Braving the Truth - by Rachel Held Evans & Sarah Bessey (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

New York Times bestselling author Rachel Held Evans inspired a generation of questioning and evolving believers. This book offers a collection of her most impactful essays--in print for the first time.

For a generation finding their footing in life after evangelicalism, Rachel Held Evans was one of the most trusted and beloved voices of our time. Stubborn in her hope, courageous in her questions, and devoted to inclusivity, her online writing was a sanctuary to the millions who read her words daily. Her death to a sudden illness in 2019 invoked a global outpouring of stories of her legacy and influence.
Today, her words still speak, and now for the first time, fans old and new can experience her most viral and enduring essays in print--from those tackling patriarchy, white supremacy, and religious nationalism to those offering new interpretations of Scripture, freeing perspectives on doubt, and a better way forward. Braving the Truth is an anthology and keepsake collection letting readers borrow the bravery Rachel was best known for. Edited by New York Times bestselling author and Rachel's dear friend Sarah Bessey, this special volume is interspersed with reflections from:

• Shauna Niequist on the practice of bravery
• Glennon Doyle on the decision to "stay and complicate"
• Jen Hatmaker on LGBTQ+ allyship and affirming theology
• Lisa Sharon Harper on fighting white patriarchy in the church
• Matthew Paul Turner on the freedom of the "slippery slope" of asking questions
• Kaitlin B. Curtice on solidarity, kinship, and "tending the spiritual fire"
• And more from Candice Marie Benbow, Micha Boyett, Cindy Wang Brandt, Alise Chaffins, Shane Claiborne, Monica A. Coleman, Shannon Dingle, Peter Enns, Kathy Escobar, Kathleen Gleason, Austen Hartke, Peter Held, Carol Howard, Kristen Howerton, Zack Hunt, Emmy Kegler, Kathy Khang, Mihee Kim-Kort, Rachel Kurtz, Tanya Marlow, Sarah McCammon, Mike McHargue, Scot McKnight, Brian D. McLaren, Mason Mennenga, Osheta Moore, Amanda Held Opelt, Matthias Roberts, Winnie Varghese, Matthew Vines, and Kelsey Hanson Woodruff

"If you want to understand the Church today, you need to understand Rachel Held Evans," so writes Sarah Bessey. Thoughtful yet down-to-earth, immediate and timeless, this essay collection is a gift from the past to bring into the future--a treasury to revitalize, validate, embolden, and return to again and again.

Review Quotes

"I think of Rachel's bravery so often these days, especially when I'm writing about the world we find ourselves in... even as I sit down to write about her, I feel a prick of conscience, a little kick in the pants... could you be a little braver? Wouldn't she?" - Shauna Niequist, New York Times bestselling author of Present Over Perfect
"I don't know how Rachel did it. Day after day, year after year, I watched her deepen and widen the definition of Christian." - Glennon Doyle, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Untamed
"Prophetic blogger and author Rachel Held Evans was not supposed to change the world, but she did." - Lisa Sharon Harper, activist and author of The Very Good Gospel
"Rachel was a woman of valor, nailing her proverbial theses to the digital church door and helping fuel much-needed reform." - Matthew Vines, bestselling author of God and the Gay Christian
"Rachel was this brilliant thinker with a backbone of steel and a heart of gold. I'd never encountered anyone like her and haven't since...For every person who has responded to my leadership in their life toward a spiritual evolution, know there was a Rachel in mine first." - Jen Hatmaker, New York Times bestselling author of For the Love
"Rachel gave permission to an entire generation to quite simply tell the truth. She was a prophet in a cardigan, a friend to the misfits and wanderers, a hopeful voice, and an unrepentant questioner... If you want to understand the Church today, you need to understand Rachel Held Evans." - Sarah Bessey, bestselling author of Field Notes for the Wilderness: Practices for an Evolving Faith
"As a Potawatomi person, we are the firekeepers, and every day I think about the fire I carry, and ask how I can help others carry their fires, too. This is what Rachel Held Evans embodied for so many of us and continues to inspire in us today--a tending to the spiritual fire of our generation." - Kaitlin Curtice, poet and author of Native: Identity, Belonging, and Rediscovering God