Reformed Forum

Roman Catholicism and American Politics during the Cold War

Christ the Center — Fri, 05 Nov 2021 04:00:00 +0000

Roman Catholicism entered the mainstream of American national life the morning following the November 8, 1960 election when John F. Kennedy won and became the president. While it may seem strange to people who did not grow up in the era, Protestant voters were wary of a Roman Catholic potentially serving as president of the United States. Yet the Vatican may have been even more wary of “Americanism.” While it did not necessarily inhibit Catholics from being Catholic it also was a form of exceptionalism that potentially risked the expansion of Christendom as understood by Catholics.

In this episode, D. G. Hart revisits the arguments of his book, American Catholic: The Politics of Faith during the Cold War, explaining the historical reasons why the relationship between Roman Catholicism and Americanism changed in the 1960s and how it continued to develop in subsequent decades.

Darryl G. Hart is Distinguished Associate Professor of History at Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Michigan. He is a host of the Paleo Protestant Pudcast with Korey Maas and Miles Smith as well as the Religious Nationalism podcast with Crawford Gribben.

Chapters

00:00:00 Introduction
00:04:47 Roman Catholicism and Politics in 2021
00:07:34 Religion in the Public Square
00:11:14 The Literature on American Politics and Catholicism
00:16:07 Writing on Roman Catholicism as a Protestant
00:20:55 Catholicism and the Conservative Movement
00:27:19 Protestant Fears about a Catholic President in 1960
00:33:02 Catholic Antipathy toward Americanism
00:45:49 John Courtney Murray and Catholic Thinking on Church and State
00:56:29 Catholic American Public Intellectuals
01:01:56 The Limits of Americanism
01:08:56 Neo-Americanists and a Modern Faith
01:18:21 Conclusion

Participants: Camden Bucey, Darryl G. Hart

Politics after Christendom

Christ the Center — Fri, 14 Feb 2020 05:00:00 +0000

David VanDrunen speaks about his forthcoming book, Politics After Christendom (Zondervan Academic), reflecting upon the status and responsibilities of Christians in their contemporary pluralistic political communities. Dr. VanDrunen presents a biblical-theological model of political engagement and exploring themes such as race, religious liberty, justice, authority, and civil resistance.

David VanDrunen is Robert B. Strimple Professor of Systematic Theology and Christian Ethics at Westminster Seminary California. He is the author and editor of several books, including Aquinas Among the Protestants, God’s Glory Alone: The Majestic Heart of Christian Faith and Life, Natural Law and the Two Kingdoms: A Study in the Development of Reformed Social Thought, and Divine Covenants and Moral Order: A Biblical Theology of Natural Law.

Participants: Camden Bucey, David VanDrunen

Karl Marx

Christ the Center — Fri, 18 May 2018 04:00:36 +0000

Bill Dennison speaks about Karl Marx, leading us through his biography, influences, and his intellectual effects upon social and political history. Dr. Dennison is Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at Covenant College and the author of Karl Marx in P&R Publishing’s Great Thinkers series.

Participants: Bill Dennison, Camden Bucey, Jeff Waddington

Civil Disobedience

Theology Simply Profound — Tue, 20 Jun 2017 19:33:14 +0000

What do we do when the government tells us that we must turn in people who are of a certain ethnic group so that they might be killed? Do we adhere to scripture that tells us to be obedient to the governing authorities or do we adhere to scripture that tells us that we should not murder? Are we sinning regardless or can we choose. In the 1940’s the Ten Boom family along with others help hide the Jews who were being hunted by the Nazi army for extinction. They lied, they stole and the disobeyed direct orders from their occupied government. This wasn’t just in Holland, but many German Christians also hid Jews to protect them. Were they right or was this a lack of faith?

Participants: Rob McKenzie, Robert Tarullo

14 Free Interdisciplinary Courses to Help You Grow as a Reformed Thinker

Camden M. Bucey — Tue, 18 Feb 2014 12:00:39 +0000

Learning is an important part of Christian stewardship. You have been given a mind, and God desires that we grow in our understanding of him and his gospel. Growing as a Christian thinker begins with studying the Bible and then theology, church history, and other related disciplines. But it’s also beneficial to study disciplines such as world history, philosophy, and political theory. Reformed Christians especially should recognize the connectedness of knowledge. Thorough learning in any discipline can never occur in a silo. To grow as a systematic theologian, you must also develop your understanding of church history. To deepen your appreciation for Scripture, you must have a grasp of its cultural context. An increasing number of educational institutions are posting courses online, and though they are not taught from Christian conviction, they nevertheless can challenge Reformed thinkers and help them to see things in a new light. OpenCulture curates a list of free online courses (1,700 and counting!). Coursemarks also maintains a giant master list of 4,881 open courses from elite institutions, such as Stanford, MIT, Columbia, and Harvard. If you’re on our website, chances are you listen to podcasts. So add a few courses to your playlist and widen your base of knowledge. Here are a few suggestions to get you started.

History

Ancient Greek History – Free Online Video – Free iTunes Audio – Free iTunes Video – Course Materials – Donald Kagan, Yale
Ancient Israel – Free Online Video & Resources – Free Online Video – Daniel Fleming, NYU
The Roman World – Free iTunes Video – Rhiannon Evans, La Trobe University
Early Modern England: Politics, Religion & Society under the Tudors and Stuarts – Free Online Video – Free iTunes Video – Free iTunes Audio – Course Materials – Keith E. Wrightson, Yale
Early Modern Germany – Free iTunes Audio – David Wetzel, UC Berkeley
European Civilization from Renaissance to Present – Free iTunes Audio – Carla Hesse, UC Berkeley
European Civilization from the Renaissance to the Present –Free Online Video – Free iTunes Video – Free Online Audio – Thomas Laqueur, UC Berkeley
Rethinking the Black Liberation Movement – Free Online Video – Abdul Alkalimat, University of Illinois

Philosophy

Philosophy for Beginners – Free iTunes Video – Free Online Video & Audio – Marianne Talbot, Oxford
A Romp Through the Philosophy of Mind – Free iTunes Audio –Free Online Audio – Marianne Talbot, Oxford
Ancient and Medieval Philosophy – Free iTunes Video – Free Online Video – David O’Connor, Notre Dame
Philosophy of Religion – Free iTunes Audio – Free Audio Online – T. J. Mawson, Oxford

Political Science, International Relations, and Law

History of Political Theory – Free iTunes Audio – Wendy Brown, UC Berkeley
The Moral Foundations of Politics – Free Online Video – Free iTunes Video – Free iTunes Audio – Course Materials – Ian Shapiro, Yale

The State and Religious Liberty

Christ the Center — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 05:00:15 +0000

Today we welcome Dr. David Skeel and James Sweet to speak about recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions that impact the church. Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC was a recent case that raised several important questions. Oyez.org asks, “Does the ministerial exception, which prohibits most employment-related lawsuits against religious organizations by employees performing religious functions, apply to a teacher at a religious elementary school who teaches the full secular curriculum, but also teaches daily religion classes, is a commissioned minister, and regularly leads students in prayer and worship?” Our guests discuss the decision and explain its significance for Christians. David Skeel is the S. Samuel Arsht Professor of Corporate Law at the University of Pennsylvania and an elder at Tenth Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Philadelphia. He has written an op-ed on the case for the Wall Street Journal. James Sweet is counsel and Director of Special Projects for Westminster Theological Seminary and former chairman of Drinker, Biddle, and Reath.

Participants: Camden Bucey, David Skeel, James Sweet

Evangelicals and the Betrayal of American Conservatism

Christ the Center — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 05:00:13 +0000

In this episode, Darryl G. Hart speaks about his latest book From Billy Graham to Sarah Palin: Evangelicals and the Betrayal of American Conservatism. Hart argues that evangelicals ought to reclaim the conservatism of decades past as he delves into a number of historical and cultural trends in this engaging discussion.

Participants: Camden Bucey, Darryl G. Hart

Evangelicals and Political Conservatism

Christ the Center — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 05:00:55 +0000

Jeff Waddington and Camden Bucey discuss the evangelical involvement in American politics using Darryl G. Hart’s recent From Billly Graham to Sarah Palin: Evangelicals and the Betrayal of American Conservatism as a guide. Evangelicals are often considered politically conservative, yet this is not always the case. Hear how the worlds of theology and politics intersect in this friendly conversation.

Participants: Camden Bucey, Jeff Waddington

The Practice of Law and the Christian

Christ the Center — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 05:00:28 +0000

The Christian’s relationship to the civil law is a perennial point of discussion. Nearly a year ago Christ the Center explored this issue in the Christ & Culture series. Today we take some of those theological themes and see how they apply in practice. James Sweet, former Chairman of Drinker Biddle & Reath, speaks about his career practicing law and how the reality of being a Christian comes to bear.

Participants: Camden Bucey, James Sweet, Jared Oliphint

Christianity and Politics

Christ the Center — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 05:00:38 +0000

Dr. Carl Trueman, Vice President for Academic Affairs at Westminster Theological Seminary, and Dr. Peter A. Lillback, President of Westminster, discuss the proper relationship of Christianity to the political sphere. Dr. Trueman is the author of Republocrat, a new book that challenges the reigning partisan brand of politics in the U.S. Dr. Lillback is the other of Wall of Misconception, a book arguing that the separation of church and state does not mean the separation of Christianity and government, as well as the book George Washington’s Sacred Fire, which was featured on the Glenn Beck program.

Christ and Culture: Politics

Christ the Center — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 05:00:07 +0000

This is part two of our series entitled Christ and Culture. Four men participate in an engaging discussion on the relationship of Christ to culture. Bill Dennison, Darryl Hart, Doug Wilson and Nelson Kloosterman each speak from their unique perspectives. This series of programs strays from the typical Christ the Center format. This project is an asynchronous debate in the vein of the Four Views on… books published by InterVarsity Press. The listener should be aware that this is a debate and should not be seen as an endorsement for any particular speaker. Please be advised that in future episodes each participant will criticize the other views. Today the participants address the subject of politics.

Books and other media from the participants

Bill Dennison

Darryl Hart

Nelson Kloosterman

The Ten Commandments: Manual for the Christian Life by Joachim Douma (Kloosterman trans.)

Doug Wilson

Participants: Bill Dennison, Camden Bucey, Darryl G. Hart, Doug Wilson, Nelson Kloosterman

Christ’s Kingdom: Gospel Priorities and Politics

Christ the Center — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 05:00:55 +0000

The Christ the Center panel talk with Dr. Russell Moore, senior vice president of academic administration at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, about the relationship of the kingdom of Christ and politics and culture. Dr. Moore, has written a book, The Kingdom of Christ: A New Evangelical Perspective, which served as the basis of the discussion. The already/not yet nature of the kingdom was discussed as was the fact that kingdom was not be confused with any political platform. Join us for a timely conversation.

Panel

Russell Moore
Jeff Waddington
Jim Cassidy
Nick Batzig
Camden Bucey

Bibliography

Gribben, Crawford. The Irish puritans : James Ussher and the reformation of the church. Darlington (England) ; Auburn (MA): Evangelical Press, 2003.

Helm, Paul. John Calvin’s ideas. Oxford ;;New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.

Henry, Carl. The uneasy conscience of modern fundamentalism. Grand Rapids Mich.: Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1947.

Horton, Michael. People and place : a covenant ecclesiology. 1st ed. Louisville Ky.: Westminster John Knox Press, 2008.

McCormack, Bruce. Orthodox and modern : studies in the theology of Karl Barth. Grand Rapids MI: Baker Academic, 2008.

Moore, Russell. The Kingdom of Christ : The New Evangelical Perspective. Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 2004.

Participants: Camden Bucey, Jeff Waddington, Jim Cassidy, Nick Batzig, Russell Moore