Avant-propos - Studia Moralia

250 MARTIN MCKEEVER
distinction, the encyclical is at pains to point out that this does
not mean that there is a fundamental conflict or competition between
the two.
On the contrary, a harmonious relationship between faith
and reason is presented in the form of a circularity within which
reason can investigate, by means of its own resources and methods,
the truth of Revelation affirmed by faith:
In the light of these considerations, the relationship between
theology and philosophy is best construed as a circle. Theology’s
source and starting-point must always be the word of God revealed
in history, while its final goal will be an understanding of that word
which increases with each passing generation. Yet, since God’s
word is Truth (cf. Jn 17:17), the human search for truth – philosophy,
pursued in keeping with its own rules – can only help to understand
God’s word better. [...] This circular relationship with the
word of God leaves philosophy enriched, because reason discovers
new and unsuspected horizons. (73)
The underlying principle here is that the truth is one (§§ 34,
53, 71), both in the sense that what is true must be true everywhere
and necessarily, but also in the sense that the ultimate
truths of faith cannot contradict the truths of reason (§§ 27, 34,
51) and that human beings need some unitary, definitive explanation
as the foundation of their thought and action (§ 27).
Within this fundamental unity, complementary functions
can be discerned. Reason is necessary both in order to receive
the revealed message, auditus fidei, and in order to articulate the
experience of faith, intellectus fidei (§ 65). When this later takes
the form of a systematic and organic presentation, it needs philosophy
in order to ensure its own internal intelligibility and coherence.
In this sense we can speak of the need for philosophical
mediation (§ 69) of the faith. At the same time faith helps
reason not to become too narrow or too presumptuous, it both
expands the horizons of enquiry and tempers the pride of the intellect.
This complementarity of faith and reason has major implications
for the understanding of morality presented in the encyclical.
The point of departure of any such reflection is the acceptance,
in faith, of the Revelation in Christ of God as the