the Pope delivers a rather important lecture on reason and faith, and how religion that does not recognize the primary importance of reason -- In the Beginning was the Word -- is contrary to the very nature of God. In the course of that he quotes a Byzantine emperor who was near the end of his rope, who saw in Islam nothing of value and no adherence to the importance of reason. The issue is whether today's Islam puts revelation (the Koran) above all reason and observation.
I have heard no one in the Muslim community denounce the resulting reactions, in which Muslims demonstrate their commitment to reason and civilization by: calling for the assassination of the Pope; gunning down a nun on the steps of the free clinic she and her order operated; burning down churches.
I think Benedict may have made his point, and the Muslims are eagerly affirming it.
Religion without reason is theological nonsense, at least in the Christian tradition. When science and revelation are flatly contradictory, one or the other is mistaken. This is the essence of Aquinas, and is taught in Catholic religion classes the world over, or certainly was when I was in high school. When right reason and science appear to contradict revelation, we have mistaken what was revealed. Benedict has repeated a lesson long taught; as Samuel Johnson observed, men seldom need educating but they often need reminding.
The reaction of the Muslim community was predictable, although apparently Pope Benedict did not predict it. Or perhaps he did, but hoped he would be mistaken? For the conclusion seems inevitable.
