For her new book, Rachel Held Evans is practicing Bible literalism:
Her strongest critics within the church are conservatives who should be most sympathetic to the project's strictures: those who claim to follow the Bible literally themselves. "It's revealing that when I say, 'I'm going to actually do it,' they react," she said ruefully. "It goes to show at some level there's a fear of exposing what it means to follow the Bible literally."
The project has almost come to a close; at the end of August she embarked on a week of silence:
This is a tricky one because many of the biblical passages associated with silence have been used for centuries to suppress women’s voices and to keep women from assuming leadership positions in the church and society. … However, as I’ve contemplated silence, I’ve also come to realize that it is one thing to be silenced and quite another to deliberately silence oneself. Some of the most powerful female voices in Christian history—Julian of Norwich, Teresa of Avila, Therese of Lisiex—found their inspiration in the quietness of the monastic life and the stillness of contemplative prayer.
The Dish 