Research On Religion » Pope Pius IX

Rod Stark on the Triumph of Christianity, Part III

tonygill — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 08:00:20 +0000

Prof. Rodney Stark, co-founder and co-director of Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion, joins us once again to talk about the final portion of his monumental book, The Triumph of Christianity. We pick up the story of Christianity’s growth and change with the Protestant Reformation. Prof. Stark notes that the Reformation wasn’t so much of a reform of the Church as it was a breakaway schismatic sect. Whereas there were numerous attempts at schism throughout Christian history, Rod points out that Martin Luther — who did not set out to break from the Vatican — just happened to be at the right place at the right time, which allowed his challenge to various Church doctrines to spread initially as a grassroots movement among the upper classes and then became a tool wherein nobility who were under the tutelage of Rome could gain more financial and political autonomy. We cover the various reasons for the spread of Protestantism including the role of the printing press, college students, and the incentive structure of the northern European nobility. Prof. Stark also notes that Protestantism was not a movement among the lower classes of society given that the poor typically did not attend church in this era. The “myth of medieval piety” is important for understanding why our contemporary era is not witnessing a decline in religiosity, but instead is greater than it ever has been. Our attention then turns to how Luther and Calvin’s schismatic movements challenged the Roman Catholic Church, allowing the “Church of Piety” to finally get the upper hand on the “Church of Power” (a tension we noted in the second of this three-part podcastd series). This discussion also examines what occured (and did not occur) during the Spanish Inquisition and the various witchcraft trials it supposedly spawned. Another interesting consequence of the Protestant Reformation for the Catholic Church was the creation, for the first time, of seminary training as a means of educating priests in theology. Prior to this most priests were trained as “apprentices” and often did not even know the content of the Latin texts they were reciting. This provides clear evidence of how religious pluralism (or competition) helps to keep churches honest to their spiritual mission. Indeed, Prof. Stark notes that the Reformation helped to create, in the Catholic Church, the institution he had always wanted. Tony also adds to the discussion by talking about his own research on the Latin American Catholic Church and how the “reformation” was delayed by several hundred years in that region of the world. It was when Protestants started making gains in the middle part of the 20th century that helped to reform Catholicism there. Rod also lists a number of downsides of the Catholic Counter-Reformation including some problems for intellectual freedom and the Catholic view of commerce and entrepreneurial activity. We then look at the so-called “secularization” of northern Europe and Rod makes a fascinating claim that rather than there being a large drop in the level of Christian practice over the past 500 years, there really was very little Christian practice to begin with, therefore it is hard to argue that Europe is becoming increasingly secularized when it never was really all that religious to begin with, particularly among the popular classes. This discussion opens the door to our conversation of Christianity in the United States and why it has been particularly vibrant relative to the European scene. The main point that Rod makes here is that in the U.S. there is no established church, and hence each religious denomination has to “make it on its own” if it wants to succeed and this prompts a wide range of creativity amongst the clergy. We finish our conversation with Rod’s reflection on the future of faith in the US and he also provides some interesting tidbits from his forthcoming book, America’s Blessing: How Religion Benefits Everyone … Including Atheists. Recorded: September 21, 2012.

Robert Sirico on Markets, Morality, Faith & Freedom

tonygill — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 08:00:55 +0000

Religious leaders are often quick to criticize free market economics because of the belief that it harms the poor, creates greater inequality, and relies upon the base motives of selfishness. However, can a moral case be made for capitalism and free markets? Rev. Robert Sirico, co-founder and president of The Acton Institute, explores this question in depth. We begin our discussion by reviewing Father Sirico’s personal journey from his idealistic youth in the 1960s and early ’70s to his transformation into a proponent of free market economics. His intellectual development is all the more interesting in that it occured as he was simultaneously drawn back to the Catholic faith of his youth, eventually choosing to enter the seminary and become an ordained priest. During this discussion we review his thoughts on Ayn Rand and other libertarian thinkers such as Friedrich Hayek and Frédéric Bastiat. We then venture into a discussion about greed, selfishness, and self-interest with Rev. Sirico laying out the difference between these different concepts and noting how the pursuit of self-interest can also be good for others as entrepreneurs attempt to benefit themselves by making others happy. Greed, on the other hand, is defined as the pursuit of desire with the intent of subordinating others. Father Sirico then makes a case that socialism tends to promote greed more so than capitalism. This discussion allows us to review early communal experiments by the Pilgrims and Fr. Sirico explains why liberation theologians and others are mistaken to interpret the social organization of the early Church Fathers as an example of socialism. We then discuss the role of profits, the gap between the rich and poor, the nature of envy, and the importance of voluntarism. Our discussion closes with an examination of President Bush’s faith-based initiative (which Rev. Sirico gave some early input on), how government policy (even if pursued with good intentions) may inhibit the important social role of individual charity, and a discussion of the recent controversy surrounding the health care mandate and the Catholic bishops. With the latter issue, we review the tension between a corporatist worldview and the Catholic principle of subsidiarity, a nice review of our earlier discussion with Prof. Phillip Muñoz. Finally, Rev. Sirico details the origins of the Action Institute and his role with that institution. Recorded: May 29, 2012.

Daniel Philpott on Religious Resurgence & Democratization

tonygill — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 08:00:21 +0000

Over the past four decades, there have been two global trends that have caught the attention of social scientists — the public resurgence of global religiosity and the increasing movement towards democratic governance. Daniel Philpott — associate professor of political science at Notre Dame and fellow at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies — discusses both of these trends and his latest book, God’s Century (co-authored with Monica Duffy Toft and Timothy Samuel Shah). We begin the interview with a historical survey of how church-state relations have changed over the past two or three millenia, a broad sweep of history indeed, but one that is crucial to understanding why religion has made such a strong comeback in recent decades. Prof. Philpott shows how early in human history religious and secular authority split apart and how both types of leadership existed in a situation of mutual dependence — secular leaders required the legitimating endorsement of religious leaders, whereas religious leaders relied upon the material support of secular rulers. During the early modern period (c. 1450-1750) this mutual balance began to tip in favor of secular rulers who exercised greater control over religious groups in a paternalistic manner. Interestingly, this was a global trend. Beginning in the late 1700s, particularly with the French Revolution, we witness a global trend where religion is subjugated (and sometimes decimated) by secular rulers, particular in communist and socialist nations. Ironically, this subjugation gave religious organizations a greater degree of independence from secular government in some parts of the world that allowed new political theologies to develop and the institutional ability to organize against secular rulers. We discuss the formation, nature and influence of these political theologies, from the ideas promoted at Vatican Council II to Hindu and Buddhist nationalism to Islamic fundamentalism. In some areas such as Latin America, Indonesia, and parts of Asia these new political theologies and resurgent religious organizations helped to promote democracy, whereas in other parts of the world (e.g., the Middle East) it has led to less sanguine outcomes. Our discussion also touches upon the role of ideas in motivating human events, and we finish the discussion with some thoughts on the 2011 “Arab Spring” and whether or not that this will result in more democratic nations. This is the first part of a discussion of the book God’s Century: Resurgent Religion and Global Politics. We will be focusing on the issue of religious violence with one of the other authors of the book in an upcoming episode. Stay tuned. Recorded: July 7, 2011.