Within this episode I spoke in a narrative format about the scope of the Enlightenment and it's connection to past and future topics.

Wrestling with a Primary Source: 

Cardinal Robert Bellarmine, Jesuit Cardinal, Theologian, and Advisor to the Roman Inquisition, Letter to Paolo Antonio Foscarini, 1615.

“I say that if there were a true demonstration that the sun is at the center of the world and the earth in the third heaven, and that the sun does not circle the earth but the earth circles the sun, then one would have to proceed with great care in explaining the Scriptures that appear contrary, and say rather that we do not understand them, than that what is demonstrated is false. But I will not believe that there is such a demonstration, until it is shown me. It is one thing to explain the Scriptures according to one’s own fancy, and another to prove the motion of the earth truly to exist by solid arguments. And to want to affirm that the sun is really fixed in the center of the heavens and that the earth turns very swiftly around it is a very dangerous thing, not only by irritating theologians and philosophers, but also by harming the Holy Faith through making the Holy Scripture false.”Closing Reflection — Philosophical Questions for Discussion

1. Can faith and reason truly coexist, or must one always yield to the other when they collide?
2. If knowledge and freedom are born from questioning authority, are there limits to what should be questioned?

3. The Enlightenment celebrated reason as humanity’s greatest power — but can reason alone make us moral?

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