Desecration of Man, The: How the Rejection of God Degrades Our Humanity

FORTHCOMING TITLE, ETA JUNE 2026

From the author of The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self, an account of how the rejection of the imago Dei is unraveling Western culture and how we might begin to push back by recovering what it means to be truly human

As church attendance falls, suicide rates climb, and birth rates plummet, Christian pundits have suggested disenchantment and the loss of tradition are to blame for our spiritual malaise. But what if the problem is both much simpler and much more serious?

In The Desecration of Man, Carl Trueman argues that modern man’s crisis of meaning stems from a rejection of a simple fact—that he was made in the image of God. Unmoored from the basic moral fact that secures human dignity, we violently disrespect our own minds and bodies through abortion, pornography, casual sex, gender transitions, and more—and in this disrespect we blaspheme against God himself, with devastating practical and spiritual consequences.

With gentle pastoral wisdom, deep insight into church history, and an impressive command of philosophical genealogies, The Desecration of Man speaks to those troubled by the spiritual sickness of our time and points toward consecration to a God who is alive and loving as a solution. The Early Church triumphed over Rome because it offered life in place of death. It is time for modern Christians to offer the same kind of vision.

256 pages

“The book is a cultural lament, but more than that.” —Kevin DeYoung, senior pastor at Christ Covenant Church and associate professor of systematic theology at Reformed Theological Seminary

“This book is both sobering and hopeful, for it not only traces the problem but also proposes the best of all solutions.” —Tim Challies, author of Seasons of Sorrow