The firebrand writer died unexpectedly over the weekend at the age of 37. Emma Green from The Atlantic takes a look at the life of a Christian blogger, author, and joyful troublemaker online.
Rachel Held Evans died on Saturday from massive brain swelling after being hospitalized for an infection, according to her family. She was 37. Evans leaves behind two little kids, a husband, and four books to her name. Her death has been met with an up-swelling of grief and appreciation from loyal readers, famous pastors who sparred with her, and, especially, young people who saw her as a mentor.
This bevy of tributes is a testament to the distinctive role Evans developed over her decade-and-a-half-long writing career: She was part of a vanguard of progressive-Christian women who fought to change the way Christianity is taught and perceived in the United States. Especially for people who have felt hurt by or unwelcome in the Church, Evans provided a safe shore, full of encouragement and defiant acceptance. Many of those who befriended her and followed her work have, in turn, become well-known figures in the progressive-Christian world, such as Reverend Jes Kast and Austin Channing Brown. Evans helped forge new space for diverse voices who are denied authority or power in the Christian world—a legacy that will last far beyond her death… Read full post on The Atlantic
Discover Rachel Held Evans‘ Kindle books:
![A Year of Biblical Womanhood: How a Liberated Woman Found Herself Sitting on Her Roof, Covering Her Head, and Calling Her Husband 'Master' by [Evans, Rachel Held]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51U-zfju9rL.jpg)
4.5 stars – 706 reviews
What is “biblical womanhood” . . . really?
![Searching for Sunday: Loving, Leaving, and Finding the Church by [Evans, Rachel Held]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51Pv1oY2oYL.jpg)
Searching for Sunday: Loving, Leaving, and Finding the Church
4.6 stars – 552 reviews
Like millions of her millennial peers, Rachel Held Evans didn’t want to go to church anymore. The hypocrisy, the politics, the gargantuan building budgets, the scandals–church culture seemed so far removed from Jesus. Yet, despite her cynicism and misgivings, something kept drawing her back to Church. And so she set out on a journey to understand Church and to find her place in it.
Centered around seven sacraments, Evans’ quest takes readers through a liturgical year with stories about baptism, communion, confirmation, confession, marriage, vocation, and death that are funny, heartbreaking, and sharply honest.
![Faith Unraveled: How a Girl Who Knew All the Answers Learned to Ask Questions by [Evans, Rachel Held]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/4163-pQlKKL.jpg)
Faith Unraveled: How a Girl Who Knew All the Answers Learned to Ask Questions
4.5 stars – 158 reviews
How an evolving spiritual journey leads to an unshakeable faith.
Eighty years after the Scopes Monkey Trial made a spectacle of Christian fundamentalism and brought national attention to her hometown, Rachel Held Evans faced a trial of her own when she began to have doubts about her faith.
In Faith Unraveled, Rachel recounts growing up in a culture obsessed with apologetics, struggling as her own faith unraveled one unexpected question at a time.
In order for her faith to survive, Rachel realizes, it must adapt to change and evolve. Using as an illustration her own spiritual journey from certainty to doubt to faith, Evans challenges you to disentangle your faith from false fundamentals and to trust in a God who is big enough to handle your tough questions.