Go The Pope

I must say I have been becoming more and more impressed with The Pope and the Roman Catholic church as of late. What first struck me was the consistency of their philosophy and theology of life, expressed through their stance on various issues ranging from abortion to contraception to homosexual behaviour. It was clear to me they don't just rely on "because The Bible says so" for their understanding, but study the reasoning and principles behind The Bible and apply this to all of life. They understood "worldview" long before the modern evangelical movement ever coined the term.

It is the Catholic church's appreciation of reason, and thought in general, that has resulted in The Pope's clash with Islamic fundamentalists these last few days. Moslems pride themselves on their intellect, and Moslems I've known have described their faith to me as a "religion of the mind". Compared to those they understand to be Christians - ie materialistic and political-minded American fundamentalists - this would be a true assertion. But if anyone can make Islamic intellectual life look pathetic it is the Roman Catholic Church.


The speech that caused such an uproar amongst fundamentalist Moslems was aptly titled, "Faith, Reason and the University", and was an exposition of the relationship between reason and faith, and the importance of each to the other. The Holy Father's reference to Byzantine emperor Manuel II Paleologus's criticism of Mohammed and the application of Mohammed's religion was to highlight the destructive effects of removing reason from faith.

...on the central question about the relationship between religion and violence in general, [Paleologus says]:

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached".

The emperor, after having expressed himself so forcefully, goes on to explain in detail the reasons why spreading the faith through violence is something unreasonable. Violence is incompatible with the nature of God and the nature of the soul.

"God", he says, "is not pleased by blood - and not acting reasonably...

The rage against The Pope that broke out among Islamic fundamentalists as a result of this only proved to reinforce the truth that had provoked them. If Islam has something to offer the world that Christianity lacks they would be able to communicate it to the human soul, "speaking well and reasoning properly, without violence and threats". To vandalise Palestinian churches and kill a Catholic nun, and then blame The Pope for inciting such abominable deeds, simply proves the moral and intellectual redundancy of fundamentalist Islam. The Pope 1, Mohamed Mahdi Akef 0.


If anyone is to be held responsible for inciting Moslems to violence it is the media, not The Pope. His speech was an address to scientists at the University of Regensberg. He was emphasising the importance of reason to religious inquiry, using violent fundamentalist Islam as an example of how destructive it can be to do otherwise. Upon discovering the speech Islamic media and politicians had a great opportunity to join him in condemning violence in the name of God, but instead they reported his comments as an attack on all Moslems and incited them to further violence. As I said, this merely reinforced his point. So what are we to do, censor the truth? If the relationship between Islamic fundamentalism and violence in the name of God is that strong, then The Pope needs to be praised for bringing this to the attention of an increasingly Moslem-friendly and tolerance-obsessed Western civilisation.

But Western media have been almost as bad as Islamic media. They've paid no attention to the context of The Pope's speech, or to its merits. Again, it is an opportunity to join him in condemning religious violence, yet the media are treating him as one who incites religious violence. It is time to quit with the patronising victim mentality and understand that fundamentalist Moslems have freewill too. It is time for the media to quit thinking anti-Christian attitudes are fashionable and actually help The Pope restore peace and Godliness to our world. It is time for The West to try to understand the significance of things religious, and the priceless value of Christian theology to political life and world peace.


The Pope's quotation of a medieval emperor has featured on probably every newspaper in the world. Yet immediately following the reference to Emperor Manuel II Paleologus is an amazing work of theology that illustrates the depth of the nature of God, the person of Christ, and the incomparable value of such theology to a deeper understanding of science and reason;

At this point, as far as understanding of God and thus the concrete practice of religion is concerned, we are faced with an unavoidable dilemma. Is the conviction that acting unreasonably contradicts God's nature merely a Greek idea, or is it always and intrinsically true? I believe that here we can see the profound harmony between what is Greek in the best sense of the word and the biblical understanding of faith in God. Modifying the first verse of the Book of Genesis, the first verse of the whole Bible, John began the prologue of his Gospel with the words: "In the beginning was the 8`(@H". This is the very word used by the emperor: God acts, F×<>

The Holy Father goes on to show the importance of Greek philosophy to the Christian faith, a reality I am all too aware of myself. Just the other day I suggested to a friend that it was the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that informed the mind of Plato and prepared the Greeks for the arrival and message of The Son of God. The Holy Father illustrates this very clearly, and leaves the reader in awe of the amazing providence of God in the incredible synthesis of biblical truth with hellenistic philosophy. Discussing what he calls the three stages of philosophical "dehellinisation" of Western culture in the last 5 centuries, The Holy Father shows the destructive effect of this on the theological, spiritual, sociological and political health of our civilisation. I recommend this article with all my heart to every citizen of The West, every Islamic fundamentalist, every human being.

"Faith, Reason and the University"
Pope Benedict XVI


I was somewhat disturbed when I read the following words in a hymn we sung in church on Sunday;

Places where the Word is spoken,
hands held in serving love,
faiths of our many cultures,
these are our prayer.

My prayer is not for the faithS (plural) of our many cultures, but rather that the faiths of our many cultures will discover their true fullness and meaning in the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Father and his Church understand the primacy and universality of Christ - that no man comes to The Father but by him, and that all things were made by him and for him and are held together in him. He is The Son of God, The Living Word, The Logos, The Reason, The only worthy atoning sacrifice for the sins of every man and every woman; whether "Christian", "Moslem", "Jew", "Hindu", our sins are only paid for because of his sacrifice.

I thank God that, while local congregations throughout The West become infected with pluralism and postmodernism, The Holy Father of The Apostolic See remains more fervently evangelical than most evangelicals. I'm not going to leave the Anglicans to join my Romish brothers in Christ, but I pray we have the humility of spirit to learn from an institution that many Protestants and Pentecostals still consider to be The Beast.

"Faith, Reason and the University"
Pope Benedict XVI