6:00 – 9:00 PM, Tuesday, March 4, The Roundtable on Science, Art & Religion presents dinner (provided) and discussion at the MIT Faculty Club featuring Royal Society of the Arts Fellow Charles Freeman and MIT History Faculty Head Anne McCants on the topic: Faith, History, and Reason: all in the Pursuit of Truth?

Freeman's The Closing of the Western Mind — The Rise of Faith and the Fall of Reason (Random House) is "An excellent and readable account of the development of Christian doctrine." - The New York Times Book Review; "Enjoyable and illuminating... Clearly and plausibly argued... full of fascinating detail." -The Boston Globe.

From the back page:  When the Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity in the fourth century and declared it the official religion of the Roman empire, he initiated a change that would thrust the Western world into a dark age.  The Closing of the Western Mind is Charles Freeman's enthralling account of this pivotal point in Western History...  With brilliance, clarity, and an eye for the vital detail, Freeman has made a signal contribution to our understanding of the early church and the legacy of faith's subjugation of reason.

At The Roundtable, as educators, scholars, and observant citizens of history, we do well to realize that we operate within an historical context:  in our lives of faith and reason, there are pressures and pleasures and powerful personalities that challenge our pursuit of truth.  Therefore, some questions for The Roundtable are:  Is reason (or science) less susceptible to historical contingency than faith?  Can zealousness for reason ever become unreasonable?  Have fundamentalists highjacked the public face of faith? What are the flashpoints in the debate between faith and reason in the West right now? And can they be resolved?  According to Freeman:

"A successful rational tradition needs the support and understanding of the society in which it is based...  If a tradition of rational thought is to make progress, it is essential that it builds in tolerance. No authority can dictate in advance what can or cannot be believed, or there is no possibility of progress." (p. xvi.)

Light refreshments will be served at 6:00 PM, followed by brief remarks from Charles Freeman and Anne McCants.  We will provide dinner immediately afterwards, allowing for our evening to focus on roundtable discussion; first by table, and then by all of the participants together.  The number of participants will be limited in order to create an atmosphere conducive to conversation.

By invitation only.  (To RSVP simply "reply" or mail to the Roundtable Coordinator:  dave@cambridgeroundtable.org)

The Roundtable is chaired by:
Owen Gingerich, Astronomy, Harvard University

The Roundtable Committee of Invitation:
Rosalind Picard, Media Arts and Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Peter Gomes, Minister and Professor, Memorial Church, Harvard University
David Thom, Director, The Leadership Connection

The Roundtable does not sponsor presenters in order to endorse or promote any particular point of view.  The Roundtable has enjoyed a foundation for trust among scholars through a series of events dedicated to fostering dialogue that explores — given the roots of our nation's consciousness — the intersection of contemporary academic thought and Christian thought on issues related to science, art and religion.  To date, hundreds of faculty have engaged in Roundtable faculty seminar dinner discussions, and have experienced the potential to bring added depth to their work as scholars and educators.  The Roundtable does not expect faculty participants to be aligned with any particular religious or non-religious perspective; and the result has been that a wide diversity of views are represented.

October 2007 The Roundtable presented:
Religious Literacy
Stephen Prothero
Boston University Religion Department Chair

February 2007 The Roundtable presented:
What ought the university teach?
George M. Marsden, Notre Dame University's Francis A. McAnaney Professor of History
Marc D. Hauser, Harvard University Professor of Psychology

October 2006 The Roundtable presented:
Moral Leadership in the University
Harry R. Lewis, Former Dean of Harvard College, Gordon McKay Professor of Computer Science
Paul C. Vitz, New York University Professor of Psychology, Emeritus

March 2006 The Roundtable presented:
God, Time, and Relativity Theory
William Lane Craig
Professor of Philosophy, Talbot School of Theology

February 2006 The Roundtable presented:
Should "Intelligent Design" be taught as Science in the Secular University?
Michael J. Behe, Professor of Biochemistry, Lehigh University, author of Darwin's Black Box
Edward J. "Ned" Hall, Professor of Philosophy, Harvard University

October 2005 The Roundtable presented:
Faith and Religion in the Classroom
Naomi Schaefer Riley
Deputy Taste Editor at The WSJ, author of God on the Quad

March 2005 The Roundtable presented:
The Self-Disclosure of Ultimate Reality
Sir John Polkinghorne
Fellow of the Royal Society, Former President of Queens' College, Cambridge