Future of Faith topic for ECU’s Jarvis Lecture

A renowned speaker and writer on contemporary religion, Dr. Huston Smith, will visit East Carolina University Oct. 30 to give a public lecture on “Why Religion Matters: The Future of Faith in an Age of Disbelief.”

Smith’s presentation is a feature of the annual Jarvis Lecture on Christianity and Culture series and will be held at 7:30 p.m. in the Great Room of Mendenhall Student Center. It is free and open to the public. Smith has produced several series for the Public Broadcasting System including “The Wisdom of Faith,” with Bill Moyers, “The Search for America” and “Science and Human Responsibility.” Among his eight books are: “The World’s Religions,” “One Nation Under God,” “Why Religion Matters,” and “Beyond the Post-Modern Mind.” He has taught at Syracuse University, MIT and the University of California at Berkeley.

In explaining the background for his presentation, Smith said, “ever since the scientific worldview displaced the traditional worldview of the great wisdom traditions, religion has been on the defensive.”
“But things are changing,” he said. “Having discovered that science alone cannot save us, the public is more receptive than it has been for 300 years to the prospects of a genuine partnership between science and religion. This holds great promise for the third millennium.”

The Jarvis Lecture series is in its ninth year and is a popular attraction. It is sponsored by the ECU College of Arts and Sciences Religious Studies Program with support from the Jarvis Memorial United Methodist Church of Greenville.