The notion of "let's be reasonable about this" has a long history and a deep meaning behind it.

Is Man by Nature in Relation to the Infinite?

Robert R. Reilly 

The headline above has been posed as a question. However, at the Rimini Meetingin Italy, from which I have just returned, it was put forth in a statement as the main theme of a week-long event (August 19-25) that seemed to examine every aspect of life within the broader context of its divine purpose.

The Rimini meeting attracted scores of thousands of people, including not only Christians, but also Buddhists, Muslims, and those of other faiths. In fact, I was the minority Christian on the panel on which I appeared, titled "Islam Today: Between Education and Reason." My interlocutors were two Egyptian Muslims.

“By nature, man is relation to the infinite" comes from the first chapter of Fr Luigi Giussani’s The Religious Sense. Fr Giussani was the founder of Communion and Liberation, a largely lay Catholic group with a significant presence in Italy and elsewhere. This statement, and how it is understood, has enormous ramifications for both Christianity and Islam.

What struck me about this theme is the fact that man cannot be in relation to something he does not know. To say that he is by nature in relation to the infinite must mean that he has within himself some means of coming to know it. If he can do this by nature, this means that he can do it quite independent from revelation.

This is a statement of enormous significance. Man, with his finite mind, can somehow apprehend, at least in part, the infinite. How can he do this, and in what terms can it be articulated?

The Greek answer.....

Christianity and reason...........

Islam and reason........

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The option for rationality..........

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