The Catholic World Report recently conducted an interview with Samuel Gregg, director of research at the Acton Institute. Gregg discussed many of the ideas presented in his new book, “Reason, Faith, and the Struggle for Western Civilization.”
Gregg told CRW,
In my book I maintain that the workability and sustainability of political frameworks like constitutionalism depends a great deal on the type of understanding of the nature of human beings—and therefore the nature of reason, and thus the nature of God—which exists in a given society. In the long-run, constitutionalism collapses into mere proceduralism in the absence of a strong commitment to natural law. But natural law is premised on a certain understanding of reason, one which isn’t presently widespread…
In the end, I hold that many of the beliefs and institutions associated with “liberalism” today would function in a very different way if the view of God and humanity underpinning them was rooted in the idea of Logos…It’s our view of God’s nature which makes all the difference.
Without Logos, the West is over. But I don’t think that decline is inescapable. A free choice for Logos, and thus for reason and faith, is never beyond us. The inner yearning for justice, truth, and freedom really is part of who we are. To give rational form to these human desires is consequently to make choices which are truly enlightening and fully consonant with the two faiths of the West. That’s what enables the West to envisage a possible future firmly rooted in the certain knowledge that it’s the truth which sets us free.
