The Plummer Professor of Christian Morals and minister in the Memorial Church at Harvard University, Gomes will explore the relationship between human beings and the environment, a connection he considers to be “fundamentally religious. For the time being, this world is the only one we have. How we manage our stewardship of the earth is as much an expression of faith as it is of policy or service. Stewardship, not merely survival, is truly an ecumenical adventure.”

Author of best-sellers such as Sermons: Biblical Wisdom for Daily Living (Morrow, 1998) and The Good Book: Reading the Bible with Mind and Heart (Morrow, 1996), Gomes has reinterpreted the Bible as a dynamic, transforming and inclusionary work for our times.

Since being named by Time Magazine in 1979 as one of our country’s seven most influential preachers, he has remained an insistent voice of conscience, blending a conservative view of religion and morality with contemporary concern for the physical and spiritual welfare of all Americans.

Humor and wit — his sermons can quote from T.S. Eliot and Mae West, as well as the Bible — inform the serious moral content of his words and have made him a sought-after speaker. Gomes has officated at two presidential inaugurations.

A native of Boston, Gomes graduated from ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ and Harvard Divinity School. After teaching and serving as director of freshman studies at Tuskegee Institute, he arrived at Harvard in 1970 as assistant minister in the Memorial Church. Gomes has been minister in the Memorial Church since 1974, when he was appointed Plummer Professor of Christian Morals. He is a leading authority on the Pilgrims of Plymouth.

The annual Muskie Environmental Lecture honors the environmental legacy of Edmund S. Muskie, who graduated from ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ in 1936. The Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act bear the former Secretary of State and U.S. Senator’s imprint.

The diverse offerings begin in September with talks by two of the nation’s most prominent thinkers and the premiere of a one-woman play based on a holocaust-era diary.

The Rev. Peter J. Gomes, the Plummer Professor of Christian Morals at Harvard University and minister of Harvard University’s Memorial Church, will discuss The Good Book: Reading the Bible with Mind and Heart 4 p.m. Sept. 9, in the Muskie Archives, 70 Campus Ave.

Cornel West, professor of Afro-American studies and philosophy of religion at Harvard, will talk about The Matter(s) of Race on Sept. 12 in the Alumni Gymnasium.

A Thinking Heart: The Diary of Etty Hillesum, directed by Ellen Seeling and featuring actress Suzanne Sturn, is based on the writings of a young woman who lived in Holland during the Nazi occupation. Performances will be given Sept. 11 through Sept. 14.

The college publishes a semester-long cultural calendar of events and a monthly calendar of more up-to-date information. Anyone interested in receiving these ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ calendars should call 207-786-6330.

The Plummer Professor of Christian Morals and minister of the Memorial Church at Harvard University, Gomes reinterprets the bible as a dynamic, transforming and inclusionary work for our times. “The theme of this book is the risk and joy of the Bible: risk in that we might get it wrong, and joy in the discovery of the living Word becoming flesh,” Gomes wrote.

Since being named by Time Magazine in 1979 as one of our country’s seven most influential preachers, he has remained an insistent voice of conscience, blending a conservative view of religion and morality — he is a leading authority on the Pilgrims of Plymouth — with contemporary concern for the physical and spiritual welfare of all Americans.

Humor and wit — he quotes from T.S. Eliot and Mae West, as well as the Bible — inform the serious moral content of his sermons and have made him a sought-after speaker, including two presidential inaugurations.

A native of Boston, Gomes graduated from ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ and Harvard Divinity School. After teaching and serving as director of freshman studies at Tuskegee Institute, he arrived at Harvard in 1970 as assistant minister in the Memorial Church. Gomes has been minister at the Memorial Church since 1974, when he was appointed Plummer Professor of Christian Morals.

The talk is sponsored by the offices of the chaplain, the dean of the college, alumni affairs and the Department of Philosophy and Religion.