Faith Angle

Miroslav Volf teaches theology at Yale University, where he also directs the Yale Center for Faith and Culture. He is the author of 17 books, and his 1996 book Exclusion and Embrace was named by Christianity Today as one of the 100 Most Influential Books of the 20th Century. This new book, rooted in a popular Yale undergraduate course, is Life Worth Living: A Guide to What Matters Most, co-authored by Matthew Croasmun and Ryan McAnnally-Linz, both fellow teachers. Joining Miroslav for this conversation is Tim Alberta, a brilliant, ascending journalist and bestselling author in his own right, who is a staff writer at The Atlantic and the author of American Carnage. At the moment, Tim is working on a new book, provocatively titled The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism.    Guests Miroslav Volf Tim Alberta   Additional Resources Life Worth Living: A Guide to What Matters Most, by Miroslav Volf, Matthew Croasmun, and Ryan McAnnally-Linz American Carnage: On the Front Lines of the Republic Civil War and the Rise of President Trump, by Tim Alberta "War and Religion in Ukraine," Faith Angle Europe session with Miroslav Volf  

In this episode, we are joined by Shaun Casey, former director of the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Religion and Global Affairs, and Rachel Donadio, a Paris-based journalist, a contributing writer for The Atlantic and a former European Culture correspondent for The New York Times. Our guests discuss Shaun's new book, Chasing the Devil at Foggy Bottom, which makes the case that understanding the role of religion in global politics is crucial for effective diplomacy.   Guests Shaun Casey Rachel Donadio   Additional Resources  Chasing the Devil at Foggy Bottom: The Future of Religion in American Diplomacy, by Shaun Casey "Why Is France so Afraid of God?" by Rachel Donadio "Portrait of Bravery: Ukraine's First Lady, Olena Zelenska," by Rachel Donadio   

In this episode, Ryan Streeter of the American Enterprise Institute and Tevi Troy of the Bipartisan Policy Center join us to discuss the history of the White House Office of Faith-Based Initiatives, as well as to provide a roadmap for the office's potential growth and impact under future administrations.    Guests Ryan Streeter  Tevi Troy   Additional Resources "The False Choices Facing the Republican Party," by Ryan Streeter "The Life and Times of the Faith-Based Initiative," by Tevi Troy

This episode is lifted directly from one of the most fascinating sessions of November’s Faith Angle Europe, where Dr. Peter Frankopan opened a two-and-a-half-hour session available in its entirety below. Peter is the Professor of Global History at Oxford University’s Worcester College, and alongside Theresa Fallon, the founder of a Brussels think tank focusing on Russia and China, he spoke with 18 transatlantic journalists about trade, culture, and the easily-misconstrued history of the Eastern and Western worlds that have intersected in China for centuries.     Guests Peter Frankopan   Additional Resources "Past Is Prologue in China," full length Faith Angle Europe 2022 session with Peter Frankopan and Theresa Fallon The New Silk Roads: The Present and Future of the World, by Peter Frankopan Oxford Centre for Byzantine Research

Recently, President Biden signed into law the Respect for Marriage Act, requiring all US states and territories to recognize same-sex and interracial civil marriages. But that isn’t all the new law does: it also fortifies religious liberty protections. As today’s guests describe, it’s perhaps because the Respect for Marriage Act does both things that it garnered bipartisan congressional support. In this episode, we're joined by Tim Schultz, president of the 1st Amendment Partnership, a DC advocacy organization that has worked for the last decade to advance religious freedom in state legislatures. Tim worked closely with leaders of diverse religious minority organizations—and national gay rights lobby organizations—to help foster the conditions needed to make this law and its commitment to Christian pluralism possible. Joining him is Tim Dalrymple, president and CEO of Christianity Today, one of the country's most influential evangelical publications.    Guests Tim Schultz Tim Dalrymple   Additional Resources "Everything You Need to Know About the Respect for Marriage Act," by Carl Esbeck in Christianity Today 1st Amendment Partnership Christianity Today Respect for Marriage Act 

In this episode, we are joined by Rev. Russell Levenson, Rector of St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Houston, TX. In conversation with Kelsey Dallas of Deseret News, Levenson discusses his new book, Witness to Dignity, about the life and faith of George H.W. and Barbara Bush who attended St. Martin’s for over fifty years.Guests Russell Levenson Kelsey Dallas   Additional Resources  Witness to Dignity: The Life and Faith of George H.W. and Barbara Bush, by Russell Levenson "People of faith, pessimism and American politics," by Kelsey Dallas 

Today's conversation is about the leadership, faith, historical record, and implications of the national security policy of Ronald Reagan. This exchange between two seasoned national security officials with unusual expertise is rooted in a hot-off-the-press new book, The Peacemaker: Ronald Reagan, the Cold War, and the World on the Brink, by Will Inboden, who is joined for this episode by Elliott Abrams of the Council on Foreign Relations.    Guests: Elliott Abrams Will Inboden   Additional Resources: The Peacemaker: Ronald Reagan, the Cold War, and the World on the Brink, by Will Inboden "Remembering Mikhail Gorbachev," by Will Inboden

Anne Snyder is one of Faith Angle’s newest Advisory Board members. She currently hosts The Whole Person Revolution podcast, and earlier this year she co-edited a volume entitled Breaking Ground, with over 45 short essays published throughout the pandemic. Spurring today’s conversation, since May 2019 Anne has served as Editor in Chief of Comment Magazine. She is joined by one of its current contributors, Greg Thompson, who is the co-director of Voices Underground, a Pennsylvania-based, HBCU-affiliated initiative that promotes African American cultural history through scholarly research, community experiences, and historical memorialization. This conversation explores themes from Greg's regular Comment column, "The Welcome Table", which weaves together history, race, memory, hospitality, and a theology of belonging.   Guests Anne Snyder Gregory Thompson   Additional Resources  Comment Magazine The Welcome Table Reparations: A Christian Call for Repentance and Repair, by Gregory Thompson and Duke Kwon The Whole Person Revolution Podcast , with Anne Snyder

In this episode, Bonnie Kristian discusses her brand new book, Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community. Her haunting phrase, “the knowledge crisis,” was perhaps popularized last year by another compelling book from Jonathan Rauch, the senior fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution. Jon’s 2021 book is The Constitution of Knowledge: A Defense of Truth, and as he explains in more detail, the book describes the essential conditions and institutions necessary for maintaining the basic building blocks of shared human understanding in a free society. This is a rich conversation between the two of them on how to steer clear from getting lost in the vortex of news that sometimes swirls.     Guests Bonnie Kristian Jonathan Rauch   Additional Resources  Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community, by Bonnie Kristian The Constitution of Knowledge: A Defense of Truth, by Jonathan Rauch

In this episode, Paul D. Miller of Georgetown University and Samuel L. Perry of the University of Oklahoma sit down for an insightful, timely conversation about Christian nationalism. Highlighting themes from Paul's newly-released book, The Religion of American Greatness: What's Wrong with Christian Nationalism, both guests offer a historically-rooted definition of Christian nationalism, analyze journalists' coverage of this rapidly-spreading ideology, and explore key differences between Christian nationalism and generative patriotism that bears faithful witness in the public square.   Guests: Paul D. Miller Samuel L. Perry   Additional Resources:  The Religion of American Greatness: What's Wrong with Christian Nationalism?, by Paul D. Miller The Flag and the Cross: White Christian Nationalism and the Threat to American Democracy, by Samuel Perry and Philip Gorski Taking America Back for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States, by Samuel Perry and Andrew Whitehead

If you’re an evangelical insider, the name Mike Cosper and his “Rise and Fall of Mars Hill” podcast series, published by Christianity Today in 2021, is almost certainly familiar for its artful retelling of the story of a Seattle megachurch pastored by Mark Driscoll. In this episode, Cosper, who is the director of podcasting for Christianity Today, is joined by Jon Ward of Yahoo News. Together, they examine what it is about the structure of megachurches that leaves them prone to the quick rise and fall of a charismatic leader. How does that compare to American politics—especially when our parties have weakened? And how does Mike’s 15-year experience as a pastor temper what he and his colleagues chose to see, and hold up, in this magnificent podcast that took American listeners by storm last year?   Guests Mike Cosper  Jon Ward   Additional Resources  The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill Podcast, by Mike Cosper  Testimony: Inside an Evangelical Movement that Failed a Generation, by Jon Ward

On this episode, we are joined by Simran Jeet Singh, Executive Director of the Aspen Institute’s Religion and Society Program, and Ari Goldman, Professor of Journalism at Columbia Journalism School, for a nuanced conversation about American religious pluralism and identity through the lens of Sikh theology and practice. Our guests explore themes from Simran’s recently-released book, The Light We Give: How Sikh Wisdom Can Transform Your Life, and discuss how Sikh religion invites us to find joy in humility, sacrificial love, and service towards our neighbor, practices with profound implications for broader American society.   Guests Simran Jeet Singh Ari Goldman   Additional Resources The Light We Give: How Sikh Wisdom Can Transform Your Life, by Simran Jeet Singh The Search for God at Harvard, by Ari Goldman  

The purpose of Faith Angle is to connect religious leaders with leading journalists, and today's conversation comes at it from both sides. The setting for this conversation was a group of 19 journalists who gathered three days after the Supreme Court ruled on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. This conversation features one of the country’s most thoughtful, publicly-minded evangelical leaders, Dr. Russell Moore, who is now a year into directing the Public Theology Project at Christianity Today. He is joined by Molly Ball, TIME Magazine’s national political correspondent.     Guests Russell Moore  Molly Ball   Additional Resources  Faith Angle West Session: Evangelicals and America's "Abortion Wars" "Tim Alberta Worries Politics is Poisoning the Church," on The Russell Moore Show  "How Politics Poisoned the Evangelical Church," by Tim Alberta  "Will Overturning Roe v. Wade Change Everything?", with Molly Ball Pelosi, by Molly Ball

In this episode, twice-elected U.S. Senator Ben Sasse (R-NE) joins Rev. Dr. Sam Ferguson for a nuanced discussion of power and public service, contemporary media, spiritual disciplines, political stewardship, and the liturgical aspects of social media and public worship. Sen. Sasse names some fascinating things – including when and how he starts the workday; how many Elmers are in his Lutheran circle of grandparent farmers; his perspective on churchgoing; and how he looks back differently, now, on the stretch-years of early parenting. Ben is sometimes called “the intellectual of the Senate,” in the vein of the late Daniel Patrick Moynihan, whose desk on the Senate floor he now occupies. Conversing with him is Rev. Dr. Sam Ferguson, who in May 2019 became rector of The Falls Church Anglican – a congregation where in 1791, George Washington served on the vestry.   Guests: Ben Sasse Sam Ferguson   Additional Resources: "A Time for Choosing" by Ben Sasse Them: Why We Hate Each Other - And How to Heal by Ben Sasse Falls Church Anglican Sermons by Sam Ferguson    Episode Transcript

This episode explores how “masculinity” has shaped elements of white evangelicalism in America. As evangelicals frequently make headlines for their voting patterns and outsized political influence, this discussion will peel back the layers and go deeper—especially on issues of gender equality, racial justice, historic Christian orthodoxy, global expressions of evangelicalism, and the possibilities and limits for evangelical renewal. American evangelicalism is today navigating an important moment of reorientation and reexamination of its identity, and as our speakers highlight, it has much to learn from the history and witness of its global counterparts.   Guests Kristin Kobes Du Mez Walter Kim   Additional Resources  Jesus and John Wayne: How Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation, by Kristin Kobes Du Mez  National Association of Evangelicals