The Unlikely Disciple
The Unlikely Disciple by Kevin Roose is the story of a liberal Brown University student’s semester at the conservative Liberty University. In order to fully understand evangelical students, Roose totally immersed himself in the experiment, taking part in Prayer meetings, Bible studies, and attending Liberty classes. This full immersion approach to writing a memoir is similar to AJ Jacobs’ books (including The Year of Living Biblically), and it should be; Roose served as an intern under Jacobs.
The Unlikely Disciple provides Evangelical Christians with some powerful insight from an outsider. At the start of this project, Kevin admits that he had several preconceived opinions of Evangelicals, several of which were changed during the project. For example, Roose imagined that the Liberty students would be different: fundamental, Bible-bashing, and atypical of normal college students. While most Liberty students behave differently than your typical undergrad student at a secular college (no sex, drinking, or dancing), the author discovers that the Liberty population was friendly, kind, and intelligent.
This book also provides insight into Liberty University, the nation’s largest Evangelical Christian college. While I did not attend Liberty (I graduated from Philadelphia Biblical University), I found the experiences to be almost identical. Roose notes the differences between Liberty and Brown, including the social scene, student body, and courses. Roose attended Liberty the semester that Jerry Falwell passed away, thus providing an interesting insider’s (yet still outsider) view of Liberty’s reaction to his death.
Overall, the book is a delight to read. While not as entertaining as the two books written by AJ Jacobs, this book provided much more insight. I would recommend this book to college and youth pastors, as well as other ministry leaders. It is a wonderful no holds barred look at Liberty University, as well as a snapshot of Evangelicalism.
Rating: 8/10
