---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: From a Christian point of view, human…"
description: "\"“From a Christian point of view, human reason is madness compared to the reason of God, but divine reason appears as madness to human reason.”\" — Miche..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/186/michel-foucault-1134_nature-of-man_from-a-christian-point-of-view-human-rea_1606248.jpg"
---

#  From a Christian point of view, human reason is madness…

![“From a Christian point of view, human reason is madness compared to the reason of God, but divine reason appears as madness to human reason.” quote by Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/186/michel-foucault-1134_nature-of-man_from-a-christian-point-of-view-human-rea_1606248.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/186/michel-foucault-1134_nature-of-man_from-a-christian-point-of-view-human-rea_1606248.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/186/michel-foucault-1134_nature-of-man_from-a-christian-point-of-view-human-rea_1606248.jpg)

> ““From a Christian point of view, human reason is madness compared to the reason of God, but divine reason appears as madness to human reason.””

[Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

The statement contrasts human and divine reason, labeling each as incomprehensible to the other, highlighting epistemic humility.

**In simple terms:** Human and divine reason seem crazy to each other.

Key Takeaway

Accept limits of understanding.

Themes

religion reason humility

Mood

contemplative humble

Type

theological philosophical

When to use this quote

- interfaith dialogue
- theological study
- personal contemplation

Key Concepts

metaphysics cognitive limits

Questions to Reflect On

- How can we bridge this gap?
- What does humility reveal?

A Different Perspective

May oversimplify complex theology.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Compared Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/compared-reason-6117039/) [Divine Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/divine-reason-3138017/) [Human reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-reason/) [Nature of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-man/) [Point of view](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/point-of-view/) [Reason God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason-god/) [Reason Madness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason-madness-1089952/)

## Related quotes

> [The constitution of madness as a mental illness, at the end of the eighteenth century, affords the evidence of a broken dialogue, posits the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/the-constitution-of-madness-as-a-mental-illness-at-the-end-of-the/)

[Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/)

> [The language of psychiatry is a monologue of reason about madness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/the-language-of-psychiatry-is-a-monologue-of-reason-about-madness/)

[Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/)

> [ “…modern man no longer communicates with the madman \[…\] There is no common language: or rather, it no longer exists; the constitution of madness… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/modern-man-no-longer-communicates-with-the-madman-there-is-no-common/)

[Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/)

> [I am aware that a philosopher's ideas are not subject to the judgment of ordinary persons, because it is his endeavour to seek the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolaus-copernicus/i-am-aware-that-a-philosopher-s-ideas-are-not-subject-to-the-judgment/)

[Nicolaus Copernicus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolaus-copernicus/)

> [“The reasonableness of the universe provides us with access to God's Reason, and the Bible is and continues to be the true "enlightenment," which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-benedict-xvi/the-reasonableness-of-the-universe-provides-us-with-access-to-god-s/)

[Pope Benedict XVI](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-benedict-xvi/)

> [“And when someone suggests you believe in a proposition, you must first examine it to see whether it is acceptable, because our reason was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/and-when-someone-suggests-you-believe-in-a-proposition-you-must-first/)

[Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/)

> [Deeds without reason is divine, with reason is human.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandeep-bhagat/deeds-without-reason-is-divine-with-reason-is-human/)

[Sandeep Bhagat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandeep-bhagat/)

> [For what else is Nature but God and the Divine Reason that pervades the whole universe and all its parts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/for-what-else-is-nature-but-god-and-the-divine-reason-that-pervades/)

[Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/)

> [“We men of intelligence will learn to harness the insanities of reason. We can't leave the world any longer to the direction of chance.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/we-men-of-intelligence-will-learn-to-harness-the-insanities-of-reason/)

[Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/)

> [There is Always some Madness in Love But there is also always some reason to Madness..!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anwar/there-is-always-some-madness-in-love-but-there-is-also-always-some/)

[Anwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anwar/)

> [Its Always Some Madness In Love , But Always Some Reason For Madness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deezy-da-dreadhead/its-always-some-madness-in-love-but-always-some-reason-for-madness/)

[Deezy Da Dreadhead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deezy-da-dreadhead/)

> [Tell me, friend, when did Saruman the Wise abandon reason for madness?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/tell-me-friend-when-did-saruman-the-wise-abandon-reason-for-madness/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-is-always-some-madness-in-love-but-there-is-also-always-some-2/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [There is just so much hurt, disappointment, and oppression one can take... The line between reason and madness grows thinner.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosa-parks/there-is-just-so-much-hurt-disappointment-and-oppression-one-can-take/)

[Rosa Parks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosa-parks/)

> [“God was a maze without a map, a circle without a centre; the pieces of a jigsaw that never seemed to fit together. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-shafak/god-was-a-maze-without-a-map-a-circle-without-a-centre-the-pieces-of/)

[Elif Shafak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-shafak/)

## More by Michel Foucault

> [One should try to locate power at the extreme of its exercise, where it is always less legal in character.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/one-should-try-to-locate-power-at-the-extreme-of-its-exercise-where/)

[Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/)

> [The book is not simply the object that one holds in one's hands, and it cannot remain within the little parallelpiped that contains it:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/the-book-is-not-simply-the-object-that-one-holds-in-one-s-hands-and/)

[Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/)

> [“But a punishment like forced labour or even imprisonment – mere loss of liberty – has never functioned without a certain additional element of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/but-a-punishment-like-forced-labour-or-even-imprisonment-mere-loss-of/)

[Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/)

> [Death left its old tragic heaven and became the lyrical core of man: his invisible truth, his visible secret.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/death-left-its-old-tragic-heaven-and-became-the-lyrical-core-of-man/)

[Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/)

> [I'm no prophet. My job is making windows where there were once walls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/i-m-no-prophet-my-job-is-making-windows-where-there-were-once-walls/)

[Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/)

> [Let us ask... how things work at the level of on-going subjugation, at the level of those continuous and uninterrupted processes which subject our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/let-us-ask-how-things-work-at-the-level-of-on-going-subjugation-at/)

[Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/)

> [What makes power hold good, what makes it accepted, is simply the fact that it doesn't only weigh on us as a force that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/what-makes-power-hold-good-what-makes-it-accepted-is-simply-the-fact/)

[Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/)

> [“It was a matter of showing by what conjunctions a whole set of practices-- from the moment they became coordinated with a regime of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/it-was-a-matter-of-showing-by-what-conjunctions-a-whole-set-of/)

[Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/)

> [“The preferred medications were those that forestalled corruption. We know 'as a result of more than three thousand years of experience that Myrrh and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/the-preferred-medications-were-those-that-forestalled-corruption-we/)

[Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/)

> [“The man described for us, whom we are invited to free, is already in himself the effect of a subjection much more profound than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/the-man-described-for-us-whom-we-are-invited-to-free-is-already-in/)

[Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/)

> [“Confined on the ship, from which there is no escape, the madman is delivered to the river with its thousand arms, the sea with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/confined-on-the-ship-from-which-there-is-no-escape-the-madman-is/)

[Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/)

> [Believe what is productive is not sedentary but nomadic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/believe-what-is-productive-is-not-sedentary-but-nomadic/)

[Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/)

> [Are the prisons overpopulated, or is the population over-imprisoned ?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/are-the-prisons-overpopulated-or-is-the-population-over-imprisoned/)

[Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/)

> [An American professor complained that a crypto-Marxist like me was invited in the USA, and I was denounced by the press in Eastern European…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/an-american-professor-complained-that-a-crypto-marxist-like-me-was/)

[Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/)

> [Withdraw allegiance from the old categories of the Negative (law, limit, castration, lack, lacuna), which the Western thought has so long held sacred as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/withdraw-allegiance-from-the-old-categories-of-the-negative-law-limit/)

[Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/)

[Explore all 272 Michel Foucault quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/)

## More Human reason quotes

> [To deprecate human reason by saying that none of us is or can be omniscient is absurd, for it takes an impossible standard as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-rothbard/to-deprecate-human-reason-by-saying-that-none-of-us-is-or-can-be/)

[Murray Rothbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-rothbard/)

> [The science of the church is neglected for the study of geometry, and they lose sight of Heaven while they are employed in measuring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-science-of-the-church-is-neglected-for-the-study-of-geometry-and/)

[Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/)

> [Human reason can excuse any evil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/veronica-roth/human-reason-can-excuse-any-evil/)

[Veronica Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/veronica-roth/)

> [Catholicism is not ritualism; it may in the future be fighting some sort of superstitious and idolatrous exaggeration of ritual. Catholicism is not asceticism;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/catholicism-is-not-ritualism-it-may-in-the-future-be-fighting-some/)

[Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/)

> [Let us become thoroughly sensible of the weakness, blindness, and narrow limits of human reason: Let us duly consider its uncertainty and endless contrarieties,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/let-us-become-thoroughly-sensible-of-the-weakness-blindness-and/)

[David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/)

> [I have learned to be less confident in the conclusions of human reason, and give more credit to the honesty of contrary opinions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/i-have-learned-to-be-less-confident-in-the-conclusions-of-human/)

[Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/)

> [If man is reduced to being nothing but a character in history, he has no other choice but to subside into the sound and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/if-man-is-reduced-to-being-nothing-but-a-character-in-history-he-has/)

[Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/)

> [God has sometimes converted wickedness into madness; and it is to the credit of human reason that men who are not in some degree…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/god-has-sometimes-converted-wickedness-into-madness-and-it-is-to-the/)

[Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/)

> [Do not walk in the path of human reason, and resist the pressures that would project you into conjectures about the future. Live one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-j-roberts/do-not-walk-in-the-path-of-human-reason-and-resist-the-pressures-that/)

[Frances J Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-j-roberts/)

> [Abstract reason, formerly the servant of practical human reasons, has everywhere become its master, and denies poetry any excuse for existence. Though philosophers like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-graves/abstract-reason-formerly-the-servant-of-practical-human-reasons-has/)

[Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/)

> [There is no great harm in the theorist who makes up a new theory to fit a new event. But the theorist who starts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/there-is-no-great-harm-in-the-theorist-who-makes-up-a-new-theory-to/)

[Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/)

> [If we could, and we must, establish a deep long abiding relationship with nature, with the actual trees, the bushes, the flowers, the grass…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/if-we-could-and-we-must-establish-a-deep-long-abiding-relationship/)

[Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/)

> [The idea of God implies the abdication of human reason and justice; it is the most decisive negation of human liberty and necessarily ends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-bakunin/the-idea-of-god-implies-the-abdication-of-human-reason-and-justice-it/)

[Mikhail Bakunin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-bakunin/)

> [I can understand your aversion to the use of the term 'religion' to describe an emotional and psychological attitude which shows itself most clearly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/i-can-understand-your-aversion-to-the-use-of-the-term-religion-to/)

[Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/)

> [Civil liberty can be established on no foundation of human reason which will not at the same time demonstrate the right of religious freedom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-quincy-adams/civil-liberty-can-be-established-on-no-foundation-of-human-reason/)

[John Quincy Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-quincy-adams/)

[Browse all 134 Human reason quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-reason/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“From a Christian point of view, human reason is madness compared to the reason of God, but divine reason appears as madness to human reason.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Michel Foucault"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/from-a-christian-point-of-view-human-reason-is-madness-compared-to/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Human reason"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/from-a-christian-point-of-view-human-reason-is-madness-compared-to/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/186/michel-foucault-1134_nature-of-man_from-a-christian-point-of-view-human-rea_1606248.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/186/michel-foucault-1134_nature-of-man_from-a-christian-point-of-view-human-rea_1606248.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/186/michel-foucault-1134_nature-of-man_from-a-christian-point-of-view-human-rea_1606248.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“From a Christian point of view, human reason is madness compared to the reason of God, but divine reason…” — Michel Foucault",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Michel Foucault",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“From a Christian point of view,...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/from-a-christian-point-of-view-human-reason-is-madness-compared-to/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/from-a-christian-point-of-view-human-reason-is-madness-compared-to/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
