BRO JOBY PULICKAKUNNEL
III PHILOSOPHY
Faith
and Philosophy: References to the Major Philosophical Trends of Lumen Fidei
Dear scholars, who have been enlightened by the
light of faith,
Have you ever thought what a
philosopher has to do with Lumen Fidei, an
encyclical letter on faith? Through our continuous deliberation on this
encyclical letter, we understand the necessity a philosophical evaluation of
this letter.
What is the philosophical gist of
this encyclical letter? We can say that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI measures the
light of autonomous reason against the light of faith. He wants to protect the
Christian dogmas from the challenges of the modern thinking patterns like extreme
relativism, subjectivism, pragmatism and the technological interpretation of
truth.
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI seems to
be an Augustinian and thus reaches up to the Platonic notion of remembrance of
truth. Hellenistic philosophical trend is visible in this encyclical letter. He
sustains the objective validity of the Christian dogmas. “In 1969 he wrote that,
‘the organ by which God can be seen cannot be a non historical ratio
naturalis (natural reason), which just does not exist, but only the ratio
pura i.e. purificata (purified reason) or, as Augustine expresses it
echoing the gospel, the cor purum (pure heart).’’’[1]He
explained that the faith comes from love, which purifies the sight. He tries to combine the faith with reason,
reasonably.
Faith is not a private matter; but
it is necessarily a social or ecclesial one. The subjective truth cannot
overcome the objective absolute truth. For him, the faith illumines the reason and
the relationship of faith and reason is intrinsic. Criticism of the idea of
reason as an independent and sovereign act of the human is the central theme of
this letter. Love and reason are the twin pillars of the reality. Reason
and faith converge in the heart through the Divine Love. Love is the wisdom and
it is the source of faith. Lumen Fidei also emphasizes the importance of
the faith and memory relationship.
Even if it is so, there exist many
philosophical criticisms[2]
against this encyclical letter. This letter is accused of its idealization
of church. The people who criticize the letter say that it presupposes an
ideal world, where the common people cannot reach. Some other people oppose the
letter accusing that it proclaims a Eurocentric Philosophy. They say
that this letter has nothing to do with the eastern world and its traditional
philosophical background. For some, the letter seems to have a pessimistic
approach towards the postmodern tendencies of the society. A contextual
study of this letter is needed to examine these remarks, which are beyond our
objective in this short paper.
How should we assess the
philosophical trends in this letter? The objective validity and the
credibility of the dogmas cannot be questioned. But, the interpretative
approach towards them can be evaluated. It seems that the Pope uses the western
analytical method to introduce his ideas on faith and reason. His arguments are
indebted to the Hellenistic Philosophy, especially Plato. The Neo-platonian
thinking pattern of St. Augustine dominates in the second chapter of this
encyclical letter. In our study of the encyclical letter, we find that faith
and reason are introduced as separate. Then we see that the Pope has tried to
bring them together and affirms that these are inseparable.
In Lumen Fidei, the
Pope tries to interpret the Biblical text about faith in terms of the Western
philosophical system. Readers may confront a natural communication problem
between the synthetic and analytical ways of interpretation of
the Hebrew and Greek thought. For the people of east faith and reason are
intertwined. They cannot say which of the two, faith or reason, comes first.
The knowledge leads to the faith and the faith leads to the knowledge and so
on. (FAITH KNOWLEDGE).
When Pope John Paul II wrote Fides et Ratio, he appealed to the
Christians in Asia, especially India, to use their rich philosophical and
religious heritage to interpret the Christian faith (No.72). Such an openness
is not found in the Lumen Fidei. But, that approach is not ruled out by
the encyclical letter. The contextualization of Lumen Fidei for Indian
Christians should mean, taking up this task and interpreting Christian faith in
the light of the rich Indian philosophical heritage.
How can we, the Christians in India
make an interpretation of Christian faith in terms of the philosophical and
religious background of our country?
Thank
you.
