Theology Needs Philosophy: Acting Against Reason Is Contrary to the Nature of God

The general reader, as well as students and faculty, will be introduced to a constant, but sometimes neglected, element of Catholic intellectual traditions. Pope Francis follows Popes Benedict XVI and John Paul II in emphasizing the light of faith in his first encyclical Lumen Fidei, showing how human reason is healed and elevated by faith. Not to act according to reason is contrary to the nature of God, as Pope Benedict's Regensburg Lecture reminded the world. An abandonment of Catholic faith, and its incorporation of the ancient discoveries of reason, has led to a darkening of reason in secularist modernity. The light of reason is from the Word (Logos) who is God (John 1:9), calling everyone to live attentive to the cultivation of reason. Modern popes have therefore called for a recovery of reason since faith in Jesus Christ heals and intensifies the light of reason so fundamental to the God-given dignity of every human being.