During the last half of the twentieth century western civilization has witnessed profound cultural changes, at the center of which has been significant loss of the eternal dimension of our existence as human beings. We find ourselves in a world driven by the need for self-fulfillment through the acquisition of and control over material goods. Rapid increase in technology has provided incredible means for communication and connectivity, and yet more and more people experience isolation and loneliness in their day to day lives. At the conference we will reflect on these changes with two scholars who have personally witnessed the impact of our increasingly secular society on the loss of our humanness. They will explore (and explode) the fallacies and follies generated by a human-centered hope for self-fulfillment in our lives on Earth, and offer a personal and corporate challenge to believers to embrace more fully a vision of new life in which Christ fills the whole horizon of our experience and by which we express our full humanity.

James M. Houston is Board of Governors’ Professor of Spiritual Theology at Regent College. He is author of I Believe in the Creator, In Search of Happiness, The Heart’s Desire: A Guide to Personal Fulfillment, The Transforming Power of Prayer: Deepening Your Friendship with God., Joyful Exiles, and Letters of Faith Through the Seasons: Vol. I.

James I. Packer is the Board of Govenors' Professor of Theology at Regent College. His many books include Knowing God and Rediscovering Holiness.