What is the relationship between faith and reason?

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What is the relationship between faith and reason?

Pope John Paul II published a letter called ‘Fides et Ratio’ which told people: "Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth—in a word, to know himself—so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves." After so many questions, the Pope’s decision to publish such a document has helped people worldwide to begin to understand the relationship between faith and reason.

To many people the link between science and religion is epitomised by the ideas surrounding evolution. The past few decades have seen a significant rise in the number of Christian "creationists" who believe the biblical story of creation must be taken literally, and that the universe was therefore created in six days just over six thousand years ago. But although there are some Christians who insist on taking the Genesis account literally, the majority of Christian believers understand this story metaphorically. Recently, the Vatican Observatory in conjunction with the Centre for Theology and the Natural Sciences held a conference on the issue of evolution to which they invited theologians, philosophers, and scientists from around the world. Here, Christian participants overwhelming agreed that evolution was not in conflict with Christian faith, and that on the contrary it could be seen as the way in which God goes about being creative within the world. For these believers, an understanding of the processes of evolution could indeed enhance their faith.

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When Charles Darwin published his monumental book "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection", he suggested that instead of being specially created by God, humans were the product of biological evolution. Many religious believers in the nineteenth century felt that Darwinian evolution had robbed humanity of its dignity, for how could humans be created in the image of God if we were the descendants of apes? Faced with this dilemma, they rebelled against Darwin's theory. Yet even in the nineteenth century there were many theologians and religious leaders who did not see a conflict between their faith ...

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