On Wings of Faith and Reason

The distinctive contribution that Christianity makes to investigations of culture and science is that of a coherent vision of truth—a unifying truth that takes flight on the two wings of faith and reason. Against methodological reductionism, philosophical nihilism, and postmodern skepticism, such a vision affirms that the unity of truth is ultimate and personal and that science and culture participate therein according to their own geniuses.

On Wings of Faith and Reason provides reasons for a unified vision of truth, while giving examples of the roles that faith and reason play in scientific activities and cultural expressions. Contributing authors from the fields of medicine, ethics, philosophy, and theology argue that Christianity makes a difference, not only in providing an understanding of the ultimate origin and end of the human person, but in contributing to practical applications. Christianity offers assurance about the course of scientific and cultural inquiry, while encouraging creative expression and personal excellence in its execution.

Against fideists, it is argued that reason has a differentiated role to play in Christian efforts and theological investigations. Against rationalists, it is argued not only that faith builds up reason without making it a-rational or irrational, but also that it is a source of knowledge, the denial of which restricts not only our passive reception and active observation of reality, but also our creative responses to it. The image of two wings affirms that faith and reason exercise distinct roles, not the same role, in a unified flight of knowledge. It refutes the idea that isolated one-dimensional theories of truth will satisfy.

The contributors are Jude Dougherty, Kevin L. Flannery, John Haas, Peter Kreeft, Richard John Neuhaus, Edmund Pellegrino, and Robert Sokolowski.

ABOUT THE EDITOR:

Craig Steven Titus is research professor at the Institute for the Psychological Sciences, as well as lecturer and researcher at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. He is coeditor of The Pinckaers Reader and author of Resilience and the Virtue of Fortitude, both published by CUA Press. He is also editor of the first volume in the John Henry Cardinal Newman Lecture Series, titled The Person and the Polis.

PRAISE FOR THE BOOK:

"This wonderfully readable volume collects seven essays delivered by leading Catholic scholars in the 2002-2003 John Henry Cardinal Newman Lecture Series sponsored by the Institute for the Psychological Sciences."—Matthew Levering, National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly