Dr. Robert P. Jones will speak at the Service Convocation on Thursday, October 27th at 3p.m., in Phelps Stokes Chapel. Jones will discuss his new book, The End of White Christian America, in which he argues that America is no longer a majority white Christian nation and how these changes are affecting politics, churches, and American culture.
The book draws on more than four decades of polling data and analyzes the decreasing power and influence of white Christian America. Jones suggests that the nature of today’s most heated debates—including same-sex marriage, sexual and religious liberation, the continual arguments surrounding white and black Americans’ views on the criminal justice system, the election of the first African-American President, etc.—can only be understood when analyzed through the eyes of white Christians. As America’s demographics shift, fears and anxieties are exhibited in different ways. Jones looks at how white Christian America will adjust in order to find their place in new America.
A graduate from Emory University, Jones received his Ph.D. in religion. At Emory, he specialized in the sociology of religion, politics, and religious ethics. He attended Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary where he earned a Master of Divinity degree. Jones earned a B.S. in mathematics and computing science from the University of Mississippi, where he was also selected by the college’s mathematics department as the alumnus of the year in 2016. He is a member of many boards and committees, including the National Steering Committee for the Religion and Politics Section at the American Academy of Religion. There he serves as the co-chair. Jones is a reoccurring guest on “Faith by the Numbers,” a national religion news magazine on public radio. Before founding the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), Jones was an assistant professor of religious studies at Missouri State University. He also worked in Washington, D.C., as a fellow researcher in several think tanks.
Berea College convocation events are open to both the campus and public communities, and are a significant part of a student’s educational experience at Berea College. See legacy.berea.edu/convocations for the schedule of all convocations this academic year. All convocations are free and open to the public.