Summary Of Fides Et Ratio By Pope John Paul II

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When reflecting on daily life, it is easy to get caught up in the mundanity of routine. Many of us wake up and perform the same activities, rarely reflecting on what it means to be human. In order to exist, and be successful at it, we as human beings are required to be a “self.” We must be an individual. However, we have developed a tendency to neglect the aspects of human life that allow us to achieve self-actualization. Through his encyclical, Fides et Ratio, St. Pope John Paul II reflects on the many elements of theology, through a discussion of the importance of both reason and faith in our daily lives. Thus, through this discussion of Catholicism in postmodernity the Pope explores the means by which humans are able to come to know the truth. When considering the role of theology in daily life, it is easy to overcomplicate our relationship with God. However, when we lack direction and understanding, it is more difficult to discover the truth of divine revelation. This truth is comprised of both faith and reason. In fact, Pope John Paul II opens his encyclical with: 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 (1). Here, the Pope compares faith and reason to the wings of a bird. Thus, implying that the two share a

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