Reality in Ruins - by Jared Stacy Phd (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

For anyone who has ever said, "It feels like we're living in different realities," an unforgettable read and definitive explainer of the strange history of evangelical conspiracy theory.

Conspiracy theories are at the root of the most pressing political problems of our time, yet their influence cuts just as personal. Suspicion has fractured families, communities, churches, and our very social fabric, as one person's fact is another's fake news.

In Reality in Ruins, Dr. Jared Stacy braves the untold history of conspiracism in American evangelicalism and the anxiety at the heart of this radioactive movement that affects us all. In a new age of what he calls "Disreality," many are left reeling in the ruins of what was once a common world, now splintered by warring ideologies, religious and political extremism, and cults of certainty. Dr. Stacy reports from the inside as someone raised and even ordained in one of the nation's most conservative denominations. Now, as a historian and post-evangelical theologian, Dr. Stacy traces the currents of pain, panic, and power that have thrust the evangelical church into a theological crisis with consequence for everyone.

For concerned citizens, Christians who are sounding the alarm on Christian Nationalism, and anyone grieving the relationships paranoia has ruptured, Reality in Ruins profiles the problem, validates your pain, prepares you for good resistance, and empowers you to become the truth-tellers a common world deserves.

Review Quotes

"An eye opening, a must-read book for our time, a time marked by what Jared calls the 'disreality' of our making. Reality in Ruins identifies our blindspots, whether the reader is a conservative or liberal, or dispossessed and numb, all breathing in the culture war fumes. In order to remove the toxins in our cultural soil, we need to be truly set free by Jesus's greater love and truth, and we need a guidebook and map toward future thriving--Jared provides exactly that in this illuminating book." - Makoto Fujimura, artist and author of Art Is: A Journey into the Light and Culture Care
"Jared Stacy wants to let you in on a secret: at least since Great Awakening, American Protestants have had a deforming affair with conspiratorial thinking. The historical story he has to tell is one that every American who identifies as an evangelical should know. But what is truly groundbreaking is the fearless gospel he offers his readers as a theological alternative." - Dr. Brian Brock, professor of theology, University of Aberdeen
"In this era of disreality and conspiracy, we must all think deeply and purposefully about the forces shaping how we experience the world around us. Reality in Ruins is just the book for this journey. As Christian nationalism continues to dominate our existence, Jared shows us how to be claimed by the truth instead of always trying to wield a twisted version of it. Only then can we begin to tell a better story, one marked by love and liberation." - Andrew Whitehead, scholar and award-winning author of American Idolatry
"Much ink has been spilled on ways MAGA's religious project has damaged American political life, but Reality in Ruins shows us how it has blighted American Christianity. In this acute yet heartfelt work, Jared Stacy grounds his story in his experience as a pastor who has resisted disinformation and discord, and offers a path to redeem the faith as well as the nation." - Anne Nelson, award-winning author of Shadow Network and lecturer on human rights
"Written with both compassion and hard-won experience, Reality in Ruins delves deep into the crisis of "holy paranoia" that has gripped an increasingly large part of evangelical Christianity in America over the last century. Having been part of this world, Jared Stacy innately grasps how conspiracy theories and extremism offer both false hope and false idols to their evangelical believers. This is a vitally important book about a subject that has invited a great deal of media sneering and liberal derision, but little in the way of understanding or empathy. " - Mike Rothschild, journalist and author of Jewish Space Lasers
"Jared Stacy is an eminently trustworthy voice on conspiracism within American evangelicalism. He brings to the topic a rare combination of expertise, empathy, and lived experience. Reality in Ruins will challenge, enlighten, and encourage readers from across the political and religious spectrums. This is not only a timely book, but it is an urgently needed one." - Karen Swallow Prior, author of The Evangelical Imagination