Elizabeth Esther
Elizabeth Esther is an American Christian author and blogger. She writes about her experiences of growing up in, and then leaving, Christian fundamentalism.[1] Esther grew up in a fundamentalist Christian group known as the Assembly.[2] She and her husband left the church after confronting her grandfather, and the founder of the church, about allegations of abuse.[2] She later joined the Catholic Church.[2]
Work
[edit]Esther's first book, Girl at the End of the World (2014), is a memoir about her life growing up in The Assembly, which she considered a fundamentalist cult.[3] Lehman, reviewing the book in Feminist Collections, called it a "dramatically chilling tale," which "is told evenly and without melodrama."[4] Stewart, in Library Journal, writes that fans of Esther's blog will already be familiar with much of the book's story, but writes that "This memoir may bring comfort to those who desire to leave their own churches and provides a fascinating glimpse into this understudied sect of Christianity."[5]
Esther's book, Spiritual Sobriety (2016), deals with "religious addiction" and Publishers Weekly wrote that "Those afflicted with similar behaviors and obsessions will find hope in Esther's journey."[6]
Washington Post journalist Sarah Pulliam Bailey described Esther as part of a "recent crop of popular female bloggers willing to push theological boundaries".[7]
Selected bibliography
[edit]- Girl at the End of the World: My Escape from Fundamentalism in Search of Faith with a Future, Convergent Books, 2014-03-18. ISBN 978-0307731876
- Spiritual Sobriety: Stumbling Back To Faith When Good Religion Goes Bad, Convergent Books, 2016-04-19, ISBN 978-0307731890
- I'm Kimmy Schmidt, Minus the 'Unbreakable', article by Elizabeth Esther in Christianity Today: http://www.christianitytoday.com/women/2015/march/im-kimmy-schmidt-minus-unbreakable.html
References
[edit]- ^ "Elizabeth Esther". Elizabeth Esther. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
- ^ a b c Lee, Morgan (7 April 2014). "'Girl at the End of the World' Author Views Similarities Between Fundamentalist Christian Cult and Church Dynamics". The Christian Post. Retrieved 2017-07-13.
- ^ "Nonfiction Book Review: Girl at the End of the World: My Escape from Fundamentalism in Search of a Faith with a Future". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 2017-07-12.
- ^ Lehman, JoAnne (January 2015). "The Feminist Ex-Fundamentalist: Leaving an Authoritarian Christian Past". Feminist Collections: A Quarterly of Women's Studies Resources.
- ^ Stewart, Kate (2014). "Girl at the End of the World: My Escape from Fundamentalism in Search of Faith with a Future". Library Journal. 139 (13): 100 – via EBSCOhost.
- ^ "Religion Book Review: Spiritual Sobriety: The Promise of Healthy Faith When Good Religion Goes Bad". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 2017-07-12.
- ^ Bailey, Sarah Pulliam. "How Rachel Held Evans became the most polarizing woman in evangelicalism". Washington Post. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
External links
[edit]- Personal website
- Author page on Publishers Weekly
- Review of Girl at the End of the World in Christianity Today
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
- 21st-century American women writers
- Living people
- 20th-century American women writers
- Converts to Roman Catholicism from Evangelicalism
- American Roman Catholic writers
- American women non-fiction writers
- American women religious writers
- 20th-century American non-fiction writers
- 21st-century American non-fiction writers