The Two Wings of Catholic Thought: Essays on Fides Et Ratio

In 1998, Pope John Paul II issued his thirteenth encyclical, ""Fides et ratio,"" in which he challenged the Enlightenment supposition that faith and reason must follow separate trajectories. Instead, the pope proposed that these divergent epistemological categories constitute the ""two wings"" of Catholic thought, upholding the Church and its teachings. (Would that Galileo could see this day.) The past four years have witnessed a flurry of scholarly activity and discussion of Fides et ratio, including this academic collection from several doctrinal perspectives. Avery Cardinal Dulles tackles the vexing question of whether philosophy can be Christian; co-editor Koterski discusses the encyclical's challenge to metaphysics; Prudence Allen explores the statement's ideas about the philosophy of the person; and David Meconi puts the document in a historically Marian framework. The second section's essays delve into the encyclical's significance for Catholic intellectual life, textual traditions and teaching. Best appreciated by fellow scholars more than rank-and-file Catholics, this collection offers a thoughtful panoramic view of one of the most important papal documents of the 20th century.