Why does Christianity still command belief in an age of science and evidence?
The Great Disconnect examines how religion is inherited, reinforced, and protected—and how Christianity has used fear, authority, political power, and supernatural claims to survive for centuries.
For thousands of years, religion has shaped civilizations, inspired acts of extraordinary compassion, justified unimaginable cruelty, and answered humanity’s deepest questions about life, death, and purpose. Today, more than four billion people identify with a religion, and billions place their trust in beliefs they have never been asked to critically examine. The Great Disconnect invites readers to do exactly that.
Written by James Abington, this compelling work is not an attack on believers. It is an investigation into belief itself. Drawing upon history, archaeology, psychology, evolutionary biology, neuroscience, philosophy, and the historical record, the book explores one of the most influential forces in human history: faith.
Rather than asking readers to abandon religion, The Great Disconnect asks a more fundamental question: Why do human beings believe what they believe?
The journey begins by examining the biological and psychological foundations that make religious belief so natural to the human mind. From childhood conditioning and cognitive biases to our innate search for meaning and pattern recognition, the book reveals how the brain can create certainty even in the absence of evidence.
From there, readers travel through history, exploring how religions evolved, how sacred texts were assembled, and how institutions gained authority over generations of believers. The book investigates topics often overlooked in traditional religious education, including the formation of biblical doctrine, the thousands of Christian denominations that claim exclusive truth, the political motivations behind many theological decisions, and the historical consequences of unquestioned faith.
Yet The Great Disconnect is far more than a history lesson. It also examines the emotional appeal of religion—why prayer feels comforting, why rituals produce genuine peace, and why sincere believers experience profound spiritual certainty. Rather than dismissing these experiences, James Abington explains how they emerge from normal human psychology without requiring supernatural explanations.
Throughout the book, difficult subjects are addressed with evidence rather than ridicule. The Crusades, the Inquisition, slavery, the suppression of women, clerical abuse, and the manipulation of fear are explored alongside humanity’s remarkable capacity for reason, compassion, and moral progress. The goal is not to condemn individuals but to distinguish between the goodness of people and the claims of the institutions they inherit.
Ultimately, The Great Disconnect offers something many books in this field do not: hope. It argues that meaning, purpose, morality, love, awe, and community do not disappear when supernatural beliefs are questioned. Instead, they become grounded in something even more extraordinary—the natural world and the human experience itself.
Written in an engaging, accessible style for both believers and skeptics alike, The Great Disconnect challenges readers to ask questions they may have avoided for years while treating those questions with intellectual honesty and respect. Whether readers ultimately agree with its conclusions or not, they will come away with a deeper understanding of how beliefs are formed, why they endure, and what it truly means to pursue truth wherever the evidence leads.
The Great Disconnect is not simply a book about religion. It is a book about humanity, the search for truth, and the courage to follow evidence over tradition when the two are no longer the same
