Volume 21, Issue 1/2, 2009
Adam Wood
Pages 165-177
Faith and Reason
The Condemnations of 1277 and the Regensburg Address
I compare two historical moments: Bishop Stephen Tempier’s 1277 condemnation of 219 “errors” in circulation at the University of
Paris, and Pope Benedict XVI’s Regensburg Address. Both the condemnation and the address, I argue, were intended to defend
particular views of the relationship between faith and reason against forms of relativism and rationalism prevalent in their own day. Reflecting on the mixed success of Tempier’s condemnation’s in this enterprise can help to make clear some of the difficulties
inherent in Benedict’s.