179. The Path of a Seeker — A Conversation with Charles Stang

Faith Matters

Faith Matters Foundation

Morality, Lds, Ethics, Mormonism, Latter-day Saint, The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-day Saints, Christianity, Philosophy, Mormon, Religion & Spirituality

4.4 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 12 August 2023

⏱️ 41 minutes

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Summary

Religion in America is undergoing a revolution. In 1972, 90% of Americans were self-professed Christians. Now, that number is about 64%. There are now large and growing populations of non-Christians, as well as many who have no particular religious beliefs. Such a time of change has made it an exciting time to be a scholar of religion, charged with making sense of the shifting landscape of American religious experience.

For today’s conversation, Zach Davis sat down with one of those scholars, Charles Stang, the Director of the Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard Divinity School. Zach went to grad school at HDS and Charlie was one of his very favorite professors.

In the conversation, Charlie discusses his life as a scholar of religion, the path his own spiritual life has taken and shares details about the exciting new research initiative he is leading at Harvard called Transcendence and Transformation.

Charles M. Stang is Professor of Early Christian Thought at Harvard Divinity School and the Director of the Center for the Study of World Religions. His research and teaching focus on the history and theology of Christianity, in particular asceticism, monasticism, and mysticism in Eastern Christianity. His most recent book, Our Divine Double, was published in 2016 by Harvard University Press.

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0:00.0	Hey everyone, I just want to take a second to invite you to join me this year at Restore
0:06.6	a Faith Matters Gathering happening October 13th and 14th.
0:12.0	It's going to be at the Amount and America Expo Center in Sandy and it promises to be
0:16.5	an exceptional conference.
0:18.4	I attended last fall and found it to be a remarkably inspiring, hopeful two days of listening
0:27.2	to really well-prepared, thoughtful talks as well as inspiring music and really feeling
0:36.7	a deep connection with my other Latter-day Saint brothers and sisters around me in our
0:41.8	shared desire to speak to the best in our faith and to speak to one another and find a sense
0:48.6	of connection.
0:49.9	I'm also going to be one of the people speaking.
0:52.3	I'll be speaking a bit about eros energy and its connection to spirituality and to the
0:59.6	light of Christ.
1:01.1	And so I hope to see you all there.
1:05.6	Hey everybody, this is Aubrey Chavez from Faith Matters.
1:12.0	Religion in America is undergoing a revolution.
1:14.4	In 1972, 90% of Americans were self-professed Christians.
1:18.5	Now that number is about 64%.
1:20.7	There are now large and growing populations of non-Christians as well as many who have
1:24.4	no particular religious beliefs.
1:26.5	Such a time of change has made it a particularly exciting time to be a scholar of religion, charged
1:31.0	with making sense of the shifting landscape of the American religious experience.
1:35.1	For today's conversation, Zach Davis sat down with one of those scholars, Charles Stain,
	...

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