A Summary of Section 3: Chapters 6-8

            Chapters 6-8, covering the months of April, May, and June, continue the established routine of wrestling with difficult subjects and the resulting liberating personal epiphanies.

            Evans dedicates April to understanding biblical purity. To this end, she includes “Observe the Levitical Purity Laws by undergoing twelve days of ritual impurity during menstruation (Leviticus 15:19-31), Camp out in the front yard for the first three days of impurity (Leviticus 15:19), and Eat only pure (kosher) food” to her monthly task list (Evans 146). Evans examines Scriptures relating to menstruation or, “the manner of women,” and participates in the Jewish tradition of niddah, a monthly time of separation in which the woman is forbidden from having any physical contact with males. Evans reports that observing niddah was easily one of the most difficult initiatives of her project, largely because she felt isolated, but also because it created awkward situations at a wedding. Chapter 6, which was unusually devoid of Scriptural references in comparison to previous chapters, ended with Evans’ musings on the story of the woman with a hemorrhage in Mark. Jesus made it his business to ignore the Levitical purity laws, for “when God became human, when he wrapped himself in our blood and skin and bones, his first order of business was to touch the ones that we would not touch, to fellowship in our sufferings, and to declare once and for all that purity is found not in the body, but in the heart” (Evans 171).

            In Chapter 7, the month of May, Evans confronts her personal struggle with motherhood as she examines fertility. As she reads a “stack of parenting books (Genesis 1:28, Ephesians 6:4), come[s] clean about [her] fear of motherhood (1 Timothy 2:15), and care[s] for a computerized ‘Baby-Think-It-Over’ for three days (Titus 2:4),” Evans wrestles with the current church’s teachings concerning motherhood (Evans 174). Her musings and research lead her to conclude that her “highest calling is not motherhood; [her] highest calling is to follow Christ” (Evans 180). Evans also expresses deep fear at bringing precious humans into a world that can do so much damage to its inhabitants, wondering if her heart could handle loving another fragile human. Her blog readers respond to her fear with hundreds of genuine stories about their own personal fear of motherhood, whether current or past. Evans begins to realize that it’s impossible to really understand, prepare, and minimize every fear related to motherhood because “faith isn’t about having everything figured out ahead of time” (Evans 188). Caring for a computerized baby brings a new level of stress for Evans, but also, a new level of confidence. Evans ends the chapter declaring that she knows she’ll be a great mom someday.

            Evans tackles the daunting concept of submission in the month of June. She tasks herself to “Submit to Dan ‘in everything’ (Ephesians 5:22-24), Serve as Dan’s executive assistant, based on Debi Pearl’s understanding of ‘helpmeet’ (Genesis 2:18), Observe the Good Wife Rules, circa 1950, and Find out what biblical submission really means” (Evans 201). For many Christians, the relationship between man and woman is essentially hierarchal: man leads, woman follows. Evans implements all but the most radical standards associated with a woman submitting to a man to her relationship with her husband. After a few days, Dan becomes thoroughly uncomfortable and commands her to stop abiding by the 1950s Good Wife Rules. Evans continues to examine Scripture and learns that Paul’s writings on the relationship between man and woman, master and slave were an effort to reframe the current cultural norms and give it a “dignity, either that of identification with Christ or of identification with the ‘holy women’ of Jewish antiquity” (Evans 217). She concludes that biblical marriage is designed to include mutual submission between husband and wife.

            With another three months completed in her Year of Biblical Womanhood Project, Evans continues her dedicated research and hysterically genuine initiatives in good faith.

A Summary of Section 2: Chapters 3-5

January, February, and March prove to be full of as many laughs, epiphanies, and battles with the concept of biblical as October, November, and December. Evans continues to research, question, and reflect on biblical womanhood and, more specifically, Proverbs 31, beauty, and modesty.

Evans dedicates January to understanding the Proverbs 31 woman. She begins the chapter by acknowledging the widely held belief that Proverbs 31 is a task list for women to fulfill. In reality, Proverbs 31 is a poem intended for men to memorize and use to bless their wives. Somehow Proverbs 31 has been repositioned towards women and has generated an immense amount of products designed to teach women to fulfill the Proverbs 31 ideal. Evans’ research leads her to develop a daily task list including the assignments “Get up before dawn- ‘She gets up while it is still dark’ (v. 15), Make every meal and keep the house clean- ‘She provides food for her family’ (v.15); ‘She watches over the affairs of the home’ (v. 27), Avoid TV, Facebook and Twitter- ‘[She] does not eat the bread of idleness’ (v.27)” (Evans 77). Evans also creates a to-do list for the month, which, among other tasks, requires that she learn to sew, make a purple dress, invest in real estate, and “praise Dan at the city gate” (Evans 78). In the midst of her battles with her sister-in-law’s sewing machine, her new early schedule, and balancing the sheer amount of tasks she set herself, Evans quickly reports shame and insecurity at her inability to even partially achieve the Proverbs 31 woman characterization. She turns to her new friend Ahava, a rabbi’s wife from Israel, for clarification on the passage. Ahava’s response discusses a different interpretation of Proverbs 31, one that praises women for their work in the home as opposed to strict requirements for every woman’s success. Ahava’s husband sings her the Proverbs 31 poem each Sabbath as a blessing and a praise “ ‘for blessing the family with [her] energy and creativity. All women can do that in their own way. I bet you do it as well’ ” (Evans 88). The Proverbs 31 poem praises women of valor and not women of accomplished checklists, a fact that Evans finds liberating as she continues to battle with her sister-in-law’s sewing machine through the end of the month.

February emphasizes beauty in Evans’ year of biblical womanhood. Evans’ to do list includes “Find out what the Bible really says about beauty and sex; Interview a couple who practiced ‘biblical courtship;’ and Give Dan a ‘Sex Anytime’ coupon (1Corinthians 7:4-5)” (Evans 99). Evans dedicates the first section of the chapter to discussing the “Christian” beauty-related expectations for wives she has heard over the years. These expectations are summed up in two sentences: “The notion that buried somewhere in the sacred texts of Scripture is a verse directed at women that says ‘Thou shalt not let thyself go’ has gained considerable traction within the Christian community in recent years” and, “Upon reaching her wedding night, a Christian woman is expected to transform from the model of chastity into a veritable sex goddess, ready to honor God by satisfying her husband’s sexual needs without fail” (Evans 101,103). Evans researches the Bible for herself and concludes “for all of its complexity and incongruity, its mysteries and its dark stories, the Bible consistently presents us with a realistic and affirming view of female beauty” that does not expect eternal external beauty and assigns both husbands and wives the “sweet responsibility of seeking beauty in one another at all stages of life” (Evans 105, 106). Evans also determines that 1 Corinthians 7:4-5, a passage often used to declare that women are required to say yes whenever and to “whatever a husband initiates in the bedroom,” is more about sexual mutuality and equality than masculine dominance (Evans 108). In the final section of the chapter, Evans argues that Christians should be wary of placing biblical sex into a box “when sex- like beauty and like God- remains shaded with mystery” (Evans 114).

Evans emphasizes modesty during the month of March, adding “Dress modestly (1 Timothy 2:9); Wear a head covering (1 Corinthians 11:6); Wear only dresses and skirts (Deuteronomy 22:5); Abstain from wearing jewelry (1 Timothy 2:9); Hang out with the Amish” to her to-do list (Evans 120). She learns that modesty is a multi-faceted concept, encompassing apparel, action, and character. Evans also, after implementing her new wardrobe, experiences judgment from strangers who assume she is a religious fundamentalist based on her appearance. Later in the chapter, Evans describes her interactions with two Amish women, musing that the modest culture associated with the Amish does not necessarily mean that each Amish person is modest. Evans concludes that modesty is difficult to understand and in an effort to comprehend the concept people are quick to codify and legislate. Evans concludes this chapter with the phrase, “it’s not what we wear but how we wear it. And like clothing, modestly fits each woman a little differently” (Evans 140).

Rachel Evans makes some profound statements in chapters 3-5 of her book A Year of Biblical Womanhood. She continues to write in an authentic, down to earth nature, bringing her mind and love for God to the immense task of discovering the nature of biblical womanhood. 

A Summary of Section 1: Epilogue through Chapter 3

In the introduction, Rachel Evans explains the general thought process behind her decision to spend a year living according to the Bible’s decrees about women. She and her husband, Dan, had an agreement that they “would start a family as soon as [they] became independently wealthy or [Rachel] turned thirty, whichever happened first” (Evans XV). Evans celebrated her 29^th birthday and began to wonder if this was her “last year of freedom” (Evans XV). This consideration raised questions about the nature of womanhood, and women’s role in Christianity, the home, and relationship. Evans reflected on all of the mixed messages she had received over her 29 years of life about how to be a biblical woman and concluded that her evangelical understanding of biblical womanhood did not really include the entire Bible, but was instead highly selective. Her reflection produced an interesting set of questions:

“Could an ancient collection of sacred texts, spanning multiple genres and assembled over thousands of years in cultures very different form our own, really offer a single cohesive formula for how to be a woman? And do all the women of Scripture fit into this same mold? Must I?” (Evans XX)

Out of this set of questions came Evans’ vow to spend one year pursuing true biblical womanhood, researching every Scriptural passage relating to women, and attempting to follow as many of the Bible’s guidelines concerning women as possible. Each month Evans focused on a different biblically based virtue. Throughout the process, she blogged her experience for the world to consider.

            In the month of October, the first month of Evans’ year of biblical womanhood, gentleness is the primary focus. As in every month in the coming year, Evans makes a scripturally based to-do list concerning the virtue related to that month. October’s gentleness to-do list includes statements such as, “Cultivate a gentle and quiet spirit, even during football games (1 Peter 3:3-4), Practice contemplative prayer (Psalm 131), Make a ‘swearing jar’ for behaviors that mimic the “contentious woman” of Proverbs (Proverbs 21:19; 19:13; 27:15 NKJV), Do penance on the rooftop for acts of contention (Proverbs 21:9)” (Evans 1). Over the course of the month, Evans struggles with the restraints gentleness places on her football-watching habits, reaction to nasty commenters on her blog, adjustment to her new “up before dawn” schedule, and devotion to “the duties of the home” (Evans 5). She also works to curb her “less-than-gentle habits” using the Jar of Contention, to which she adds a few cents for each time she caught herself “in the act of contention,” which includes gossiping, nagging, complaining, exaggerating, and snark (Evans 8). When the Jar of Contention proves to be working only in minute ways, Evans turns to contemplative prayer, through which she experiences a new sense of stability and security. She concludes that perhaps God wants to teach her that, “gentleness begins with strength, quietness with security” (Evans 16).

            In the month of November, Evans focused on domesticity, including “Cook through Martha Stewart’s Cooking School (Proverbs 31:15; Titus 2:5), Clean through Martha Stewart’s Homekeeping Handbook (Titus 2:5), and host a dinner party (1Peter 4:9; Hebrews 13:2)” in her to do list (Evans 21). Evans discovers that she greatly enjoys the focused task of cooking, and learns to truly appreciate the value of cleaning. After considering Brother Lawrence’s efforts to act faithfully even in small, mundane tasks, Rachel seeks to care for her home with greater mindfulness. Hosting a dinner party proves initially stressful, but ultimately rewarding as she remembers the Scripture from Hebrews 13, “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by doing so some have unwittingly entertained angels.” As a part of studying Scripture related to women, Evans spends a great deal of time considering Martha and Mary. From those studies, she realizes that there are many tasks, like maintaining the home, that can lead people to God, “but God is not contained in them” (Evans 36).

            In the month of December, Evans considers obedience and her relationship to her husband. She assigns herself three tasks: “Call Dan ‘master’ (1Peter 3:1-6), Interview a polygamist (Genesis 30; Exodus 21:10), and Hold a ceremony in honor of the victims of biblical misogyny (Judges 11:37-40)” (Evans 47). This is the first month in Evans’ “radical experiment” in which she faces the fact that the Bible “routinely describes women as property” (Evans 48). She includes several Scriptural passages in this section discussing adultery, freedom (or lack thereof), rape, and captivity as it relates to women, highlighting her discomfort at the realities of these passages. Through researching these Scriptures, Evans discovers Vision Forum, a group “committed to preserving as much of the patriarchal structure of Old Testament law as possible”  (Evans 51). Evans also examines the story of Jesus Christ who, when confronted with a woman caught in the act of adultery, responds with, “Let any of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her” (John 8:7 NIV). She remarks in her discussion “the disturbing laws of Leviticus and Deuteronomy lose just a bit of their potency when God himself breaks them” (Evans 54). Evans then sets herself the task of calling her husband, Dan, “Master” for a week in response to the 1 Peter passage that identifies Sarah as an example of a wife who submitted to her husband. At the end of that week, Evans remarks that Sarah wasn’t truly a model for submissive behavior. After all, Sarah ordered Abraham to banish Hagar and her son so that he would never share an inheritance with Isaac. Evans also interviews a woman who is a sister wife in a polygamous family, learning much about the dynamic within a polygamous family and finally remarking on the Bible’s specific use of rival to describe sister-wives. In the final section of the chapter devoted to December, Evans wrestles with the story of Jephthah’s promise to God and his subsequent fulfillment of that promise in sacrificing his only daughter. Before Jephthah sacrificed her, he allowed her to wander the hills for two months in mourning. From then through the writing of Judges, the women of Israel began a tradition in which they “go out for four days to commemorate the daughter of Jephthah” (Judges 11:39-40 KJV). In an effort to honor that ceremony, Evans invites a friend over to “honor the victims of the Bible’s ‘texts of terror’ ” (Evans 64). Their simple ceremony remembers the daughter of Jephthah, the unnamed concubine from Judges 19, Hagar, and Tamar of the Davidic narrative. Evans ends this section proposing that Christian women have forgotten the dark stories of the Bible in their pursuit of biblical womanhood. She proposes that it is the responsibility of women of faith to “guard the dark stories for our own daughters, and when they are old enough, to hold their faces between our hands and make them promise to remember” (Evans 66).

             Evans writes the first four sections of her book with earnest authenticity, asking difficult questions and pursuing difficult answers. She hasn’t solved it all, but she pursues God in her musings and in her actions.