Christianity On Trial: Arguments Against Anti-Religious Bigotry [Paperback]

Vincent Carroll (Author), David Shiflett (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 2001

In "Christianity on Trial," Vincent Carroll and David Shiflett do not shrink from confronting the tragedies that have been perpetrated throughout the ages in the name of Christianity. But they argue that the current indulgence of anti-Christian rhetoric in our culture not only involves bad taste, but tunnel vision and willful historical illiteracy as well. Carroll and Shiflett dispassionately consider the indictment of Christianity--specifically that it has justified racism and misogyny, encouraged ignorance, and promoted the despoliation of the environment and even justified genocide. Then, in a narrative whose intellectual elegance and verve calls up comparisons to "How the Irish Saved Civilization," they answer these charges, showing how in fact the Christian tradition has not only injected morality into our political order, but softened brutal practices and confining superstitions, created the foundation for intellectual inquiry, and created the compassionate! impulse. "Christianity on Trial" challenges readers of all beliefs--even those with a belief in disbelief itself--to question the anti-religious bigotry that thrives in our intellectual world and to reevaluate the role of Christianity not only as a source of consolation but of enlightenment and human liberation as well.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Extravagant charges have lately been laid, or in some cases relaid, at Christianity's door. Christianity encouraged and apologized for slavery. Christianity, anti-Semitic from its outset, refused to prevent or protest the Holocaust, and Pope Pius XII is especially culpable. Christianity has obstructed the growth of science. Christianity has resisted democracy, tolerance, equality, individuality, and all the other values intrinsic to Western culture and the U.S., in particular. The problem with these condemnations is, of course, that they are all false, as Carroll and Shiflett demonstrate by restating the historical record and core Christian teachings and by putting specific events, such as the Crusades, and practices, such as slavery, in historical and cross-cultural perspective. They don't deny genuine wrongdoing by Christians and churches but balance the wrongs with the much larger record of right doing by Christians and churches. They back their presentation almost exclusively with the findings of secular scholars. They write intelligently and uncondescendingly but very accessibly and with enough animation to pull readers into and speed them through each chapter. Superb argumentation. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"Carroll and Shiflett have written a fine text..." -- Wall Street Journal

"They write intelligently and uncondescendingly...enough animation to pull readers into and speed them through each chapter. Superb argumentation." -- Booklist

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 204 pages
• Publisher: Encounter Books; 1 edition (December 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1893554155
• ISBN-13: 978-1893554153
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #284,900 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

105 of 108 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good work, but susceptible to criticism, January 15, 2002

By 

J. F Foster - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Christianity On Trial: Arguments Against Anti-Religious Bigotry (Paperback)

Carroll and Shiflett have done a good job of trying to set the record straight in this book about Christianity, Christians, and the impact of both on human history. It was very refreshing to read a book that goes beyond superficial caricatures to really explore the history honestly. I think the authors mostly succeed in balancing the scales a bit and demonstrate a proud history of the faith that is based on many facts that have long since been forgotten by much of society.

The authors devote one chapter to each specific issue that is analyzed. One of the major strengths of the book is the authors insistence on devoting the first part of each chapter to present the view of the anti Christian forces, whether they be in the media, academia, or cause advocacy. The summation of the anti Christian view is especially illuminating and piques the interest of the reader to hear what the authors have to say about such strongly held views. In my view, the authors succeed pretty well in taking the criticisms on in a succinct and factually based way. Where appropriate, they acknowledge the shortcomings of the church and do not attempt to rationalize these shortcomings away. They lay them out there for the reader to digest. But the authors also introduce a tremendous amount of supplemental evidence that goes a long way toward factually deconstructing many of the more popular negative one liners that people trod out to discredit Christianity.

After reading this book, I think a number of people, if they are open minded and willing to be challenged where their preconceived notions are concerned, may find themselves modifying or even completely rethinking some of the reflex opinions they have held to in regards to Christians and Christianity. When reading this book, I found myself amazed by how completely it seems some people are looking to find a way to blame Christianity for any injustice or ill that troubles them. What I found by reading this book is that in our modern day emphasis on surface level scholarship, Christianity fares much better than the efforts of its critics to discredit it.

Having said all this, I feel the need to comment on what I perceived to be one significant weakness of the book that compels me to give the book a 4 star rating. In all frankness, the authors were very sloppy in their referencing approach, and in a book like this, this is a huge problem. In every chapter of the book, there are quotes the authors use to try and advance their points which are not referenced back to any source material. This serious oversight leaves the book very susceptible to criticism from those who don't like what they read in here. In particular, the chapter that discusses the relationship between Christianity and the Third Reich contains a number of quotes that Hitler allegedly made which were hostile to Christianity that are not referenced to any source material at all. This is a serious problem because someone reading this book could easily dismiss the authors entire line of argumentation by saying that because these quotes aren't referenced back to any source material, there's no way to verify their accuracy, and maybe the authors made them up completely. I'm not suggesting that this is what the authors did, but by not doing a better job in their referencing, they unnecessarily leave themselves open to charges like this and provide opponents of their book with an easy way to dismiss much of the content. This is particularly inexcusable in a book like this which attempts to take on and refute societal views, since the authors had to know that their book would strike at some sacred cows. As such, it is even more critical to write a book that is airtight in terms of its facts in order to really challenge people to rethink their views in light of factual evidence that they themselves can personally verify if they choose. But because the authors did not thoroughly reference their material, the book comes up short in this area to a degree that causes me to lower the rating from 5 stars to 4.

But while the book is clearly deficient in its source material referencing, it is sufficient enough in this area that both sincere believers and open minded skeptics can read this book and validate enough of the facts presented to make it an effective tool for setting the record straight. It's not perfect, but it's good.

42 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful reference for presenting a balanced argument, June 2, 2002

By 

Craig (Mountain View, CA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Christianity On Trial: Arguments Against Anti-Religious Bigotry (Paperback)

Christianity is often blamed for horrible atrocities in human history, for repressing people, and for holding back the advancement of civilization. The authors do a wonderful job of setting the historical record straight. And they don't do it by white washing history and saying that Christians are completely innocent. They start each section giving the harsh anti-Christian view point. Then they give a balanced presentation of both the faults and strengths of Christians during history.
The book deals with eight topics:

Christianity and the Foundation of the West: Which addresses Christianity's contributions to the ability of the west get out of the Dark Ages and develop the civilization it has in contrast to non Christian areas of the world.

Christianity and Slavery: Which addresses Chritianity's involvement with the slave trade and the contributions Christians made to help end slavery.

Christianity and Science: Tired of hearing how Christianity is anti-science. Here the authors address how Christianity has helped to influence the development of the positive scientific environment that exists.

Christianity and the Slaughter of Innocents: Whenever I am talking with critics of Christianity they always bring up the Crusades, the Inquisition, the killing of Indians in the US, etc., to show what a blood thirsty lot we are. This part of the book addresses the facts related to many of these periods in history. We see the Christian involvement, but we also see the horrors they were fighting and how most of the Christian world was actually doing a lot to prevent deaths.

Christianity and the Third Reich: Was Hitler a Christian and was the Nazi cause a Christian one? The authors show how Christianity was not the foundation of Hitler's theology and how Christians were often fighting the Nazis and being persecuted by the Nazis. There is also a nice section on Pope Pius XII and how he was not the Nazi sympathizer he is often made out to be. Quick fact, he opened up the Vatican to hide Jews from the Nazis, and that is just part of what he did.

Christianity and Charity: Christians, especially clergy, are often called hypocrites who bilk their parishoners of money and are sexual deviants. This section deals with these issues and shows the incredible amount of charitable work Christians do. Can you imagine a world without hospitals? That is what we had until Christians started building them.

Christianity and the Environment: A great section that reclaims the rightful place of Christianity as an environmentally caring religion.

Christianity and American Democracy: The authors show the important role that Christians made in the development of American democracy.

The only problem with the book is the authors' failure to reference every quote and reference they make. They really need to fix this in the next edition if Christians are going to be able to use these items and have support. Otherwise this was a very helpful reference, which I have found myself often referring to as I am having to deal with critics.

29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Easy to Read Answer to the Accepted Anti-Christian Story, August 28, 2002

By 

Hunter Baker "Hunter Baker" (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Christianity On Trial: Arguments Against Anti-Religious Bigotry (Paperback)

"Christianity on Trial: Arguments Against Anti-Religious Bigotry" by Vincent Carroll and David Shiflett

Modern skeptics enjoy repeating the old story about Christianity whenever given the opportunity. According to them, Christianity is anti-science, pro-slavery, anti-progress, and anti-intellectual. It was this stereotypical view the Washington Post repeated when it asserted Christian conservatives were "poor, uneducated, and easily led." To these people, Christians are backwards individuals relying on a psychological crutch to see them through the storms of Darwinistic evolution and Jeffersonian separation of church and state. In other words, Christians are trapped in the permanent caricature of believer William Jennings Bryan being cut to pieces by atheist Clarence Darrow on the witness stand during the Scopes Trial.

If you're looking for an easy to read volume that brings together the best answers to the standard objections to the faith, then "Christianity on Trial" fits the bill exactly. The authors strike the perfect balance between writing for a popular audience and documenting assertions with footnotes so more ambitious readers will be able to dig more deeply if they wish. In this book, you'll find more than enough ammunition for your armchair and watercooler debates about Christianity, history, philosophy, and science.

In essence, the authors are calling for a contemporary reevaluation of the contributions of the Christian faith. Their narrative paints a picture of a church that ended slavery, created hospitals for the poor, and brought about the modern conception of the individual as a creation of God worthy of dignity and equality. Hopefully, Carroll and Shiflett's work will remove the veil of ignorance both mass media and its consumers still wear.