I don't want to study for my finals (argument seems to lose track of itself, but oh wells, i'm too lazy to restructure it)

Although a pre-renaissance work, Dante's Divine Comedy considers Human Reason the "highest state man can achieve without God". In the 1st circle of Hell belonged great thinkers and poets like Virgil, Homer and Horace. But since "they were born without the light of Christ's revelation... they cannot come into the light of God, but they are not tormented. Their only pain is that they have no hope." Point to make, just because the renaissance is "marked by a movement toward a secular worldview, a preoccupation with human experience and knowledge", doesn't necessarily mean that it diverges from religious views. According to Dante, Human Reason is revered and only one rung below Divine Guidance.

Human Reason may be seen as views based on the workings of civilization, built upon the interactions in-built in a society. Universal morality can be considered as the required converging point of all societies, i.e. Societies which do not converge to this set of rules and view points will not survive. This convergence entails the direction which Reason points toward is survivabilty. Whether Religion is a result of this trend of convergence, or this specific direction of convergence resulted because of Religion, I am in no position to argue. However, we may assume that Reason and Religion could be very similar in their teachings to promote harmony in society as well as between societies (ignoring fundamentalists who distort the teachings of religions). The difference between Human Reason and Religion is the basis of their belief.

The foundation of Reason is logic, logic which is based on the intepretation of current situations and an interpolation to possible futures. Decisions made through Reason are weighed against one another for their costs and benefits. On the other hand, the foundation of Religion is faith. Faith, is a, for lack of a better word, comparatively "superficial" concept, which does not require the depth of thought and debate required in Human Reason. For this very nature, faith may condense to crystalise into hope in the most dire of times, since faith requires no pre-requisite to exist, whereas the logic which Human Reason is based upon builds itself primarily on the requirements of survivability of the body or of society and may break down in situations where the future prospects appear grim. Therefore, if we consider the convergent point of Human Reason and Religion to be the same, Religion is a surpassing of Human Reason in its unquestioning belief in its principles and teachings without need of requite.

Finally, may I add another quote from the Inferno,
"The glory of [the Cithadel of Human Reason] dazzles Dante but he knows that it is nothing compared to the Glory of God".

Qoutes taken from The Inferno, written by Dante Alighieri, translated by John Ciardi