Kate Bowler, associate professor of the history of Christianity in North America at Duke Divinity School, will receive a Christopher Award for her memoir Everything Happens For a Reason (and Other Lies I’ve Loved). Her book is one of 11 books for adults and young people to be honored May 23 at the 70th annual Christopher Awards in New York.
The Christopher Awards were created in 1949 to celebrate authors, illustrators, writers, producers and directors whose work “affirms the highest values of the human spirit.” See a full list of 2019 award winners.
Bowler's memoir tells the story of her struggle to understand the personal and intellectual dimensions of the American belief that all tragedies are tests of character after she was unexpectedly diagnosed with Stage IV cancer at age 35. Her previous book, Blessed: A History of the American Prosperity Gospel, received widespread media attention and academic praise as the first history of the movement based on divine promises of health, wealth, and happiness.
Through her podcast, “Everything Happens,” Bowler continues to stage a national conversation around why it feels so difficult to speak frankly about suffering.
Read an interview with Kate Bowler: Kate Bowler on the Prosperity Gospel, Fighting Incurable Cancer, and Finding God in the Darkness.