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Prof. Thomas Kidd (Baylor University) discusses the causes and consequences of The Great Awakening in the middle part of the 18th century. Learn about the great preachers George Whitefield, James Davenport and Gilbert Tennent, and find out what impact this evangelical revival had on the abolitionist movement and the American Revolution. (To download, right click on the button to the right and choose “save target as….”)

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Historian Philip Jenkins discusses the changing face of global Christianity. The conversation begins by looking at the global nature of Christianity throughout history and how it became conceived of as a European faith. Our attention then turns to how Christianity is expanding and changing in Africa, Asia and Latin America and what this means for religion in Europe and the United States.

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In the 10th century, Europe and the Middle East had comparable levels of economic development. Over the next several centuries, however, Christian Europe raced ahead of Muslim societies, developing the institutions that led to the Industrial Revolution and modern capitalism. Timur Kuran (Duke University) explains the role that Islamic Law played in this “long divergence.” (To download, right click on the button at the right and choose “save target as…”)

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Acclaimed sociologist and popular author Rodney Stark tackles a number of contemporary myths about the Crusades. Discover what motivated the Crusaders to pick up cross and sword and head to the Holy Land. (To download, right click on the button to the right and choose “save target as….”)

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George Fox University political scientist Mark David Hall examines how various Founding Fathers viewed church-state relations in their time, and how modern Supreme Court justices interpret their writings. Some recent court cases are discussed. (To download, right click on the button to the right and choose “save target as….”)

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University of Washington historian James Felak recounts the formative experiences in Pope John Paul II’s life and how he influenced the collapse of communism in Poland and the Soviet Union.

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University of Washington sociologist Steven Pfaff discusses how professors and students were critical in spreading the Reformation at the grassroots. His micro-level analysis is contrasted with more familiar macro-sociological explanations.

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