Research On Religion » culture

Paul Froese on the Meaning of Life

tonygill — Sun, 25 Sep 2016 08:00:07 +0000

Have you ever stopped to think about what your purpose in life is? Or do you wonder if life has any meaning? Prof. Paul Froese, professor of sociology at Baylor University and resident scholar at Baylor’s Institute for Studies of Religion, has thought about these questions, but more importantly he has thought about how other people think about this question. Prof. Froese takes us on a journey beginning with how he started to think about thinking about the purpose in life, which also engages us in a conversation about the book design and how to write in an accessible voice. Paul notes that while this is not a “self-help” book per se, it is designed to get people to be more reflective on how the think about their purpose. We talk a bit about some basic definitions including “meaning” and “purpose,” which also is placed against their antitheses of “meaninglessness” and “nihilism,” and some of the demographics of “meaningfulness” are revealed. References to Russian literature and punk rock bands are scattered throughout this discussion. The bulk of the interview walks us through several key questions that Prof. Froese set out to answer including: Does having purpose make you happy?; Who lacks purpose?; Is purpose within you or is it socially given?; What is the relation to purpose and T(t)ruth (both capital and lowercase “t”)?; And how does time, both our own personal aging and the cultural tempos of larger society, affect how our thoughts on purpose can change? Tony reflects upon some of his life events and growing up in different cultural eras, which Paul notes seem to be changing ever more rapidly nowadays. We finish with Paul’s reflections on what he learned over the process of his academic career dating back to his undergraduate days studying Russian literature and history, and how all of his experiences along the way have filtered into this book. Recorded: September 16, 2016.

RELATED LINKS

Prof. Paul Froese’s bio at Baylor’s ISR and Baylor’s Department of Sociology.

On Purpose: How We Create the Meaning of Life, by Paul Froese.

America’s Four Gods: What We Say about God and What that Says about Us, by Paul Froese and Christopher Bader.

The Plot to Kill God: Findings from the Soviet Experiment in Secularization, by Paul Froese.

RELATED PODCASTS

Paul Froese on America’s Four Gods.

Daniel Russell on Ideals and Virtues.

Joseph O. Baker on American Secularism.

Wafa Hakim Orman on Religion and Economic Crises.

Michael Rota on Pascal’s Wager.

Matthew Moore on Buddhism and Political Theory.

Andre Molle on Spirituality and Martial Arts.

Murat Iyigun on Monotheism, Conflict, Europe, the Ottomans, and the Blues

tonygill — Sun, 26 Jul 2015 08:00:56 +0000

Are monotheisms better at establishing sociopolitical stability than civilizations with polytheistic religions? And to what extent do monotheistic civilizations influence the socio-economic development of one another? In particular, did the Ottoman Empire change the course of European history via its military advances into southeast Europe at a key moment in time? Prof. Murat Iyigun, the Stanford Calderwood Endowed Chair in Economics at the University of Colorado, answers these questions and discusses other interesting historical findings that he published in his new book, War, Peace, & Prosperity in the Name of God. And if that isn’t enough, Murat — an accomplished blues guitarist — treats us to an original “arabesque blues” tune at the end of our interview. Up your knowledge of history with our discussion, and then get down and funky with Prof. Iyigun’s musical stylings!

Our conversation begins, as usual, with a bit of background about our guest. Prof. Iyigun explains what cliometrics — one of his academic specialties — is and also how he became interested in the study of religion and economics. He notes that the events of September 11, combined with new advances in institutional economics, prompted him to look into the role that informal cultural institutions play in history. He also gives credit to his mentor — Herschel Grossman — at Brown University for inspiring him to look beyond the typical empirical fare of economics.

We then jump into Murat’s new book and he lays out the three central questions that he seeks to answer: 1) Why and how did monotheism spread so rapidly and become swiftly intertwined with political authority?; 2) What has been the role of religion and ideology in conflict historically?; and 3) What were the lasting sociopolitical and economic effects of religiously-motivated conflicts? As for the first question, we walk through Murat’s empirical study showing that, ceteris paribus, monotheistic civilizations tend to last longer than polytheistic ones and generally have greater territorial reach (a proxy for governing effectiveness). Tony probes some of the methodological difficulties in measuring these phenomenon and Murat provides convincing answers as to why his study does show a significant effect for monotheism. He then reviews some of the reasons why monotheisms might be better for obtaining sociopolitical stability, including the ability of ecclesiastics to provide credibility to rulers and lower the discount rate of individuals thus allowing for longer-term policies.

Turning to one particular monotheistic civilization — the Ottoman Caliphate — Dr. Iyigun provides some background information about how the Ottomans were able to rise to power and conquer a vast territory, extending across North Africa, into the Arabian peninsula, and eastward towards central Asia. He discusses the “Gaza ideology,” which promotes the basis for an offensive military strategy allowing for conquest, which then becomes its own engine of growth, allowing for a further extension of rule. The height of Ottoman rule from the mid-15th to the 17th centuries also has an important impact on Europe. With the Ottomans pushing into the Balkans and close to the gates of Vienna, Europeans had to reduce their own territorial infighting in order to address this external existential threat. Murat notes that while the Roman Church’s monopoly had come under challenge prior to the Protestant Reformation (e.g., the Hussites and Lollards), the definitive Protestant break fostered by Martin Luther was catalyzed by the Ottoman threat. While acknowledging the role of the printing press and other explanations for Protestant success, Prof. Iyigun argues that military advances by the Ottomans forced Europeans to temper their own intra-faith hostilities and conflict, which in turn gave Christian dissenters a chance to take hold and expand on the continent. His empirical work on the frequency and duration of intra-European conflict compared against Ottoman advances, along with qualitative evidence in the documents of Prince Ferdinand and others, shows this hypothesis to be rather convincing.

We move next to a set of miscellaneous (albeit important) questions about how this may have impacted the different economic development trajectories of the two regions — Europe and the Middle East. Tony asks whether the threat of Europe, particularly in the form of The Crusades, might have played a similar galvanizing role in Ottoman economic development. Interestingly, it does not and Murat explains what happens when the dominant power in the region faces such threats. He notes three phases — denial that a threat exists, a conservative revival to “restore historic greatness” leading to a reliance on old institutions not suited for a new reality, and then finally emulation of the institutions of the rising power. We also talk about another interesting facet of his book — the role of harem politics. While most of his book is macro-historical, he does devote time to looking into the micro-foundations of military decisions in the Ottoman Caliphate and develops a fascinating thesis. Here he argues that the nature of dynastic succession relied upon births that were from captured concubines and slave women, often from Christian lands (sometimes as far away as France). He tests whether the heritage of the mothers of various sultans played a role in determining where military campaigns would take place. Interestingly, valide sultans (queen mothers) who came from Christian regions (although who also converted to Islam), had an influence in tamping down military incursions into Europe. While only a side chapter in Murat’s book, this may be one of the most interesting and surprising findings of his study (at least to Tony, who notes that “Moms matter” in history).

Prof. Iyigun finishes off with some broad lessons he learned from his decade-long study of this topic. He notes that institutional, particularly informal (cultural) institutional, context is very important for structuring political and economic histories. He also notes that while economic competition in a globalizing world is often viewed positively, cultural/ideological competition should be viewed the same way. Finally, he learned that in a globalizing world, religion may become a more important focal point for bringing people together than nationalisms, a thesis advanced earlier by Samuel Huntington but which Murat intends to explore further in a more rigorous fashion. And last, but not least, Murat talks about his love of the blues and how he came to play in the band Barrel of Blues, and then treats us to his own composition — Muqarnas. Enjoy! Recorded: July 8, 2015.

War, Peace, & Prosperity in the Name of God: The Ottoman Role in Europe’s Socioeconomic Evolution, by Murat Iyigun.

Barrel of Blues (great tunes can be found here).

RELATED PODCASTS

Jared Rubin on Christian and Islamic Economic History.

Timur Kuran on Islamic Law & Economic Development.

Timur Kuran on Islamic Economics.

John Owen IV on Confronting Political Islam, Historical Lessons.

Matthew Derrick on the Geography of the Umma.

Mark Koyama on the Economics of Jewish Expulsions.

Rodney Stark on the Crusades.

Doug Johnston on Missionizing Romania

tonygill — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 08:00:20 +0000

How can an inflatable, remote-controlled shark help to missionize the citizens of Romania? We pose this deeply philosophical question, and other queries, to Pastor Doug Johnston of the First Baptist Church of Redmond (Washington). Pastor Johnston has made six, short trips of roughly 10 days each to preach and teach at the Timisoara Bible Baptist Instiute. He recounts how he became involved in this ongoing project even though he didn’t consider himself a world traveler. We discuss the multi-faceted purpose of this trip, not only to help train Protestant clergy and laity in Romania, but to bring assistance to the orphanage attached to the Emmanuel Baptist Church located in Timisoara. Doug further tells us how he prepared for the trip including fundraising and then details his first harrowing experience at the airport shortly after landing in Romania for the first time back in 2002. We use this incident as a means of looking into Romanian culture and to reflect upon how things have changed there in the past decade, as well as thinking about how Protestant Christianity may have had an impact on the culture there. We further discuss the nature of Protestanism in the country as well as how Protestants have interacted with the historically dominant Romanian Orthodox Church. And what would an interview on Romania be without a brief digression on Vlad the Impaler (a.k.a. Count Dracula)? We finish the interview with the story of the Air Shark and Pastor Johnston’s reflections upon what he has learned from his experience with the good people of Romania. Recorded: March 20 and 23, 2012. (Re-recording due to technical difficulties.)

Frontline Fellowships.

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Jeff Rose on Street Preaching.

Allison Pond on Being a Mormon Missionary.

Catherine Wanner on Religion in Russia.

Larry Osborne on Church Finances and Growth

tonygill — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 08:00:57 +0000

How are churches financed? Who controls access to the giving records of church members? Should pastors knkow what individual congregants tithe, and can such information be useful? Pastor Larry Osborne of North Coast Church (Vista, CA) answers these and many other questions related to church financing and growth. Picking up on a debate that recently arose in Christianity Today, we explore the reasons a lead pastor may want to know who is giving how much in the congregation. Pastor Osborne admits to being of the mind that he did not want to know this information early in his pastoral career, but has since changed his mind and explains why and for what use this information can be. He also notes that contributions to a church are not merely measured in monetary terms, but include all forms of contributions. Larry also gives us a brief history of North Coast Church, which draws 8,000 attendees per week across three campuses. He recounts the various challenges that he and his staff have faced over the three decades since he first became the church’s senior pastor including the need to change the style of worship to meet cultural trends. He also notes that his church actually provides an array of different styles of worship from traditional to edgy. Our discussion also covers the use of small groups and a pastoral strategy known as the “sticky church,” wherein attention is given to make sure newcomers don’t leave the church once they arrived. As many churches often focus more attention to widening the entry doors, Pastor Osborne talks about how it is important to close the “back doors” so people don’t leave. Recorded: August 8, 2011.

RELATED LINKS

North Coast Church in Vista, CA.

Larry Osborne Live, Pastor Osborne’s blog and the specific post on whether a pastor should know tithing information.

Sticky Church, by Larry Osborne.

Sticky Teams: Keeping your Leadership Team and Staff on the Same Page, by Larry Osborne.

Ten Dumb Things Smart Christians Believe, by Larry Osborne.

RELATED PODCASTS

Mark Driscoll on the Growth of Mars Hill Church.

Marc von der Ruhr on Megachurch Recruitment and Retention.

Daniel Stiles on Cowboy Churches and Rodeo (not really related, but it was a very cool interview).