In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss the widespread campus protests that have been dominating the headlines of late. More than 2800 students have been arrested across 50 campuses across the U.S. Many Americans are unsure about what to think about all of these protests, and have mixed feelings about the response from college administrators to the protests. So how should we think Christianly about what's happening across the country?

The best place to begin is by trying to have a deeper understanding of the conflict itself. While today's conversation does explore that, we'd suggest you go back and listen to CCP80: On the War in Israel. Dr. White and Alexis also mentioned the number of news stories of late tied to these protests happening across the U.S. Here are the ones specifically tied to today's conversation - we hope you'll take the time to read them:

Jerusalem Demsas, “The Problem With America's Protest Feedback Loop,” The Atlantic, May 10, 2024.

Amaris Encinas, “Rabbi decries act of ‘senseless hatred' after dozens of headstones damaged at Jewish cemetery in NY,” USA Today, May 7, 2024.

Livia Albck-Ripka, “Hillary Clinton Accuses Protesters of Ignorance of Mideast History,” The New York Times, May 9, 2024.

“A Few Graduations Are Disrupted by Protest, but Many Are Held as Planned,” The New York Times, updated May 13, 2024.

Elizabeth E. Evans, “Amid surge of campus protests, chaplains find reason for hope in their students,” Religion News Service, May 10, 2024.

Kirsten Grieshaber, “At time of rising antisemitism, Holocaust survivors take on denial and hate in new digital campaign, “ Associated Press, May 2, 2024.

Barbara Sprunt, “House passes bill aimed to combat antisemitism amid college unrest,” NPR, May 2, 2024.

David French, “Colleges Have Gone off the Deep End. There Is a Way Out.” The New York Times, April 28, 2024.

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss what may seem like a surprising topic - hell. An AP/NORC study last year found that belief in heaven and angels is more common than belief in the devil or hell. For many, this may be because culture often portrays hell in a comedic or cartoonish way through various media platforms. Even some Christians struggle with the idea of hell and want to know why a loving God would create it.

It is important for those who consider themselves Christ followers to be grounded in the fundamentals of the Christian faith - to have a solid understanding of biblical theology. Dr. White has a course available through Church & Culture called “Theology on Tap.” Heaven, hell and what will happen at the end of time are components of this study, which you can find HERE. You may also be interested in checking out a series given by Dr. White at Mecklenburg Community Church called “The Apocalypse: The Message of Revelation for Today” which you can find HERE.

Dr. White also explained the importance of reaching those who do not have a relationship with Jesus with urgency. He shared a story of Penn Jillette receiving the gift of a Bible following one of his shows, and the impact that this made on him even though he is an atheist. You can watch Penn's vlog post HERE.

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss a recent study from the PRRI titled “Religious Change In America.” One of the biggest headlines from the study is that more and more, Americans are saying “no” to organized religion, and the number of those identifying as atheist and agnostic are on the rise. In fact, since Dr. White wrote his book The Rise of the Nones in 2014, the number of atheists has doubled. But what differentiates an “atheist” from an “agnostic” from a “none?”

Dr. White recently wrote a blog titled “Surprising Mourners for the Decline in Christianity.” It's interesting to find that many who choose to walk away from religion, or who never had a religion they affiliated themselves with, often find that something seems to be missing in their lives. In a recent article in The Atlantic titled “The True Cost of the Churchgoing Bust,” Derek Thompson (who is an agnostic) lamented over what has been lost by our culture abandoning the Christian faith. And self-proclaimed atheist Richard Dawkins recently explained how he considers himself a cultural Christian and is saddened by the thought that we may one day soon lose our cathedrals and parish churches.

Dr. White also wrote a book that's an extremely helpful resource for those who would put themselves into either the atheist or agnostic camps. It's called Christianity for People Who Aren't Christians and you can find it on Amazon HERE.

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.