Ryan Burge: Distrust & Denominations

Homebrewed Christianity

Dr. Tripp Fuller | Theologian, Philosopher, Minister

Religion & Spirituality, Christianity

4.6 • 612 Ratings

🗓️ 13 March 2025

⏱️ 65 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode, I am joined by political scientist Ryan Burge for an engaging conversation about his fascinating data on religious decline and the rise of the 'Nones' and non-denominational Christianity. We discuss the implications of denominational decline, growing distrust in institutional religion, and the explosive growth of non-denominational churches. This episode features in-depth analysis, intriguing graphs, lively discussions, and insights from prominent social philosophers. *** If you want access to the entire 2-hour conversation and invites to join us live in the future, all you have to do is become a member of either (or both) of our SubStacks — Graphs on Religion & Process This. *** Ryan P. Burge is an assistant professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University. Authorof numerous journal articles, he is the co-founder of and a frequent contributor to Religion in Public, a forum for scholars of religion and politics to make their work accessible to a general audience. Burge is a pastor in the American Baptist Church. Previous Visits from Ryan Burge Trust, Religion, & a Functioning Democracy What it’s like to close a church The Future of Christian Education & Ministry in Charts The Sky is Falling & the Charts are Popping! Graphs about Religion & Politics w/ Spicy Banter a Year in Religion (in Graphs) Evangelical Jews, Educated Church-Goers, & other bits of dizzying data 5 Religion Graphs w/ a side of Hot Takes Myths about Religion & Politics Theology Beer Camp | St. Paul, MN | October 16-18, 2025 3 Days of Craft Nerdiness with 50+ Theologians & God-Pods and 600 new friends. A Five-Week Online Lenten Class w/ John Dominic Crossan Join us for a transformative 5-week Lenten journey on "Paul the Pharisee: Faith and Politics in a Divided World."This course examines the Apostle Paul as a Pharisee deeply engaged with the turbulent political and religious landscape of his time. Through the lens of his letters and historical context, we will explore Paul’s understanding of Jesus’ Life-Vision, his interpretation of the Execution-and-Resurrection, and their implications for nonviolence and faithful resistance against empire. Each week, we will delve into a specific aspect of Paul’s theology and legacy, reflecting on its relevance for our own age of autocracy and political turmoil. . For details and to sign-up for any donation, including 0, head over here. _____________________ Hang with 40+ Scholars & Podcasts and 600 people at Theology Beer Camp 2025 (Oct. 16-18) in St. Paul, MN. This podcast is a Homebrewed Christianity production. Follow the Homebrewed Christianity, Theology Nerd Throwdown, & The Rise of Bonhoeffer podcasts for more theological goodness for your earbuds. Join over 80,000 other people by joining our Substack - Process This! Get instant access to over 45 classes at www.TheologyClass.com Follow the podcast, drop a review, send feedback/questions or become a member of the HBC Community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	What is up theology nerds? This is Tripp. And returning to the podcast is Ryan Burge. That's right.
0:10.9	Who doesn't want some graphs about religion and hanging out with a political scientist? That sounds like a good way to start the weekend and that's exactly what we did.
0:19.8	Ryan and I invited all our friends that
0:21.9	are paid members of our substacks, and we hung out for two and a half hours. And well, well, well,
0:30.0	well, this, my dear friends, it's just a teaser. It's a sample. It's actually the main content part,
0:35.3	where we talk about graphs on religion, denominational decline,
0:38.6	the parallel rise of the nuns and non-denominational Christianity.
0:42.9	And then, and then after Ryan shows me as graphs, I'm like, hey, what about some of these
0:48.5	ideas?
0:48.9	Some of my favorite social philosophers have about this phenomena.
0:52.2	What do you think about them?
0:53.4	You're friends with the data. Are we just spit in game? You know, those nerds of us that come up with concepts about this or is attraction? Well, that's what happens. That's what happens. But if you want to hear the entire conversation, head over to process this. That substack.com. Join up and you'll be able to get the entire episode along with invites to the next time we hang
1:13.3	out it was fun and uh you know what i mean you know what i mean it's nerdy and it's a way to
1:20.4	support all the stuff we're doing so thank you thank you for listening remember the best brew
1:26.5	is one you share. So do it, friends.
1:36.1	Oh, that's right, theology nerds. This is Tripp. Ryan Burgess here. We got hot takes about some
1:41.7	graphs, and they're all about religion and guess what guess what
1:46.6	Ryan is trying to convince me that there's a growing distrust about denominations you think maybe
1:53.8	institutional religion is on a downturn wait maybe there's something going on at the heart of culture
1:58.7	that makes like collectives and cooperation across difference problematic.
2:03.4	Maybe there have been alternative forms of organizing religion that emerged that we haven't taken note of because they don't have a box to check.
2:10.3	Perhaps it is non-box.
	...

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