Chapter Four: The Church Is Responsible for So Much Injustice Summary and Analysis

Mark Lilla, a professor at the University of Chicago wrote of his "born again" experience when he was a teen in college. He felt the Christian community was dogmatic and combative. He thought they used the Bible to control people's lives. It was when Lilla began to lose faith. Lilla's experience is not unique. People who lose faith often do so because of the behavior of the church or church-goers. Such negativity has undermined Christianity.

Outsiders see others living better lives than Christians. They wonder why Christianity has supported war and violence in the past. And many see Christians as smug and self-righteous. Some church leaders seem more corrupt than the average man. Everyone's seen the scandals in the headlines. There are non-believers...