What insights essential for today's divided America can be found in the timeless writing of the great James Baldwin? And what recent developments in religion news are likely to resonate throughout our culture, in faith and secular areas alike? On this week's State of Belief, the weekly radio program and podcast from Interfaith Alliance, host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush addresses both of these topics.

The great American writer James Baldwin passed away 36 years ago. But his seminal works - as well as his unvarnished social commentary - continue to inspire readers and admirers today. And his message of an unlikely but possible true bridging of racial divides in this country is but one of the prophetic calls included in Prof. Greg Garrett's new book, The Gospel According to James Baldwin. A longtime professor at Baylor University, Greg has spent years following Baldwin - metaphorically and physically - to discover some of the reasons he sees his subject as "A prophet of humanity."

Religion News Service is the leading nonprofit, nonsectarian journalistic enterprise in the United States focusing on religion, and the ways faith influences every part of our society and culture. Award-winning journalists Adelle Banks, projects editor and national reporter, and Jack Jenkins, national reporter and author of the book American Prophets: The Religious Roots of Progressive Politics and the Ongoing Fight for the Soul of the Country, are back on State of Belief to review some stories from the summer some of us may have missed, and preview what they expect will hold the spotlight in the coming few months.