John Milbank , professor of religion, politics and ethics at the University of Nottingham, affirmed at the University of Navarra that theology should not adopt secular reason as its own. Faced with the negative consequences that this could have, he assured that "if the idea of something as eternal truth in which everything exists disappears, in the end, truth would be relativized".

John Milbank, founder of the "Radical Orthodoxy" movement, gave a lecture under the degree scroll "Theology in the University?" in which he reflected on what is the nature of the academic institution and how the place of theology within the university should be understood.

The Anglican theologian affirmed that "if theology is lost in society, the idea of the university is also lost in the long run deadline". This is why, according to Milbank, "both Christians and people of other religions should once again reinvent the idea of the university".

Furthermore, in the face of a tendency to separate theology from the more elementary Humanities , and thus reserve the Bible for the clerical training , Milbank commented that, "we need rather to introduce Bible study at the lower level of the basic Humanities , as the French are now thinking of doing in schools."

On the defense of theology in the University, he indicated that it is an argument for the existence of specifically Christian universities", but also for the existence of "a healthy diversity of institutions of Education higher education, both secular and religious, if one seeks to keep alive a genuine discussion".

Milbank stressed, at final, that this is a rationale for reclaiming the true idea of a university; to do otherwise would be willing to be complicit "in our loss of any sense of where we came from, who we really are, and where we are striving to get to."

Theology does not impose, it proposes

For his part, at the opening of the SymposiumAlfonso Sánchez-Tabernero, President of the University of Navarra, emphasized that for the University of Navarra to have a School of Theology "is a treasure" and for the School of TheologyTheology, a "lucky" to have a "university environment multidisciplinary, since scientific dialogue with other colleagues always generates fruitful academic findings".

He also stressed that "theology does not impose, it proposes, it is convincing. The power of its science and the interest of the questions of which it speaks, in the end, end up imposing themselves".

The Symposium brought together some one hundred experts from different countries, and is the starting point for the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the 50th anniversary of the SchoolThe main event will take place tomorrow, Friday, October 6.