» Benedict's Defense of Reason with Faith at the University

Peter Lawler at No Left Turns points out a lecture Pope Benedict gave the other day, titled "The Best of Greek Thought Is “An Integral Part of Christian Faith". Says Lawler on it:

Here is Pope Benedict XVI’s (Joseph Ratzinger’s) account of the integral place of Greek philosophy in Christian faith, including an account of the disastrous effects "the process of dehellenization" has had on that faith. His conclusion: "The courage to engage the whole breadth of reason, and not the denial of its grandeur--this is the program with which a theology grounded in Biblical faith enters into the debates of our time....It is to this great ’logos,’ to this breadth of reason, that we invite our partners in the dialogue of cultures. To rediscover it constantly is the great task of the university."

It looks good. If Lawler is correct, Benedict appears to be challenging people like N.T. Wright, whose project is, in part, peeling back the Hellenization of Judiasm so as to have a more Jewish understanding of Christ and Paul.

At any rate, on another note, here is a snippet from Benedict's beginning regarding what a university used to be:

There was a lively exchange with historians, philosophers, philologists and, naturally, between the two theological faculties. Once a semester there was a “dies academicus,” when professors from every faculty appeared before the students of the entire university, making possible a genuine experience of universitas: the reality that despite our specializations which at times make it difficult to communicate with each other, we made up a whole, working in everything on the basis of a single rationality with its various aspects and sharing responsibility for the right use of reason – this reality became a lived experience.

Here is a link to the speech at the Holy See's website. Evidently a more academic version, with footnotes, is forthcoming.

UPDATE: I see that Lawler's posting has prompted some very interesting comments and bed analogies....