Addressing the de-Hellenization of Christianity

Abdulkader Tayob wrote an analytical piece today concerning recent controversies surrounding Pope Benedict XVI’s recent lecture at the University of Regensburg. Mr. Tayob's analysis included the following observation:

"The central argument of the lecture was devoted to the urgency of reinserting the positive role of religion in modern culture. But the pope proposed to do this by turning attention to a medieval synthesis of reason and religion that has been lost in modern society through what he called the de-Hellenisation of Christianity. The Hellenic roots were lost through the Reformation, liberal theologies and, last but not least, de-Europeanisation. Boiled down, Benedict’s argument is that most of the modern legacy of Christianity has to be jettisoned."

This "medieval synthesis of reason and religion" is not, in fact, medieval at all. The synthesis of reason and faith is one of the keystone elements of Christianity, dating not only to Augustine, but to the scriptures themselves, as is evidenced in John 1:1 (consider the greek translation for "word").

Siger of Brabant and Boetius of Dacia promoted a philosophical movement beginning in the thirteenth century generally referred to as "Latin Averroism". The Averroists promoted, among other things, belief in the existence of twin truths--one reached through reason and the other through faith. The fonts of these two truths--God and the Laws of Nature--were coeternal. This view, which opposed scholastic principles, was carefully refuted by Thomas Aquinas, and the teachings of Siger were condemned by the church in 1270 A.D. Further dismantling of the Averroistic legacy was completed by the scholars of the Florentine academy, most notably Nicholas of Cusa in his "De Docta Ignorantia", which further cultivates the teachings of the Eleatic philosopher Parmenides, which come to us through Plato. Cusa's articulation of the maximum-minimum principle provided a solid foundation for the works of Leibniz, and especially the works of many 19th century mathematicians, most notably Karl Gauss and his intellectual lineage. Johannes Kepler treats the unity of his faith and reason explicitly in the opening chapters of his "Astronomia Nova".

The Averroistic impulse, on the other hand, can be seen in the works of Locke, Newton, Berkeley and their empiricist, materialist, and positivist derivations. Newton's assertion that space was the "sensorium" of Deity, an organ through which Deity perceived creation, is one famous example of an Averroistic assertion, because it attempts implicitly to establish a boundary to the capabilities of Deity. For this reason it was roundly condemned by Leibniz (see the Leibniz-Clarke Correspondences for more information).

In essence, the thesis that the enlightenment was brought about by virtue of an innovative distinction between reason and faith or religion is patently false. It was rather by virtue of the consistent refuations of the averroistic impulse to isolate reason from faith, or (more commonly) to conflate logic with reason, made by the Florentine academics, and later by Leibniz and his intellectual descendants, among countless others that the enlightenment and renaissance flourished in Europe and were transplanted to the New World.

Pope Benedict XVI’s determination to dispel this illusionary distinction from contemporary western culture is, therefore, perfectly concordant with over two millenia of theological and philosophical tradition. Guarding against the impulse to "de-Hellenization of Christianity" is perhaps the greatest challenge that western culture has ever faced. That reason (logos) and faith are ultimately one, joined by right action in a triad which reflects the unity of the Christian trinity is an idea as ancient as it is scarce in today's philosophical discourse.

Courses of action which implicitly destroy the ability and opportunity for reason (read: violence), are therefore, in his thesis, contrary to and incompatible with the nature of faith itself.