One year since the speech in Regensburg, Cantagalli publisher proposes once again Benedict XVI ’s lectio magistralis, accompanied by commentaries from five exponents of Western and Muslim culture. Each contribution throws light on an aspect of the talk given by the Pontiff: the Egyptian Wael Farouq proposes an original re-reading at the origins of Arabic reason, while the chancellor of the University al-Quds of East Jerusalem, Sari Nusseibeh, exams the Greek influence on Islamic civilisation in the development of a humanist ideal. André Glucksmann provocatively affirms that «he who kills in the name of God can be he who believes in God and also he who does not believe in God», in an unprecedented alliance of nihilisms. Robert Spaemann underlines the antinomy violence - reason: «logos means “word”. [...] Violence however is the exact opposite of speaking with others». Nevertheless, «only if truth gives itself as a koinon (common element), an alternative to violence becomes possible». To conclude, Joseph H. H. Weiler, speaking from a Jewish point of view, draws on the relationship between faith and freedom, also in light of the European process of integration.
Simply this list of themes reveals how rich and intense the book is.
