Ecklund, Elaine Howard2025-05-302025-05-302025-052025-04-22May 2025https://hdl.handle.net/1911/118480In this dissertation I examine how religion shapes trust in science and medicine among evangelical Christians. Specifically, I focus on the role of religion in shaping perspectives on the intersecting authority of religious, scientific, and political institutions. To explore this topic, I draw from interviews with a racially diverse sample of 74 evangelical Christian leaders and congregants located in Houston, Texas conducted between March 2021 and May 2024. While researchers have identified mechanisms that explain the relationship between religion, science, and medicine, (such as religious understandings of conflict or collaboration with science, anti-institutionalism, and responses to scientific racism), I posit trust is a central factor that helps us to understand these disparate influences. Through this work I discuss evangelical Christian perceptions and trust of scientists, beliefs about authority on the topic of climate change, and trust in medicine and medical professionals. I find that when religious communities engage with scientific topics it often results in greater trust in scientific expertise but when churches frame science as being too political, distrust and misinformation are more prominent. This is important because evangelical Christians play an influential role in American political life, influencing decisions such as the repeal of Roe v. Wade or loosening climate restrictions. It is also important because many evangelicals are members of marginalized racial populations and their religious views can bolster or hinder their trust in science and medicine which has implications for addressing health and education disparities. More broadly, I argue for the importance of considering trust as a major influence on outcomes such as political attitudes, health, and educational attainment.application/pdfenReligionTrustScienceMedicineCultureThesis2025-05-30