New Creation Conversations Episode 036 - Dr. Randall Balmer on Evangelicalism, Race, and the Rise of the Religious Right

Welcome to episode thirty-six of New Creation Conversations. In today’s conversation I am joined by a scholar who is likely the foremost authority on the history of the evangelical movement in America – Dr. Randall Balmer. Dr. Balmer holds the oldest endowed professorship – the John Phillips Professorship in Religion – at Dartmouth College. He earned his PhD from Princeton University in 1985 and taught Religious History at Columbia University for 27 years before coming to Dartmouth in 2012. 

Randall has published widely in both scholarly journals and in the popular press. His op-ed articles have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, including both The Los Angeles and The New York Times. He is regularly asked to comment on religion in American life and has appeared frequently on network television and public radio.

 Dr. Balmer has published more than a dozen books, including Redeemer: The Life of Jimmy Carter, God in the White House: How Faith Shaped the Presidency from John F. Kennedy to George W. Bush, and The Making of Evangelicalism: From Revivalism to Politics and Beyond. His book, Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory: A Journey into the Evangelical Subculture in America, now in its fifth edition, was made into an award-winning, three-part documentary for PBS. 

Most of my conversation with Dr. Balmer focuses on his most recent book, Bad Faith: Race and the Rise of the Religious Right – published by Eerdmans Publishing Company.