Reviewing “Becoming Elisabeth Elliott”

Ellen Vaughn 

B&H Books, 2020 

(on Amazon)

(on Christianbook.com) 

Too often we lack backstories about our heroes and heroines: instead, they seem to arrive grown, as in the ancient myth where Venus escapes fully-formed from Zeus’ head. But biblical theology teaches us that heroic qualities mature in the soil of everyday life, in the learning to say “no” to self and “yes” to God within a world of frustration and failure, hope and dream. 

Elisabeth Elliot (1926-2015) earned a worldwide reputation as a Christian missionary, teacher, and speaker. Her books and radio programs challenged, instructed, and sometimes offended a generation. In this comprehensive biography (the first half of a proposed two-part series authorized by Elliot’s family), author Ellen Vaughn confronts her own ambiguity about Elliot: “I grew up admiring Elisabeth Elliot . . . She was articulate, tall, brave and rather severe . . . I respected her greatly, but I wasn’t sure I liked her much . . .  Reading her private journals and writing her story, I laughed. I wept. I saw the radical roots of her self-discipline . . . her playfulness, her love of nature, her passion and her . . . humor. I still admire her, but now I like her a lot.”

For my part, I have read much by and about Elliot, and once I was even in a small group Bible study with her. She was all that Vaughn acknowledged—wise and rigid, compassionate but certain. In Becoming Elisabeth Elliot, Vaughn combines careful scholarship with engaging storytelling to explain the who, what, and why behind Elliot’s faith and works. 

Widowed in her twenties (her husband one of four missionaries martyred in Ecuador), Elliot gained fame for her writing about her husband’s death. Although she tried to return to Bible translation work (bringing her young daughter with her into the jungle), Elliot eventually abandoned these efforts because of conflicts with her jealous and erratic supervisor. In these early ministry years, not only did Elliot experience spiritual growing pains, but she also left behind engaging, forthright, and detailed journals describing the struggles. 

Vaughn weaves her thorough research (including in-depth interviews) with well-chosen excerpts from these diary entries. The result? We meet a Christian leader who is both real and in process, growing in her love and awe of God, a woman who replaced idealism and inexperience with a settled trust in the One who is higher than all.

I appreciate a good biography, especially one that speaks powerfully and surprisingly. Becoming Elisabeth Elliott is an arresting and enjoyable read:  I say that for us all. As Elisabeth Elliot’s life illustrates, each of us needs to move beyond our immaturities and learn from the experiences of everyday life. In doing so, we become the strong and godly person God designed us to be. Elisabeth Elliot offers solid hope for each of us who are presently in that process, and that is why I can’t wait for Vaughn’s promised completion to the Elisabeth Elliot story.