Inspired - Book Review

If you've ever felt disillusioned with the Bible, then maybe author Rachel Held Evans can help. In her latest book Inspired, she breaks down the stories of the Bible to help us better understand what it is and how it's meant to be read. There are all sorts of different story types in the Bible: origin stories, deliverance stories, war stories, wisdom stories, resistance stories, Gospel stories, fish stories, and church stories. Not all of them make sense (Hello, Jesus and the fig tree), many of them are difficult to read, and a lot of them have been interpreted in different ways.

So what is right and what is true? I think this book provides well-researched answers that may change the way you think about and read the Bible.

There were times in the book where I felt like the author was taking me toward making a specific point, and then she changed direction and did not make the point I thought she was going to make. So then I was left a little confused. But that could just be because I spent part of my time reading this book in a crowded Starbucks and listening to really annoying people loudly talking about their hangovers behind me. Kind of distracting.

BUT I did like the chapters where Held Evans interpreted classic Bible stories by telling her own versions, participating in the Jewish midrash tradition. And this book definitely reminded me that the Bible was not written to serve my agenda or your agenda, for instance. As the book states, the Bible was not written "in a vacuum for the purpose of filling our desk calendars with inspirational quotes or our theology papers with proof texts." (p.202) There is context behind what was written, and we can't ignore that or ignore the context of today when thinking about what it should mean for us in the present.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”