| Fides et ratio | |
| Language: | Latin |
| Translation: | Faith and Reason |
| Argument: | The relationship between faith and reason |
| Papal Coat Of Arms: | File:John paul 2 coa.svg |
| Date: | 14 September 1998 |
| Pope: | John Paul II |
| Number: | 13 of 14 |
| Web En: | https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_14091998_fides-et-ratio_en.html |
| Web La: | https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_14091998_fides-et-ratio_lt.html |
la|'''Fides et ratio'''|Faith and Reason is an encyclical promulgated by Pope John Paul II on 14 September 1998. It was one of 14 encyclicals issued by John Paul II. The encyclical primarily addresses the relationship between faith and reason.
Cardinal Georges Cottier, who was secretary general of the International Theological Commission from 1989 to 2003,[1] says he was part of the drafting of the encyclical.[2]
was the first encyclical since Pope Leo XIII's 1879 Aeterni Patris to address the relationship between faith and reason.[3]
The encyclical posits that faith and reason are not only compatible, but essential together. He starts with "Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth;" Faith without reason, he argues, leads to superstition. Reason without faith, he argues, leads to nihilism and relativism. He writes:
Although reason creates a "systematic body of knowledge," the Pope avers, its completeness is illusory:
Without a grounding in spiritual truth, he continues, reason has:
On the roles of philosophy and speculative theology as manifested by Augustine:
On the wrong turns in modern philosophy and the duty of the magisterium:
In sum, the Pope "makes this strong and insistent appeal" 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".