Huston Smith, “Why Religion Matters,” HarperOne, 2001.

“In different ways, the East and the West are going through a single common crisis whose cause is the spiritual condition of the modern world. That condition is characterized by loss–the loss of religious certainties and of transcendence with its larger horizons.” (p. 1)

“Having been created in the imago Dei, the image of God, all human beings have a God-shaped vacuum built into their hearts. Since nature abhors a vacuum, people keep trying to fill the one inside them.” (p. 148)

“To begin with the West, Progress has turned into something of a nightmare. The campaign against ignorance has expanded our knowledge of nature, but science cannot tell us what we should give our lives to.” (p. 152)

Other works of possible interest

  • George M. Marsden, “The Soul of the American University”
  • Huston Smith and Reuben Snake, “One Nation Under God: The Triumph of the Native American Church”