Sarah Young died and ‘Christianity Today’ uses my profile
Evangelicals don’t know much about their favorite writers. Even Sarah Young, author of the #1 all-time bestselling Christian book, was mostly a blank.
Last year I wrote the first biographical profile of her, “The #1 Christian Writer is a Woman Never Seen Publicly.” It was a strange story of a Wellesley College philosophy major who became a reclusive right-wing Christian star by writing a devotional, Jesus Calling, in the voice of ‘Jesus’.
She died the other day.
I notice the obituary for Christianity Today makes heavy use of my post, naturally without linking. As I review her life story, much is unclear about her, given her self-concealment. I suspect that a secular psychologist decided to work with Christian people, who had a “rule” against going to therapy, since Jesus would “fix” you.
She wrote a ‘Jesus’ who was a calm therapist. To write in the deity’s voice should’ve been irreligious, but it was a big hit.
The key lesson: Christians don’t actually like their religion. 🔶
