“If I’ve learned anything over the past five years, it’s that doubt is the mechanism by which faith evolves. It helps us cast off false fundamentals so that we can recover what has been lost or embrace what is new. It is a refining fire, a hot flame that keeps our faith alive and moving and bubbling about, where certainty would only freeze it on the spot.” - from Faith Unraveled
When I was a little girl, I vowed to see my first book in print by the age of 10. So when people told me that 27 was too young to write and publish a memoir, I kindly informed them that I was actually running about 17 years late.
I dressed up as an author for career day in third grade. Had I known the actual "uniform" of the working writer, I would have just worn my pajamas.
It is both sweet and strange to read through the pages of that first book, so carefully and earnestly written. They tell the story of my childhood faith, my life as a young Christian apologist in Dayton, Tennessee (home of the famous Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925), and those first few questions about Christianity that slowly unraveled everything I thought I believed.
Dan made me do this.
The book, Evolving in Monkey Town, was published by Zondervan in 2010 and became an important avenue through which to connect with other Christians who were struggling with doubts about their faith and wondering where they fit into the church. What a joy it was to receive letters from readers containing those two powerful words: “Me too.”
Evolving in Monkey Town didn’t exactly sell off the shelves—(it’s always a fun surprise when someone brings it to a book signing!)—but it gave me the opportunity to keep writing, which is all I’ve ever wanted to do.
So it brings me great joy to announce today that Evolving in Monkey Town has officially been re-released by Zondervan with a new title and new cover. Faith Unraveled: How a Girl Who Knew All the Answers Learned to Ask the Questions hits the shelves today.
If you know me only through the blog or my second book (A Year of Biblical Womanhood) you will find some surprises in Faith Unraveled, like how I won the Best Christian Attitude Award at my elementary school four years in a row, how I survived the annual Judgment Day House at First Baptist Church in Dayton, how I studied to defend young earth creationism in college, how I travelled to India in search of God, how a woman named Zarmina changed my life. This is a deeply personal book, and it delves into the places, stories, questions, and relationships that most shaped my faith journey. I suspect many of you will find them familiar.
If you’ve already read this one, all that’s changed is the title and cover and a few revisions. But if you’re interested in helping to get the word out, consider sharing a favorite quote on Twitter or Facebook today or leaving an Amazon review. As work continues on Book #3 (due out this fall) and I take a little blogging break, I hope this first book, written with as much love and courage as my 27-year-old self could muster, will do what it was always intended to do: remind you that you’re not alone.
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