The Church in Dark Times: Understanding and Resisting the Evil That Seduced the Evangelical Movement

In conversations about evil, we often look for malice and cruelty. But too often, evil masks itself behind the best of intentions. A cultural critic and church leader shows this dynamic at work in the ever-expanding crisis of abuse and failure in modern evangelical churches.

We expect evil to appear in obvious forms: malice, cruelty, and contempt. We also expect to find villains at the helm of evil movements and organizations, leaders with dark impulses and motivations. But all too often, malevolence is more subtle, hiding behind our own best intentions.

In The Church in Dark Times, cultural critic Mike Cosper unveils this dynamic in the growing crisis of abuse and other failures in modern evangelical churches. Drawing on the work of twentieth-century political theorist Hannah Arendt, Cosper explores what we can learn from her theory of the "banality of evil"--the thoughtlessness that allows ordinary people to become complicit in all manner of corruption. He uncovers the underlying causes of the breakdowns of the church and offers practices that foster healing and renewal.

This book will engage Christian leaders and all followers who want to better understand how church crises keep happening--and how we can resist them and move forward.