This book was all tell, no show. The lore made no sense and was, at times, completely contradictory. I really wanted to like the idea of Yahweh growing stronger as he convinced more people to worship him — that was cool, but that was pretty much the only positive thing I can say about this book. Lilith had no personality trait. The author tried to be thought-provoking at times but wasn't. The feminist literature here is equivalent to that scene in Endgame where all of the women were on screen as Carol carried the gauntlet. No, I'm not kidding. The protagonist was infuriating. I cannot say anything good about this book. DNFed at 75 pages.

Review: I think we need to evaluate what popular evangelical leaders are saying and weighing it against Jesus' words because so many of them do not speak or act like Jesus. Defending/forgiving rapists and/or pedophiles — especially when they are not the victims — and not holding them accountable is not Christlike, it is an abuse of power. Demeaning women in the name of God is blasphemy.

I don't doubt that there are some faithful and Christlike evangelicals, but overall, the institution is corrupt. Not only is it corrupt, the institution lusts for and worships power. And every church that upholds patriarchy and complementarianism needs to do a deep reflection of why — is it biblical, or has God's word been twisted? Are there maltranslations feeding into this theology? (Hint: the answer is yes. So many times)

Additionally, this book reaffirmed my belief that Christian Nationalism is not Christian at all. It is a lustful power grab that squishes the least of these and dissenting voices underfoot (and if you celebrate this at all or believe that to be a good thing, your mindset is evil. That is not Christian by any stretch of what Jesus has said or done). Remember, folks: even Jesus rejected nationalism in His name. Don't believe me? Read Matthew 4.

The more I read about evangelicalism, the happier I am that I left it and Christianity as a whole. If Jesus is secondary to power and patriarchy, I want nothing to do with it, and I want nothing to do with a god who allows it.

3.5 stars. I dreaded reading it because it was both dense and dry, but the content alone makes this book worth no less than 3 stars.

Quotes: "The 2020 election appears to have brought American evangelicalism to its breaking point. Four years earlier, evangelical support for Trump stirred a quiet exodus from evangelical churches." (pg. xviii)

"By the time Trump arrived proclaiming himself their savior, conservative white evangelicals had already traded a faith that privileges humility and elevates 'the least of these' for one that derides gentleness as the province of wusses. Rather than turning the other cheek, they'd resolved to defend their faith and their nation, secure in the knowledge that the ends justify the means. Having replaced the Jesus of the Gospels with a vengeful warrior Christ, it's no wonder many came to think of Trump in the same way. […] In reality, evangelicals did not cast their vote despite their beliefs, but because of them." (pg. 3)

"…what sort of Jesus are they imagining? Is their savior a conquering warrior, a man's man who takes no prisoners and wages holy war? Or is he a sacrificial lamb who offers himself up for the restoration of all things?" (pg. 5)

"The Bible ends in a bloody battle, but it also entreats believers to act with love and peace, kindness, gentleness, and self-control." (pg. 14)

"For Graham, the stability of the home was key to both morality and security. […] And for [him], a properly ordered family was a patriarchal one. Because Graham believed that God had cursed women to be under man's rule, he believed that wives must submit to husbands' authority. Graham acknowledged that this would come as a shock to certain 'dictatorial wives,' and he didn't hesitate to offer Christian housewives helpful tips. […] Not all evangelicals in Graham's day embraced such patriarchal teachings. Some believed Christ's atonement had nullified any 'curse' placed on Eve in the Book of Genesis, opening the way to egalitarian gender roles; in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, evangelicals in this tradition had been enthusiastic proponents of women's rights. Graham's patriarchal interpretation reflected the more reactionary tendencies of early-twentieth-century fundamentalism. He added a new twist, however, by wedding patriarchal gender roles to a rising Christian nationalism." (pg. 26-27)

"In 1954, Congress added the words 'one nation under God' to the Pledge of Allegiance, and the following year Eisenhower signed into law the addition of 'In God We Trust' to the nation's currency. For evangelicals who believed that America was a Christian nation, the 1950s offered plenty of circumstantial evidence." (pg. 35)

"America had never been a country of liberty and justice for all. […] It is easily forgotten, but some evangelicals—especially those who would come to constitute the 'evangelical Left'—were vocal supporters of civil rights. Others, primarily fundamentalists and southerners, were staunch opponents. […] fundamentalist pastors…crusaded against integration as a 'denial of all that we believe in.'" (pg. 37)

"Billy Graham remarked that he had 'never heard of a war where innocent people are not killed.' He told, too, of 'horrible stories' he'd heard from missionaries of 'sadistic murders by the Viet-Cong,' and he reminded Americans that Vietnamese women and children had planted booby traps that mutilated American soldiers." (pg. 49)

"Only in time, as abortion became more closely linked to feminism and the sexual revolution, did evangelicals begin to frame it not as a difficult moral choice, but rather as an assault on women's God-given role, on the family, and on Christian America itself." (pg. 68-69)

"A wife owed her husband total submission, requiring approval for even the smallest household decisions, and children owed parents absolute obedience in both action and attitude. […] The notion of personal rights interfered with the hierarchical structure of authority, contradicting God's design and provoking only anger and resentment." (pg. 76)

"What happens when you believe that men have voracious sexual appetites, that their very ability to lead their families and their nation is linked to the satisfaction of those appetites, but wives have been taught from childhood that their sexuality must be restrained, controlled, suppressed? What happens when good Christian wives have little sexual knowledge and little apparent desire? When they are filled with guilt and an overbearing sense of modesty?" (pg. 91)

"For American evangelicals who had placed patriarchal power at the heart of their culture and political identity, Carter's wimp factor was particularly infuriating, and their sense of betrayal acute. After all, Carter was supposed to be one of them—he was a born-again evangelical, a southerner, a Sunday school teacher—and they had helped elect him in order to restore the nation's firm moral footing in the aftermath of Watergate.…Yet it was clear that he was not one of them on the issues that mattered most." (pg. 102)

"Masculinity was thoroughly militaristic. Little boys loved to play with capes and swords, bandannas and six-shooters. Yearning to know they were powerful and dangerous, someone to be reckoned with, they specialized in inventing games 'where bloodshed is a prerequisite for having fun.' God made men to be dangerous…Women didn't start wars or commit many violent crimes. But the very strength that made men dangerous also made them heroes. If a neighborhood was safe, it was because of the strength of its men. Men, not women, brought an end to slavery, apartheid, and the Nazis. Men gave up their seats on the Titanic's lifeboats. And, crucially, 'it was a Man who let himself be nailed to Calvary's cross.'" (pg. 173-174)

"In Obama's second term, evangelical opposition manifested around the issue of religious freedom, and for evangelicals, 'religious freedom' didn't apply equally to all faith traditions; their defense of religious freedom was linked to their defense of 'Christian America' and to their conservative gender regime." (pg. 240)

"A 'cultlike culture' led to a culture of corruption, including 'pedophilia, violence, defamation of the innocent to protect the guilty…defiance against lawful authority.' This institutional culture caused 'good people,' sincere Christians who had 'hearts for the Lord,' to defend and enable abusers." (pg. 288)

"Were men defending patriarchy because they believed it to be biblical, or were they twisting the Scriptures in order to defend the patriarchy?" (pg. 298)