Fides et Ratio

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fides et Ratio (Latin: faith and reason) is an encyclical promulgated by Pope John Paul II on 15th September, 1998. It deals primarily with the relationship between faith and reason.

The Pope in this encyclical condemns modern philosophies bound with nihilism and relativism. He advocates a faith informed by reason. He writes:

This is why I make this strong and insistent appeal — not, I trust, untimely — that faith and philosophy recover the profound unity which allows them to stand in harmony with their nature without compromising their mutual autonomy. The parrhesia of faith must be matched by the boldness of reason.

Philosophy, according to this encyclical, is a means to understanding divine revelation in a more complete way.