Episode 8 of American Evangelicals only had room for excerpts of our conversation with historian of science Ted Davis. This bonus episode gives you the entire, unedited interview. Davis, a leading historian of science and religion, traces the relationship between American Christianity and scientific thought from the early republic through the Scopes trial and into the twenty-first century — challenging some common assumptions about evangelicals and science along the way. If you've already heard our episode on evangelicals and science, think of this as the director's cut: every story, historical detail, and insight that didn't make the final cut. Host John Fea conducted the full interview with Ted Davis.

ABOUT OUR GUEST

Edward B. “Ted” Davis is Professor Emeritus of the History of Science at Messiah University, where he was a longtime colleague of host John Fea, and a Fellow of the International Society for Science & Religion. He is co-editor, with Michael Hunter, of The Works of Robert Boyle. His most recent book, Protestant Modernist Pamphlets: Science and Religion in the Scopes Era (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2024), is a critical edition of ten rare pamphlets on science and religion published around the 1925 Scopes trial.

PEOPLE, BOOKS & TERMS MENTIONED

• Francis Bacon — English philosopher; The Advancement of Learning (1605) articulated the “two books” framework of scripture and nature.
• Robert Boyle — 17th-century chemist; his The Christian Virtuoso (1690/91) argued science strengthens rather than threatens Christian faith.
• Cotton Mather — brought Enlightenment science to America; author of The Christian Philosopher (1721), modeled on Boyle.
• Samuel Miller — New York Presbyterian minister and later Princeton Seminary professor; A Brief Retrospect of the Eighteenth Century (c. 1803) attacked “infidel philosophy.”
• Asa Gray — Harvard botanist, correspondent of Charles Darwin, and traditional Christian who reviewed On the Origin of Species favorably in 1860.
• William Jennings Bryan — prosecutor in the 1925 Scopes trial; opposed evolution and, especially, theistic evolution.
• Vernon Kellogg — Stanford biologist and pacifist; Headquarters Nights (1917) linked evolution to German militarism and influenced Bryan.
• Bernard Ramm — Baptist theologian; The Christian View of Science and Scripture (1954) urged evangelicals to be open to science.
• John C. Whitcomb Jr. and Henry Morris — The Genesis Flood (1961), written partly in response to Ramm, launched the modern young-earth creationist movement.
• Francis Collins — geneticist who led the Human Genome Project to completion; prominent evangelical voice on faith and science.
• American Scientific Affiliation — an organization of evangelical scientists founded just before Pearl Harbor, which grew rapidly after World War II.
• Society of Catholic Scientists — founded by astrophysicist Stephen Barr as a Catholic counterpart to the American Scientific Affiliation.

🔗 LINK to episode 8

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2610661/episodes/19367017

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Hosts:

JOHN FEA - Visiting Fellow in History, Lumen Center; Distinguished Professor of History, Messiah University

MAGGIE CAPRA - Visiting Instructor in American History, Beloit College

DAN HUMMEL - Director of the Lumen Center; Honorary Research Fellow, University of Wisconsin-Madison

This podcast is brought to you by the Lumen Center and STUDIO, both initiatives of the SL Brown Foundation.

Find out more about our work:

• slbf.org/lumen-center
• slbf.org/studio

Produced by Daniel Johnson and Dave Conour

Edited by Dave Conour

In the finale of Season One, John Fea, Dan Hummel, and Maggie Capra step out of their usual narrative format to reflect directly on the series and on the state of the field they study. They open by sharing what listener feedback has taught them about the value of a historian's “dispassionate” approach to a subject most people experience personally rather than academically.

From there, the conversation turns to future casting — always, they admit, a risky exercise for historians. The hosts trace the demographic rise of religious “nones” and “nonverts,” debate whether “evangelical” and “evangelicalism” remain useful words, and revisit the Bebbington Quadrilateral, Timothy Smith's kaleidoscope theory, and the historiographical legacy of David Bebbington, George Marsden, Joel Carpenter, and Mark Noll.

The back half of the episode moves through evangelicals and political power, the rise of dominionism and reconstructionist thought, the uncertain future of Christian higher education, and the migration of evangelical debate onto podcasts, Substack, and YouTube. They close with a shared case for why a historical — rather than theological or political — lens on evangelicalism still matters, closing out the season with thanks to listeners and a tribute to historian Gordon Wood, who died the week of recording.

PEOPLE & BOOKS MENTIONED

• Stephen Bullivant, Nonverts: The Making of Ex-Christian America (Oxford University Press, 2022)
• Molly Worthen, Apostles of Reason: The Crisis of Authority in American Evangelicalism (Oxford University Press, 2013)
• Mark Noll, The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind (Eerdmans, 1994)
• A.J.A. Woods, The Cultural Marxism Conspiracy: Why the Right Blames the Frankfurt School for the Decline of the West (Verso, 2026)
• Henry F. May, “The Recovery of American Religious History,” American Historical Review 70 (October 1964)
• David Bebbington — historian; the “Bebbington Quadrilateral” framework for defining evangelicalism
• George Marsden and Joel Carpenter — historians discussed their role in establishing evangelicalism as a coherent historiographical category
• Nathan Hatch — historian referenced on the “democratization” of American Christianity
• Timothy L. Smith — historian referenced for his “kaleidoscope theory” of evangelicalism
• Vincent Bacote — theologian, Wheaton College, cited as an example of evangelical political-theology scholarship; the hosts recall him as a guest earlier in the season (Episode 4)
• R.J. Rushdoony — referenced in the discussion of Christian reconstructionism
• Paul Weyrich — referenced as a Christian-right organizer connected to the New Congress Foundation
• Lyndon LaRouche — referenced in the discussion of the “cultural Marxism” conspiracy theory's origins
• Tim Mackie — co-founder of The Bible Project, referenced on patron-funded models of Christian content
• Gavin Ortlund — pastor and YouTube creator, cited as an example of digital-first evangelical ministry
• Gordon Wood — historian of the American Revolution, was remembered by the hosts following his death at 92 in June 2026

🔗 LINK to our button form

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/AmerEvanPodButtons

Send us Fan Mail

Hosts:

JOHN FEA - Visiting Fellow in History, Lumen Center; Distinguished Professor of History, Messiah University

MAGGIE CAPRA - Visiting Instructor in American History, Beloit College

DAN HUMMEL - Director of the Lumen Center; Honorary Research Fellow, University of Wisconsin-Madison

This podcast is brought to you by the Lumen Center and STUDIO, both initiatives of the SL Brown Foundation.

Find out more about our work:

• slbf.org/lumen-center
• slbf.org/studio

Produced by Daniel Johnson and Dave Conour

Edited by Dave Conour