Description
Few intellectual tensions have shaped civilization as deeply as the relation between faith and reason. From the medieval universities to the modern academy, from Islamic philosophy to Christian theology, from the synagogue to the secular state, this question persists: are revelation and philosophy fundamentally opposed—must they be?—or may they illuminate one another?
In the Spring of 2026 (March-May), the Lyceum Institute will host an advanced eight-week seminar titled Controversies: Faith and Reason. The seminar takes its starting point from Leo Strauss’s 1948 lecture on reason and revelation, before turning to Maimonides, Averroës, Augustine, and Thomas Aquinas. In its final weeks, we examine modern responses from Étienne Gilson and Robert Sokolowski. Throughout, we ask: What is faith? What is reason? Are they distinct kinds of knowledge? Can they coexist in one mind without mutual distortion or eclipse? Must political and social life be shaped differently depending on how one answers these questions?
To take these questions seriously, we cannot flatten the controversy into a slogan or pretend to affect a simple resolution. Instead, we seek to guide participants through the structure of the problem itself. Each week includes a substantial recorded lecture and carefully curated primary texts, followed by a live discussion session devoted to genuine rigorous inquiry.
The question of faith and reason is not “academic” (and you will find it “answered” but seldom truly asked within the university). Nevertheless, it bears directly on how one understands truth, authority, freedom, and the structure and accomplishment of human knowledge and belief. Anyone serious about intellectual life—whether religious, philosophical, or simply searching—will benefit by undertaking this seminar.
CONTROVERSIES
Faith and Reason
Our guiding questions: Is the act of faith or belief in revelation distinct in kind from the operations of reason? Can reason prove faith? Can reason disprove faith? Can reason show faith as compatible with reason? | How is the faith to be made known? Sacred texts, whether the Bible, Qur’an, or Torah, have many passages that are confusing, obscure, and difficult truly to understand. Must they be taught differently to different people? How does the exercise of that teaching change given different environments and contexts, politically and socially? Do these difficult passages demand a non-liberalized, non-democratic polity that they be taught to the many? | Do we really understand the nature of faith? What differentiates it from reason as a source of knowledge? Is it “knowledge” in the same way, or are we equivocating? | Can there be such a thing as a “Christian philosophy”? How is it distinct from theology? What is the role of theology in the architecture of human knowledge?
Details
All Lyceum Institute seminars include weekly readings, lectures, and live discussion sessions. The discussion sessions are recorded. This seminar includes focused readings of crucial works in the traditions of faith and reason and continual discussions exploring their relation. All texts for this seminar will be provided via PDF.
Priced from $60 per person.
Discussion sessions occur on Saturdays at 11:15am–12:15pm ET (see world times here), beginning on March 21 and running until May 16 (with a break at the midway point). Find more details in the syllabus and register today!
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