Author Jenkins to speak at Saint Vincent on ‘The Church in the 21st Century’

Stephen Huba | Wednesday, September 18, 2019 3:47 p.m.

Stephen Huba | Tribune-Review

The entrance to Saint Vincent Basilica on the campus of Saint Vincent College near Latrobe.

Best-selling author Philip Jenkins will give the Pope Benedict XVI Lecture at Saint Vincent Seminary on Oct. 29.

Jenkins, author of more than 25 books, will speak on the topic “The Church in the 21st Century: Is the Church Entering a Golden Age or a Dark Age?” at 7:30 p.m. at the Fred Rogers Center.

The lecture is free and open to the public, but reservations are required by calling 724-805-2177.

Jenkins, who last spoke at Saint Vincent in 2003, is distinguished professor of history at Baylor University and Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Humanities Emeritus at Penn State.

His most recent book is “Rethinking a Nation: The United States in the 21st Century” (Macmillan/Red Globe), which came out in July.

He also is the author of “Crucible of Faith: The Ancient Revolution That Made Our Modern Religious World” (Basic Books, 2017), “The Many Faces of Christ: The Thousand-Year Story of the Survival and Influence of the Lost Gospels” (Basic Books, 2015), “The Great and Holy War: How World War I Became a Religious Crusade” (HarperOne, 2014), “Laying Down the Sword: Why We Can’t Ignore the Bible’s Violent Verses” (HarperOne, 2011), “Jesus Wars: How Four Patriarchs, Three Queens, and Two Emperors Decided What Christians Would Believe for the Next 1,500 Years” (HarperOne, 2010), “The Lost History of Christianity: The Thousand-Year Golden Age of the Church in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia — and How It Died” (HarperOne, 2008), and “The New Anti-Catholicism: The Last Acceptable Prejudice” (Oxford University Press, 2003).