Religion

Steinfels is a former senior religion correspondent for The New York Times. He now writes the Beliefs column for the paper. Steinfels is the author of the new book, A People Adrift: The Crisis of the Roman Catholic Church in America.

Richard Turley is managing director of the Family and Church History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Salt Lake City.

He is on the brink of becoming the world's first openly gay bishop of the Episcopal Church. He was elected by the Diocese of New Hampshire, but the appointment must be approved at the church's national general convention next week. His nomination has divided the church. Robinson, who is 56 years old, was married for 13 years. He continues to be close to his ex-wife and two daughters. For the last 15 years he has been in a relationship with another man.

Her latest book, Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas, is about a little-known religious text that was rediscovered in Egypt in 1945. She will explain why the Gospel of Thomas was suppressed by the church and kept out of the canon. Elaine Pagels has been called one of the world's most important writers and thinkers on religion and history. She won the National Book Award for her book, The Gnostic Gospels. Pagels is a professor at Princeton University.Enter Me

Journalist Joyce Davis is deputy foreign editor at Knight Ridder newspapers and former Mideast editor at NPR. She's the author of Martyrs: Innocence, Vengeance and Despair in the Middle East. Davis conducted interviews with Islamic scholars to try to understand the teachings about martyrdom and how those teachings had been twisted by extremists. She also conducted interviews in the Middle East with the families of both martyrs and victims.

Christian missionaries — mainline and evangelical — want to go to Iraq to provide humanitarian aid. But their presence would be troubling for many Muslims who are suspicious that aid is just a cover for another motive — converting Muslims to Christianity. We talk with two individuals with opposing views on the subject: Albert Mohler is a minister and president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He's considered a leader among American evangelicals. Southern Baptists are pledging to go into Iraq to provide humanitarian aid.

Charles Kimball is professor of religion, an ordained Baptist minister, and the author of the new book, When Religion Becomes Evil.

We remember former Episcopal Bishop of New York, Paul Moore. He died Thursday at the age of 83. Moore was known for his activism and concern for human rights. He was part of the civil rights movement and protested against the Vietnam War. As Bishop, he brought the church into dialogue with the poor and oppressed in New York. And he transformed the Cathedral of St. John the Divine into a thriving place for the community. In 1997 he published his memoir, Presences: A Bishop's Life in the City. This interview first aired December 15, 1997.

Novelist Tim LaHaye is the co-author of the popular Left Behind series. The books are apocalyptic Christian thrillers. The tenth and latest book is The Remnant, which debuted at the top of the New York Times bestseller list. LaHaye is also the former co-chairman of Jack Kemp's presidential campaign, was on the original board of directors of the Moral Majority and was an organizer of the Council for National Policy which has been called "the most powerful conservative organization in America you've never heard of."

Journalist Gershom Gorenberg is an associate editor and columnist for The Jerusalem Report and a regular contributor to The New Republic. He's the author of The End of Days: Fundamentalism and the Struggle for the Temple Mount