Dear Father Angelo,

I was told that I tend to adapt things too much based on what I learn from books (it was a provocative remark aimed at me to suggest that there is also an irrational aspect to faith). I would like to reply to those who say such things. I am criticised for giving faith a logical framework and for evaluating matters in light of what the Church and Scripture teach, because I have experienced that what they teach is true. So I wanted to ask you: what texts, what can I offer to those who think that faith is not also a form of knowledge to be explored in depth? What does the Church teach regarding the education of Christians, their fidelity and their deepening of the truth, including from a rational perspective? Sometimes it seems that one’s own experience of faith is more important than what God teaches through His Revelation…

I assure you of my prayers 

With affection

Priest’s answer

Dear friend,

1. in response to your question, I would like to quote the thoughts of Leo XIII as expressed in the encyclical Aeterni Patris (4th August 1879).

In this encyclical, the Pope sought to emphasise the importance of philosophy both for theological reflection and for refuting the objections raised against the Christian faith, whilst remaining within the so-called rational or philosophical sphere.

2. For Pope Leo, rational or philosophical argumentation is a fundamental introduction to theology: “If used correctly, it serves in a certain way to clear and strengthen the path to true faith, and to prepare the minds of its disciples suitably to receive revelation; hence, not without reason, it was called by the ancients ‘a preparatory institution for the Christian faith’ (Clement of Alexandria, Stromata, I, 16), ‘a prelude and aid to Christianity’ (Origen, Ad Gregorium Thaumaturgum), ‘a tutor to the Gospel’ (Clement of Alexandria, Stromata, I, 5).

3. Basing himself on St Augustine’s statements that the intellect seeks faith in order to find a higher answer (intellectus quaerens fidem) and that faith seeks the intellect in order to understand the rationality of its content (fides quaerens intellectum), Pope Leo recalls that “God has kindled in the human mind the light of reason, which is capable of being ‘the principle, nourishment, strength and defence’ (St Augustine, De Trinitate, XIV, 1) of faith itself.”

4. Rational inquiry helps to make our faith more reasonable and more enlightened. There is nothing unreasonable in what God asks us to believe. Saint Peter reminds us that we must be able to give an account of the hope that is within us (1 Pet 3:15).

Pope Leo says: “Nor should we pass over in silence, or regard as of little importance, the more accurate and extensive knowledge of the things we believe, and the somewhat clearer understanding, as far as possible, of the very mysteries of the faith, which Augustine and the other Fathers praised and sought to attain, and which the Vatican Council itself judged to be most fruitful”.

5. Furthermore, “it is the duty of philosophy to defend the revealed divine truths with the utmost diligence, and to oppose those who dare to challenge them.

It is therefore a great honour for philosophy to be regarded as a bulwark of the faith and a secure bastion of religion.” The doctrine of the Saviour, as Clement of Alexandria attests, is certainly perfect in itself, and requires no assistance, being the virtue and wisdom of God. Greek philosophy, by uniting with it, does not make the truth more powerful, but weakens the sophists’ arguments against it and rejects the deceptive snares laid against the truth: therefore it was called the hedge of the vineyard and a trench in times of need”.

Indeed, just as the enemies of the Catholic faith, wishing to combat religion, most often take their instruments of war from philosophy, so the defenders of the sacred doctrine draw from the bosom of philosophy many things in defence of revealed truths. Nor is it to be regarded as a small triumph for the Christian faith that the enemy’s weapons, ingeniously devised by human reason to harm it, are effectively and easily repelled by that same reason.

This form of religious combat, employed by the Apostle to the Gentiles himself, is recalled by Saint Jerome in his letter to Magnus: “Paul, leader of the Christian army and invincible orator, in defending the cause of Christ, skilfully turned even a chance inscription into a subject of faith, for he had learnt from the true David to wrest the sword from the hands of his enemies and to cut off the head of the most arrogant Goliath with his own blade”.

The Church itself not only advises Catholic teachers to draw upon philosophy for this aid, but openly commands it. Indeed, the Fifth Lateran Council, having defined “every assertion contrary to the truth of the enlightened faith to be entirely false, for the truth cannot contradict the truth”, orders doctors of philosophy to practise diligently in refuting fallacious arguments, since it is certain, as Augustine attests, that “if the reasoning put forward is against the authority of divine Scripture, however acute it may be, it deceives under the guise of truth, for it is impossible for it to be true”.

6. In Fides et ratio, John Paul II takes up the same themes.

First and foremost, that of faith seeking understanding (credo ut intelligam) in order to gain deeper knowledge.

To give just one example: ‘Man cannot understand how death can be a source of life and love’ (FR 23).

Revelation does not place itself on the same level as philosophy by presenting scientific arguments. Rather, it sets before us the mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection because ‘God chose what is foolish in the world to put to shame the wise’ (1 Cor 1:28). Thus, ‘the Cross can give reason the ultimate answer it seeks’.

It is not the wisdom of words, but the Word of Wisdom that St Paul sets as the criterion of truth and, at the same time, of salvation” (FR 23).

7. Likewise, we seek to understand the truths in which we believe: “intelligo ut credam”.

“This truth, which God reveals to us in Jesus Christ, is not at odds with the truths that are attained through philosophy. Indeed, these two orders of knowledge lead to the truth in its fullness. The unity of truth is already a fundamental postulate of human reason, expressed in the principle of non-contradiction. Revelation gives certainty to this unity, showing that the Creator God is also the God of the history of salvation. The one and same God, who establishes and guarantees the intelligibility and rationality of the natural order of things on which scientists confidently rely, is the same God who reveals himself as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (FR 32). 

8. Not everyone is called to be a theologian.

But it is essential that there are knowledgeable people within the Church who can demonstrate the rationality of our faith and refute opposing arguments.

It is therefore a gift to the community that you are able to enrich the faith of ordinary people with your own special charism.

Wishing you a fruitful Feast of the Immaculate Conception, I bless you and remember you in my prayers.

Father Angelo

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