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1 ENCYCLICAL LETTERF ides et ratioAddressed by the Supreme PontiffJOHN PAUL IITo the Bishops of theCatholic ChurchOn the Relationship BetweenFaith and of ContentsINTRODUCTION "KNOW YOURSELF"1 CHAPTER I THE REVELATION OF GOD'S WISDOM7 Jesus, revealer of the Father7 Reason before the mystery11 CHAPTER II CREDO UT INTELLEGAM15"Wisdom knows all and understands all" (Wis 9:11)15"Acquire wisdom, acquire understanding" (Prov 4:5)18 CHAPTER III INTELLEGO UT CREDAM22 Journeying in search of truth22 The different faces of human truth25 CHAPTER IV THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN faith AND REASON31 Important moments in the encounter of faith and reason31 The enduring originality of the thought of Saint Thomas Aquinas37 The drama of the separation of faith and reason40 CHAPTER V THE MAGISTERIUM'S INTERVENTIONS IN PHILOSOPHICALMATTERS44 The Magisterium's discernment as diakonia of the truth44 The Church's interest in philosophy52 CHAPTER VI THE INTERACTION BETWEEN PHILOSOPHY ANDTHEOLOGY57 The knowledge of faith and the demands of philosophical reason57 Different stances of philosophy65 CHAPTER VII CURRENT REQUIREMENTS AND TASKS70 The indispensable requirements of the word of God70 Current tasks for theology80 CONCLUSION87 fides et RatioPope John Paul IIPage 1 Downloaded from the catholic Document Venerable Brother Bishops.

2 Health and the Apostolic BlessingFaith and reason are like two wings on which the human spiritrises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in thehuman heart a desire to know the truth -- in a word, to knowhimself -- so that, by knowing and loving God, men andwomen may also come to the fullness of truth aboutthemselves (cf. Ex 33:18; Ps 27:8-9; 63:2-3; Jn 14:8; 1 Jn 3:2).INTRODUCTION"KNOWYOURSELF" both East and West, we may trace a journey which has ledhumanity down the centuries to meet and engage truth moreand more deeply. It is a journey which has unfolded -- as itmust -- within the horizon of personal self-consciousness: themore human beings know reality and the world, the more theyknow themselves in their uniqueness, with the question of themeaning of things and of their very existence becoming evermore pressing. This is why all that is the object of ourknowledge becomes a part of our life.

3 The admonition Knowyourself was carved on the temple portal at Delphi, astestimony to a basic truth to be adopted as a minimal norm bythose who seek to set themselves apart from the rest ofcreation as "human beings", that is as those who "knowthemselves".Moreover, a cursory glance at ancient history shows clearlyhow in different parts of the world, with their differentcultures, there arise at the same time the fundamentalquestions which pervade human life: Who am I? Where have Icome from and where am I going? Why is there evil? What isthere after this life? These are the questions which we find inthe sacred writings of Israel, as also in the Veda and theFides et RatioPope John Paul IIPage 2 Downloaded from the catholic Document ; we find them in the writings of Confucius and Lao-Tze,and in the preaching of Tirthankara and Buddha; they appearin the poetry of Homer and in the tragedies of Euripides andSophocles, as they do in the philosophical writings of Plato andAristotle.

4 They are questions which have their common sourcein the quest for meaning which has always compelled thehuman heart. In fact, the answer given to these questionsdecides the direction which people seek to give to their Church is no stranger to this journey of discovery, norcould she ever be. From the moment when, through thePaschal Mystery, she received the gift of the ultimate truthabout human life, the Church has made her pilgrim way alongthe paths of the world to proclaim that Jesus Christ is "theway, and the truth, and the life" (Jn 14:6). It is her duty toserve humanity in different ways, but one way in particularimposes a responsibility of a quite special kind: the diakonia ofthe This mission on the one hand makes the believingcommunity a partner in humanity's shared struggle to arrive attruth;2 and on the other hand it obliges the believingcommunity to proclaim the certitudes arrived at, albeit with asense that every truth attained is but a step towards thatfullness of truth which will appear with the final Revelation ofGod: "For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to I know in part; then I shall understand fully" (1 Cor13:12).

5 And women have at their disposal an array of resourcesfor generating greater knowledge of truth so that their livesmay be ever more human. Among these is philosophy, which isdirectly concerned with asking the question of life's meaningand sketching an answer to it. Philosophy emerges, then, asone of noblest of human tasks. According to its Greeketymology, the term philosophy means "love of wisdom". Bornand nurtured when the human being first asked questionsabout the reason for things and their purpose, philosophy 1 In my first Encyclical Letter Redemptor Hominis, I wrote: "We havebecome sharers in this mission of the prophet Christ, and in virtue of thatmission we together with him are serving divine truth in the Church. Beingresponsible for that truth also means loving it and seeking the most exactunderstanding of it, in order to bring it closer to ourselves and others in allits saving power, its splendour and its profundity joined with simplicity":No.

6 19: AAS 71 (1979), Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution on theChurch in the Modern World Gaudium et Spes, et RatioPope John Paul IIPage 3 Downloaded from the catholic Document in different modes and forms that the desire for truth ispart of human nature itself. It is an innate property of humanreason to ask why things are as they are, even though theanswers which gradually emerge are set within a horizonwhich reveals how the different human cultures 's powerful influence on the formation anddevelopment of the cultures of the West should not obscurethe influence it has also had upon the ways of understandingexistence found in the East. Every people has its own nativeand seminal wisdom which, as a true cultural treasure, tendsto find voice and develop in forms which are genuinelyphilosophical. One example of this is the basic form ofphilosophical knowledge which is evident to this day in thepostulates which inspire national and international legalsystems in regulating the life of , it is true that a single term conceals a variety ofmeanings.

7 Hence the need for a preliminary by the desire to discover the ultimate truth of existence,human beings seek to acquire those universal elements ofknowledge which enable them to understand themselves betterand to advance in their own self-realization. Thesefundamental elements of knowledge spring from the wonderawakened in them by the contemplation of creation: humanbeings are astonished to discover themselves as part of theworld, in a relationship with others like them, all sharing acommon destiny. Here begins, then, the journey which willlead them to discover ever new frontiers of wonder, men and women would lapse into deadeningroutine and little by little would become incapable of a lifewhich is genuinely philosophy's work, the ability to speculate which isproper to the human intellect produces a rigorous mode ofthought; and then in turn, through the logical coherence of theaffirmations made and the organic unity of their content, itproduces a systematic body of knowledge.

8 In different culturalcontexts and at different times, this process has yielded resultswhich have produced genuine systems of thought. Yet oftenenough in history this has brought with it the temptation toidentify one single stream with the whole of philosophy. Insuch cases, we are clearly dealing with a "philosophical pride"which seeks to present its own partial and imperfect view asthe complete reading of all reality. In effect, everyFides et RatioPope John Paul IIPage 4 Downloaded from the catholic Document system, while it should always be respected in itswholeness, without any instrumentalization, must stillrecognize the primacy of philosophical enquiry, from which itstems and which it ought loyally to times change and knowledge increases, it is possibleto discern a core of philosophical insight within the history ofthought as a whole. Consider, for example, the principles ofnon-contradiction, finality and causality, as well as the conceptof the person as a free and intelligent subject, with the capacityto know God, truth and goodness.

9 Consider as well certainfundamental moral norms which are shared by all. These areamong the indications that, beyond different schools ofthought, there exists a body of knowledge which may be judgeda kind of spiritual heritage of humanity. It is as if we had comeupon an implicit philosophy, as a result of which all feel thatthey possess these principles, albeit in a general andunreflective way. Precisely because it is shared in somemeasure by all, this knowledge should serve as a kind ofreference-point for the different philosophical schools. Oncereason successfully intuits and formulates the first universalprinciples of being and correctly draws from them conclusionswhich are coherent both logically and ethically, then it may becalled right reason or, as the ancients called it, orth(o-)s logos,recta her part, the Church cannot but set great value uponreason's drive to attain goals which render people's lives evermore worthy.

10 She sees in philosophy the way to come to knowfundamental truths about human life. At the same time, theChurch considers philosophy an indispensable help for adeeper understanding of faith and for communicating thetruth of the Gospel to those who do not yet know , following upon similar initiatives by myPredecessors, I wish to reflect upon this special activity ofhuman reason. I judge it necessary to do so because, at thepresent time in particular, the search for ultimate truth seemsoften to be neglected. Modern philosophy clearly has the greatmerit of focusing attention upon man. From this starting-point, human reason with its many questions has developedfurther its yearning to know more and to know it ever moredeeply. Complex systems of thought have thus been built,yielding results in the different fields of knowledge andfostering the development of culture and , logic, the natural sciences, history, linguisticsFides et RatioPope John Paul IIPage 5 Downloaded from the catholic Document so forth -- the whole universe of knowledge has beeninvolved in one way or another.