# Ep.50 On Benedict XVI -Reason, Freedom, Beauty, and the Intellectual Sources of Secularism and the New Evangelization

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-moral-imagination-1176352/ep-50-on-benedict-xvi-reason-freedom-beauty-and-the-intellectual-sources-of-secularism-and-the-new-evangelization
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-moral-imagination-1176352/ep-50-on-benedict-xvi-reason-freedom-beauty-and-the-intellectual-sources-of-secularism-and-the-new-evangelization.md
Podcast: [The Moral Imagination](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-moral-imagination-1176352)
Published: 2023-01-06T19:36:00+00:00
Episode link: https://www.themoralimagination.com/p/ep50-on-benedict-xvi-reason-freedom-ae0
Audio file: https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/142169485/3b9f50fb5fdb0c508a6c4074021244dc.mp3
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Duration seconds: 3405

## Resource

Pope Benedict XVI / Joseph Ratzinger passed away on December 31 at the age of 95 years old. His writing and teaching have been a major influence on my thinking. So in honor of his memory and gratitude for his example, this episode is a talk I gave on Pope Benedict XVI on Five Crises of Culture and the Intellectual sources of Secularism and the New Evangelization. I go through five intellectual themes/crises that Benedict identifies in the West “where the roots of Christianity are deep but who have experienced a serious crisis of faith due to secularization." Truth and the Dictatorship of Relativism Reason Progress Freedom Beauty I examine how he describes and explains the challenges of our age; how he addresses each of them on their own terms, and the proposes a Gospel response. One element of the crisis of faith is grounded in intellectual sources. We think, and too often live, like secularists and adopt often without thinking a secular framework. But secularism is not neutral. As Benedict argues, “We must develop and adult faith.” An "adult" faith is not a faith that follows the trends of fashion and the latest novelty; a mature adult faith is deeply rooted in friendship with Christ. It is this friendship that opens us up to all that is good and gives us a criterion by which to distinguish the true from the false, and deceit from truth. We must develop this adult faith; we must guide the flock of Christ to this faith. And it is this faith - only faith - that creates unity and is fulfilled in love.” In this talk I provide a lot of quotes and references. You can find show notes, links, and outline of the talk at www.themoralimagination.com Resources See the outline / handout of the talk below. Also see Amazon links to books I refer to in the talk below. I also provide…

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## Transcript

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