Monroe says forum attendance has risen from about 600 people in 1992 to about 1300--filling Sanders Theatre--this year.
Those attending the forum were not all Christian group members, organization leaders say. Students of all religious backgrounds came to discuss the spiritual issues of the forum, they say.
Nationally, Americans are seeking spiritual rebirth, according to a recent Newsweek cover story. 58 percent of the people in the U.S. feel the need for spiritual growth, the story says.
Against Relativism
At Harvard, Christian group leaders say students are seeking not just spirituality, but security in a relativistic world.
"Apart from a relativistic culture, we still have these deep questions that need to be satisfied, questions that relativism doesn't satisfy," Monroe says.
For some students, Christianity is the answer--a moral code which is comfortingly "exclusive in terms of faith choices," Fryling says. In the crises of the modern world, Fryling says, Christianity offers "a real dimension of hope."
"Christian faith goes beyond the temporal and deals with some of the eternal spiritual issues," Fryling says.
Elizabeth S. Dinonno '95, HRCF manuscript study leader and a member of the spiritual development leadership team of the Catholic Student Association, says Christianity is attractive today because it appeals to people's sense of the here and now.
"It's not that the message of the Bible has become more appetizing, but the joy of the students and their sincerity and the way they live their lives interests people, and that's why I think the numbers may have grown," Dinonno says. "The Christian life is a life that brings great joy. It's not just about eternity, it's about today."
Other students agree that they find their faith relevant in their day-to-day lives.
"It can be a rat race [at Harvard]," says Frank T. Apodaca '97, a member of Christian Impact. "People are saying, 'Why am I doing this?'.... [In Harvard's Christian groups] you're really examining how God and how your relationship with Jesus Christ is influencing your day-to-day [existence]."
Students also say that Harvard's academic atmosphere, traditionally seen as "Godless" and anti-religious, has become far less hostile and skeptical.
"Liberalism is not incompatible with Christianity," Dinonno says.
Christian group members say they do not feel uncomfortable expressing their faith at Harvard. Some, who did not expect to find such a welcoming environment for their belief, say they were pleasantly surprised.
"I have friends at other colleges and universities, and [compared to them] the Christian groups at Harvard are really strong and growing," says Ivy A. Ku '98, a member of the Asian-American Bible Study.