BOOKS
Available in 2025
Around five percent of Americans are ex-evangelicals.
Their stories often include being spiritually abused by authoritarian church leaders and/or psychologically traumatized by harmful religious teachings and practices. Whereas religion and church often provide a welcoming community that has positive effects on mental health, sadly they can just as easily cause devastating hurt and harm. According to therapists and faith transition coaches, they can cause what is being recognized in the mental health community as religious trauma. This is especially true when toxic theologies like original depravity, authoritarian leadership, biblical inerrancy, submission of women, LGBTQ rejection, demonology, purity culture, belief in a retributive God, and the doctrine of hell are preached with absolute certainty under the guise of love.
People coming out of evangelicalism need support and guidance on why faith deconstruction is critical, how to expose and reject harmful beliefs, and how to recover from depression and anxiety. Michael Camp takes you on his own journey battling depression in the midst of experiencing spiritual abuse and deconstructing evangelicalism. He shows us how to find peace through things like historical study, cognitive therapy, gratefulness meditation, self-care practices, service to others, inclusive communities, and rebuilding a non-religious spirituality—a path that honors the love ethic of Jesus while rejecting toxic religion. If you or someone you love struggles with religious trauma or depression stemming from being in a high-control faith system, this book could be your roadmap to peace.
Available on Amazon
“One of the most helpful books for those in the process of deconstructing their faith.” ~ Amazon reviewer
”…a fun, easy to read expose of the corruption of American evangelicalism’s gospel and ethic.” ~ Michael Hardin
When Michael Camp started deconstructing his evangelical faith, he noticed a pattern. The doctrines he questioned—original depravity, substitutionary atonement, God-ordained genocide in the Old Testament, the doctrine of hell, etc.—were all tied to retribution and violence. Evangelicals believed in a retributive god who required corporal punishment, punitive justice, militarism, the death penalty, and eternal conscious torment of unbelievers.
Breaking Bad Faith uncovers how bad faith—belief in a duplicitous, retributive, and violent god—is entrenched in today’s popular theology and American culture. Using forgotten history, it debunks 12 myths most Christians believe that impact how people act in society. It then shows us what matters most: Jesus’ subversive way of peace and restoration apart from religion. You’ll learn contemporary examples how this path works, many outside Christianity. A perfect antidote for those deconstructing evangelicalism and encouragement for those yearning for a peaceable, historically honest path. Step out of retributive and unhistorical chains into the light.
Available on Amazon
“I read it like a starving person at a five-star restaurant.” ~ Wendy Francisco
“For me, this book had a magical quality. About half way through the book, I realized that my comprehensive understanding of life, love, and Spirit had been elevated. ~ Amazon reviewer
What if the modern American church has its Christian history wrong? According to ex-evangelical Michael Camp, most American believers fail Christian History 101. Drawing on his own historical research and missionary experience, he discovers that most popular Christian views of the Bible, church, sin, salvation, judgment, the kingdom of God, the "end times," and the afterlife--pretty much all religious sacred cows--don't align with the beliefs of the original Jesus movement. Some of them not even close.
Camp's Craft Brewed Jesus paves a fascinating journey of a group of disillusioned evangelicals and Catholics. When they decide to meet regularly over craft beers to study the historic foundations of their faith, their findings both rock their world and resolve ancient mysteries. Grab your brew of choice and trace this transformational journey based on a true story that will encourage you in your walk of life and faith.