Year of Grace; Faith and Reason Encyclical: chapter 3

 During this year of Grace, it is timely to consider whether Faith and Reason are interwined or as secular society would like us to believe that Faith and Reason are exclusive.  My purpose for writing this series is to explore this by examining carefully the encyclical  called " Fides et Ratio"- Faith and Reason written by the late Pope John Paul 11. I hope that during these next 8-10 weeks, you may explore with me, find your own answers and be able to communicate the truth to others. I also hope that in studying this encyclical you will be blessed with many graces. This week we continue to explore together chapter 3.

In the Acts of the Apostles, Luke describers how Paul found the Athenians as religious in that they had statues of various idols including an altar with the inscription: ‘To an unknown god’. Paul proclaimed the true God who created us and transcends all things and gives life to all.  It was God’s intention that nations would search for and find God, though indeed he is not far from each of us.

God planted the seed of desire and nostalgia for God in the human heart.  This desire spurs mankind to rise beyond what is contingent and set out towards the infinite.

The arts and especially philosophy have attempted to reach this universal human desire.

Man is the only creature, who not only is capable of knowing but who knows that he knows, and is therefore interested in the real truth of what he perceives.  St Augustine wrote: ‘I have met many who wanted to deceive, but none who wanted to be deceived.’  Adults can distinguish independently between truth and falsehood, making up their own minds about the objective reality of things.  The scientific field is a good illustration of this search.

If a person acts ethically, that person is on the way to happiness and moves towards perfection.  The Pope in his Encyclical Letter ‘Veritatis Splendor’ wrote:

  ‘There is no morality without freedom… Although each individual has a right to be respected in his own journey in search of the truth, there exist a prior moral obligation, and a grave one at that to seek the truth and to adhere to it once it is known.’

It is essential for us to become ourselves and to grow as mature adult persons.  To do this we must choose true values even those, which transcend the person.

Does life have a meaning? Where is it going? The first absolute certain truth is that we exist and that we will die.  We want to know if death will be the definite end of our life or if there is something beyond, such as, an after-life.

No one can avoid this questioning whether the philosopher or the ordinary person.  Everyone wants to be sure of an absolute truth that puts an end to all questioning.

Philosophers down through the centuries have tried to reach a definitive answer to the above questions.  What is certain that human being is ‘ the one who seeks the truth’.

It is by knowing that human beings can arrive at an answer that leads them to take the first step.  Scientists follow this course until they find a satisfactory answer.  The same applies in the search of truth affecting the ultimate questions.  Personal existence must be anchored to a truth recognised as final, a truth which confers a certitude no longer open to doubt.

One mode of truth depends upon immediate evidence or confirmed by experimentation.  On another level philosophical truth is found by speculative powers of the human intellect.  Religious truths can be found in the answers which different religious tradition offer to the ultimate questions.  All men and women have an answer to the way they direct their lives and what they think and how they regulate their behaviour.

Human beings are born into a family, and absorb family traditions, language and truths, which they believe almost instinctively.  As life proceeds there are many more truths, which are believed without personal verification, such as, scientific findings and notional and world information.  This means that the human being lives by belief in the truth.

In believing we rely on the knowledge acquired by other people, men and women believe knowledge when it is grounded on trust between person and the truth, which the others declare to them.  A good example is the martyrs who are the most authentic witnesses to the truth about existence.  They were prepared to die for their beliefs in the truths taught by their creator Jesus Christ.  Thus their lives inspire such confidence that we do not need lengthy arguments to convince us of their love for Jesus Christ, and that they have found the truth about life.  We look up to them with profound trust.

It is the nature of the human being to seek the absolute truth, which would explain the meaning of life.  To do this they use their reason but also by trusting other persons who can guarantee the authenticity and certainty of the truth itself.  To entrust oneself and one’s life to another person and the decision to do so are amongst the most significant and expressive human acts.

Reason also needs to be sustained in all its searching by trusting dialogue and sincere friendship which is absolutely necessary for sound philosophical enquiry.

Christian faith gives people grace to share in the mystery of Christ and offers them a true knowledge of the one God.

The unity of truth is a fundamental premise of human reasoning.  Revelation shows that God of creation is also the God of salvation history.  It is the one and same God who ordained the natural order of things upon which scientists confidently depend, and who revealed that Jesus Christ, with the Father and Holy Spirit is one God in 3 persons.

The Pope in the next chapter discusses the relationship between revealed truth and philosophy.  He then considers the links between faith and philosophy in the course of history.