Dividing the Faithful

In 2000, Michael Emerson and Christian Smith published their book, Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America. The book is based upon their historical retelling of black and white relations in America, a statistical reporting of a nationwide survey of white evangelicals and their views on racism, and the author’s sociological interpretation of that history. and survey. Emerson and Smith reject personal attempts to resolve the problem of racism, deeming them insufficient to resolve the problem, and they assert that the white evangelical approach has exacerbated the problem of racial injustice because white evangelicals have learned how to hide their prejudices, all the while maintaining ideas and practices reinforced by “racialization.” The authors conclude “that despite the best intentions of evangelical leaders and some positive trends, real racial reconciliation remains far over the horizon.”

In Dividing the Faithful, David Schrock offers a chapter by chapter analysis and response to Divided By Faith. Because this book has been championed among evangelicals so often and without the necessary caveats, it has become the first book in the “woke” canon and a gateway drug to the harder forms of CRT. To see its far-reaching effect, one needs only to scan the footnotes of recent works on race and ethnicity. Without critique, Divided by Faith has become a standard work for evangelicals who want to think about race. Over the last decade, this book has been handed out, recommended, and preached from various platforms across the Reformed Evangelical landscape. And even as CRT, as a system, has been rejected by many, Divided by Faith, which is laced with CRT ideology, has found a place.

Schrock shows how this book is a poison pill that has infected many churches in America. Claiming to offer valuable insights for the church, it has overshadowed the light of Scripture with the false lights of secular scholar-ship. And because the pure gospel of Jesus Christ has suffered as a result, Dividing the Faithful aims to overturn every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God in Christ (2 Cor. 10:5). The goal is that everyone who reads this book might see the errors of Divided by Faith, so that they will not be led away from a pure devotion to Christ (2 Cor. 11:3).

This is the twofold reason for this book—to expose error and to solidify faith in the true gospel. Divided by Faith has done significant harm to the church, and out of love for the church and the message of the gospel, Schrock hopes to persuade you to put down Divided by Faith and to find better help in Scripture and from pastor-scholars who treat the Bible as God’s Word.