POPE JOHN PAUL II'S 13TH ENCYCLICAL ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FAITH AND REASON RELEASED OCTOBER 16, 1998
Part Twelve of FIDES ET RATIO: CHAPTER V:
THE MAGISTERIUM'S INTERVENTIONS IN PHILOSOPHICAL MATTERS
The Church's interest in philosophy
57. Yet the Magisterium does more than point out the misperceptions and the
mistakes of philosophical theories. With no less concern it has sought to stress
the basic principles of a genuine renewal of philosophical enquiry, indicating as
well particular paths to be taken. In this regard, Pope Leo XIII with his Encyclical
Letter Æterni Patris took a step of historic importance for the life of the Church,
since it remains to this day the one papal document of such authority devoted
entirely to philosophy. The great Pope revisited and developed the First Vatican
Council's teaching on the relationship between faith and reason, showing how
philosophical thinking contributes in fundamental ways to faith and theological
learning.(78) More than a century later, many of the insights of his Encyclical
Letter have lost none of their interest from either a practical or pedagogical point
of view—most particularly, his insistence upon the incomparable value of the
philosophy of Saint Thomas. A renewed insistence upon the thought of the
Angelic Doctor seemed to Pope Leo XIII the best way to recover the practice of a
philosophy consonant with the demands of faith. “Just when Saint Thomas
distinguishes perfectly between faith and reason”, the Pope writes, “he unites
them in bonds of mutual friendship, conceding to each its specific rights and to
each its specific dignity”.(79)
58. The positive results of the papal summons are well known. Studies of the
thought of Saint Thomas and other Scholastic writers received new impetus.
Historical studies flourished, resulting in a rediscovery of the riches of Medieval
thought, which until then had been largely unknown; and there emerged new
Thomistic schools. With the use of historical method, knowledge of the works of
Saint Thomas increased greatly, and many scholars had courage enough to
introduce the Thomistic tradition into the philosophical and theological
discussions of the day. The most influential Catholic theologians of the present
century, to whose thinking and research the Second Vatican Council was much
indebted, were products of this revival of Thomistic philosophy. Throughout the
twentieth century, the Church has been served by a powerful array of thinkers
formed in the school of the Angelic Doctor.
59. Yet the Thomistic and neo-Thomistic revival was not the only sign of a
resurgence of philosophical thought in culture of Christian inspiration. Earlier
still, and parallel to Pope Leo's call, there had emerged a number of Catholic
philosophers who, adopting more recent currents of thought and according to a
specific method, produced philosophical works of great influence and lasting
value. Some devised syntheses so remarkable that they stood comparison with
the great systems of idealism. Others established the epistemological
foundations for a new consideration of faith in the light of a renewed
understanding of moral consciousness; others again produced a philosophy
which, starting with an analysis of immanence, opened the way to the
transcendent; and there were finally those who sought to combine the demands
of faith with the perspective of phenomenological method. From different
quarters, then, modes of philosophical speculation have continued to emerge
and have sought to keep alive the great tradition of Christian thought which
unites faith and reason.
60. The Second Vatican Council, for its part, offers a rich and fruitful teaching
concerning philosophy. I cannot fail to note, especially in the context of this
Encyclical Letter, that one chapter of the Constitution Gaudium et Spes amounts
to a virtual compendium of the biblical anthropology from which philosophy too
can draw inspiration. The chapter deals with the value of the human person
created in the image of God, explains the dignity and superiority of the human
being over the rest of creation, and declares the transcendent capacity of human
reason.(80) The problem of atheism is also dealt with in Gaudium et Spes, and
the flaws of its philosophical vision are identified, especially in relation to the
dignity and freedom of the human person.(81) There is no doubt that the
climactic section of the chapter is profoundly significant for philosophy; and it
was this which I took up in my first Encyclical Letter Redemptor Hominis and
which serves as one of the constant reference-points of my teaching: “The truth
is that only in the mystery of the Incarnate Word does the mystery of man take on
light. For Adam, the first man, was a type of him who was to come, Christ the
Lord. Christ, the new Adam, in the very revelation of the mystery of the Father and
of his love, fully reveals man to himself and brings to light his most high
calling”.(82)
The Council also dealt with the study of philosophy required of candidates for the
priesthood; and its recommendations have implications for Christian education
as a whole. These are the Council's words: “The philosophical disciplines
should be taught in such a way that students acquire in the first place a solid
and harmonious knowledge of the human being, of the world and of God, based
upon the philosophical heritage which is enduringly valid, yet taking into account
currents of modern philosophy”.(83)
These directives have been reiterated and developed in a number of other
magisterial documents in order to guarantee a solid philosophical formation,
especially for those preparing for theological studies. I have myself emphasized
several times the importance of this philosophical formation for those who one
day, in their pastoral life, will have to address the aspirations of the
contemporary world and understand the causes of certain behaviour in order to
respond in appropriate ways.(84)
61. If it has been necessary from time to time to intervene on this question, to
reiterate the value of the Angelic Doctor's insights and insist on the study of his
thought, this has been because the Magisterium's directives have not always
been followed with the readiness one would wish. In the years after the Second
Vatican Council, many Catholic faculties were in some ways impoverished by a
diminished sense of the importance of the study not just of Scholastic
philosophy but more generally of the study of philosophy itself. I cannot fail to
note with surprise and displeasure that this lack of interest in the study of
philosophy is shared by not a few theologians.
There are various reasons for this disenchantment. First, there is the distrust of
reason found in much contemporary philosophy, which has largely abandoned
metaphysical study of the ultimate human questions in order to concentrate
upon problems which are more detailed and restricted, at times even purely
formal. Another reason, it should be said, is the misunderstanding which has
arisen especially with regard to the “human sciences”. On a number of
occasions, the Second Vatican Council stressed the positive value of scientific
research for a deeper knowledge of the mystery of the human being.(85) But the
invitation addressed to theologians to engage the human sciences and apply
them properly in their enquiries should not be interpreted as an implicit
authorization to marginalize philosophy or to put something else in its place in
pastoral formation and in the praeparatio fidei. A further factor is the renewed
interest in the inculturation of faith. The life of the young Churches in particular
has brought to light, together with sophisticated modes of thinking, an array of
expressions of popular wisdom; and this constitutes a genuine cultural wealth of
traditions. Yet the study of traditional ways must go hand in hand with
philosophical enquiry, an enquiry which will allow the positive traits of popular
wisdom to emerge and forge the necessary link with the proclamation of the
Gospel.(86)
62. I wish to repeat clearly that the study of philosophy is fundamental and
indispensable to the structure of theological studies and to the formation of
candidates for the priesthood. It is not by chance that the curriculum of
theological studies is preceded by a time of special study of philosophy. This
decision, confirmed by the Fifth Lateran Council,(87) is rooted in the experience
which matured through the Middle Ages, when the importance of a constructive
harmony of philosophical and theological learning emerged. This ordering of
studies influenced, promoted and enabled much of the development of modern
philosophy, albeit indirectly. One telling example of this is the influence of the
Disputationes Metaphysicae of Francisco Suárez, which found its way even into
the Lutheran universities of Germany. Conversely, the dismantling of this
arrangement has created serious gaps in both priestly formation and theological
research. Consider, for instance, the disregard of modern thought and culture
which has led either to a refusal of any kind of dialogue or to an indiscriminate
acceptance of any kind of philosophy.
I trust most sincerely that these difficulties will be overcome by an intelligent
philosophical and theological formation, which must never be lacking in the
Church.
63. For the reasons suggested here, it has seemed to me urgent to
re-emphasize with this Encyclical Letter the Church's intense interest in
philosophy—indeed the intimate bond which ties theological work to the
philosophical search for truth. From this comes the Magisterium's duty to
discern and promote philosophical thinking which is not at odds with faith. It is
my task to state principles and criteria which in my judgement are necessary in
order to restore a harmonious and creative relationship between theology and
philosophy. In the light of these principles and criteria, it will be possible to
discern with greater clarity what link, if any, theology should forge with the
different philosophical opinions or systems which the world of today presents.
NEXT WEEK: CHAPTER VI: THE INTERACTION BETWEEN PHILOSOPHY AND THEOLOGY
The knowledge of faith and the demands of philosophical reason
FOOTNOTES:
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(78) Cf. Encyclical Letter Æterni Patris (4 August 1879): ASS 11 (1878-1879), 97-115.
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(79) Ibid., loc. cit., 109.
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(80) Cf. Nos. 14-15.
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(81) Cf. ibid., 20-21.
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(82) Ibid., 22; cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Redemptor Hominis (4 March 1979), 8: AAS 71
(1979), 271-272.
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(83) Decree on Priestly Formation Optatam Totius, 15.
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(84) Cf. Apostolic Constitution Sapientia Christiana (15 April 1979), Arts. 79-80: AAS 71 (1979),
495-496; Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Pastores Dabo Vobis (25 March 1992), 52: AAS 84
(1992), 750-751. Cf. also various remarks on the philosophy of Saint Thomas: Address to the
International Pontifical Athenaeum “Angelicum” (17 November 1979): Insegnamenti II, 2 (1979),
1177-1189; Address to the Participants of the Eighth International Thomistic Congress (13
September 1980): Insegnamenti III, 2 (1980), 604-615; Address to the Participants at the
International Congress of the Saint Thomas Society on the Doctrine of the Soul in Saint Thomas
(4 January 1986): Insegnamenti IX, 1 (1986), 18-24. Also the Sacred Congregation for Catholic
Education, Ratio Fundamentalis Institutionis Sacerdotalis (6 January 1970), 70-75: AAS 62
(1970), 366-368; Decree Sacra Theologia (20 January 1972): AAS 64 (1972), 583-586.
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(85) Cf. Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium et Spes, 57; 62.
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(86) Cf. ibid., 44.
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(87) Cf. Fifth Lateran Ecumenical Council, Bull Apostolici Regimini Sollicitudo, Session VIII:
Conciliorum Oecumenicorum Decreta, 1991, 605-606.
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