Rachel opens her introduction to A Year of Biblical Womanhood in her hairdresser’s chair, about to explain why she had not visited in over a year. Well, it’s a long story… It’s a cute start, and her wry humor continues as she lays out for her readers her thought process in developing the 12-month experiment of living out the literal commands for women in the Bible.
Crucial to her reasoning were the questions, “Exactly how do we use the term ‘biblical’? Where are we evangelicals guilty of cherry-picking selective verses to apply to modern life, particularly (in this case) the ones about women? Is there a scriptural mold that all women fit into?”
I can’t tell yet whether I’m going to agree with her every conclusion and applaud her methodology. But I do appreciate her sense of humor and her sense of outrage. Diving into a deep study of scripture in order to mine the truth is never a waste of time. So let’s see how her first month’s experiment goes in Chapter one.
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Favorite lines:
Quoting her mother, who was not fond of the traditional SAHM role, “‘The only people who enjoy potlucks are men,’ she used to say. ‘The women do all the work.'”
In reference to her proposed project: “As it turns out, there are publishers out there who will actually pay for you to jump down rabbit holes, so long as they believe said rabbit holes are marketable to the general public.”
“Take Proverbs 31, for example. As it turns out, we have a woman to thank for the ancient acrostic poem that outlines in excruciating detail the daily activities of an excellent wife, perpetuating a three-thousand-year-old inferiority complex among just about every woman in the Judeo-Christian tradition.”