In Christianity on Trial, Carroll and Shiflett dispassionately and systematically dissect the charges against Christianity -- specifically that it has justified racism and misogyny, encouraged ignorance, and promoted the despoliation of the environment and even genocide. Then, in a narrative whose intellectual elegance and verve calls up comparisons to How the Irish Saved Civilization, they show 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 cultivated the charitable 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.