[Excellence]

What we call Western civilization is to be found primarily
and essentially in the confluence of the autonomous rationalism
of classical philosophy and the faith of biblical religion….
The unprecedented character of the American Founding
is that it provided for the coexistence of the claims of reason
and of revelation in all their forms, without requiring or
permitting any political decisions concerning them. It refused
to make unassisted human reason the arbiter of the
claims of revelation, and it refused to make revelation the
judge of the claims of reason. It is the first regime in Western
civilization to do this, and for that reason it is, in its principles
or speech (leaving aside the question of its practice or deeds),
the best regime.410

410 Harry V. Jaffa, “The American Founding as the Best Regime,” The
Claremont Institute, July 4, 2007, accessed July 14, 2010,
http://www.claremont.org/publications/pubid.682/pub_detail.asp

[Noumenon]

An outstanding summary and keen understanding of the role of faith and reason in the American founding. It's a quote well worth keeping. Quigley, in the conclusion of his definition of what he characterized as the Pakistani-Peruvian Axis offered the most eloquent and moving summary of he virtues and values of what we call Western civilization:

The ethical sides of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam sought to counteract harshness, egocentricity, tribalism, cruelty, scorn of work and of one’s fellow creatures, but these efforts, on the whole, have met with little success throughout the length of the Pakistani-Peruvian axis. Of the three, Christianity, possibly because it set the highest standards of the three, has fallen furthest from achieving its aims. Love, humility, brotherhood, cooperation, the sanctity of work, the fellowship of community, the image of man as a fellow creature made in the image of God, respect for women as personalities and partners of men, mutual helpmates on the road to spiritual salvation, and the vision of our universe, with all of its diversity, complexity, and multitude of creatures, as a reflection of the power and goodness of God – these basic aspects of Christ’s teachings are almost totally lacking throughout the Pakistani-Peruvian axis and most notably absent on the “Christian” portion of that axis from Sicily, or even the Aegean Sea, westward to Baja California and Tierra del Fuego. Throughout the whole axis, human actions are not motivated by these “Christian virtues,” but by the more ancient Arabic personality traits, which become vices and sins in the Christian outlook: harshness, envy, lust, greed, selfishness, cruelty, and hatred.

The excerpt form Tragedy and Hope from which this came is well worth a look.