Introduction
PART 1 CONFORMISTS
1 Assimilate to Survive
2 Good Christian Girls
3 Safety in the Closet
PART 2 SKEPTICS
4 Racial Awakenings
5 Submit No More
6 Coming Out
PART 3 RADICALS
7 Made in the Image of God
8 Femmevangelical
9 Pride
Conclusion
Author’s Note
Acknowledgments
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Deborah Jian Lee is an award-winning journalist and radio producer.
She has worked as a staff reporter for the Associated Press, taught
journalism at Columbia University, and written for Foreign Policy,
Forbes, Slate, GOOD, Reuters, WBEZ, WNYC, and others.
From the Hardcover edition.
“This examination of humanity and culture shows how individuals are
affected by the strictures of Evangelical Christianity—and how they
are reclaiming it for their own...The journalistic writing will
appeal to readers of nonfiction; the personal nature of the content
will offer solidarity to those who are struggling with their faith,
and the examination of religion and politics will challenge readers
searching for a different perspective. This volume offers insight
into an often overlooked sect of American Christianity; here, Jian
Lee has given women, racial minorities, and the LGBTQ community a
voice. This is a succinct, intelligent, personable accounting of an
often misunderstood demographic.”
—Library Journal, Starred Review
“Rescuing Jesus highlights and spurs on change that is vital not
only to the evangelical church but also to the country.”
—Foreword Reviews
“Rescuing Jesus holds plenty of revelations about the future of
American Christianity...Lee challenges prevailing understanding
about American evangelicalism, and she demonstrates that identity
politics, which once served to divide liberal evangelicals, are now
working in tandem with their evangelical identities.”
—Tanner Howard, Chicago Reader
“In Rescuing Jesus, Deborah Jian Lee smashes the stereotype that
‘evangelical’ automatically means ‘socially conservative.’ With
passionate reporting and skillful storytelling, Lee takes us into
the world of Christians who share the same values of tolerance and
social justice as secular progressives. Lee puts a human face on
the large number of evangelicals invisible in a media culture that
focuses on the most extreme right-wing adherents. Every liberal
should read this book.”
—Dale Maharidge, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of And Their
Children After Them
“One of the most important books I’ve read in years, Rescuing Jesus
is a thoughtful, well-researched, and compelling page-turner that
gives me hope for the future of Christianity. Lee’s reporting
skills really shine as she features the stories of women, people of
color, and queer Christians stepping out of the margins to lead the
church in new and exciting directions. I’ll be recommending this
book to anyone who asks me about the future of Christianity in
America, and I’ll be returning to it often myself for research,
encouragement, and inspiration.”
—Rachel Held Evans, author of Searching for Sunday: Loving,
Leaving, and Finding the Church
“Deborah Jian Lee's Rescuing Jesus offers a substantial,
well-written, and compelling investigative report on the stresses
and strains of U.S. evangelicalism on issues of race, gender, and
sexuality. The author, herself a young refugee from evangelicalism,
tells a bracing story that mixes bloodcurdling accounts of
(oblivious white patriarchal straight male) evangelicalism with
stories of the emerging young leaders who are challenging it. This
is an important contribution, carefully reported, thoughtful in its
analysis, and highly recommended.”
—David Gushee, Distinguished University Professor of Christian
Ethics and Director of the Center for Theology and Public Life,
Mercer University, and author of Changing Our Mind
“Lee’s reporting indicts modern American evangelicalism’s failure
to be good news for those who aren’t conservative, straight, white
men. Weaving in her own story, she movingly chronicles her
subjects’ search for a spiritual home, and what emerges is a
profoundly hopeful, deeply Christian narrative about redemption and
resurrection.”
—Jeff Chu, author of Does Jesus Really Love Me?
“The evangelical church in America is changing from within and
Deborah Jian Lee enthusiastically charts its new and unexpected
course. Rescuing Jesus is an important and refreshing look at
religion in America from a smart and passionate observer.”
—Ari L. Goldman, author of The Search for God at Harvard
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