Research On Religion » Europe

Curtis Freeman on Undomesticated Religious Dissent

tonygill — Sun, 17 Jun 2018 08:00:54 +0000

Religion and socio-political dissent have often been historically linked. Prof. Curtis Freeman, research professor of theology and Baptist studies at Duke University’s Divinity School, guides us along a journey of religious dissent in the British and American tradition, focusing on three notable authors/artists — John Bunyan, Daniel Defoe, and William Blake. This journey for Dr. Freeman began when the Wesley Chapel in London was closed and someone suggested that he travel to the cemetery across the street, a place known as Bunhill (Bone-hill) Fields and the resting place of these three historical figures. Fascinated by their prominence in this graveyard, filled with many other dissenters who couldn’t receive eternal rest amongst the official Church of England burial grounds, Curtis set out to write about these figures who spanned about two centuries of British history.

Our conversation begins with an explanation of religious dissent in England that dates back to the early 17th century, encompasses the turbulent times of the English Civil War, and then moves forward through the period of the Restoration monarchs and a wee bit further. Curtis explains that the Church of England had a stamp of approval on all things religious and a “polite culture” developed to keep a medieval status quo of economic classes in place despite the growing role of the urban workforce. Religious dissenters who chafed under this regime often married their spiritual protests with apocalyptic visions and covenant-type community that also served as socio-economic commentary.

We then move into the three main authors that Prof. Freeman uses to illustrate his points — John Bunyan (1628-88), Daniel Defoe (1660-1731), and William Blake (1757-1827). It is at this point that Tony notices that he has written “William Dafoe” (1955-present) in his notes and quickly corrects himself. Curtis reviews how Bunyan’s work, primarily A Pilgrim’s Progress, represents a “slumbering dissent” that turns attention inwards to reflect upon the spiritual journey we fight for salvation within during changing times. Themes of “church” (the institutional faith) and “chapel” (the congregation of religious people) figure into this narrative and provide the basis for the type of dissent that landed Bunyan in prison. Daniel Defoe’s work, principally Robinson Crusoe, is presented as “prosperous dissent” and an allegory for British economic culture at the time. While Tony remembers this work largely as secular, Prof. Freeman reminds him how the Bible — particularly Psalms, the story of the prodigal son, and Job — played an important role in the story. It is at this point that Tony realizes he was reading Defoe through the lens of Gilligan’s Island when growing up. Defoe’s work is also reminiscent of the Protestant work ethic notion of the age and Curtis notes the curious mix of Tory politics and support for the working class that permeated the author’s life. Finally, we move on to William Blake who was a poet but also an artist and printer. Again, we see the working class lifestyle of Blake that mirrored the other two figures we discussed. Blake’s work, Curtis argues, resembles an “apocalyptic dissent” with vivid imagery of end times, destruction, and redemption that comes across in his artwork and poetry. His fascination with the Albion Mills fire, an example of the inherent dangers of early industrialization, figures prominently in his poetic works such as Jerusalem. Our discussion then travels across the Atlantic and fast forwards in time to discuss how many of these dissenting and apocalyptic themes work their way into the thinking of colonial Americans, Abraham Lincoln, and even the rhetoric of Martin Luther King, Jr. Curtis notes that America is often viewed as a “Beulah land” of dissent and we ponder the rhythms of history that continually bring new forms of dissent to the fore.

The conversation finishes with Prof. Freeman’s reflection on his own intellectual journey, and he notes how “little steps across a street” (as he took to Bunhill Fields many years ago) can lead one to new adventures and the ability to tell untold stories. Recorded: June 11, 2018.

Undomesticated Dissent: Democracy and the Public Virtue of Religious Nonconformity, by Curtis Freeman.

Contesting Catholicity: Theology for Other Baptists, by Curtis Freeman.

Baptist Roots: A Reader in the Theology of a Christian People, by Curtis Freeman.

A Pilgrim’s Progress, by John Bunyan.

Bunyan Meeting in Bedford, UK.

Robinson Crusoe, by Daniel Defoe.

Songs of Innocence and Experience, by William Blake.

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Daniel Dreisbach on Religious Rhetoric in the Founding Era.

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David Fishman on Saving Jewish Documents during World War II

tonygill — Sun, 26 Nov 2017 09:00:30 +0000

During the 1930s and ’40s as part of the Holocaust, the Nazi regime in Germany attempted to round up any and all Jewish cultural artifacts including artwork, books, and other documents. Prof. David Fishman, a professor of modern Jewish history at the Jewish Theological Seminary, shares with us the heroic efforts of a group of authors and poets in Vilna, Lithuania who fought these efforts and managed to smuggle hundreds of thousands of pages of documents out of a prison camp for safe keeping. This group became known as “The Paper Brigade” and the results of their courage we rediscovered recently in a cache of documents stored in St. George’s Church in Vilnius (formerly Vilna). This recent discovery added to a previous find that is documented in David’s monograph, The Book Smugglers (see below).

Our conversation begins with some historical context, first probing how Dr. Fishman became interested in the topic of modern Jewish history and then laying out the historical context of Jews in Eastern Europe during the first half of the 20th century. We learn that Jews were present in the region as far back as the 1300s with Vilna becoming the “Jerusalem of Lithuania” (or the “Jerusalem of the North”) by the 1500s. By the turn of the 20th century, roughly 40% of Vilna’s inhabitants were Jewish, although this number decreases to 29% on the even of the Soviet and German invasions largely due to the flight of many individuals to safer territory. Our discussion then moves to the present when Tony asks about the discovery of 170,000 pages of documents discovered in 2016, which added to the roughly 150,000 pages discovered in 1991. Tony was curious about how such a large stockpile of works could go missing for such a long time. David explains that instead of destroying the documents as per Soviet orders following World War II, clergy with foresight of their value hid them at the bottom of other stacks of books and documents. Eventually, when folks started to go through these mountains of literary works they eventually came across a portion of the piles that had manuscripts written in Hebrew and Yiddish. We talk about the significance of such documents, including even the most seemingly mundane ones. David provides a fascinating example of a contract between a local rabbi in Vilna and a guild of Jewish water porters. (Lacking plumbing, buckets of water had to be carried to various establishments each day.) The Association of Water Carriers of Vilna agreed to bring water to the synagogue in exchange for a place to pray, a seemingly simple transaction but one that reveals the importance of faith in the lives of everyday individuals at all socio-economic levels. Tony wonders what it is like to just merely touch some of these historical documents as it provides an opportunity for someone in our age to be transported back in time. We also talk about the necessity of preserving cultural documents as attempts to destroy such treasures are really efforts to erase the memory of entire groups of people.

This discussion about the importance of cultural memory then takes us directly into a discussion of how The Paper Brigade risked their lives to preserve all sorts of documents. Prof. Fishman conveys to us the danger and desperation for Jews in Vilna at this time, noting how the Nazis rounded up all Jews into a small ghetto and summarily murdered over 50,000 Jews as an extension of the Holocaust into Lithuania. We also discuss the efforts of Johannes Pohl, a former Catholic priest who became the Nazi director tasked with gathering and destroying Jewish documents around Europe. Part of the documents collected by the Nazis were preserved for propaganda purposes in an effort to show the evil nature of Jews, but any other documents not used for that purpose were ordered to be destroyed. In Lithuania, the primary target of this documentary round up was YIVO, an academic center for gathering and studying Jewish historical records that was founded in 1925. David tells the fortuitous tale of how the director of YIVO was in Denmark on the eve of the Soviet invasion of Lithuania (as result of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact) and how he escaped to re-establish YIVO in New York City, where the recent discoveries we mentioned earlier are now being archived. Because most non-Jewish Lithuanians were not able to read Hebrew or Yiddish, the Nazis used Jewish slave laborers to sort through the various documents of YIVO (and other sources) to determine which were to be saved and which to be destroyed. It was amongst these slave laborers that a group of about forty brave individuals formed “The Paper Brigade,” and began smuggling documents past German and locally-employed guards. The risk of being caught often entailed execution. David tells us of a number of creative ways that the “book smugglers” were able to get these documents to safe-keeping, including hiding some in scrap paper or promising small gifts to the guards. We are also told about some of the leaders of this group — Schmerke Kaczerginiski (a local poet in Vilna) and Abraham Sutzkever, two of the member of The Paper Brigade that survived through the war.

We finish our discussion with David reviewing some of the remarkable finds within this treasure trove of documents, including a handwritten diary of Theodore Herzl and the original versions of poems written by Sutzkever and Kaczerginski. Prof. Fishman also shares his reflections on what he has learned about the human condition over the course of his studies related to The Paper Brigade as well as his more general research into East European Jewish life. He notes how fragile human life and culture can be if not cared for, the importance of a chain of generations to preserve the identify of a people, and how humans can both be intensely cruel and heroic. Most of all, he notes how ordinary people can courageously rise to the call of an occasion where hope seems highly dim. Recorded: November 22, 2017.

The Book Smugglers: Partisans, Poets, and the Race to Save Jewish Treasures from the Nazis, by David Fishman.

The Rise of Modern Yiddish Culture, by David Fishman.

Russia’s First Modern Jews: The Jews of Shklov, by David Fishman.

From Mesopotamia to Modernity: Ten Introductions to Jewish History and Literature, edited by Burton Visotzky and David Fishman.

YIVO Institute for Jewish Research.

“Five Amazing Discoveries from Trove of Documents Hidden During the Holocaust,” article on recent find in Vilnius from The Jerusalem Post.

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Mark Glickman on the Cairo Genizah.

James Felak on the Counter-Reformation

tonygill — Sun, 22 Oct 2017 08:00:29 +0000

As we wind down our seven-episode series on the Protestant Reformation, we give the “other side” a chance to make their historical case. Prof. James Felak, a professor of history at the University of Washington (and frequent RoR guest), sits down with Tony to discuss the Catholic response to Luther’s protest. Known popularly as the “Counter-Reformation,” Dr. Felak notes that it really should be termed the Catholic Reformation as we note how Luther, Calvin, Zwingli and others broke with the Church in a schismatic movement. We start the discussion with a look at the religious and political landscape leading up to Luther’s challenge. Fifteenth century Europe was characterized by three key factors that conditioned the Reformation, Felak argues. First was the increasing strength of secular kingdoms relative to the Roman Catholic Church, which prompts a variety of power and financial struggles between the crown(s) and the popes. Growing corruption within the Church presented the second challenge to Christianity during this century, which leads to the third factor — indulgences. Out of curiosity, Tony asks when the Catholic Church began to be called the “Catholic Church,” rather than just the Church given that Catholicism is now used as a term of contradistinction to Protestantism. James mentions that he wonders the same thing too when teaching courses on Christian history, and we more or less agree that the term Catholic Church is put into greater usage in the 16th century. (Listeners are encouraged to weigh in on this question.)

We then move to the early 1500s and the “immediate” (by late medieval standards) reaction of the Vatican to Luther. Tony poses a counterfactual to his historian guest, asking what would the Christian timeline looked like had the Holy See just ignored Martin Luther. There were two popes involved in pushing back against Luther, and times of leadership transition can be difficult. Prof. Felak responds that the Protestant Reformation was a “slow train moving” and it was likely to happen at some point. We talk about how Johann Eck became involved in debates with Luther and how Luther’s pamphleteering left the Vatican no choice but to respond. The printing press made ignoring the issue very difficult. We review the events of the Diet of Worms and then springboard forward to the Council of Trent that sets the “Counter-Reformation” in motion. James points out that Rome was really responding to at least five “reformations” over the first half of the sixteenth century, only one of which was Luther. This included movements spurred on by Zwingli, Calvin, Arminians, other radical reformers, and the breakaway English Church. The Council of Trent — which occurred over several decades (and James explains why) — initiated a two-prong response which was to, first, reform the institutional Church, and second, to answer a variety of doctrinal challenges to the faith. As for the first, there was greater emphasis placed on educating the clergy via rigorous seminary training, incentivize bishops to preach in their own dioceses, and ensure subsequent popes chosen had a strong moral character. There was also a movement to promoting religious orders, which we talk about later. As for the doctrinal pushback, the Catholic Church reaffirmed the seven sacraments, the doctrine of purgatory, and intellectual reasoning regarding the issue of “faith alone or good works.” James spends time to explain the Catholic view of faith and works.

The conversation veers towards a discussion of the religious orders that were promoted to respond to these new institutional and theological challenges. The Jesuits were the most famous of he orders to arise at this time, but Prof. Felak documents a number of other ones, including the shoeless (discalced) Carmelites. He puts this in context of the older orders that emerged centuries before (e.g., Franciscans) and notes the new orders were much more engaged in the world and proselytizing than the earlier ones, including a renewed dedication to education of the clergy and laity. James brings up folks such as Charles Borromeo and Teresa of Avila. Tony asks about the Inquisition, and James responds by pointing out there were four distinct inquisitions including one prior to the Reformation (the Medieval Reformation), the Roman, Spanish, and Portuguese. The latter two had a more political flavor as the Iberian peninsula was not dramatically touched by Protestant reformers and these campaigns were run by kings, not clergy. We finish with some of James’s personal thoughts on how the Reformation affected Christianity and the Catholic Church, as well as how the Reformation has been viewed over the past five centuries. He shares an interesting tale of being in a Seattle bookstore and his thoughts on Lutherans as compared to other Protestant denominations. Recorded: October 6, 2017.

At the Price of the Republic: Hlinka’s Slovak People’s Party, 1929-38, by James Felak.

After Hitler, Before Stalin: Catholics, Communists, and Democrats in Slovakia, 1945-48, by James Felak.

“The Blessed Evangelical Mary: Why We Shouldn’t Ignore Her Anymore,” by Timothy George (Christianity Today).

“The Reformation at Five Hundred: An Outline of the Changing Ways We Remember the Reformation,” by Thomas Howard and Mark Knoll (First Things).

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The Protestant Reformation Series (including podcasts from Goldman, Pfaff, Stark, Gray, Sorenson, and Nelson).

James Felak on Picking Pontiffs and Pope Francis I.

James Felak on Vatican Council II.

James Felak on Pope Pius XII, the Wartime Pontiff.

James Felak on John Paul II and Communism.

Ken Kollman on Church Centralization.

Jon Sweeney on the Pope Who Quit.

Robert Nelson on Lutheranism and Nordic Social Democracy

tonygill — Sun, 08 Oct 2017 08:00:20 +0000

The Nordic nations of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden have long been known for maintaining quality governance, high levels of socio-economic equality, and high levels of happiness amongst the population. While political economists have been pressed to explain the success of these countries, Prof. Robert Nelson, a professor of public policy at the University of Maryland, suggests that it may have something to do with its “Lutheran Ethic.” We begin this discussion with a retrospective of Prof. Nelson’s career, which had him completing a PhD in economics and focusing on land use issues for several decades. The curious question for listeners becomes how he began writing on issues related to religion, to which he gives a very interesting and introspective reply, including a bit of discussion of his own thinking on whether a god exists. We then move into his definition of religion, which tends to be broader than used by other scholars. The conversation turns to a discussion of the “Protestant Ethic” as famously noted by Max Weber, and Bob’s corrective which points out that Weber was really talking about a Calvinistic ethic, which was different than the theological culture that Luther himself gave rise to within Lutheranism. We talk about who Luther was, what he considered to be important virtues, and how he viewed “free market capitalism” (to the extent that something like that was explicitly known in Europe at the time). Prof. Nelson notes that Luther was hostile towards the idea of “self-interest,” had a strong sense of community (more so than, say, the Calvinists), emphasized the virtue of “calling” and the need to serve community, and was big on the Golden Rule. He provides some insight into how this translates into Finnish culture about “general rights,” a notion of property that is different than what is thought about in the United States. Bob covers a few other differences that Lutheranism has with respect to Calvinism, including that Lutheranism was more “top down” in in application of community. We also review Luther’s changing attitudes towards governmental authority, particularly in light of the “mob rule” of the Peasants’ Revolt. The next topic up involves a survey of “social democracy,” and what that means in contemporary Scandinavia. We briefly review the history of the Nordic social welfare states, how these nations jettisoned the class warfare mentality of early 20th century socialists, and how it is viewed culturally as “The People’s Home.” Dr. Nelson notes that over time the notion of “economic progress” by way of social science came to replace many of the Lutheran ideas that were inculcated in those countries in centuries earlier, but how this new secular ideology has much in common with previous Lutheran theology. We go through a number of key points within Lutheranism and compare them to contemporary social values and norms within Nordic society. The interview concludes with some of Bob’s thoughts on where Nordic social democracy is today, and why it may be headed into crisis. Recorded: October 2, 2017.

Lutheranism and the Nordic Spirit of Social Democracy, by Robert Nelson. (Also available with e-book version at Aarhus University Press.)

God? Very Probably: Five Rational Ways of Thinking about the Question of a God, by Robert Nelson.

The New Holy Wars: Economic Religion versus Environmental Religion in Contemporary America, by Robert Nelson.

Economics as Religion: From Samuelson to Chicago and Beyond, by Robert Nelson.

Reaching for Heaven on Earth: The Theological Meaning of Economics, by Robert Nelson.

Private Neighborhoods and the Transformation of Local Government, by Robert Nelson.

Public Lands and Private Rights: The Failure of Scientific Management, by Robert Nelson and Sally Fairfax.

Mind and Cosmos, by Thomas Nagel (menti0ned in podcast).

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The Protestant Reformation Series (including other podcasts from Goldman, Pfaff, Sorenson, Gray, and Stark).

Robert Nelson on Environmentalism as Religion.

Rob Sorensen on Martin Luther’s Life

tonygill — Sun, 09 Jul 2017 08:00:21 +0000

As this year marks the quincentennial of the Protestant Reformation, we take a closer look at the life of Martin Luther, the Augustinian monk who got the ball rolling. Rob Sorensen, a high school instructor at The Bear Creek School and PhD candidate at Faulkner University, joins us to talk about Luther, the man, based off his own book Martin Luther and the German Reformation, a superb summary of the “accidental reformer’s” life from Anthem Press. Our conversation begins, as usual, with a little background of the guest himself discovering how he became interested in Martin Luther and ended up writing a book on this historical figure. We then plunge into Luther’s life going back to his parents’ background. While Luther himself claimed he grew up within a peasant family, his father was a manager of mines and his mother came from a family that had a number of professionals within it, making Martin more middle class (for the time) than the typical image of a feudal agrarian serf. We chat about why Luther wanted to emphasize this point in his background, and Rob notes that this most likely due to Martin’s desire to show that he was not granted anything by birth, but earned his place. The discussion turns to Luther’s strict father and educational upbringing, and how he was put on a professional track to become a lawyer but was diverted to the life of a religious monk in his early 20s. Rob tells the story of how Martin promised God that he would go into a religious profession if He saved him from a lightning storm, the event that turn him to the Augustinians. We examine Luther’s intellectual and spiritual life, covering his training in nominalism as well as his obsession with trying to prove himself worthy within God’s eyes. Again, Rob regales us with a vivid story of a Luther who would be consistently confessing his sins, no matter how minor, to the point where one of his mentors — Johan von Staupitz — finally told him to go out and commit a real sin before taking confession again. We follow Martin’s intellectual journey through the Augustinians, to Wittenberg University, his “table talk” with students, and then into the throes of the indulgence controversy which he provokes. Rob explains the nature of the controversy and why the Castle Church of Wittenberg was chosen as compared to the local parish church. We briefly chat about Luther’s last two decades including a rather interesting story of how he came to be married, a story that reveals Luther was a rescuer of reluctant nuns and a matchmaker. The interview finishes with Rob’s thoughts on what he learned through the process of studying Luther and foreshadows what is to come with his dissertation on Christopher Dawson’s reflections on the Protestant Reformation. Recorded: June 30, 2017.

RELATED LINKS

Rob Sorensen’s bio (and haircut story) at The Bear Creek School.

Martin Luther and the German Reformation, by Rob Sorensen.

The Table Talk of Martin Luther, edited by Thomas Kepler (mentioned in podcast).

Faulkner University (where Mr. Sorensen is completing his PhD dissertation).

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Steven Pfaff on the World of 1517 (Protestant Reformation Series)

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Oliver Crisp on Calvin and Reformed Theology

Rod Stark on the Triumph of Christianity, Part II

Jason Jewell on Why Christians Should Read the “Great Books”

Jason Jewell on John Locke and Religious Toleration

Marion Goldman on Martin Luther and Spiritual Virtuosity

tonygill — Sun, 30 Apr 2017 08:00:06 +0000

What made Martin Luther such a critical figure in Christian (and world) history? Prof. Marion Goldman, a professor emeritus of sociology at the University of Oregon and scholar-in-residence at Portland State University, explains that Luther was a unique “spiritual virtuoso.” Reviewing her book The Spiritual Virtuoso (co-authored with Steven Pfaff), she defines a “spiritual virtuoso” as an individual who is intensely focused on sanctification, a reluctant leaders, and yet someone who still inspires others within a social movement. Building upon the thought of Max Weber, but differentiating this concept from that famous sociologist, Mimi argues that the concept of “virtuoso” and “virtuoso activism” is different than charisma. The virtuosi tend to be more humble in their personality and instead of building a movement centered around them are more concerned about sharing the process of transformation with others. We turn to a synopsis of Martin Luther’s life using this conceptual framework as a guide. Luther came from a relatively privileged family but became obsessed with the concept of sin and purification early in his life, joining an Augustinian monastery and involving himself in tortuous rituals of repentance. Coming under the mentorship of Johann von Staupitz, Luther’s life takes a more academic turn and he begins a career as a theology professor at Wittenberg University, a lesser known school out in the “Siberia” of The Academy. Protected and sponsored by Prince Frederick III (Elector of Saxony), Luther’s teaching and scholarship flourished. Mimi and I discuss how virtuosos often inhabit a “fringe” space just outside the mainstream of intellectual or artistic life, different from the prevailing zeitgeist but still accepted within the normal flow of society. We follow Luther’s career through his conflict with the Catholic Church and to the Diet of Worms and beyond, examining how Luther struggled to inspire and lead a movement he unexpectedly created. Some of this struggle came through trying to balance the creative destruction of spiritual virtuosity and the need for orderly societal institutions. Prof. Goldman also lists a number of historical conditions that allowed this “virtuoso activism” to succeed, including economic growth, increasing social and geographic mobility, and the printing press. We then discuss how two other movements — the Abolitionist Movement and computer revolution — were inspired by similar virtuosi including Sarah Grimke, Theodore Weld, and Steve Jobs. A great deal is revealed about Jobs’ own connection to the Human Potential Movement, a spiritual revival making its way around California and Oregon in the 1960s and ’70s. Mimi ends the interview with some of her personal reflections on what she has learned through the process of studying Luther and other virtuosi. Recorded: April 25, 2017.

Please note that during the podcast Tony refers to the forthcoming book as Spiritual Virtuosity. The actual title appearing for pre-order is The Spiritual Virtuoso.

RELATED LINKS

Prof. Marion Goldman’s bio at the Department of Sociology, University of Oregon.

The Spiritual Virtuoso: Seeking Sanctification, Remaking the World, by Marion Goldman and Steven Pfaff (pre-order copies available).

The American Soul Rush: Esalen and the Rise of Spiritual Privilege, by Marion Goldman.

Passionate Journeys: Why Successful Women Joined a Cult, by Marion Goldman.

Gold Diggers and Silver Miners: Prostitution and Social Life on the Comstock Lode, by Marion Goldman.

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Steve Pfaff on the Protestant Reformation.

Oliver Crisp on Calvin and Reformed Theology.

Rodney Stark on the Triumph of Christianity, Part II.

Rodney Stark on the Triumph of Christianity, Part III.

Russell Kleckley on Religion, Science, and Johannes Kepler.

Chris Soper on the Challenge of Religious Pluralism

tonygill — Sun, 09 Apr 2017 08:00:20 +0000

How do various democratic nations manage increasing religious pluralism around the world? Prof. Christopher Soper, a distinguished political scientist at Pepperdine University, answers this question and talks about the third edition of his book The Challenge of Pluralism, co-authored with Kevin den Dulk and the late Stephen Monsma. After Chris provides a few reflections on the scholarly influence of Prof. Monsma, we discuss how a third edition of this popular text suggested itself with a changing religious environment in many Western democracies, most notably the increase in Muslim populations in Europe. Prof. Soper notes that the impetus for the book back in 1997 was to answer three questions that remain more relevant than ever: 1) How much religiously-motived behavior that is contrary to societal welfare and norms can a democratic polity allow?; 2) To what extent should the state promote consensual religious beliefs in order to promote a shared set of values and virtues that are fundamental to limited democratic governance?; and 3) When religious groups and government agencies are active in the same fields of work, how can a society ensure that the state does not advantage one religious group (or secular belief system) over another? Chris then reviews the three models of church-state relations that he and his co-authors detail in the book: 1) the separationist model as exemplified by the United States and France; 2) the establishment model that includes England and Germany; and 3) the pluralist model in both its “pragmatic” (Australia) and “principled” variants (the Netherlands). He explains the dimensions of each model, noting that there is variation within each category. For example, while both the US and France are considered separationist, the historical trajectories of each country conditioned a more aggressive separationist position in France. For much of the second half of the interview, we walk through examples of these models with Chris giving background on each of the cases. Prof. Soper argues the case that the pluralist model is best at recognizing the importance of religion in the public square while still allowing space for secular claims. Our discussion also centers around how each of the states are meeting and accommodating increased religious pluralism, most notably with respect to the growing presence of Islam. With Islam being a much more decentralized faith tradition than the typical European Christian denominations, it has been difficult to absorb this religion into historical church-state models, particularly those of the establishment variant, but efforts have been made to do this. We finish our podcast with Chris giving his opinion about the viability of a Christian Democratic party in the United States (revisiting a question from an earlier podcast), and reflecting on what he has learned over two decades and three editions of his book. Recorded: March 28,2017.

The Challenge of Pluralism: Church and State in Six Democracies, by J. Christopher Soper, Kevin den Dulk, and Stephen Monsma.

Muslims and the State in Britain, France, and Germany, by Joel Fetzer and J. Christopher Soper.

Confucianism, Democracy, and Human Rights in Taiwan, by Joel Fetzer and J. Christopher Soper.

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Joel Fetzer on Confucianism and Democracy.

Ahmet Kuru on Islam in Europe.

Claire Adida on Discrimination towards Muslims in France.

Evan Haefeli on the Dutch Origins of Religious Tolerance.

Russ Roberts & Anthony Gill on Religion and Religious Liberty.

Ani Sarkissian on Religion and Religious Civil Society in Turkey.

Does American Need a Christian Democratic Party?

Does America Need a Christian Democratic Party?

tonygill — Sun, 12 Mar 2017 08:00:18 +0000

The American political landscape appears in chaos, and Christians are seemingly under assault in both the legislative arena and judicial system, or so says Hunter Baker, an associate professor of political science at Union University. Based upon these reflections, he began wondering whether the United States was in need of a Christian Democratic party to defend religious liberty and promote other Judeo-Christian values in the polity. To this end, Prof. Baker organized a symposium of scholars to write their thoughts on topic. The results were published in the Winter 2017 issue of the academic journal Perspectives on Political Science. We pick up this debate here with Prof. Baker and two additional scholars — Bryan McGraw (Wheaton College) and Micah Watson (Calvin College). Prof. Baker argues that a Christian Democratic party represents the best means of defending Christian interests in the public arena considering that lobbying attempts by religious organizations have not been entirely effective in convincing either the Democratic or Republican parties to protect religious freedoms and promote Christian values. Tony questions Hunter as to how effective such a partisan effort might be given that CD parties have not been able to hold back the tide of aggressive secularism in Europe, though Prof. Baker counters with evidence from Germany that shows how their CD party has favored traditional definitions of marriage and has been open to refugees. Prof. McGraw provides additional historical perspective in his segment of the debate, noting that CD parties were crucial in a number of European countries — most notably Belgium — during the late 1800s and early 1900s, and were also important in helping promote policies that favored religious interests such as funding for religious education. Nonetheless, Bryan points out that the political structure of the United States lends itself to a two party system wherein third parties have a hard time making any headway, and with Christianity much more diverse than in Europe, the chance for any one party to coalesce around a religiously-based platform would be very difficult. Prof. Micah Watson responds to all of this arguing that irrespective of whether a CD party could be successfully created in the U.S., it is nonetheless a bad idea because associating Jesus’s name with a variety of mundane policies that could divide citizens is not the proper use of the Christian mission. Tony asks if this even applies to potholes. Micah notes that while it may be acceptable to pray for pothole relief, building a political party around a single Christian identity would be difficult (echoing Bryan McGraw’s concerns) and bad for the long-term evangelization agenda of Christianity. Tony adds his own perspective to the debate with an intellectual appeal to public choice theory. (Those interested in reading Tony’s paper can request it via our Facebook or Twitter pages.) Prof. Watson shares some of his ideas for how Christians may engage the world politically based upon the ideas of C.S. Lewis. Recorded: March 3, 2017.

RELATED LINKS

Symposium on Christian Democracy in America in Perspective on Political Science (may require subscription or university affiliation).

Prof. Hunter Baker’s bio at Union University.

Prof. Hunter Baker’s article, “Can Christian Democracy Be America’s Next European Import?”

Prof. Bryan McGraw’s bio at Wheaton College.

Prof. Bryan McGraw’s article, “Europe’s Christian Democratic Parties and American Possibilities.”

Prof. Micah Watson’s bio at Calvin College.

Prof. Micah Watson’s article, “Another Meditation on the Third Commandment.”

Prof. Anthony Gill’s article, “Christian Democracy without Romance.”

The End of Secularism, by Hunter Baker.

Political Thought: A Student’s Guide, by Hunter Baker.

The System Has a Soul, by Hunter Baker.

Faith in Politics: Religion and Liberal Political Thought, by Bryan McGraw.

Natural Law and Evangelical Political Thought, edited by Jesse Covington, Bryan McGraw, and Micah Watson.

C.S. Lewis on Politics and the Natural Law, by Justin Dyer and Micah Watson.

The Political Origins of Religious Liberty, by Anthony Gill.

Rendering Unto Caesar: The Catholic Church and State in Latin America, by Anthony Gill.

RELATED PODCASTS

Should Christians Have Fought in the US War for Independence?

Hunter Baker on Secularism.

Hunter Baker on the Past and Future of the Religious Right.

Hunter Baker on the Future of Religious Higher Education.

Micah Watson on C.S. Lewis.

Francis Beckwith on Taking Rites Seriously.

David Buckley on the Demand for Clergy in Politics.

Nathanael Snow on the Evangelical Coalition and Public Choice.

J0n Shields on Democratic Virtues and the Christian Right.

Aaron Saiger on Religion and Charter Schools.

Tara Moore on Christmas Traditions … and Krampus! (Encore Presentation).

tonygill — Sun, 25 Dec 2016 09:00:54 +0000

While we are still on break, please enjoy this wonderful holiday discussion with Tara Moore from last year. We will have brand new episodes starting on January 1.

People often celebrate Christmas in different ways, but there are some common traditions that have developed over time. Where do these traditions come from, and how have they changed? Prof. Tara Moore, a part-time instructor of English at Penn State University – York, takes us on a joyous exploration of Christmas past and present, revealing little tidbits of historical information that she dug up doing research on her two books, Christmas: The Sacred to Santa and Victorian Christmas in Print (see below for links). This is definitely a podcast that you will want to listen to so as to impress your family, friends, and colleagues during the annual Christmas celebrations.

Our investigation begins with Prof. Moore herself, finding out how she came to write about Christmas. Faced with the choice in graduate school of writing a dissertation about Victorian-era nuns or Victorian-era Christmas, the nun route looked pretty grim and so she chose to write on the merry holiday of Christmas. Tara also notes that her historical studies have led her to celebrate Christmas in a more “low electricity” 19th century style and, at times, to feel the need to correct some folks regarding their misunderstandings of traditions including a play written about her church’s first pastor celebrating Christmas in 1774. Given her Presbyterian background, and her historical training, Tara noted that Presbyterians would not have been celebrating Christmas in that era, but she nonetheless performed in the play.

We then turn the first Christmas with Tony noting how lucky it was that Jesus was born on that day. Dr. Moore quickly sets Tony right and we enter into an interesting discussion about the birth of Jesus, thinking about when the birth actually did occur (which would more likely have been springtime). Tara reviews how we have settled on a late December date for Jesus’s birth, being a symbolic choice for nine months after the assumed date of the Annunciation. She further notes that Christmas was not a major holiday in the early centuries of the Church and only becomes an official holiday in 336 A.D., and not becoming more universally celebrated until 350 A.D. Tara provides other interesting observations about the birth narrative of Jesus, discussing the role of shepherds and wise men, and also pointing out that while Romans celebrated birthdays, Judeans typically did not.

The early medieval celebrations of Christmas tended to be periods of fasting, particularly within the Eastern Orthodox tradition. The celebration of the holiday in Western Europe started in Rome and gradually spread to other parts of Europe by the 9th century. Early gift giving during this time was centered around food and the noted 12 days of Christmas (which ran past the December 25th date in early celebrations) was all about preparing feats. A tradition also developed early on with respect to reversing social roles. At first, the rich would provide food to the poor, but eventually it became a “topsy turvy” part of the calendar when peasants would dress as royalty, and choir boys would get to play the role of bishops. At one point, the upending of social roles and customs became so raucous that King Henry VIII ended the practice of role reversals. All of this leads to a discussion of the raucous nature of the holiday, and Tara recounts that in many ways it was a rather adult holiday with drunken carousing (giving way eventually to more tame caroling) and all sorts of fascinating local practices. She notes that in Haverford, England, local residents celebrate by putting a cake on the horn of an ox, and at other times splash animals with beer! As print media began to spread throughout Europe, many traditions became more standardized, though local idiosyncrasies persist until today.

This then prompts Tony to ask about a number of the more popular traditions and characters associated with the season. We start with the Christmas tree, and Dr. Moore explains that the origin of this tradition is hard to trace. While Romans were known to decorate trees in imperial days, and trees did figure into miracle plays, it wasn’t until the 1700s that trees became a centerpiece of Christmas celebrations. (Interestingly, the use of trees led to some problems of deforestation and the Salzburg town government had to ban the removal of trees from local forests.) We talk about the origins of ornaments a bit, noting that they started as cookies and in some places Christmas trees were hung from the ceiling upside down to prevent rodents from going after the baked goods dangling from the limbs. Of course, we discuss the origins and development of Santa Claus, with Tara recounting the historical details of St. Nicholas of Myra, how he was one of the most popular saints in the 1500s, and then how the Santa arose from this. While not directly related to St. Nicholas, Santa Claus comes from a variety of sources and tended to start out as a “wild man” of Europe that only became tamed in the mid-19th century with the painting of him done by Thomas Nast and the famous poem by Clement Moore. This invariably leads to Krampus and the Scandinavian Nisse (woe be unto farmers, we find out).

Our conversation ends with discussion on when and why Christmas was banned at various times and places, as well as some of Tara’s thoughts on commercialization and how Christ has come back into Christmas in recent times. Prof. Moore shares a few of her favorite family holiday traditions to close us out. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night! Recorded: December 8, 2015.

RELATED LINKS

Christmas: The Sacred to Santa, by Tara Moore.

Victorian Christmas in Print, by Tara Moore.

RELATED PODCASTS

John Mark Reynolds on Dickens and “A Christmas Carol.”

Adam English on the Real Santa Claus.

Jon Sweeney on “Its a Wonderful Life.”

J. Wallace Warner on Cold-Case Christianity and Christmas.

Pamela Edwards on Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

Michael Foley on Religion and Booze.

Thomas Kidd on the Pilgrims (Encore Presentation)

tonygill — Sun, 20 Nov 2016 09:00:54 +0000

Just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday, and part of our rotating encore feature this week, Prof. Thomas Kidd (Baylor University) returns to our podcast series to cover the history of a group of religious dissenters known as the Pilgrims. After Tony attempts to recite a rather famous poem about the Pilgrims, we explore the roots of this group dating back to the English Reformation and how dissent within the Church of England in the 16th century set a group of individuals from Scrooby, England on a journey that would eventually land them on Plymouth Rock. We follow the Pilgrims to the Netherlands and talk about their experiences there and discuss the reasons why they were able to obtain a charter for settlement in the North American colonies of Britain. Prof. Kidd details the importance of the Mayflower Compact and what life was like for settlers in a new land, including a tangential discussion on the importance of beer to the Puritans. (You will want to hear how brewing was beneficial to the Puritans and why the Puritans were not as prudish as one might think.) We finish our podcast with Prof. Kidd’s thoughts on the legacy of the Pilgrims for American development and a brief history of the holiday we have come to know as Thanksgiving. This podcast serves as a great introduction or review of the Pilgrims for high schoolers and homeschoolers and we encourage you to bring it to the attention of all those who might be interested. Prof. Kidd is associate professor of history at Baylor University, senior fellow at Baylor’s Institute for Studies of Religion, and co-director of Baylor’s Program on Historical Studies of Religion. Recorded: October 5, 2010.

Baylor’s Institute for Studies of Religion.

American Colonial History: Clashing Cultures and Faiths, by Thomas Kidd.

George Whitefield: America’s Spiritual Founding Father, by Thomas Kidd.

Baptists in America: A History, by Thomas Kidd and Barry Hankins.

The Great Awakening: The Roots of Evangelical Christianity in Colonial America, by Thomas Kidd.

God of Liberty: A Religious History of the American Revolution, by Thomas Kidd.

Benjamin Franklin: The Religious Life of a Founding Father, by Thomas Kidd.

RELATED PODCASTS

Tracy McKenzie on the First Thanksgiving.

Thomas Kidd on the Great Awakening.

Evan Haefeli on the Dutch Origins of Religious Liberty.