Pope Benedict and his speech

Faith,Reason and the University
Memories and Reflection

Pope Benedict’s speech, the hot issue within this week.

I have read the original text of his speech at the University of Regensburg. There’s nothing special there, only his quotation of Byzantine Emperor during the Emperor discussion of Christianity and Islam with educated Persian. The kind of discussion that need one’s head high. The kind of discussion where the intention is to bridge the understanding. The discussion where the output is to respect one another.

So, here I quote the last statement of his speech : "In their earlier conversations, many false philosophical opinions had been raised, and so Socrates says: "It would be easily understandable if someone became so annoyed at all these false notions that for the rest of his life he despised and mocked all talk about being - but in this way he would be deprived of the truth of existence and would suffer a great loss". The West has long been endangered by this aversion to the questions which underlie its rationality, and can only suffer great harm thereby. 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."

My reflection of the controversial issue.