In Good Faith

In August, our team attended the 2023 Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago, Illinois. Since 1893, this interfaith conference has advocated for harmony and dialogue across religious traditions and their believers. This year, In Good Faith presented on a panel (see below for link). Now, we also get to share with you the impromptu interviews Steve conducted at the Parliament. He speaks first with Rev. Dallas Conyers and her efforts to combat climate change, an overarching theme at the Parliament. Dallas speaks about a series of consecutive incidents that put her life on hold: listen to how Rev. Conyers found healing through religious vigor and scripture. Steve then speaks with Jaxon Washburn, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and graduate of Harvard Divinity School. Jaxon walks us through how he became involved with the Parliament and why divinity school was the right choice for him.

Welcome to our 10-part series exploring Turkey as a crossroads of faith, a place where world religions have met, overlapped, replaced one another, sometimes peacefully, sometimes not. In today's episode we're exploring the history of Latter-day Saints in Turkey, one of many tiny minority religious groups finding a place and building community amongst a majority-Muslim population. The size of the present congregation would seem to point to a new missionary effort just getting a toe-hold in Turkey. But, in fact, American missionaries first came to the Ottoman empire in 1884. In this episode, we'll meet Takouhie Jensen, the great-granddaughter of an early Armenian convert. We'll also talk with a Turkish member living in Istanbul. And we'll meet a recent convert. All three will help us paint the picture of the past and the future of the Church in Turkey, the tensions that exist there, and the opportunities available. Please be advised that this episode includes stories of violence and war, some of them perpetrated against children.

This is episode 9 of our 10-episode series about the crossroads of faith in Turkiye, an ancient land a modern nation. In this episode we explore traditions of the local people and suss out the difference between culture and religion. First, we'll speak with Pinar Bayrack Toydemir, the founder of the Utah Turkish American Association (UTAA) and originally from Ankara, but now living in the Salt Lake City area. We'll also sit down with Zeki Tulak, who served as our guide in the Kapodokya area, and eat a traditional meal with Muzzafar and Essengul Arslan, organic farmers in the village of Avahi. We also speak with Vefa Bowen, a musician and Director of Cultural Affairs for the UTAA, about music from Turkey, and listen to her band Kechi play at the Living Traditions festival.

We have a special treat amid the Turkey series--book club is back! To follow up on Episode 7, host Steven Kapp Perry and senior producer Heather Bigley meet with Kevin Blankinship and Rasoul Sorkhabi to discuss the poetry of Rumi. The group discusses the geographical and cultural impacts on Rumi in 13th century Anatolia as well his esteemed writing style and influence. Rasoul Sorkhabi holds a PHD in geology from Kyoto University in Japan, as well as M.Sc. and B.Sc. degrees from Jammu University in India. He has conducted geological studies in India, Nepal, Japan, Borneo, the Rockies and the Great Basin of the American West. He has also constructed a global database on sedimentary basins. He is currently a professor at the University of Utah. He reviewed Swallowing the Sun for the journal Interreligious Insight Kevin Blankinship is an assistant professor at BYU in the Department of Asian and Near Eastern Languages, teaching Arabic language and literature, Islamic civilization, and the Koran. He holds a Phd from the University of Chicago, an MA from UNC Chapel Hill, and a BA from BYU. Under the aegis of the Fulbright program, he lived and conducted researched in Morocco for a year.

This week we visit the tomb of Sufi mystic Rumi, who is one of the most popular poets the world over. We explore the relationship between Islam and Sufism, as well as the influence of Rumi on Muslims everywhere, not just Turkey. We speak with scholar Kevin Blankinship about Rumi's life and poetry and we visit with Sheikh Ahmet Sami Kuçuk in Konya, the city where Rumi settled over 800 years ago. We'll also observe the dervishes in their whirling trance. All up next on this episode of In Good Faith. Kevin Blankinship is a professor of Arabic and the medieval Middle East. He holds a PhD in classical Arabic literature from the University of Chicago and an MA in comparative literature from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Kevin also spent a research year in Morocco as a Fulbright-Hayes scholar.

In this episode, we explore Islam in Turkey, a country that is now 97% Muslim, but for over a millennium was pre-dominantly Christian. We'll discuss how that transition took place, well into the rule of the Ottomans, with Professor Christine Isom-Verhaaren, and we'll meet a former Imam, Cemil Usta, who founded an afterschool program to teach girls how to recite the Koran. That recitation is like a performance, almost a song, and we'll hear Cemil Usta recite a section of the Koran as well. Check out our Youtube bonus video, exploring the Sulimaniye Mosque.

The Hagia Sophia is the most famous building in all of Istanbul. It's a marvel of 6th century architecture and it's still a marvel today. Originally a Christian cathedral, it was converted to a mosque when the Ottomans conquered Istanbul. In the 20th century, the building was turned into a museum and in 2020 it was converted back to a mosque by Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan. We visited during Eid when tourists and pilgrims lined up in a queue that looped around Sultanahmet Square. We also speak with Cecilia Peek about the Byzantine Empire that built the Hagia Sophia, with Christine Isom-Verhaaren about its conversion into a mosque, and with Cynthia Finlayson about the Hagia Sophia's influence on later architecture. Cecilia Peek is an associate professor of Classics and the current director of the BYU London Centre. She holds a PhD in Ancient History and Mediterranean Archeology from the University of California at Berkeley. Christine holds a PhD in Ottoman History from the University of Chicago and is author most recently of "The Sultan's Fleet: Seafarers of the Ottoman Empire." Cynthia Finlayson is currently the Director of the Ad-Deir Monument and Plateau Project in Petra, Jordan and Special Consultant to the Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation’s Museum in Bethlehem on the West Bank. Cynthia holds a PhD in Classical and Ancient Art History and Archaeology with emphasis in the Eastern Mediterranean Basin from the University of Iowa.

Today on In Good Faith, we're exploring–literally–ancient Christianity in Turkey. In fact, for this episode we scrunched down into tunnels in an underground city in the Kapadokya region and we toured churches in caves and contemplated mosaics that were almost two thousand years old. This ornamentation is done in the artistic style of Greek Orthodox churches that can later be seen throughout the East. We speak with Professors Mark Ellison and Matthew Grey about the architecture and sacred spaces of the Early Christians, and what it might have felt like to worship together in those early days of Christianity. Mark Ellison is a professor in early Christianity and holds a PhD from Vanderbilt University in early Christianity and early Christian art. He is the co-editor of the recently published anthology "Ancient Christians: an introduction for Latter-day Saints." Matthew Grey is a professor in ancient scripture and ancient Near Eastern studies. He holds a PhD from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill with an emphasis in archeology and early Judaism. He's written a chapter in "Ancient Christians," entitled "Sacred Spaces and Places of Worship from House Churches to Monumental Basilicas." Join us in exploring the Crossroads of Faith!

Today we're talking about a place and a person, both of which were important in the first expansion of a world religion. This week we're visiting Ephesus to understand early Christian converts and the life of Paul, with special emphasis on his confrontation with the silversmiths guild, as discussed in Acts 19. We'll talk again with Professor Luke Drake. Dr. Drake completed a PhD at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, in Ancient Mediterranean Religions, and a master of theological studies in New Testament and Early Christianity at Harvard Divinity School. Then, we meet Kent Brown, a professor emeritus of ancient scripture and the former director of the BYU Jerusalem center. He holds a PhD in religious studies from Brown University, with an emphasis in New Testament and early Christian studies. Kent reminds us of the magnificent temple of Artemis. We'll also walk with our guide Lutfi Baydar through the ruins at Ephesus on the south-west coast of Turkey, a few hours drive from Izmir. Join us as we explore The Crossroads of Faith.

In this episode of In Good Faith, we dive deeper into the history of Jewish life in Turkey, including an interview with Avram Sevinti, a leader of the Jewish Community Center in modern Izmir. We'll explore Sardes, the site of an ancient synagogue, and examine statues of the goddess Artemis outside of Ephesus, to better understand the larger society that existed around the Jews. Today we discuss Greek and Roman mythology and how that impacted the Jews living in the area. To help us with the historical timeline, Steve interviews Luke Drake, an assistant professor of Classical Studies. Dr. Drake completed a PhD at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, in Ancient Mediterranean Religions, and a master of theological studies in New Testament and Early Christianity at Harvard Divinity School. Steve also speaks with Dr. Avram Shannon on Jewish populations in Turkey across time. Dr. Shannon is an associate professor in Ancient Scripture. He earned a PhD from Ohio State in Ancient Mediterranean Religions and a Masters in Jewish Studies from the University of Oxford. Join us as we explore The Crossroads of Faith.