This is part 5 of our critique of Rachel Held Evans’ book titled Inspired. Here are the previous posts in this series:
In this post we will look at chapter 3 of the book.
Chapter Synopsis
Chapter Three is titled “War Stories.” The chapter focuses on the warfare narratives in the Bible such as Israel’s conquest of Canaan. Before I critique this chapter I do want to give credit where credit is due in terms of what was good and right from this chapter. She is right to see the importance of considering the warfare passages in the Old Testament in light of the person of Jesus Christ (75-78). I do think she still has a lot to unpack of what does that mean and its implications but she admits she’s still working through the issues. I also appreciated some of her attempts to solve the warfare passages though they are mentioned with a few mere sentences and I wished she unpacked them more.
Still this chapter is not without its problem. One of the things I wished she talked about or share basic awareness is the question about the source of morality given the ethical and moral dimension in this chapter. The complaint of the Bible’s morality concerning warfare narrative might superficially look like objections to Christianity and yet that objection needs God for it to be even be intelligible and meaningful in the first place. I think that point is important to keep in the back of one’s mind when one read the chapter.
Complaint about Fundamentalist
On page 66 of the book Rachel Held Evans reacted very strongly to John Piper seeing God is right for the warfare of Joshua’s conquest of Canaan; she then took the time to swipe at Fundamentalists:
But this is the deleterious snare of fundamentalism: It claims that the heart is so corrupted by sin, it simply cannot be trusted to sort right from wrong, good from evil, divine from depraved. Instinct, intuition, conscience, critical thinking–these impulses must be set aside whenever they appear to contradict the biblical text, because the good Christian never questions the ‘clear teachings of Scripture;’ the good Christian listens to God, not her gut” (66).
First off there is some truth to what “fundamentalists” are saying that people can be so effected with sin that they cannot sort out what is right and wrong concerning God. The Bible does teach that people suppress the truth about God (Romans 1:18ff). People’s heart are darkened intellectually due to sin: “they became futile in their thinking.” If this is true then we need to be careful when people question the clear teachings of Scriptures according to an ethical and moral standard that is subjectively based upon an individual. Secondly her comment also misrepresent fundamentalists. She says that because of the noetic effect of sin that means “critical thinking” “must be set aside whenever they appear to contradict the biblical text.” For years our blog have applied critical thinking concerning difficult Biblical texts. As we shall she later below some of her example of difficult biblical passages can be resolved through critical thinking of the text. Thirdly, it is ironic that though she complain about fundamentalists’ alleged lack of critical thinking as we shall she she doesn’t go far enough with critical thinking herself.
Lack of Exegesis
On page 67 Evans stated the following:
So I decided to face the Bible’s war stories head-on, mind and heart fully engaged, willing to risk the loss of faith if that’s where the search led.
I listened to sermons. I read commentaries and theology books. I became a real downer at dinner parties.”
Yet despite what she claimed above similar with the other chapters we’ve critiqued thus far with Evans’ book there is a terrible lack of any serious exegesis being presented. As mentioned in part 1 she complains no one is critiquing her exegesis but none is offered by her of actual deep and meaningful interaction with a passage from Scripture. Instead in the chapter she spends a lot of space and time whining about Evangelicals trying to give her answer such as ambushing her with “well meaning interventions” (69) that is meant to help her deal with her doubts and also of her “friends stopped calling” (69). Her lack of exegesis in this book is a real downer; I think she over-promised on it.
Two Problems from Judges
On page 67 Evans stated the following:
It wasn’t just the story of Noah’s flood or Joshua’s conquests that unsettled me. The book of Judges recounts several horrific war stories in which women’s bodies are used as weapons, barter, or plunder without so much as a peep of objection from the God in whose name these atrocities are committed. One woman, a concubine of a Levite man, is thrown to a mob, gang-raped, and dismembered as part of an intertribal dispute (Judges 19). Another young girl is ceremonially sacrificed to God after God grants a military victory to her father, Jephthah, who promised to offer as a burnt offering ‘whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites (Judges 11:31).” (67)
Evans then quote a feminist name Phyllis Trible and called these two Judges narratives (Judges 11 and Judges 19) as “texts of terror.” I wished Evans dealt with these two alleged chapters and show us her exegesis. But she doesn’t. I have written on Judges 11 here: Resolving Bible Difficulty: Jephthah’s daughter. I have a post on Judges 19 here: What are we to make of the Strange Passage in Judges 19 of the Levite and his concubine?. Both links I believe show critical thought and exegetical consideration in dealing with the alleged difficulties.
Reblogged this on Talmidimblogging.
Thank you for the reblog! Hope you are doing well dear brother Vincent!
Yankee Whiskey Bravo and been a little busy with family projects the last few days, all is very well praise God 😎 Likewise my friend 😁
Again, excellent work, Jim.
RHE often mentions the books she’s consulted and the multi-view books, yet she’s sloppy in some areas. For example, she claims that Hagar was the only person to give God a personal name.
“Just one person in all your sacred Scripture dared to name God, and it wasn’t a priest, prophet, warrior, or king. It was I, Hagar—foreigner, woman, slave.1”
Her cited source is wrong. Psalms provides other examples of people giving God a name.
Good point you made about the Hagar reference in the book in the second chapter; I missed that one. Sometimes there’s so much error I don’t know where to begin so I’m glad you shared that one in the comment which I hope readers will benefit from, from seeing further error on RHE’s part in the book. I’m looking forward to your review by the way, and my completion of the book will take a long time, hope you understand!
Jim, someone else actually pointed it to me, otherwise I would have skipped over that one as well. You nailed it when you noted there were so many errors in her book. She’s essentially writing for uncritical same-thinkers. So she gets away with a lot of stuff.
Reblogged this on BibleProphecyWatch.
Thanks for the reblog; how are you today?
Your welcome brother I’m good thank you for asking how are you doing?
I’m doing well; I’ll be teaching an evangelistic Bible study in about an hour and a half from now followed by a later Bible study for our church’s couple’s meeting. Pray I finish everything I have to prepare and study if you can my dear brother in Christ
That’s good I will pray for you brother. The Lord give you the words to speak.
Seems to me that if her search led her to ‘risk a loss of faith’; that’s a good indication that she is going in the wrong direction.
I agree; it is concerning for me to read that. By the way I think its also revealing how little she interacts with what does the Bible have to say about the Bible itself. Seems that’s a terrible thing to miss given her book is on the nature of the Bible…to me that is a glaring problem. Earlier this year I read a book on Hitchcock and his film; the author of course interacted with what does Hitchcock say about his own film. In fact one would expect that. But with Rachel Held Evans it seems she can miss that and her supporters don’t even see it as an issue. Does that make sense?
Nope. No sense at all. They’re just hearing what they want to hear.
good, but feminist “Christians” are not much different from militant atheists. the two try to distort the bible. while she tries to prove that the bible is egalitarian and not patriarchal, atheists try to prove that Satan is the innocent and God the evil, and the misogynistic bible
I like the two links to your post handling the difficulties in Judges. Probably more fruitful than this chapter in her book of critical thinking
Thanks for calling attention to those two links I gave as I think they really responded to Evans’ concern well by USING CRITICAL THINKING.
Thanks for writing the one on Jephthah
I looking forward to the next chapter you critique
”The book of Judges recounts several horrific war stories in which women’s bodies are used as weapons, barter, or plunder without so much as a peep of objection from the God in whose name these atrocities are committed”
That is meaningless in so many ways. There are MANY things God did not specifically condemn in His Word. He never mentioned pedophilia, animal cruelty, or embezzlement specifically by name either. Yet anyone knows those things are not right, as other context would tell us that. Certainly, one could not make some inference that God, by virtue of not mentioning then, condones them. Sheesh.
Good point; also sometimes some of the actions in Judges are already condemned in the Law of Moses. We should have the norms in the Torah informed how we understand the actions in Judges. Judges’ purpose is to record how the people did what was right in their own eyes so we shouldn’t be surprised that the book would record what heinous things are done during that godless time period. I really think Rachel Held Evans has a superficial read of the book of Judges without consideration of the book’s intent and the larger canonical context. I don’t know how she doesn’t blush saying she’s approaching the Bible with her literary experiences and in an informed manner, when basic Bible reading let alone her claim of exegeting the text, isn’t even being followed. False teachers often don’t know how to blush with their prideful claims…
Indeed. That’s a great point. Judges is history. It’s actually a positive reflection on the inspiration and authenticity of the Bible that the negative is presented so clearly. Somebody making it up would not sharer such negative things about the characters, but would embellish and erase.
The problem is that people do not understand the context of Judges. they were without king and without laws. Judges is nothing more than showing the true character of the human being. it is in a free society, not in a society full of rules, that what we truly are is revealed. for the laws compel us not to do evil for fear of punishment. Paul himself talks about it. Romans 13: 3,4
That is an excellent point! It’s all part of the tapestry of the fall, sin and redemption that is the entire message of God’s Word!
Thanks for the review of this chapter. Unbelievers often raise great objections to the “violence” of the Old Testament but the believer understands God judges all sin and the only deliverance is through Christ. Does Held Evans think she will escape a bad ending? Death awaits her also. She does not see the foreshadowing of deliverance/salvation in Christ in the OT. They are closed books to her.
You said: “Does Held Evans think she will escape a bad ending?“
Response: I am about to teach an evangelistic Bible study in 15 minutes. I don’t have time to research at this moment but I have heard she doesn’t believe in the doctrine of hell.
Hope the Bible study went well!
RE: Held Evans & Hell
Not only is she repulsed by the violence of the OT but she’s also repulsed by Jesus who spoke about Hell quite a bit.
For any who may be interested, Rhett P. Dodson’s book. “Every Promise of Your Word – The Gospel According to Joshua,” does an excellent job on the topic of “genocide” and violence.
That’s helpful to know.
To give her the benefit of the doubt (and I am wildly grasping for something here) concerning critical thinking, maybe she is confusing critical thinking with philosophical type reasoning that has no Biblical basis. I don’t know….I’m just throwing something out there to see if it sticks…
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I think Judges 19 much like Genesis 19
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Sadly your tweet became prophetic without intending to be prophetic https://twitter.com/DomainforTruth/status/1101980904753225729
Chilling
Thanks for telling us that three chapters in and there hasn’t been any serious exegesis being presented.
Thanks so much for your work examining RHE’s book. I was always alarmed at what appeared to be her cavalier handling of God’s truth.😞And now, since RHE’s passing, I’ve witnessed first-hand the refutation of any wrong-doing from what I can only describe as her “disciples.” It’s scary. I pray for them. What RHE would not accept is what God says through his Word:
The heart is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure—who can understand it?
I, the LORD, search the heart;
I examine the mind
to reward a man according to his way,
by what his deeds deserve.
— Jeremiah 17:9, 10
God is speaking to the Israelites regarding their idols and abominations, and the punishment that will come upon them. However, we know that all of humanity has a wicked heart, and we know from the New Testament that God judges the sin of ALL mankind:
“[…] the wages of sin is death…” (Romans 6:23a).
Thank God He provides a “way out” through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ! It’s terrifying to me that RHE would attack “fundamentalism” when what she was really attacking is God Himself.
One has to wonder why the publishers would even print this book that horribly butchered Scripture and others
It also shows how publishers today either are biblicaly illiterate themselves or they care more about the bottom line than being faithful to what da Word really says
What’s up?
I found this article very interesting…please read!
Do you remember the blockbuster hit film The Matrix that was released in 1999? You may not know this, but it has deep spiritual implications concerning the times we are living in and Bible prophecy.
It tells a story of how these “agents” are trying to turn us into machines. We are closer then ever before for this to become a reality when they cause us to receive an implantable microchip in our body during a time when physical money will be no more.
You may have seen on NBC news concerning the implantable RFID microchip that some people are getting put in their hand to make purchases, but did you know this microchip matches perfectly with prophecy in the Bible?
“He (the false prophet who deceives many by his miracles) causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name…
You also may have heard of the legendary number “666” that people have been speculating for possibly thousands of years on what it actually means. This article shares something I haven’t seen before, and I don’t think there could be any better explanation for what it means to calculate 666. This is no hoax. Very fascinating stuff!
…Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666″ (Revelation 13:16-18 NKJV).
GOD is sending out His end time warning:
“Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name” (Revelation 14:9-11).
In the Islamic religion they have man called the Mahdi who is known as their messiah of whom they are waiting to take the stage. There are many testimonies from people online who believe this man will be Barack Obama who is to be the biblical Antichrist based off dreams they have received. I myself have had strange dreams about him like no other person. So much so that I decided to share this information.
He came on stage claiming to be a Christian with no affiliation to the Muslim faith…
“In our lives, Michelle and I have been strengthened by our Christian faith. But there have been times where my faith has been questioned — by people who don’t know me — or they’ve said that I adhere to a different religion, as if that were somehow a bad thing,” – Barack Obama
…but was later revealed by his own family members that he indeed is a devout Muslim.
So what’s in the name? The meaning of someones name can say a lot about a person. God throughout history has given names to people that have a specific meaning tied to their lives. How about the name Barack Obama? Let us take a look at what may be hiding beneath the surface…
“And He (Jesus) said to them (His disciples), ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven'” (Luke 10:18).
In the Hebrew language we can uncover the meaning behind the name Barack Obama.
Barack, also transliterated as Baraq, in Hebrew is: lightning
baraq – Biblical definition:
From Strongs H1299; lightning; by analogy a gleam; concretely a flashing sword: – bright, glitter (-ing, sword), lightning. (Strongs Hebrew word H1300 baraq baw-rawk’)
Barak ‘O’bamah, The use of bamah is used to refer to the “heights” of Heaven.
bamah – Biblical definition:
From an unused root (meaning to be high); an elevation: – height, high place, wave. (Strongs Hebrew word H1116 bamah baw-maw’)
The day following the election of Barack Obama (11/04/08), the winning pick 3 lotto numbers in Illinois (Obama’s home state) for 11/5/08 were 666.
Obama was a U.S. senator for Illinois, and his zip code was 60606.
Seek Jesus while He may be found…repent, confess and forsake your sins and trust in the savior! Jesus says we must be born again by His Holy Spirit to enter the kingdom of God…God bless!
Is there any proof online of Obama’s zip code was 60606?