Follow-up to my post on Benedict and his discussion of faith and reason:
If you are interested in the topic, you must, must, Must! read Lee Harris' piece, Socrates or Muhammed?
Harris does a good job of explaining what Benedict was trying to say in his speech. Relevant quotes:
Modern reason is a cultural phenomenon like any other: It did not drop down one fine day out of the clouds. It involved no special creation. Rather, it evolved uniquely out of the fusion of cultural traditions known as Christendom.

A critique of modern reason from within must recognize its cultural and historical roots in this Christian heritage. In particular, it must recognize its debt to the distinctive concept of God that was the product of the convergence of the Hebrew, Greek, and Roman traditions. To recognize this debt, of course, does not require any of us to believe that this God actually exists.

Read the whole thing!
C
- posted by Christoph Roggenkamp @ 9/27/2006 11:36:00 AM