Program Particulars
*Times indicated refer to web version of audio

(02:02–03:42) Music Element
"The Multiples of One"
from Awakening,
performed by Joseph Curiale

(02:17) God Is Dead
German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) theorized that the idea of God no longer held relevance to the modern world. In his 1882 book The Gay Science, the character known as The Madman declared, "God is dead! God remains dead! And we have killed him!"

(02:25) Opium of the People
German philosopher Karl Marx (1818–1883) criticized religion for, as he saw it, its crippling effects on human society. In the introduction of his 1843 book, A Contribution to the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right, he writes:

The struggle against religion is, therefore, indirectly the struggle against that world whose spiritual aroma is religion.

Religious suffering is, at one and the same time, the expression of real suffering and a protest against real suffering. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.

The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is the demand for their real happiness. To call on them to give up their illusions about their condition is to call on them to give up a condition that requires illusions.

(03:09) Liberation Theology
Liberation theology is a movement that took shape within the Roman Catholic church in the late 20th century. Originating in Latin America after a meeting of bishops in 1968, the movement stresses the need for the church's involvement in political and social affairs of states. Liberation theology emphasizes working for social justice to fulfill scriptural mandate by helping poor and suffering people who are marginalized by oppressive governments. The bishops issued a statement condemning the conduct of wealthy nations that prospered at the expense of the native peoples. This critique proved extremely controversial within the Roman Catholic church and the ruling elites. The early liberation theologians used Marxist social analysis and they were condemned as Marxists and socialists.

Influenced by Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker movement, Gustavo Gutiérrez, a Peruvian priest and theologian, is credited with writing the first important essay, Teología de la liberación (in English, A Theology of Liberation), in 1971. During the 1970s, liberation theology gained momentum in Latin America at the grass-roots level. Other leaders of the movement included theologian Leonardo Boff of Brazil, Jesuit scholar Jon Sobrino, and Archbishop Helder Câmara of Brazil. Pope John Paul II resisted the movement and, in 1984, issued a series of instructions (written by then-cardinal John Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI). The pope advocated turning to the Gospels rather than political channels. Through Jesus Christ, John Paul II declared, the poor will be saved through the redemption of sin.

(07:40) Stephen Jay Gould's "Magisteria"
Harvard paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould (1941–2002) articulated the idea that religion and science belong to two different realms of understanding. To describe these realms, he coined the term "nonoverlapping magisteria" — magisteria derived from the Latin word meaning "teaching authority." Each magisterium, according to Gould, contributes in a different fashion to human understanding:

The lack of conflict between science and religion arises from a lack of overlap between their respective domains of professional expertise—science in the empirical constitution of the universe, and religion in the search for proper ethical values and the spiritual meaning of our lives. The attainment of wisdom in a full life requires extensive attention to both domains—for a great book tells us that the truth can make us free and that we will live in optimal harmony with our fellows when we learn to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly.

(08:30) Project on Theology and Evolution
The Evolution and Theology Cooperation project is a three-year interdisciplinary research project bringing together faculty, post-doctoral fellows, visiting professors, and Harvard University staff. The project examines the evolutionary and theological implications of the behavior of cooperation, as well as lays the groundwork for an approach to issues of faith and science outside of the poles represented in the media.

Dr. Sarah Coakley, a member of the project and a faculty member of the Harvard Divinity School, has written about God and evolution in the Harvard Divinity Bulletin. God and Evolution: A New Solution

(08:25—10:30) Music Element
"Liebesleid (Love's Sorrow)"
from Kreisler,
performed by Nigel Kennedy

(09:52) Second Vatican Council, John XXIII
In 1962, Pope John XXIII, named Man of the Year in 1963 by Time magazine, opened the Second Vatican Council with the intention of internally renewing the global Roman Catholic church. When asked about his motivation for convening the council, Pope John XXIII moved to the window and threw open the sash — his rationale being, "I want to throw open the windows of the Church so that we can see out and the people can see in."

The Council published 16 documents and produced many visible changes in Catholic life and doctrine. Most basically, it began to open up Catholic thought and doctrine, leading to a less hierarchical governance, increased roles for the laity, Masses spoken in native languages rather than intoned in Latin, and an openness to the practice of beliefs and practices of other Christians and Jews — as in the declaration on religious liberty, Dignitatis Humanae. Pope John XXIII died before the Council was concluded. His successor, Pope Paul VI, closed the Council in 1965. The legacy of Vatican II is large, controversial, and still unfolding.

(12:55) Cardinal Martini, Lectureship for Non-Believers
The Cattedra dei Non Credenti is an annual lecture series opening dialogue between believers and non-believers. The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Milan, Carlo Martini, hosts the event and writes:

I maintain that within each one of us is a non-believer and a believer, who talk to each other, who continue to ask each other burning questions. The non-believer in me unnerves the believer in me, and vice-versa. The appropriation of this internal dialogue is important, as it allows each one of us to grow in our self-awareness. The clarity and sincerity of such a dialogue results from having reached a certain human maturity.

(14:41—17:11) Music Element
"Blessed Feet"
from Being There,
performed by the Tord Gustavsen Trio

(17:58) Era of the Moral Majority
The Moral Majority, founded by fundamentalist Christian minister and televangelist Jerry Falwell, was an influential political action group in the United States during the 1970s and 1980s. The group lobbied for issues it considered central to the upholding of Christian values and morals. It fought for prayer and the teaching of creationism in public schools, opposed the Equal Rights Amendment, homosexual rights, and abortion. The Moral Majority also played a significant role in the 1980 elections of conservative candidates. The Moral Majority was dissolved in 1989.

(21:44—24:53) Music Element
"Zebra Mussle"
from The Great Thaw,
performed by the Neptune Quartet

(22:05) Teaching Jesus at Harvard
Cox started teaching a course on Jesus at Harvard in the 1980s as part of a new moral reasoning curriculum to address what faculty felt was neglect of the fields of values and meaning. He describes this experience in the introduction to his 2004 book When Jesus Came to Harvard: Making Moral Choices Today. Later in the introduction, Cox reflects on the message he believes that experience has for all of us:

As soon as I began to teach the course I discovered something I should have known all along: Students are not so different from the rest of us. We all often have difficulty finding our moral bearings in a world that forces us to make decisions our ancestors never had to face. They had to make ethical choices too, of course, but they did not have genetic engineering, nuclear weapons, organ transplants, the Internet, or morning-after pills. I also learned during the course that the faculty’s guess had been correct: Many people – and not all of them conventionally religious — believe that Jesus of Nazareth should somehow help us to make good moral choices, but they are puzzled about how to find the connection.

There is no generation gap here. We all need to think clearly about today’s changed moral environment and to re-examine how, or whether, religion relates to this new situation. Many of our forebears lived in fairly homogeneous communities in which morals were guided by tradition. But today all of us — whether we are seventeen or seventy — live in a world of competing and conflicting codes of behavior. The traditional ethical signposts are not as clear as they once were; nevertheless, there is still a persistent belief that knowing more about Jesus might help, especially if he does not need to be understood within a constricting theological framework. The problem is how to do it.

As we grapple with this question, it makes little difference whether we are personally religious or not, whether we are old or young or in the middle. We are all in the same boat. We need a fresher and wider conversation about religion and moral choices, and about how the two relate.

(24:56—26:30) Music Element
"El Mirar de la Maja"
from Asturiana: Songs from Spain and Argentina,
performed by Kim Kashkashian and Robert Levin

(29:52) Harvard Medical School Conference on Spirituality and Healing
A conference at Harvard Medical School on spirituality and healing, Cox says, serves as an example of the change in attitude among medical practitioners about the role of faith in healing. Krista has spoken with several physicians about this phenomena, including "Heart and Soul: The Integrative Medicine of Dr. Mehmet Oz" and "Listening Generously: The Healing Medicine of Rachel Naomi Remen."

(31:08) The Camel’s Nose in the Tent
The phrase "the camel’s nose in the tent" is a metaphor for describing a slippery slope. A 1915 book of fables by Horace Scudder includes a parable for this saying titled "The Arab and His Camel."

(34:00—34:38) Music Element
"Caviar"
from 9 White Orchids,
performed by String Theory

(34:01) The Market
In his March 1999 article for The Atlantic, Cox describes ways that The Market (“…which I capitalize to signify both the mystery that enshrouds it and the reverence it inspires in business folk”) is operationally identical to faith.

(38:38—39:25) Music Element
"Creep"
from Ghost Town,
performed by Bill Frisell

(46:41—47:23) Music Element
"Danse Espagnole"
from Kreisler,
performed by Nigel Kennedy

(48:51—52:32) Music Element
"Memoria"
from Juan Condori,
performed by Dino Saluzzi