
<p>But the up side of it is the fact that the separation between philosophy and theology shows that there is no conflict between faith and reason; they are in a sense two different kinds of intelligences. Saint Albert referred to theology as "emotional knowledge," whereas philosophy is more rational knowledge. They need each other. The inheritors of this tradition are Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict. This is the argument that Pope Benedict tried to make so often (mostly falling on deaf ears to the right and the left), that reason lets us figure out such things as that terrorism is not true religion, even that fundamentalism is not authentic religion. Of course there many examples of religion being used to condone all kinds of crazy behavior but this one struck me recently: it was about a group of ultra-traditionalist Roman Catholics from the Society of Pius X who also denies the Holocaust. They openly challenged Pope Francis by disrupting an interfaith ceremony that was meant to promote religious harmony on the anniversary of the beginning of the Holocaust, one of the pope's favorite events, in the Metropolitan Cathedral in Buenos Aires. That might have been a good time for rationality to step in.</p>
<p>The second part of this thing about Saint Albert and philosophy that gets pointed to often folds right into that; he did it by using Aristotle. That may not seem shocking to us except for the fact that Aristotle had two things going against him: he was a pagan, and his philosophy was being translated and diffused around Europe by Arab Muslims. This was a shock to people of his time, especially church people. How could you use a pagan philosopher translated by who-were-thought-to-be-heretics to explain Christian theology? Again, the argument not only for faith and reason, and their compatibility, but the argument for <em>semine verbi</em>, the seeds of the Word that Justin Martyr taught had been scattered everywhere and were bearing fruit, even in the philosophy of a pagan translated by someone from a faith that was at the time usually considered to be antagonistic to Christianity.</p>
<p>That brings me to John Paul II in his encyclical <em>Fides et Ratio</em> [72], this paragraph of which I practically memorized as a defense of the study of comparative religion and work I did for ten years in inter-religious dialogue:</p>
<p>In preaching the Gospel, Christianity first encountered Greek philosophy; but this does not mean at all that other approaches are precluded. Today, as the Gospel gradually comes into contact with cultural worlds that once lay beyond Christian influence, there are new tasks of inculturation ... [Then he says] "<em>My thoughts turn immediately to the lands of the East</em>, so rich in religious and philosophical traditions of great antiquity... Among these lands, India has a special place."</p>
<p>We are constantly finding new ways to express the Gospel of Jesus for a new era, because we are constantly finding the truth springing up in hidden unexpected places.</p>
<p>The third thing, right in the same line, is that Saint Albert was named the doctor <em>universalis</em>­–the universal doctor (could we say, the "catholic doctor"?) because of his fascination with and writings on botany, zoology, physics, chemistry, and astronomy. He shows us that not only is there no conflict between faith and reason, even though there has been historically, there ought to be no conflict between faith and science. This is why it has never ever been an issue for me as a Roman Catholic to believe in evolution, for instance. I'm reminded of Teilhard's phrase again: not to worship creation, but nor to merely worship God. Rather, to worship God <em>through </em>creation.</p>
<p>Let us pray with Saint Albert the Great and the author of the Book of Wisdom that:</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>If out of joy in the beauty of creatures, we think them gods, </em><em>may we know how far more excellent is the original source of beauty that fashioned them.</em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em></em><em>Or if we are struck by the might and energy of creatures, let us realize how much more powerful is the One who made them.</em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>For from the greatness and the beauty of created things their original author is seen. (Wis 13:1-9)</em></p>