Wishful Thinking: How I Lost My Faith and Why I Want to Find It

Donna Freitas wants to believe.

Raised Catholic, she sang songs about Jesus as a child and lived in a house where nuns and priests were regular guests, yet she found herself questioning the faith of her family, examining the reasons none of it added up, and distancing herself from the God of Christianity.

Despite her questions-or perhaps because of them-she made a career out of trying to understand God, pursuing a PhD in religion. But even as she taught college students about mystics, theo...