Review of Christianity and Secular Reason: Classical Themes and Modern Developments

Abstract

In recent years there has been a renewed focus on the relationship between faith and reason. This resurgence has been largely sparked by Charles Taylor’s tome, 'A Secular Age '(2007), and the fascinating exchange between Joseph Ratzinger and Jürgen Habermas (2007) on the pre-political foundations of society. 'Christianity and Secular Reason '(2012) builds on these two works to explore the relationship between faith and reason; in particular secular reason. As the editor, Jeffrey Bloechl, explains, the volume “attends to the relation between Christianity and secular reason at points where each seems to contest the self-assurance of the other” and at another level it also illustrates that secular reason “is deeply troubling to both Christian thought and the philosophy often called ‘continental’.”