Untrustworthy - by Bonnie Kristian (Hardcover)

About the Book

A seasoned journalist shows how the truth crisis in America is straining our relationships, hurting our minds, polluting our politics, and damaging our Christian discipleship.

Book Synopsis

Christianity Today 2023 Award of Merit (Politics & Public Life)
Logos 2022 Book of the Year Award (Christianity in Culture)

Which media outlets will help me be a responsible news consumer? How do I know what is true and whom I can trust? What can I do to combat all the misinformation and how it's impacting people I love?

Many Americans are agonizing over questions such as these, feeling unsure and overwhelmed in today's chaotic information environment.

American life and politics are suffering from a raging knowledge crisis, and the church is no exception. In Untrustworthy, Bonnie Kristian unpacks this crisis and explores ways to combat it in our own lives, families, and church communities.

Drawing from her extensive experience in journalism and her training as a theologian, Kristian explores social media, political and digital culture, online paranoia, and the press itself. She explains factors that contribute to our confusion and helps Christians pay attention to how we consume content and think about truth. Finally, she provides specific ways to take action, empowering readers to avoid succumbing to or fueling the knowledge crisis.

From the Back Cover

Why We Have More Information but Are Less Informed

Which media outlets will help me be a responsible news consumer? How do I know what is true? Whom can I trust? How can I combat misinformation and lessen its impact on the people I love?

Many of us agonize over questions such as these, feeling unsure and overwhelmed in today's chaotic information environment. American life and politics are suffering from a knowledge crisis, and the church is no exception.

In Untrustworthy, seasoned journalist Bonnie Kristian unpacks this crisis, showing how it strains our relationships, hurts our minds, pollutes our politics, and damages our Christian discipleship. She explains factors that contribute to our confusion and helps us pay attention to how we consume content and think about truth. She also provides specific ways to take action to combat the truth crisis in our lives, families, and church communities.

"Overcoming our current polarization will begin only when trust is built across fractured communities, and this book will help in that work."
--Karen Swallow Prior, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary; author of On Reading Well: Finding the Good Life through Great Books

"Read Bonnie's book to discern the causes of [America's knowledge] crisis. Read her book to understand its effects. And read it to understand the role you can play in solving one of the most pressing issues of our time."
--David French (from the foreword)

"This book will help restore knowledge to its rightful place in the lives of Christians and the church."
--Michael Wear, author of Reclaiming Hope: Lessons Learned in the Obama White House about the Future of Faith in America

"Untrustworthy is an incisive, deeply researched, and personal analysis of our truth crisis. It should be widely read and discussed."
--Alan Noble, Oklahoma Baptist University; author of You Are Not Your Own

"Untrustworthy opens a window and lets in a breath of fresh air--and hope. Bonnie Kristian offers a way out of pointless debates and fearmongering conspiracy theories. This book is never condescending and always sympathetic; it is never partisan and always incisive."
--Jeffrey Bilbro, author of Reading the Times

About the Author

Bonnie Kristian (MA, Bethel Seminary) is the editorial director of ideas and books at Christianity Today and a fellow at Defense Priorities, a foreign policy think tank. A seasoned journalist, she has written on foreign policy, religion, criminal justice, urbanism, civil liberties, electoral politics, and more. Her column, "The Lesser Kingdom," appears in print and online at Christianity Today, and she is the author of A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today. Her work has also been featured in other outlets, including the New York Times, The Week, USA Today, CNN, Politico, and The American Conservative. She lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with her husband, daughter, and twin sons.