Analysis Of St. John Paul's Fides Et Ratio

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“Fides ET ratio” which was written in 1998 by Pope St. John Paul the II to all the bishops to demonstrate the relationship between faith and reason. Pope St. John Paul the II wrote the encyclical to support and at the same time help the old Christian philosophy. "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 the desire to know the truth — in a word, to know himself — so that by knowing and loving God, men and women can come to the fullness of the truth about themselves" (n. 1) With that sentence Pope St. John Paul the II begins the encyclical, Fides et Ratio. Pope St. John Paul II believed that faith and reason has a lot of interconnection to help …show more content…

Proverbs 20:5 tells us that intelligence enables everyone, believer and non-believer, to reach the deep waters of knowledge. "God so loved the world that he sent his only Son…" (Jn. 3: 16). Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life (Jn. 14: 6). This shows how the Church received the truth about human life as a gift God the Father The true meaning of life, therefore, is a person: Jesus Christ. The ultimate answers to man's questions about pain, suffering of the innocent, and death are found in Christ's Passion, Death and Resurrection (n. 12). The truth communicated by Christ is the absolutely valid source of the meaning of human life (n. 12). All human creatures, not just philosophers, have the right to receive the truth about their existence and destiny (n. 38). By the revelation of Jesus, God the Father has made the truth available to every man and woman. Jesus Christ is not only the revelation of God to man, he is also the revelation of man to himself. In the sacred mystery of the Incarnate Word, man can understand himself. Christ "reveals man to himself and makes clear his supreme calling, which is to share in the divine mystery of the life of the Trinity" (n. 13). Faith is man's obedient response to God's revelation (n. 13). By faith man accepts the truth of Christ's revelation which is guaranteed by God. Because an act of faith involves freely entrusting oneself to God and freely accepting His revelation. "Men and women can accomplish no more important act in their lives than the act of faith; it is here that freedom reaches the certainty of truth and chooses to live in that truth" (n. 13). The combination of faith and reason is the base upon which many Christian teachings are built. Separating faith from reason would cause faith to be seen as a slight short story or myth. The two must work together in synchronization in order for the human spirit to rise to the thought of truth as proposed