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    Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again
    Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again
    Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again
    Audiobook6 hours

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

    Written by Rachel Held Evans

    Narrated by Rachel Held Evans

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    If the Bible isn't a science book or an instruction manual, what is it? What do people mean when they say the Bible is inspired? When New York Times bestselling author Rachel Held Evans found herself asking these questions, she embarked on a journey to better understand what the Bible is and how it's meant to be read. What she discovered changed her--and it can change you, too.

    Evans knows firsthand how a relationship with the Bible can be as real and as complicated as a relationship with a family member or close friend. In Inspired, Evans explores contradictions and questions from her own experiences with the Bible, including:

    • If the Bible was supposed to explain the mysteries of life, why does it leave the reader with so many questions?
    • What does it mean to be chosen by God?
    • To what degree did the Holy Spirit guide the preservation of these narratives, and is there something sacred to be uncovered beneath all these human fingerprints?
    • If the Bible has given voice to the oppressed, why is it also used as justification by their oppressors?

    Drawing on the best in biblical scholarship and using her well-honed literary expertise, Evans examines some of our favorite Bible stories and possible interpretations, retelling them through memoir, original poetry, short stories, and even a short screenplay.

    Undaunted by the Bible's most difficult passages and unafraid to ask the hard questions, Evans wrestles through the process of doubting, imagining, and debating the mysteries surrounding Scripture. Discover alongside Evans that the Bible is not a static text, but a living, breathing, captivating, and confounding book that can equip us and inspire us to join God's loving and redemptive work in the world.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherThomas Nelson
    Release dateJun 12, 2018
    ISBN9781400210206
    Author

    Rachel Held Evans

    New York Times bestselling author Rachel Held Evans (1981–2019) is known for her books and articles about faith, doubt, and life in the Bible Belt. Rachel has been featured in the Washington Post, The Guardian, Christianity Today, Slate, HuffPost, and the CNN Belief Blog, and on NPR, BBC, Today, and The View. She served on President Obama's Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships and kept a busy schedule speaking at churches, conferences, and universities. Rachel’s messages continue to reverberate around the world.

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    Reviews for Inspired

    4.5/5

    231 ratings19 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Eloquently written and thought-provoking! I love her style of narration mixed with the many questions. I have a lot to think about. I have a lot to research. And I have a lot to sit with in peace.
    • 5/5
      I can’t even begin to describe how important this book is to me. I had already purchased and read a printed copy of it, but listening to the author read it aloud was even more meaningful. My heart is broken over her passing and while I’m devastated for her family and the world that we won’t have any more books written by her, I thank God that Rachel wrote this particular book. It’s exactly what the world needs.
    • 5/5
      Fantastic insights and really helpful.
      will return to this again
    • 5/5
      Her perspective and intellect are a gift to the faithful yet skeptical. RHE’s writing spurred on a renaissance and maturation of American Christian thinking. She challenges the cultural norms with grace and truth. She embraced questioning biblical contradictions and this enables us to still believe in the Bible as we seek the truth.
    • 5/5
      I loved how the author created stories surrounding specific bible texts. It really put flesh and bone on the stories in a fresh and interesting way. This book has helped me remember what I found so compelling about the Bible in the 1st place!
    • 5/5
      This was a great book to listen to, and I loved that the author also narrated it. I listened to this at work, and found myself laughing out loud a number of times. Yes, the book is centered around the author's struggle with her Christian faith, but that doesn't necessarily keep non-Christians *waves hands* from enjoying it.
    • 5/5
      Authentic
      Raw
      truly
      inspiring
      A book that’s written from the heart
    • 5/5
      Absolutely beautiful. Rachel has such a delightful way with words. This book is perfect for any Christian, especially those who are questioning what the Bible really says
    • 5/5
      I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The author answered questions that have plagued me for decades and have allowed me to enjoy and relearn the lessons in Scripture. This is a priceless gift! I look forward to reading more of her books.
    • 5/5
      I just reread this book after the passing of Rachel Held Evans. I read it last fall for the first time, but I read it just like any other book - - for enjoyment. I listened to the audiobook this time to study it. To hear her voice, knowing it's been silenced forever is both inspiring and heartbreaking. There are some very deep topics in here. This won't be the last time I read this book.
    • 5/5
      This is the book I have been waiting for. It spoke so deeply to my often confused, skeptical, doubting, but believing heart. I'm so sad that Rachel's voice is gone from this life.
    • 5/5
      I started this book last year, and then Rachel Held Evans died and I couldn't pick it back up without crying. No, I didn't know her, but all of her books have spoken to me and made me feel less crazy about my own faith, and I was just so sad to lose her writing and her voice. So a year later, I picked it back up during Lent and vowed to finish it, and it is exactly what I expected--fierce teaching about The Gospel of Jesus paired with not-so-subtle actionable steps for rank-and-file Christians to take if they wish to improve their families and communities. I think I will make reading this book a Lenten tradition every year.
    • 5/5
      This was great, and I loved the way that she broke down the stories into actual stories that sounded relatable. My Bible knowledge consists of one English class in undergrad where we read a few books in the Bible (I knew the Job one!) and a few summers of Vacation Bible School as a child. The author actually inspires me to take a look and read more, but she does a wonderful job of encouraging questioning in your study.
    • 5/5
      This fed my soul to its very depths. I am always grateful for Rachel Held Evans' spiritual insights and explication of Scripture. This is what I think Rob Bell was trying to do in What Is the Bible?, but is just more authentic and less concerned with proving its cleverness. It is both intellectual and heartfelt at once.
    • 4/5
      Like the author, I was raised in a Christian home. Growing up you reach a point where your faith is either your parents’ or your own. With that decision tends to comes many questions. The Bible is full of miracles, harsh truths, parables, and more. As a Christian you have to wrestle with those truths and determine where your beliefs stand. The author is open and honest about her struggle. I love her reference to the Jewish culture openly debating things in the Bible, while Christians tend to have a “don’t question anything!” attitude. As the author voices her confusion about how some things align with our current culture, she discovers that it’s the stories in the Bible that she continues to connect with. Jesus brings truth home by presenting a story as an example. In that way, it’s easier for people to connect and understand. In the end, the questions don’t disappear, but neither does the faith.“I am a Christian,” I concluded, “because the story of Jesus is still the story I’m willing to risk being wrong about.” “While Christians tend to turn to Scripture to end a conversation, Jews turn to Scripture to start a conversation.”
    • 4/5
      This is a really good read, don't let my rating fool you. Still, it is not as good as some of her previous work which is why it only gets 3-1/2 stars. It is a good look at the narrative that comprises the Bible, at the stories themselves and how they are meant to shape and form, not as literal texts but as an oral testimony to the relationship of God to the Creation.
    • 5/5
      I have found it hard, over the years, to love the Bible. It seems to have become a battering ram, bashing "truth" over the heads of those who don't conform. A surgeon's knife, excising the ones who "don't belong". Or, more recently, a paintbrush, to whitewash the horrors being perpetrated in a coat of "God said it". It has been hard, for me, to reconcile this Bible with the faith I have come to profess. So thank God for Rachel Held Evans. With a writer's ear for a beautiful phrase, and a theologian's intellect and curiosity, Evans delivers an ode to the believer who just can't quite make it all make sense. This book gave me permission to jump into the struggle, feet first, and the strength to believe I will come out the other side. This is a magnificent work, and one I know I will return to over and over again.
    • 5/5
      I've read several Rachel Held Evans books, and each one feels like she's writing my story but with better and more interesting storytelling. Inspired was no different. Each section had a "creative retelling" section followed by a chapter discussing some of the issues and ways of reading types of Biblical stories, and I enjoyed that flow. Growing up in a community with a very Evangelical/literal interpretation of Scriptures, I have always struggled with even "easy" passages, like the Psalms or the Gospels. Rachel's ability to embrace these struggles and provide literary, cultural, and situational tools for interpretation is so great. I especially resonated with the idea that Christianity is experienced in the particular, not the general-- Jesus was a specific person, Paul was writing letters to specific churches, the Israelites had specific experiences-- and the way this helps me understand some of the more confusing, upsetting, or contradictory Biblical passages. This felt representative in her very last sentence: "We may wish for answers, but God rarely give us answers. Instead, God gathers us up into soft, familiar arms and says, 'Let me tell you a story.'" Maybe I'll give the Bible and the conversation it inspires another shot.I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
    • 5/5
      I received a complimentary review copy of [Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water and Loving the Bible Again] from [[Rachel Held Evans]]'s publisher through a Twitter post. I am working on reading the Bible this year, and the book seemed a good fit.Evans frames the book with her own story of growing up with the Bible as a magic book with wonderful stories. As she got older, the Bible became more of a weapon, not to be questioned. But, eventually, she saw beneath the magic to the gritty realism: Abraham willingly tying his son to the pyre, Joshua's army slaughtering men, women and children when the walls of Jericho fall, and God sending flood waters to destroy humanity. Yet, even as she began to turn away from the Bible, its stories continued to surround her. It is a foundational book for Western culture, influencing Shakespeare and Civil Rights activists alike. Each chapter of the book opens with a story that reflects the theme in the coming chapter. The chapters focus on various types of stories found in the Bible including origin, deliverance, and resistance stories as well as others. She embraces the complexities and contradictions in the Bible, pointing out that it can be used to support almost any point of view:This is why there are times when the most instructive question to bring to the text is not, what does this say? but what am I looking for? I suspect Jesus knew this when he said, "Ask and it will be given to you; and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. (Matthew 7:7)Evans does not check her criticism of the United States and its treatment of the poor and oppressed. She extends that criticism to the white American church, which she believes has "chosen the promise of power over prophetic voice." She describes modern day prophets who are pushing the church to live a more Christ like existence. Yet, she also celebrates the God the Bible reveals in the details of the Parables: "I love these details because they reveal to me a God who is immersed in creation, deeply embedded within the lives of God's beloved. Ours is a God who know how to mend clothes and bake bread, a God familiar with the planting and harvesting season, the traditions of bridesmaids, and the tickle of wool on the back of the neck."I am looking forward to heading back to the Bible with Evans' prose in my mind: looking for my own magic in this book that has been part of my life.