Program Particulars
*Times indicated refer to Web version of audio

(01:11) Conservative Leaders Demand Removal of Cizik
In Marc 2007, James Dobson of Focus on the Family and several other conservative Christian leaders called for the silencing or firing of Richard Cizik from his position at the National Association of Evangelicals. In response, the organization backed Cizik and its position on climate change affirming that it was "an important moral issue."

(02:07–04:31) Music Element
"The Multiples of One"
from Awakening,
performed by Joseph Curiale

(02:11) Evangelical Christians and the NAE
The word "evangelical" derives from the Greek word, euangelion, meaning "good news." Defining evangelicalism can be difficult because of the wide variety of beliefs among them. They are typically Protestant Christians with representation across many denominations, but may also be Roman Catholic or non-denominational. Several fundamental concepts are stressed among most followers: a supreme belief in the authority of the Bible — with an emphasis placed on the New Testament, a relationship with Jesus Christ that comes through personal conversion, a belief in salvation by faith in Jesus Christ, and an emphasis placed on spreading God's word.

The number of evangelical Christians in the United States varies according to the year and the sample group being surveyed. In a 2001 Gallup poll, approximately 40 percent of survey participants described themselves as evangelical Christians, compared to 45 percent in 2000. Since the poll's introduction in 1975, 39 percent of Americans, on average, have identified themselves as born-again/evangelical.

The National Association of Evangelicals for United Action formed in 1942 in St. Louis, Missouri. Reverend J. Elwin Wright, one of the founding leaders, believed that evangelical Christians needed a vehicle in American culture and politics at the national level "to organize an Association which shall give articulation and united voice to our faith and purpose in Christ Jesus." The following year the name was truncated to the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE).

The growth and influence of the organization steadily expanded and contracted over the next three decades. Then, in the late 1970s, the NAE experienced unprecedented growth fueled by the Roe v. Wade decision and the election of Ronald Reagan. The NAE now represents 54 denominations, 45,000 churches, and 25 percent of American voters.

The distinguishing characteristics between evangelical Christianity and fundamentalism can be subtle. To understand the differences and similarities, listen to scholars speak about their experiences in two Speaking of Faith programs. James K.A. Smith, a theologian at Calvin College, talks about what being an evangelical Christian means to him in "Evangelicals Out of the Box" and Richard Mouw, president of Fuller Theological Seminary, describes his move from fundamentalist to evangelical Christianity in "The Power of Fundamentalism."

(04:04) Era of 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.

(04:12) President George W. Bush, an Evangelical Christian
The personal faith journey and impact of George W. Bush's born-again Christianity has been reported on (see PBS' Frontline program "The Jesus Factor")) in many ways during his presidency. The President repeatedly alludes to his faith and the power of God in his speeches, such as in his 2004 State of the Union Address:

My fellow citizens, we now move forward, with confidence and faith. Our nation is strong and steadfast. The cause we serve is right, because it is the cause of all mankind. The momentum of freedom in our world is unmistakable — and it is not carried forward by our power alone. We can trust in that greater power who guides the unfolding of the years. And in all that is to come, we can know that His purposes are just and true.

May God continue to bless America.

(04:30) Ted Haggard's Resignation from the NAE
In November 2006, Ted Haggard, president of the NAE, a homosexual prostitute alleged that Haggard had hired him on multiple occasions. After a series of public denials, the Colorado Springs preacher confirmed the accusations, resigned his post at the NAE and as head of his church, and sent a letter to his congregation, which was read to parishioners at a Sunday service.

(05:36) Salt and Light
Cizik's reference to "salt and light" refers to a well-recognized passage from the gospel of Matthew, chapter 5, verses 13–16 (taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible):

You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot. You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

(06:40) Conversion to Climate Change
In July 2002, more than 70 scientists, policymakers, and Christian leaders met in Oxford, England for Climate Forum 2002. The conference organizers called upon these leaders to recognize the ethical implications and moral responsibility of their responses to climate change. And, they asserted, the best way to examine this issue was "to be aware of current scientific knowledge as well as to reflect on how care for the earth is integrally linked with the core doctrines of creation, redemption, resurrection, and Christ's return."

One of the speakers was Sir John Houghton (listen to his presentation on climate change), who served as co-chair of the Scientific Assessment Working Group of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change from 1998-2002. In his testimony before the U.S. Senate's Energy and Natural Resources Committee in July 2005, Houghton explained why he's optimistic, as a scientist and a Christian, about the future:

People often say to me that I am wasting my time talking about Global Warming. "The world" they say "will never agree to take the necessary action." I reply that I am optimistic for three reasons. First, I have experienced the commitment of the world scientific community (including scientists from many different nations, backgrounds and cultures) in painstakingly and honestly working together to understand the problems and assessing what needs to be done. Secondly, I believe the necessary technology is available for achieving satisfactory solutions. My third reason is that, as a Christian, I believe God is committed to his creation and that we have a God-given task of being good stewards of creation — a task that we do not have to accomplish on our own because God is there to help us with it. As a recent statement on climate change by scientific and religious leaders in the U.S. says: "What is most required at this moment … is moral vision and leadership. Resources of human character and spirit — love of life, far sightedness, solidarity — are needed to awaken a sufficient sense of urgency and resolve."

(07:01) Scopes-Monkey Trial
The Scopes Trial — known as the "Monkey Trial" — was a highly publicized trial in 1925. John T. Scopes, a high school teacher from Tennessee who taught Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, was willingly charged with violating Tennessee's Butler Act — a recently passed law that made it "unlawful for any teacher in any of the Universities, Normals and all other public schools of the State which are supported in whole or in part by the public school funds of the State, to teach any theory that denies the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible, and to teach instead that man has descended from a lower order of animals."

William Jennings Bryan argued for the prosecution and Clarence Darrow for the defense. The judge ruled out arguing the constitutionality on the validity of the theory and limited the trial to whether Scopes had taught evolution in a public classroom, which he admittedly had. After eight days of trial and a fiery showdown where Darrow called Bryan to the stand, Scopes was convicted and fined $100. But, shortly thereafter, Scopes' fine was dismissed as being "excessive" by the Tennessee Supreme Court, and the Butler Act law was repealed in 1967. See Marquis James' 1925 account from The New Yorker magazine, which provides a colorful and humorous depiction of the trial.

(10:36–12:37) Music Element
"Americana"
from Rarum, Volume 1: Selected Recordings,
performed by Keith Jarrett

(11:08) Cizik in the New York Times
Krista cites Laurie Goodstein's article, Evangelical Leaders Swing Influence Behind Effort to Combat Global Warming, from the March 10, 2005 issue of The New York Timesthat quotes Cizik: "I don't think God is going to ask us how He created the earth, but he will ask us what we did with what he created."

In an April 2006 New York Times article, "Evangelicals Debate the Meaning of 'Evangelical'", Michael Luo reported:

Earlier this year, more than 80 evangelical leaders, many of them pastors who would likely be classified as centrists, including Mr. Warren and the Rev. Leith Anderson, pastor of a megachurch outside of Minneapolis and a former president of the National Association of Evangelicals, signed an evangelical call to action on global warming.

Meanwhile many of the more conservative leaders in the movement, including Dr. James Dobson, the head of Focus on the Family, Mr. Falwell and Mr. Robertson, were conspicuously absent.

"It's a tension that exists between the traditionalists and the centrists," said the Rev. Richard Cizik, vice president for governmental affairs for the National Association of Evangelicals, which did not sign the statement after pressure from Dr. Dobson, Mr. Falwell and others. "The centrists want to deal with these issues. The traditionalists are saying, 'Hey now, I thought we understood the issues.'"

In its public statements, Focus on the Family said Dr. Dobson chose not to sign on because the group questioned the validity of the theory and believed that it put plants and animals above humans. "For us, we have to focus on some core issues that are connected to our principles," said Paul L. Hetrick, a spokesman for the group. "One of our core principles is the value or sanctity of human life."

Mr. Hetrick criticized other evangelicals like Mr. Cizik and the Rev. Jim Wallis, a prominent, politically liberal evangelical, who have been active on climate change and, more recently, immigration issues, for neglecting core concerns like abortion and gay marriage.

"What's interesting is many times these folks can't get worked up in a lather about 45 million babies killed," he said.

(11:40) Evangelical Climate Initiative
Nearly 100 leading evangelicals signed Climate Change: An Evangelical Call to Action". The document called on other evangelicals and other Christians to recognize that climate change as real, that it affects the poor disproportionately, and that it is a moral imperative for Christians to respond to the problem.

(11:54) Retreat Between Evangelicals and Scientists
In December 2006 at Melhana Plantation in Georgia, Evangelical leaders and scientists met to collaborate about protecting the environment. The following month they held news conference in January 2007 at the National Press Club. There, a dozen participants of the coalition released a signed document, "An Urgent Call to Action," (PDF) by 28 of these participants uniting them in their effort "to search for common ground in the protection of the creation." Signatories included Richard Cizik, Harvard scientist Edward O. Wilson, director of NASA Institute for Space Studies James Hansen, and Nobel laureate Eric Chivian.

(13:34) "We're Not Ecumenists"
The word "ecumenism" comes from two Greek words: oikumene, "the inhabited world," and oikos, or "house." The ecumenical movement looks to reconcile the entire house, the whole world, of Christianity. Ecumenists cite various core precedents and imperatives toward unity, including the Councils of Nicaea and Chalcedon and scriptural passages such as Matthew 24:14, Luke 4:5, and Hebrews 2:5.

The National Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches serve as the leading organizations in the ecumenical movement. Listen to Krista's conversations with two ecumenists who have held pivotal roles in these bodies: Thomas Hoyt, Jr., the former president of the National Council of Churches, and Joan Brown Campbell, the former general secretary of the NCC.

(14:28) Reference to Pagan Environmentalists
Speaking of pagans and the environment, listen to "Pagans Ancient and Modern" with Adrian Ivakhiv, a practicing Pagan and professor of environmental studies at the University of Vermont. In his conversation with Krista, he traces the ecological impulse of Paganism, from its ancient roots to its modern revival in Europe and North America, and discusses his observations about the spirit of Paganism and its influence on everyday Western culture — and even on old-time religion.

(17:09) Six-Day Creation
The biblical book of Genesis tells the story of God creating the world in six days and setting aside the seventh day as a day of rest. While some Christians interpret those six days as a theological narrative, other Christians take it as literal truth that the world was created in six, 24-hour days. Francis A. Schaeffer, a conservative American Christian theologian, argued in Genesis in Space and Time that the literal truth of Genesis is fundamental to the Christian faith:

Some Christians became excited about the big bang theory, thinking that it favored Christianity. But they really missed the point — either the point of Scripture or the big bang theory or both. The simple fact is that what is given in Genesis 1:1 has no relationship to the big bang theory — because from the scriptural viewpoint, the primal creation goes back beyond the basic material or energy. Even if one accepts the big bang theory, Genesis 1:1 would then go beyond it by saying that God created out of nothing the primal stuff present at the big bang. We have a new thing created by God out of nothing by fiat, and this is the distinction.

(19:00–19:44) Music Element
"Zawinul/Lava"
from Another Green World,
performed by Brian Eno

(19:32) E-mail from Listener
Krista reads from a letter sent to Speaking of Faith after the broadcast of "Evangelicals Out of the Box" in October 2005:

I am delighted that you have chosen to develop Speaking of Faith. It is a wonderful program and adds immeasurably to the available information for those of us who are interested in the intersections of religious and public life. Listening today was a worthwhile challenge.

One knows, or hopes one knows, that there are voices of reason within the "Evangelical Christian Church." As an individual, however, I don't see it as the fault of the "media" that lots of us see Evangelical Christians as mean-spirited, hate-filled, judgmental people. I have been a librarian for 30 years. During that time my life and, when they were at home and vulnerable, the lives of my children have been threatened on an average of once or twice a month because I refuse to limit the collection of the public library to ideas that agree with the ideas of "Evangelical Christians." A few days ago I was subjected to more than a half hour of being screamed at because our collection contained a biography of Darwin and the periodical Esquire. Among other things I was called "Spawn of the Devil," and told that people like me should not be allowed to live by a person who kept telling me that he was a Christian. Thankfully, others in the library ended the confrontation before my staff was forced to call for police protection. Among those "others" were evangelical and main-line Christians, one Jew, and a couple of atheists.

The screaming individual was a leader of a group who harassed one of our small population of homosexuals in this community by invading his property and shouting insults at him and his partner until, after about two years of that treatment, he finally committed suicide. Ten or twenty people like that, loudly proclaiming their Christianity, can leave thousands of the rest of us trying to figure out ways to distance ourselves from them while still trying to live within the precepts that were taught by Christ and joining in worship with neighbors who see themselves as Christians.

Thanks to MPR for Speaking of Faith and all of the other shows that help listeners believe that there is reason and good in the world, even when we find it hard to locate either among our most powerful political and religious leaders.

(21:33) Cizik's Meeting with Ayatollahs
Recently, Cizik has made both official and private trips to several Muslim countries. In August 2000, Cizik attended the UN Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders. Although somewhat skeptical, Cizik attended because "we felt it better to have someone there and see it from the inside." Organized by Bawa Jain of the United Nations and chaired by Ted Turner, more than 1,000 religious leaders from around the world attended, including Iran's Ayatollah Abdollah Vaeze Javadi, Israel's Rabbi Meir Lau, the World Council of Churches' Konrad Raiser, Hindu leader Ela Gandhi, a Vatican official, and a Shinto high priest.

(23:35–26:16) Music Element
"1968"
from Unspeakable,
performed by Bill Frisell

(27:11–28:13) Music Element
"Partita for Violin Solo No. 2 in D Minor"
from Bach: The Sonatas and Partitas for Violin Solo,
performed by John Holloway

(27:02) 2004 Policy Document
In 2004, the National Association of Evangelicals unanimously adopted a call to action titled "For the Health of the Nation: An Evangelical Call to Civic Responsibility." (PDF) It details guiding areas for Christian political engagement in the coming years. They include, in this order, the protection of religious freedom and liberty of conscience; nurturing family life and children; protecting the sanctity of human life; seeking justice and compassion for the poor; and working to protect human rights and God's creation.

(30:22) "I Share This Conviction with Bono"
Bono, the lead singer of U2, gave the keynote address at the 54th National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C. In attendance were major political figures including President George W. Bush and King Abdullah of Jordan:

It's very easy, in these times, to see religion as a force for division rather than unity. And this is a town — Washington — that knows something of division.

But the reason I'm here, and the reason I keep coming back to Washington, is because this is a town that is proving it can come together on behalf of what the Scriptures call "the least of these." It's not a Republican idea. It's not a Democratic idea. It's not even, with all due respect, an American idea; nor it is unique to any one faith.

"Do to others as you would have them do to you." Jesus says that.

(33:01–33:56) Music Element
"Partita for Violin Solo No. 2 in D Minor"
from Bach: The Sonatas and Partitas for Violin Solo,
performed by John Holloway

(33:45) Statement Against Torture
On March 11, 2007, the board of the National Association of Evangelicals endorsed "An Evangelical Declaration Against Torture: Protecting Human Rights in An Age of Terror." The 18-page document calls for the U.S. military and intelligence agencies to ban acts of torture and states:

"From a Christian perspective, every human life is sacred. Recognition of this transcendent moral dignity is non-negotiable for us as evangelical Christians in every area of life, including our assessment of public policies. We write this declaration to affirm our support for detainee human rights and opposition to any resort to torture."

(38:04) Citation of Saint Augustine
Augustine of Hippo (354 – 430 CE) is one of the most prominent figures of medieval philosophy whose authority and thought have had a lasting influence. Augustine is one of the main figures who merged the Greek philosophical tradition and the Judeo-Christian religious and scriptural traditions. Some of his best-known works are The Confessions and City of God.

(38:10–39:16) Music Element
"Prelude And Fugue No.23 In F Major"
from Shostakovich: The 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87,
performed by Keith Jarrett

(39:38) Evangelicals Have to Be Institutionally Engaged
Cizik's approach that Evangelical Christians need to be more engaged in civic and political issues hearkens to the 20th-century theologian Reinhold Niebuhr's idea of "Christian realism" — a middle path between religious idealism and arrogance. For an in-depth perspective on the relevance of this influential, boundary-crossing voice in American public life, listen to the Speaking of Faith program, "The Public Theology of Reinhold Niebuhr."

(41:16) Meeting with EU Political Leaders
To learn more about finance minister Gordon Brown's inevitable rise to power, listen to Rob Gifford's report on NPR's All Things Considered.

(43:00) Desertification in Africa
For an inside perspective on the role of deforestation and desertification in Africa, listen to Krista's interview with Nobel laureate Wangari Maathai.

(46:10–46:43) Music Element
"Midnight on the Water/Bonaparte's Retreat"
from Midnight on the Water,
performed by Mark O'Connor

(45:48) Recitation from 2 Timothy
Cizik paraphrases a passage from the New Testament book of the Bible, 2 Timothy. Following is an extended version (chapter 1, verses 6-9):

For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline. Do not be ashamed, then, of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God, who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace. This grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

(48:21–48:58) Music Element
"Prelude And Fugue No.23 In F Major"
from Shostakovich: The 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87,
performed by Keith Jarrett

(48:50) E-mail from Cizik Addressing Recent Attacks
In response to the rebroadcast of this program, Cizik sent an e-mail addressing some of the recent controversies regarding his stances on controversial issues within the Evangelical community. Read Cizik's complete response of the following excerpt:

The controversy over my "speaking out" on these issues, while at times painful (after all, a few leaders in the religious right have sought to have me silenced or fired), has nonetheless prompted a very constructive and widespread conversation in our movement that is a longtime coming. It's an important conversation that really needs to occur. It boils down to this: How are we to fulfill God's commands to care for people ("love our neighbor as yourself") and this earth ("watch over and care for it"). The end result is that millions of evangelicals have risen out of their pews to say "amen" to a broad agenda of concerns in a way that wouldn't have happened otherwise. Your program was about the "evolution of evangelicalism" and this trend has taken off in a way not even I could have imagined.

(49:53–52:32) Music Element
"In God's Country"
from The Joshua Tree,
performed by Keith Jarrett