Where Faith and Reason Meet

Introducing the encyclical letter he addressed to the Bishops of the Catholic Church, “Fides Et Ratio,” on the relationship between faith and reason, Pope John Paul II had this to say:

“Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human
spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed
in the human heart a desire to know the truth—in a word, to
know himself—so that by knowing and loving God, men and
women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves
(cf. Ex 33:18; Ps 27:8-9; 63:2-3; Jn 14:8; 1 Jn 3:2).”

While this statement sums it up beautifully, I will attempt to elaborate below, borrowing heavily from the Supreme Pontiff’s encyclical, which relied in good part on St. Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologiae.

God loves us and wants to make himself known to us, and He instilled in us a desire to know him. We are free and intelligent, capable of knowing God, good and evil, truth, and fundamental moral norms. In time and history, basic principals, such as causality, finality, and non-contradiction emerged to help in giving us a deeper understanding of faith and the meaning of life. Thus faith and reason became interdependent.

In the “fullness of time” (Gal 4:4) God sent his Son, the eternal Word who enlightens all people, so that he might dwell among them and tell them the innermost realities about God (cf. Jn 1:1-18). To see Jesus is to see his Father
(Jn 14:9). Christ perfected Revelation by fulfilling it through his whole work of becoming present, manifesting himself with words, deeds, signs, and wonders, his death and glorious Resurrection, and his sending of the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, he restored the divine life Adam and Eve refused, and offers the truth about the goal of history.

By his divinity and absolute transcendence, God himself is the credibility of what he reveals. Mankind accepts his divine testimony in freedom, by faith, reasoning upon its profound meaning. Freedom is not a result of reasoning made against God, for God is the very reality that allows our self-realization—

“You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free”
(Jn 8:32).

The proclamation of the Good News employed reason upon the coming of the Holy Spirit. “The law and the prophets” did not resonate with the pagans, so philosophy was used to create a link between universal reason and pagan religion. Rising to higher levels, reason provided a basis for the concepts of self-realization, transcendence, and the absolute.

Nature, a main concern of pagan religion, became a contributor to divine Revelation. Faith therefore, sought nature and trusted it. Grace builds on
nature and raises it to fulfillment, as faith builds on reason and perfects it.

Wisdom, a gift of the Holy Spirit, presupposes faith and enables judgment according to divine truth. Faith accepts divine truth as it is.

As history progressed, philosophy began to separate from reason, and in some ways, reason itself was abandoned. Modern philosophy has moved well away from Christian Revelation, to a point where philosophy is largely opposed to it, giving way to atheistic humanism and other dialectical structures. Faith has been accused of standing in the way of the development of full rationality. Philosophy has turned away from the contemplation of truth and the meaning of life toward a new form that can be directed by utilitarian ends—pleasure and power.

Scientists, by all rights allies of faith and reason, have taken a path similar to that of philosophy, succumbing to the temptations of assumed quasi-divine power over nature and humanity.

Once divine Revelation was shoved aside, reason swerved off the path to its goal. Faith, without its companion reason, has given way to feeling and experience, losing its status as the saving grace and driving force of human volition. Modern philosophy has become inept in facilitating the communication of the truth of the Gospel.

Atheism, agnosticism, and relativism lead the march toward universal skepticism. Truth has been devalued, and plurality rules the day. Undifferentiated plurality paints an assumption that truth is revealed equally in different philosophies and religions, even when they clearly contradict one another. Truth is reduced to opinion, and humankind waffles, adrift in a sea of “whatever.”

As the bearers of faith, reason, truth, and divine Revelation, it is incumbent upon Christians to protect God’s truth and continue the mission of the church fathers. Pope John Paul II “unstintingly recalled the pressing need for a new evangelization.”

There are many new icebreakers forging ahead through the icebound waters of “whatever.” We need to pull out our thermals and sign on to one of them. Or develop the ways and means to raise a navy, shore up the old ships, pull them out of the dry docks, and set sail. We already have the faith and reason required for victory. Jesus Christ saw to that.