We continue our conversation with Dr. Amy E. Black about the history of Church and State relations in America. Dr. Black analyzes survey data to explore the "God Gap" - the political divide between believers and non-believers in our nation. Our conversation occurred as part of the Wheaton College conference on The Bible and Democracy in America, co-hosted by the American Bible Society.
Also on the show, we feature "Jesus the Muslim," a piece produced by our friends at the United Kingdom's Things Unseen podcast.
In October 2013, Wheaton College and the American Bible Society co-hosted a two-day conference on The Bible and Democracy in America. The staff of Things Not Seen was invited to participate by conducting in-depth interviews with many of the conference speakers. In these two episodes, we feature our conversation with Dr. Amy Black.
Amy E. Black is associate professor of political science and past chair of the department of Politics and International Relations at Wheaton College (IL). Dr. Black earned her Ph.D. in Political Science at M.I.T. In 2000-2001, Dr. Black served as an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow, working in the office of Representative Melissa A. Hart.
In this conclusion to our interview, we discuss recent survey data that point to shifting demographics among Evangelical voters, and the rising influence of social media in the political process. In some way, the landscape is shifting, in other ways, there seems to be little new under the sun.
Amy Black is the author of several books, most recently, Honoring God in Red or Blue.
Also on the Show
We are happy to feature audio from our friends in the UK, the Things Unseen podcast. Like our show, Things Unseen looks at the life of faith through the lens of culture.
We are featuring a piece they did recently called "Jesus the Muslim."
From their website:
"Few Christians know how important a role Jesus plays in Islam, where he stands out as one of the most revered prophets. Yet the narrative about him in the Quran is very different from the gospel accounts – starting with the story of his birth under a palm tree, with the baby speaking up miraculously to defend his mother Maryam’s honour.
Christian theologian Vicky Beeching hears these and other stories about Jesus the Muslim from Cambridge scholar Tim Winter, also known as Sheikh Abdal Hakim Murad, who was once named by an institute in Jordan as one of the world’s most influential Muslims. We also hear about the role Jesus played in his own decision to convert to Islam – and what he thinks Christians and Muslims can learn from each other’s attitudes to Jesus."
