Mortal: One who cannot live forever.

Cage: A structure meant for confining.

I found myself stuck in a mortal cage. I was increasingly convinced that the material world is all that exists, and that death is the end. I didn't like this conclusion. I felt entrapped by it, suffocated by it, but I despaired of finding a way out. It hadn't always been like this.

From birth, I had lived under the assumption that humans were immortal. Within this worldview, I embraced heaven; hell; God; eternity; grand, overarching purposes; deeper meanings; spiritual realities; an unseen world; divine interventions in human history; and hope beyond the grave. In my youth, these were obvious truths—"no brainers" drummed into my mind and heart through believing parents, plus countless Sunday school classes and church services. But then life happened, and all my assumptions were sorely challenged. This book is the story of my descent into the mortal cage and my slow, improbable, and still struggling escape from it.

If you or someone you know has left the faith or has serious misgivings about continuing in the world of Christian belief, this is the book they need. Escaping the Mortal Cage is not a confident apologetic bursting at the seams with all the latest arguments proving the reliability of the Bible or the historicity of Jesus. Instead, it's a brutally honest, story-filled struggle. There is plenty of skepticism and despair, but ultimately glimmers of hope for a better story emerge, and faith, however shaky, lives on.