Christianity at Home and Abroad Audio: Recent Episodes
Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs
As the world's largest religion, Christianity spans many political, social, and geographic boundaries. Accordingly, the practice of Christianity varies tremendously, reflecting the diversity and richness of Christian doctrine. This collection examines the many Christianities that exist at home and abroad, and their intersection with and influence on our political and social worlds.
Understanding Protestantism is fundamental to understanding the modern world, says Professor Alec Ryrie. It has shaped democratic liberalism, capitalism, limited government, the notion of free inquiry, and continues to gain converts all over the world. How did this all blossom from Martin Luther's "Ninety-five Theses" 500 years ago?
Francis is the first pope who wasn't born in a village, says Vatican expert Marco Politi, but in a mega-city with many social-economic levels and faiths. "This explains why when he speaks he doesn't speak only to Catholics, not only to Christians. He speaks beyond religious borders. He speaks to men and women as they are in contemporary society."
What does it mean to have frequent conversations with God, as so many evangelicals say they do? Anthropologist Tanya Luhrmann spent over 10 years as an active member of evangelical churches in different parts of the U.S., and uses her personal experiences, interviews, and scientific training to report on the evangelical faith.
In this in-depth, erudite talk, George Weigel discusses the historic shift taking place in the Catholic church; the character of the new mode of Catholicism that is coming into being; his personal impressions of the new pope; and the flourishing church in Africa.
John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge argues that God is back as part of politics. On the street and in the corridors of power, religion is surging worldwide. Can religion and modernity thrive together? What impact will the world's rise of faith have in this century?
Dutch Minister for European Affairs Frans Timmermans argues that tolerance and the attitude of "live and let live" is no longer enough. He notes that our goal must be integration, which means increasing the interactiveness between communities.
Historian Mark A. Noll argues that the reason Barack Obama's candidacy is such an important matter for the American history of race, religion, and politics goes back to the 1830s. Noll focuses on the political effects of religion intermingling with race from a historical perspective.
Walter Russell Mead wittily explains how the individualistic faiths of Britain and America lent themselves so well to the creation of the modern economic and political order.
Garry Wills says that the U.S. separation of church and state both unleashed evangelical feelings and tempered them with reason and rationality. "Putting together the head and the heart is not easy, but we have been most successful as a country when that has happened."
D. Michael Lindsay says that evangelicals have become the new internationalists working at both policy and grassroot levels for more American engagement abroad. How does this affect America and the rest of the world?
Professor Philip Jenkins argues that by the year 2025, Africa and Latin America will have the largest number of Christians in the world. According to Jenkins, this is a different kind of Christianity from that which we are used to in the Global North.
Senator John Danforth argues that religious people should engage in politics, but, he notes, "there is a difference between engaging in politics and transforming politics and government into an extension or an enforcer of your religious point of view."
Professor Philip Jenkins argues that between 1974 and 1980, "there is a shift in political culture, political rhetoric, which is in a generally conservative direction, although sometimes the people who are pushing that conservatism might label themselves liberals or Democrats."
In a wide-ranging talk, Professor Philip Jenkins argues that the mid-to-late 1970s were a crucial turning point in religious and political landscapes around the world.
Steven Waldman, founder of the website belief.net.com, presents some surprising conclusions about how beliefs affect voting in the United States.
Author John Allen debunks some of the myths that surround Opus Dei, the prelature of the Roman Catholic Church that promotes the sanctity of ordinary daily work. Allen also explains Opus Dei's history, goals, and practices.
Elisabeth Sifton, Reinhold Niebuhr's daughter, reviews her father's legacy and concludes that many of today's Christian leaders are ignoring the radical truths he espoused.
George Weigel ponders the growing--and to him acutely disturbing--secularity of Europe, which he believes raises urgent questions about the future of democracy worldwide.