Ever wonder why much of American Christianity is pro-spanking, pro-tough-on-crime, anti-gun control, pro-war, and hell-affirming, even though Jesus taught mercy, non-violence and enemy love? When Michael Camp started deconstructing his evangelical faith, he noticed a pattern. The doctrines he questioned—original depravity, substitutionary atonement, God-ordained genocide in the Old Testament, the doctrine of hell, etc.—were all tied to retribution and violence. Evangelicals believed in a retributive god who required corporal punishment, punitive justice, militarism, the death penalty, and eternal conscious torment of unbelievers.

Breaking Bad Faith uncovers how bad faith—belief in a duplicitous, retributive, and violent god—is entrenched in today’s popular theology and American culture. Using forgotten history, it debunks 12 myths most Christians believe that impact how people act in society. It then shows us what matters most: Jesus’ subversive way of peace and restoration apart from religion. You’ll learn contemporary examples how this path works, many outside Christianity. A perfect antidote for those deconstructing evangelicalism and encouragement for those yearning for a peaceable, historically honest path. Step out of retributive and unhistorical chains into the light.