The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert: Expanded Edition

I especially enjoyed the first three chapters of this book, and bits and pieces of the final two chapters. Her writing is excellent, skillful, honest, and inspiring.

For me some of the focus in the final two chapters was too much on her denomination’s beliefs and some other things related to adopting, fostering, and homeschooling children. I would’ve loved to hear a bit more of the personal things with her family rather than more informational things in these chapters.

Aside from some nuggets I underlined here and there in those latter chapters, I wasn’t a fan of this because—though it was informative and would be helpful if I wanted to study these subjects—I wanted to read a memoir, not information about her denomination, show more marriage theology, etc.

TL,DR; I really enjoyed the first three chapters and was even moved to tears a few times and I’m glad to have finally gotten to read this book, but the final two chapters were disappointing. show less

A story of conversion to Christ is always refreshing and encouraging, but the story of Rosaria Champagne Butterfield is more than that, it is faith-restoring. Her story reminds evangelical Christians that the saving power of the gospel really is bigger than the contemporary “threat” of homosexuality. The book addresses the homosexual question from the inside out, and illustrates what an incarnated gospel ministry and a church full of people who have the compassion of Christ can accomplish through Christ.

Rosaria Champagne was a tenured English professor and chair of feminist studies, at Syracuse University. She was also an outspoken lesbian. She was up and coming and making a name for herself. But then, she was abruptly stopped in show more her tracks through an encounter with a kind Reformed pastor who took the time to interact with her on a column she had written in the paper. She didn’t know how to classify his letter, it didn’t fit in the fan mail category, nor was it hate mail. Eventually she was drawn into a friendly exchange with him and slowly he began to shatter her perceptions about Christianity. Over time, she was drawn to faith in Jesus Christ, and slowly came to reject her identity as a lesbian and found new life in Christ.

Her story is told with honesty and charm in an autobiographical account titled "The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert: An English Professor's Journey into Christian Faith." In her book, Rosaria Butterfield recounts her conversion and her growth in understanding the Scriptures. She recounts the struggle it was to be accepted as a redeemed lesbian in conservative Reformed circles. She shares her struggles and misteps in forming healthy relationships, and shares some of her steps on the way to marriage. She recounts her husband’s ministry and her involvement as a ministry partner and home-schooling mother. She also opines about problems she sees in Evangelicalism, including our modern obsession with our rights to sex. She also defends exclusive psalmody in worship.

This “unlikely convert” speaks with a disarming grace, that educates, inspires and aims to help us all change. She attacks the hidden part of us which may loathe the homosexual, and illustrates how genuine ministry will be messy and will prize making a difference above staying safe. Her story is a call to the church to come out of her cocoon and take the saving gospel of Jesus to the world around us.

I listened to the ChristianAudio production of this book. The recording was extra special in that Rosaria read her own book. The emotion and flavor of the audio recording was certainly enhanced with the author as narrator. The book is quite short, but profound. I highly recommend it. It will challenge and inspire, encourage and perhaps unsettle. Above all, it will magnify Christ.

Disclaimer: This book was provided by christianaudio.com as part of the christianaudio Reviewers Program. The reviewer was under no obligation to offer a positive review. show less

This was such a well told story of this author's life story. It was very thought provoking and challenging to me. She is a lady I would love to meet someday. Rosaria was living a very good life as a tenured professor at a large university. She was respected and looked up to by folks in her community of friends. But in her late 30s she encountered the idea of Christianity; "a religion she had regarded as problematic and sometimes downright damaging". But she will come to realize that what they thought about God might be true. Her sudden change in life-style and her testimony for the Lord will greatly affect her friendships. But the transformation and the love and family that follows was a joy to read about. Here is a woman who said show more herself, "Sometimes in crisis, . . .sometimes our character is simply transformed." I thank the Lord for her testimony and for this book that I read. show less

I've been reading Rosaria Butterfield's book The secret thoughts of an unlikely convert. I don't often read books by pastor's wives, certainly not from the Reformed Presbyterian fold but this one has been well touted in certain circles and so I downloaded it from Amazon and had a read. Most of the book is pretty tame as she gives the thumbs up to unaccompanied psalm singing, home schooling, adopting and fostering and other things and thumbs down to Rick Warren, etc. I think it brave of the RPs to put out a book that is fairly warts and all.
The most interesting chapter is undoubtedly the first, however - what she calls her train wreck conversion. This is because she starts out being as far from an RP pastor's wife as one can imagine. She show more was a tenured professor of Critical Theory (specifically in Queer Theory ie Gay and Lesbian studies) at Syracuse University. She was a feminist, a practising lesbian and a gay rights activist. Although I am quite sure God can convert anyone it was nice to see how this happened in order to strengthen faith and increase wisdom on how to approach someone you fundamentlly disagree with.
The fact that is it now some years since all this happened is a great bonus. Mrs Butterfield's personality has clearly not changed but God has undoubtedly done a powerful work in her heart and her story is worth listening to. show less

Rosaria Champagne Butterfield went from being a lesbian feminist university professor to a preacher’s wife and homeschooling mother. This book is the story of her spiritual journey. In a time when many on opposite sides of cultural and political divides cannot manage to be civil to one another, it is refreshing to read about the open and respectful dialogue Butterfield experienced with her new acquaintances in the Reformed Presbyterian Church. Butterfield recognizes the difference between cheap and costly grace. Her conversion to Christianity came at the cost of cherished friendships, career, and community. The themes of repentance and hospitality stand out in this memoir, and hospitality is the major theme of the additional content show more in the expanded edition. show less

A quite surprising book. I was tempted to give only four stars due to the author’s insistence on exclusive psalmody, but as I have some sympathy to that position, and principally because she is so honest, candid, well informed and just plain wonderful both about her conversion and her maturing as a Christian woman, wife & mother, I took an average with the six starts I wanted to give and arrived at five…

I cannot remember where I first heard about this book. I skim about 15 blogs a day and have Twitter and Facebook friends who post cool items all the time, so it is escaping me as to where I first learned about this book. And I am pretty sad about that because I feel an overwhelming urge to thank that person. Maybe it was here, or here, or here. Nonetheless, God, through Mrs. Butterfield and through that recommendation, truly blessed me. Greatly. Immensely. Amazingly.

Here is the publisher's description of the book:
Rosaria, by the standards of many, was living a very good life. She had a tenured position at a large university in a field for which she cared deeply. She owned two homes with her partner, in which they provided hospitality show more to students and activists that were looking to make a difference in the world. There, her partner rehabilitated abandoned and abused dogs. In the community, Rosaria was involved in volunteer work. At the university, she was a respected advisor of students and her department's curriculum. And then, in her late 30s, Rosaria encountered something that turned her world upside down-the idea that Christianity, a religion that she had regarded as problematic and sometimes downright damaging, might be right about who God was, an idea that flew in the face of the people and causes that she most loved. What follows is a story of what she describes as a "train wreck" at the hand of the supernatural. These are her secret thoughts about those events, written as only a reflective English professor could.

This book is encouraging and moving. It is startling in its honesty and its perspective. This book is a quote machine but it does not sacrifice substance for pith. It addresses a wide range of contemporary issues, not the least of which is how God moved her from Lesbianism and, even more importantly, a post modern skepticism that had left her disillusioned with the central truth claims of Biblical Christianity. The story of her conversion is messy, sad, encouraging and exciting. It is brilliantly written and greatly God-honoring.

I did have a solitary problem with the book. I was concerned with, and put off at times with, how the Regulative Principle of worship was handled. Two issues concerned me. First, the Regulative Principle was presented as the only viable, Biblical approach to Christian worship and that it was definitely the only one that faithfully lived out Sola Scriptura.

Secondly, and much more of an issue, was the fact that I was bewildered to see such an extensive discussion on this topic in this text. I feel it does a disservice to the book and will cause many who take up reading it to put it down and not return. I, personally, love reading about topics such as this and I was still tempted to abandon it because of the time spent on the topic and the manner in which it was approached. Which is sad. The remaining pages are filled with Gospel-drenched counsel, encouraging stories and a call to reach the unloved unlike any I have ever seen. It encouraged me to continue in the path God has placed before me and my family and challenged me in how I reach out to the hurting and the unloved. I praise God that I pressed through on the Regulative Principle pages and saw the gold awaiting me at the end of this book.

Doug Wilson, on his blog, noted something special about the book.
...while the book is relatively short, it is jammed with passing observations that are priceless. She is a wise woman with a good eye. Not only does she have a good eye, she has a trained outsider's eye. She was converted out of the world, and grafted into Christ. Her description of that is glorious. But she was also converted out of one tribe, and grafted into another tribe, a reality which gave her a good perspective on which aspects of our behavior (in the conservative Reformed world) were about Jesus, and which ones were merely tribal . . . and kind of odd. Consequently, there are observational gems throughout the book, usually just a sentence or two, but which could be developed into chapters or books all on their own. Pay attention to those.
I cannot think of a better endorsement than the fact that I have already gifted a copy of this book. And, though my "To Be Read" list is immense(and ridiculously impossible, to be honest), I will read this book again. It is that good. To quote Doug Wilson, "Gosh, what a book."
And Carl Trueman's take is equally appropriate(from a GREAT review of the book),
I cannot recommend this book highly enough. I do not agree with everything she says; but I did learn from everything she wrote. It deserves the widest possible readership.
Couldn't say it better myself. show less