The twentieth century and the first decade of the twenty-first have witnessed a variety of tensions and dangers which threaten to upset if not disolve the peace which has been present at various times. Examples of these fragile moments include the German Nationalist Socialist Party efforts to promote it's agenda in the early 1940s and the newer phenomenon of terror which threatens with the capacity to affect much larger populations and pays little if any attention to political or other boundaries or limits.
Benedict XVI points out in Chapter 6 of his book Values in a Time of Upheaval, that faced with situations such as these, 'the relationship between reason and religion is of crucial importance and ... the heart of our striving for peace entails the endeavor to achieve the correct relationship between these two.' (p. 108)
The key is that reason and religion must exist together, for on their own, each of these has the potential to lead to fanaticism and consequent dangers for the promotion of the peace they seek to guarantee.
The task of Christians therefore is to 'help reason to function in a comprehensive manner, not only in the spheres of technology and the material development of the world, but above all with regard to the capacity to percieve truth, the capacity to recognize the good, since the good is the precondition of law and thus also the presupposition of peace in the world.' (p. 112) Our task is therefore to contribute the concept of God to the present debate.
The world must always be reminded that in God, reason and religion are united, for God is Logos (the Word), the basis of all that is real and the creative reason that gave birth to the world. At His core, God is also essentially love. 'He is not a relationless existence circling around its own self. Precisely because he is sovereign, because he is the Creator and encompasses all things, he is relationship and love.' (pp. 112-113)
Particularly in view of the human temptations to misuse power, Christians must be visible reminders of the essential truth that all things are subject to judgement; eventually we must all give an account of ourselves (Mt 25:31-46).
The task of Christians is therefore not to shy away from tensions, dangers or threats, but rather to live boldly as witnesses of Christ in the midst of these realities, transforming the world from within by means of faith, hope and love.
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