Research On Religion » World Region

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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Richard Nielsen on Deadly Clerics

tonygill — Sun, 06 May 2018 08:00:54 +0000

Political rebellion and violence in the Middle East has recently been associated with religious belief and rhetoric, often spurred on by the writings and recordings of Muslim clerics. What motivates imams to advocate such tactics? Prof. Richard Nielsen, an associate professor of political science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, answers this question with reference to previous theories of revolution and an examination of the career paths of imams who advocate violent jihad. His findings reveal fascinating insights into what prompts individuals down the path of violence and suggests possible solutions to mitigating terrorism.

Our discussion begins with Rich recalling how he, himself, was led down an academic path of studying violent jihad. Initially on a STEM path, his experience watching the September 11 terrorist attacks unfold and a chance encounter with a professor at a Harry Potter film moved him in the direction of studying political science and international relations. He noted that most work on political violence in the Islamic world focuses on lay radicalization, so he turned his attention to what motivated various clerics to radicalize. Rich lays out the parameters of what constitutes an imam in Sunni Islam, pointing out that there is no central authority to determine membership in a priesthood exactly. We learn that “imam” means “to be in the front,” which opens up the definition of who speaks for Islam officially to a wide range of individuals. Rich observes that many people who are not formally trained in theology often present themselves as religious scholars (e.g., Osama bin Laden), sometimes employing the mundane tactic of posing in front of bookshelves to present an intellectual aura. We also discuss what a fatwa is, correcting some of the misperceptions that Westerners have. (Rich also reveals what the topic of the most downloaded fatwa is, and the answer may surprise you.)

Following this discussion, we move into a theoretical discussion of why men rebel. Rich covers the various existing explanations for why Muslims have joined militant movements in recent decades, including ideas that such behavior is inherent in the theology, that it is a response to modernity and secularizing pressure, and the rise of transnational philanthropy. Rich finds little credence in the theological uniqueness of Islam, though he does note that faith can motivate people to undertake actions that overcome pure self-interest. In contrast to these pre-existing theories, he advances a claim that builds upon the work of Ted Gurr who argued that rebel leaders are often prompted into their career paths when they face relative deprivation — expectations about where they should be in life do not match with their current circumstances. Prof. Nielsen then argues that many of the Muslim imams who have turned to advocating for political violence started out with academic ambitions that were frustrated by state action. He illustrates this with a few examples. Our conversation then turns to the use of social media in spreading jihadist thought, and whether or not Gurr’s theory of “relative deprivation” (or Nielsen’s notion of “blocked ambition”) is more noticeable now given that the costs of organizing collective action have decreased with telecommunications technology. Rich points out that sustaining collective action still requires organizational incentives, but it is now more possible for aggrieved individuals to get their message out, be it by Twitter or (a few decades ago) cassette tapes.

We finish the conversation with Prof. Nielsen’s reflections on how political violence can be combatted. He argues for less involvement of religion in politics, something he doesn’t see as a realistic option in Islamic nations in the near future. Another option, though, is to not block that intellectual pathways of budding scholars and clerics. We both note how this is very reflective of our own academic industry. Rich then finishes with some reflections about what he has learned over the course of his studies in the past two decades, noting how individuals often have post-hoc rationalizations for the actions they undertake, and how he started as a firm rational choice scholar devoted to statistical methodology, but developed an appreciation for social psychology and anthropological methods to research (without abandoning his former theoretical and methodological frameworks). Recorded: May 3, 2018.

(Note: At one point during the discussion, Tony accidently attributes “relative deprivation theory” to Charles Tilly and more institutional explanations to Ted Gurr, a mistake that should reveal that he wasn’t paying attention in graduate school.)

Deadly Clerics: Blocked Ambition and the Paths to Jihad, by Richard Nielsen.

Why Men Rebel, by Ted Gurr (mentioned in podcast).

The Audacious Aesthetic, by Flagg Miller (mentioned in podcast).

Masters of the Word, by William Bernstein (mentioned in podcast).

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Anselm Rink on Missionaries and Political Authority

tonygill — Sun, 04 Mar 2018 09:00:22 +0000

Missionaries can often convert people to another faith, but do their efforts have other effects? Prof. Anselm Rink, a junior professor of political economy at the University of Konstanz (Germany), joins us to discuss an interesting survey and field experiment conducted in Peru to understand the effects missionizing may have on citizen attitudes towards political authority. We begin the conversation with a bit of Prof. Rink’s background and how he ended up studying Protestants in the Peruvian highlands, and he notes that it was part-and-parcel of his Peace Corps experience in Ecuador. We then dive into his study by defining what “political authority” is. Anselm notes that definitions vary quite a bit, but he focuses his attention on two dimensions borrowed from Max Weber — obedience and persuasion. He covers some of the different perspectives on how social scientists have understood these concepts, including a brief mention of the famous Milgram study.

Prof. Rink then lays out his theoretical expectations on why missionaries should have any impact on the dimensions of political authority. As far as obedience goes, it is possible that there are theological reasons a missionary (or other religious leader) would enhance acceptance of authority in that followers are asked to adopt an authority figure. There is also the possibility that there is a habitual mechanism that enforces obedience through generalized rituals. With respect to persuasion, Anselm notes that exposure to new religious ideas could create an intellectual substitution effect wherein people see things differently, or be affected by cognitive dissonance wherein messages from a religious authority may undermine a political message. Prof. Rink then lays out the religious landscape of Peru, pointing out the growth of Protestantism of the Pentecostal and indigenous varieties. When Tony asks whether messages from Catholic priests would have an effect on the dimensions of political authority, Anselm responds that this is possible but he focused his research efforts on Protestant missionaries because they tend to have a more “otherworldly” dimension to their spiritual message and that his theoretical expectations would be that the effects of new religious messages would be more pronounced with stricter denominations.

The conversation then gets scientific as we go over Prof. Rink’s research design, talking about the 16 villages that he chose and how this helped to enhance his field experiment design. Within these villages, there were Adventists, Maranatha Christians, Peruana (indigenous), and churches that had mixed elements of some or all of these. We go through the qualitative interviews he conducted with missionaries and the surveys he administered to local citizens that included an experiment about giving up coins based upon the roll of dice. His findings from this work were rather interesting. It turns out that while Protestant missionaries tended to make their followers more obedient, they actually were less susceptible to persuasion. As such, the effects of missionaries run in somewhat contradictory directions.

We finish off the interview with a discussion of his work on religious radicalization in Kenya with his co-author Kunaal Sharma. Instead of focusing on macro-political and economic explanations (such as economic crisis) for conversion to radical religious movements (both Christian and Muslim), they have been investigating the micro-level foundations for why individuals in a community setting would sign up with radicalized groups. Anselm’s work in both Latin America, Africa, and Europe allows Tony to prompt him about his reflections on his own research. Anselm noted that the similarities among humans in different contexts should be seen as important and has some further views on altruistic behavior. Recorded: February 19, 2018.

Please note: Due to an international Skype connection, the audio of Prof. Rink is a bit compressed and muted. Nonetheless, the intellectual content is superb.

RELATED LINKS

Prof. Anselm Rink’s personal webpage and the Department of Politics at University of Konstanz.

“Do Protestant Missionaries Undermine Political Authority? Evidence from Peru,” by Anselm Rink in Comparative Political Studies. (subscription required)

“The Determinants of Religious Radicalization,” by Anselm Rink and Kunaal Sharma in Journal of Conflict Resolution. (subscription required)

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Proselytism, Humanitarianism, and Development: A Panel Discussion.

Religious Freedom and Political Flourishing: A Panel Discussion.

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Kenneth Vaughan on Consociationalism, Religion, and Lebanon (and more)

tonygill — Sun, 25 Feb 2018 09:00:40 +0000

Can a country comprised of Sunni Muslims, Shiite Muslims, Druze, and Maronite Christians hold itself together politically and avoid conflict? Lebanon, a country with this confessional mixture, has had its problems with religious conflict in the past but has seemed to maintain a reasonably stable polity (relative to other countries in the region) via the institutional design of political consociationalism. Kenneth Vaughan, a Ph.D. candidate in sociology at Baylor University, explains how this balanced political arrangement is viewed by the different groups in society and what potential stresses it may be facing given important demographic shifts in the population. We begin with an overview of the religious landscape of Lebanon, with Mr. Vaughan noting that it is roughly a three-way split between Sunni, Shia, and Maronites, with Druze making up about 10% of the remainder. The exact breakdown is difficult to know as the Lebanese census prohibits questions on religious affiliation, which not surprisingly would be a highly contentious bit of data given that government offices are divided according to this breakdown.

The division of political positions across demographic (and in this case, religious) groups is known to political sociologists as “consociationalism,” a term coined by political scientist Arend Lijphart. Ken reviews some of the basic research conducted on consociationalism, including work demonstrating that it seems to be an effective form of governance in divided societies such as the Netherlands (namely in the work of Lijphart), but that it hasn’t worked as well in other societies, particularly in places such as India (as noted in the writings of Steven Wilkinson). Ken notes that consociationalism has the potential to create “essentializing identity groups” that become locked-in to the reward structure of the government. Given that Lebanon has been crafted as a consociational system since the National Pact of 1943 and reinforced in the Taif Agreement following a civil war in the mid-1970s, Mr. Vaughan set out to test how different groups view this institutional arrangement, particularly under the realization that demographic trends have been shifting over the past several decades with more Maronites leaving the country and Shiites tending to gain in relative proportion (based upon other research conducted). He finds that Shia Muslims tend to be more trusting of governmental institutions and believe Lebanon to be relatively democratic. Maronites, on the other hand, view Lebanese governing institutions as less trustworthy, democratic, and free. Sunni Muslims were located somewhere in the middle of this spectrum. Ken covers his research design using the Arab Barometer survey and the various factors that he controlled for as well, such as age, education, and income.

Following our discussion of Lebanon, we talk about Ken’s current research on religious tolerance and persecution in post-Soviet republics, a study that is in its initial stages. He notes that Muslim republics have tended to have lower levels of religious regulation than nations that are predominately Orthodox Christian, and also sees elements of nationalism being intertwined with religious politics. We close out with some of Ken’s other experiences with religion in other non-Western societies, most notably his time teaching English in China. He tells us about the struggles of various Christian worshipers and house churches, including a variety of illustrative stories about individuals such as the (recently deceased) Samuel Lamb. Ken ends our interview with some interesting reflections on how unique the religious landscape is in the United States relative to the rest of the world and why understanding religion in an international and comparative perspective is important. Recorded: February 19, 2018.

Acts of Faith, by Rodney Stark and Roger Finke (mentioned in podcast).

The Plot to Kill God, by Paul Froese (mentioned in podcast).

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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.

Jared Rubin on Religion & Credit Risk in the Ottoman Empire (Encore Presentation)

tonygill — Sun, 05 Nov 2017 09:00:55 +0000

In celebration of the release of Prof. Rubin’s new book, Rulers, Religion, and Riches: Why the West Got Rich and the Middle East Did Not, we offer up this oldie but goldie from our archives. We expect to be hearing more from Jared in the coming months, so stay tuned!

When it comes to wielding economic power in society, and getting the best interest rates on loans, most people would expect that the wealthy and politically connected would be in a better position than others. While generally true, Prof. Jared Rubin – an associate professor of economics at Chapman University and associate director of the Institute for Religion, Economics, and Society – points to a very interesting period in Islamic history where this didn’t necessarily hold true. In fact, it was during the late Ottoman Empire that those in socially-disadvantaged positions were able to secure lower interest rates on loans than the rich and powerful. The groups paying lower rates on credit included women, the poor, and non-Muslims.

As Jared has been a guest on the show before, we open with a bit of banter about what he has been up to, which includes writing a new book and wrangling over the title of that book. Our conversation then jumps to a recent project with another RoR guest, Timur Kuran. Here, these two scholars take a look at how interest rates were set in the late Ottoman Empire (circa 17th and 18th centuries). Jared spends some time filling us in on what this period in Ottoman history looked like, with a survey of the legal, banking, and commercial system that was in place and how religiously diverse Istanbul and other parts of the empire was. This discussion also covers how women were able to accumulate wealth during this period of time, an important observation as females were part of the credit market in the Ottoman Empire. Jared explains the importance of interest in credit markets and how Islamic rules on usury operated.

The next step in our discussion covers how individuals with legal and financial power can often gain favorable access to credit, a result that is not surprising to most folks. However, we quickly learn that during the period under examination by Profs. Rubin and Kuran, the well-connected often paid higher interest rates than those in a less favorable social position. Jared points out that titled elites (i.e, the politically well-connected), Muslims, and men paid a premium on their loans relative to those not politically connected, females, and non-Muslims. He explains how Timur Kuran discovered this empirical oddity while conducting extensive archival research, and how both of them thought it was merely a problem with a small sample size or poor data recording at first. However, the more they examined the situation, the more it revealed a fascinating puzzle. Jared explains that because the politically well-connected and Muslims would oftentimes get favorable decisions from the court system when they defaulted, lenders would build in a small premium to manage this increased risk. Non-elites and non-Muslims (e.g., Christians and Jews) were less likely to receive favorable judgments in default hearings and thus were incentivized to be more careful in paying back their loans. He also notes that males had an easier time fleeing when it came time to pay back their loans, whereas women had fewer exit opportunities and were thus a lower lending risk. Our discussion explores the magnitude of these differences as well as the varying types of legitimate and illegitimate default.

The latter portion of our podcast explores why a similar pattern did not arise in Christian Europe as well as some modern extensions of this theory that take us to the land of Brazil and how this affects the ability of the poor to get apartments when renters’ rights are so strong. While Kuran and Rubin’s work on the Ottoman Empire seems to be a historical oddity, Jared notes that their findings fit nicely into our knowledge about credit risk today and could be useful in explaining financial results in other parts of the world or during other periods of time. We discuss some of the more surprising things he learned from this study including how going into empirical data with an open mind can often times prompt interesting theoretical questions, and how history is a good teacher. Recorded: February 17, 2016.

Note: Due to some phone issues, portions of the podcast had to be edited. We attempted to do this as seamlessly as possible.

Rulers, Religion, and Riches: Why the West Got Rich and the Middle East Did Not, by Jared Rubin.

“The Financial Power of the Powerless: Socio-Economic Status and Interest Rates under Weak Rule of Law,” by Timur Kuran and Jared Rubin.

The Institute for Religion, Economics, and Society (IRES) at link to the graduate workshop.

The Association for the Study of Religion, Economics, and Culture (ASREC).

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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).

RELATED PODCASTS

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).

RELATED PODCASTS

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

Robert Nelson on Environmentalism as Religion.

Peter Henne on Religion-State Relations and Counterterrorism

tonygill — Sun, 27 Aug 2017 08:00:57 +0000

What determines whether or not a foreign government cooperates with US counterterrorism efforts? Prof. Peter Henne, and assistant professor of political science at the University of Vermont, examines the variation in how different governments in Muslim nations respond to US overtures. We discuss a bit of Dr. Henne’s background as a terrorism/counterterrorism analyst, why he became interested in the topic, and then dive into the content of his new book Islamic Politics, Muslim States, and Counterterrorism Tensions (out with Cambridge University Press). He begins by reviewing the general literature in international relations that seeks to explain why nations agree to cooperate with one another. We review international self-interest (the realism school), domestic political pressures, and then turn to how religion might play into this mix via the theories of “civilization” theorists such as Bernard Lewis and Samuel Huntington. While each perspective adds something to our understanding about why nations would yield to pressure from the US to help in quashing terrorist groups, Peter proposes an institutional perspective that takes into account pre-existing religion-state relations within Muslim nations, the rise of Islamic fundamentalism over the past half century, and the international context. We review some of the dimensions of US counterterrorism policy and then Prof. Henne lays out his theory of why some states would be more cooperative with the US than other states. Whether a state is “open” or “closed” politically matters a great deal, as does how governments have structured their relations with Islamic organizations, including militants. The history of counterterrorism since the early 1990s is the presented and we review some of the larger trends in counterterrorism efforts, noting that Africa has been the least cooperative region with the U.S. Our attention then turns to three case studies that present different religion-state relations: Pakistan, United Arab Emirates, and Turkey. Pakistan, while relatively open politically at times, must wrangle with Islamic activism, support for such activism in the military, and the conflict in Kashmir when weighing its policy options towards the US. The UAE, by contrast, has exercised greater control over Islamic groups in civil society and although there has been funding of militant groups through charitable channels, the interest and ability to manage these groups more effectively have made the Emirates a more consistent partner with the US. Finally, we examine Turkey that has had a history of overt secularism, favored by the military leaders, but which has also seen an uptick in religious activism within civil society and amongst political parties. This has led to Turkey as having one of the most complex and nuanced positions towards US counterterrorism efforts, including the surprise decision by the government not to participate in the US invasion of Iraq in the early 21st century. We close with some speculation by Prof. Henne where US relations with Muslim nations are heading in the near future, as well as what he has learned over the course of his study of this topic. (It should be noted that while we were recording this, there was a three-alarm fire on the University of Vermont campus, but Dr. Henne — not in the building that was burning — stayed on for the interview. How cool is that?) Recorded: August 3, 2017.

Islamic Politics, Muslim States, and Counterterrorism Tensions, by Peter Henne.

RELATED PODCASTS

Podcasts on the topic of Islam and Politics.

David Smith on Religion, International Relations, and Foreign Policy.

Lawrence Rubin on Islam and Ideational Balancing.

William Inboden on Religious Liberty, Foreign Policy, and the Arab Spring.

Thomas Farr on Religion, Religious Liberty, and US Diplomacy.

Jeremy Menchik on Islam, Tolerance, Democracy, and Indonesia.

Denis Dragovic on Religion and State-Building.

Robert George on the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (and banjo music).

Daniel Philpott on Religious Resurgence and Democratization.

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).

RELATED PODCASTS

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

Marion Goldman on Martin Luther & Spiritual Virtuosity (Protestant Reformation Series)

Steven Pfaff on the Protestant Reformation

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