bible Tells Me So: Why Defending Scripture Has Made Us Unable to Read It, the endorsements (and endorsers) reveal quite a bit. One will find blurbs by Rob Bell, Rachel Held Evans, and Brian McLaren, among others. Interestingly, Tony Campolo also offers one but with the caveat that, “As an old-fashioned evangelical, I have some problems with what he has written.” Given that Campolo is by no means a conservative fundamentalist, his statement does an admirable job preparing the reader for what’s coming.

But perhaps most illuminating was the inside flap, where the publisher describes the book’s purpose: “In The Bible Tells Me So, Enns wants to do for the Bible what Rob Bell did for hell in Love Wins.”...keep reading 

P.S. Speaking of Rob Bell, this is a good read: The Fundamentalist: Rob Bell Walks Through Airports.

Monergism Response to Rachel Held Evans

Evans' name came up in a Facebook interaction recently. A young professing Christian woman posted something to the effect: "How can I make Christ the center of my World when I don't even like Him or the people in His club?"

I interacted with the lady when a few of us did a brief study of Romans together. At the time she seemed zealous and fired up to learn Scripture. What happened to her over the course of six years? I have no idea what her circumstances are or what she's been through, as we're not friends. I can only hazard some educated guesses.

This is a person who seriously needs the Lord, prayer and some good pastoral counselling. What makes this even sadder is that no Christian in the subsequent comments defended Christ. All that girl got was a recommendation to read Rachel Held Evans' materials. What a tragedy!

Who is Evans? Why is she such a danger to the church? Monergism responds HERE

Germane: This is what we’re up against