The pope and reason

In the turmoil that surrounded the speech of the pope, it was somehow lost that the purpose of the speech was to criticize the notion that god and reason are separate concepts, or the even more radical notion, that faith and reason are in opposition. Although this notion is apparently present in some branches of Islam, the pope actually aimed at evangelical Christianity, liberal Christianity, and secular society. Since, all of them are based on the assumption that there is a tension between faith and reason.

Evangelicals obviously choose faith above reason, because they wouldn't rule out a god who deceives us (like a god who plants dinosaur bones). Liberal Christianity chooses reason above doctrine, but want to stick to Jesus as some kind of benevolent revolutionary. And secular society rejects religion entirely, because it contradicts reason.

The pope argues in contrast that god is the only reasonable thing, that he is actually one with reason, but to understand this self-evidence we need to expand our restricted notion of reason. That, in a nutshell, is his line of reasoning.

Anyway, why he quoted the Byzantine emperor remains probably a mystery, but what the pope was after is to criticize those in the west who are in opposition to his catholic belief. If you want to read it for yourself, the Vatican published the full text of the speech.