{"id":14442,"date":"2013-09-24T19:18:52","date_gmt":"2013-09-24T23:18:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/?p=14442"},"modified":"2013-09-24T19:18:52","modified_gmt":"2013-09-24T23:18:52","slug":"pope-emeritus-benedict-xvi-responds-to-atheists-critique","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/2013\/09\/pope-emeritus-benedict-xvi-responds-to-atheists-critique\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope emeritus Benedict XVI responds to atheist’s critique"},"content":{"rendered":"

Edward Pentin writing for the National Catholic Register<\/a>:<\/p>\n

VATICAN CITY \u2014 Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has followed Pope Francis in writing a letter to a prominent Italian atheist in an attempt to engage non-believers in a dialogue about the faith.
\nThe 11-page letter, extracts of which were published in Monday\u2019s edition of the Italian daily newspaper, La Repubblica, is addressed to Professor Piergiorgio Odifreddi, an Italian mathematician, popular science writer and a member of the Italian Union of Rationalist Atheists and Agnostics.
\nThe Pope Emeritus was responding to a book Odifreddi wrote in 2011 titled Dear Pope, I\u2019m Writing to You. The book was a critique of certain arguments and lines of thought found in the Benedict\u2019s theological writings, beginning with his 1967 volume, Introduction to Christianity, and including his book Jesus of Nazareth that he wrote as Pope.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Now that news was cool enough, but the content of what he wrote is quite stunning.<\/p>\n

But that hasn\u2019t stopped Benedict XVI, who doesn\u2019t hold back in revealing what he thinks of Odifreddi\u2019s work. \u201cMy opinion about your book is, as a whole, rather mixed,\u201d he says. \u201cI profited from some parts which I read with enjoyment, but in other parts I was astonished at a certain aggressiveness and thoughtless argumentation.\u201d<\/p>\n

He notes that several times, Odifreddi refers to theology as science fiction, and says that in this respect, he is \u201csurprised that you feel my book is worthy of discussion.\u201d He responds by making the case for theology with four points.<\/p>\n

First, Benedict asks: \u201cIs it fair to say that \u2018science\u2019 in the strictest sense of the word is just math? I learned from you that even here, the distinction should be made between arithmetic and geometry. In all specific scientific subjects, each has its own form, according to the particularity of its object. What is essential is that a verifiable method is applied, excluding arbitrariness and ensuring rationality in their different ways.\u201d<\/p>\n

Second, he says that Odifreddi should \u201cat least recognize that, in history and in philosophical thought, theology has produced lasting results.\u201d<\/p>\n

Third, he explains that an important function of theology is \u201cto keep religion tied to reason and reason to religion.\u201d Both functions, he adds, \u201care of paramount importance for humanity.\u201d He then refers to his famous dialogue with the atheist and sociologist Jurgen Habermas, in which he showed that there are \u201cpathologies of religion and, no less dangerous, pathologies of reason.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey both need each other and keeping them constantly connected is an important task of theology,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

Fourth, Benedict says that science fiction exists in the context of many sciences. He explains that he sees science fiction in a good sense when it shows vision and anticipates \u201ctrue knowledge.\u201d This is \u201conly imagination,\u201d he says, \u201cwith which we search to get closer to reality,\u201d and he adds that a \u201cscience fiction [exists] in a big way just even within the theory of evolution.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I just love this so much. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI takes a pejorative and dismissive swipe at theology and then engages the idea of science fiction in the limited scope that applies. I find it interesting he called theology \u201cscience fiction\u201d and simply not just fiction. So much of SF takes scientific concepts in a speculative fashion. Plus really theology is rightly the queen of the sciences. Besides SF fans often comment on how SF gets some things right in the speculation of the future. The same goes for speculative theology which can get something right leading to the development of doctrine or lead to speculations that turns out to be simply incorrect.<\/p>\n

Benedict then refers to the work of the prominent atheist Richard Dawkins. “The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins is a classic example of science fiction,\u201d he says, and recalls how the French Nobel Prize winner and molecular biologist Jacques Monod inserted sentences into his work that, in Benedict\u2019s view, could only have been science fiction.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We\u2019ve seen so many \u201cRichard Dawkins Slams Pope\u201d headlines I say turnabout is fairplay here.<\/p>\n

Read the whole thing<\/a>: which also discusses priestly sex abuse and the Pope\u2019s efforts regarding this \u201cscorge of suffering.\u201d<\/p>\n

So what is up with the Pope and the Pope Emeritus dialoguing with Italian atheists quite publicly? Prominent atheists from other countries will soon be clamoring to be lightly rebuked in a papal fashion.<\/p>\n

Strangely my odd imagination conjures these two popes singing \u201cAnything you can do\u201d as a duet.<\/p>\n

Anything you can be
\nI can be greater.
\nSooner or later,
\nI\u2019m greater than you.<\/p>\n

No, you can\u2019t.
\nYes, I can. No, you can\u2019t.
\nYes, I can. No, you can\u2019t.
\nYes, I can,
\nYes, I can!<\/p>\n

Anything you can preach
\nI can preach deeper
\nI can dialogue anyone
\nbetter than you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Edward Pentin writing for the National Catholic Register: VATICAN CITY \u2014 Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has followed Pope Francis in writing a letter to a prominent Italian atheist in an…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50,24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pope","category-punditry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14442"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14442\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14443,"href":"https:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14442\/revisions\/14443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}