Evolving in Monkey Town: How a Girl Who Knew All the Answers Learned to… (2010)

Rachel Held Evans is not afraid to ask the hard questions. She is not afraid to have no solid answers. An honest account of her personal struggle with faith and fundamentalism. A quick, easy read but may require rereading. Well worth the time. Quotes" "I believe that the best way to reclaim the gospel in times of change is not to cling more tightly to our convictions but to hold them with an open hand." "Evolution means letting go of our false fundamentals so that God can get into those shadowy places we're not sure we want him to be. It means being okay with being wrong, okay with not having all the answers, okay with never being finished." "If salvation is available only to Christians, then the gospel isn't good news at all." ( )

4 stars. ( )

This is a very interesting book in which the auhor, Rachel Held Evans describes her journey from a rock solid, unquestioning fundamentalist faith to one where she is no longer afraid of doubts and not knowing all the answers. This journey is set against the backdrop of growing up in "monkey town" Dayton Tennessee, which was the site of the infamous Scopes Monkey Trial in the 1920s and remains a bastion of fundamentalism to this day.

Rachel raises a lot of challenges questions and observations in her anecdotal style, but despite her questions she still presents a vibrant, passionate faith, robust in the face of doubts - just robust in a different way to what she might have imagined as a student. She makes some very incisve observations as to how the whole field of apologetics seems to be missing the point in many ways. A couple of quotes : "most of our peers were receptive to spiritual things... they weren't searching for historical evidence in support of the bodily resurrection of Jesus. They were searching for some signs of life among his followers... Most weren't looking for a faith that provided all the answers; they were looking for one in which they were free to ask questions." (p203-204) If you can appreciate the message in those quotes, then I think you will appreciate this book. ( )

What happened to the millions of Holocaust victims immediately after their death? Did God consign them to eternal torture for not believing in his Son?

If that question doesn’t bother you, then don’t bother with this book. If you do wrestle with it, Evan’s memoir will remind you that you’re not the only person on this journey.

Evolving in Monkey Town is the story of Evan’s spiritual journey from a fundamentalist with all the correct answers to an honest believer. If you were raised in a fundamentalist setting, this book will resonate. Evans has a knack for describing the absurdities of fundamentalism with grace and plenty of humour.

I should warn you that this book will make you think through issues many of us prefer to leave buried, such as the fate of people who have never heard of Jesus. The challenge, however, is well worth accepting for any believer looking to grow up. Loving God with all our heart as well as our mind demands nothing less. ( )