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.

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