Religion and Theology

Religion and Theology

Introduction

Over the years, man has struggled with finding his true identity. There are many doctrines than define man and how he is supposed to live in order to accomplish his purpose. All these doctrines are different and have a different set of beliefs which at times collide with each other. As such, man is at a dilemma since he must decide which doctrine to follow and what set of beliefs to choose. There are some people however who are not subject to any of the doctrines and have come up with their beliefs and live according to them. This trend has diffused the ideal truth and made truth a matter of personal opinion.

This essay seeks to reflect on the readings from Pope St. John Paul II (​Fides et Ratio​), Plato (​Apology​, Euthyphro​), and Pope Benedict XVI (“The Feeling of Things, The Contemplation of Beauty”) and then summarize the main ideas about rationality, truthfulness, and the human pursuit of true knowledge gained from these readings and discussions. Thereafter comment on how these texts may represent a point of contrast with the views espoused by Nietzsche and perhaps also Dennett.

Rationality

Rationality is the state of being the state of being rational. Man is considered a rational animal. This means that man has the ability to generate methods of good decision making especially where the right decision is hard to come to. in the text of Plato “Apology”, Socrates has been accused of being an atheist and misleading the youth. He however refutes the claims by saying that if he has indeed misled any youth, a witness should come forward and claim that his life is in ruins because of following his teachings (11). He places the judges at a dilemma when he questions Meletus about his accusations. Meletus accuses Socrates of being an atheist and at the same time of misleading the youth by teaching them to believe in other gods. Socrate wonders how a man can be an atheist and yet teach doctrines of other gods (7). The judges have to be rational in examining the accusations and Socrate’s defense.

Truthfulness

There is the belief that truth is a matter of personal opinion. This has made many people come up with beliefs that conquer with their personal interests. In Fides et Ration, human beings have the element of wonder awakened in them and they seek to discover themselves as a part of the world which is an important quest. However, there is the aspect of philosophical pride which seeks to present its partial and imperfect view as the only complete reality (St. John Paul II 3). At the present time in particular, the search for ultimate truth seems often to be neglected. This places the youth at a risk because they are the future yet they do not have truthful and knowledgeable reference point when they need to make decisions. As such, it is important to have truthful intuits that formulate the first universal principles of being correctly drawn from them conclusions which are coherent both logically and ethically (St. John Paul II 3).

Human pursuit of true knowledge

The pursuit of true knowledge faces a major challenge because of relativism. This is the view that truth is a matter of personal opinion. This has brought different beliefs that cannot be questioned because one does not have to conquer with the other person’s truth. The matter of true knowledge is brought to light in Euthyphro when Socrates questions his decision to prosecute his father over a questionable murder charge. Euthyphro sees himself as an expert in religious matters and knows what is holy, however, Socrates questions his knowledge when he asks him to define what piety and impiety (Pathos 13). After an array of questions, Socrates is able to understand that Euthyphro sees himself as wise in matters to do with religion but in not wise as he sees himself. Euthyphro contradicts his statements when defining what is considered as holy and loved by the gods (Plato 17). Seeing that he cannot explain his decision to prosecute this father in relation to what the gods considers holy, Euthyphro leaves in a huff to avoid further questioning (Plato 18). In a similar way, among the charges of Socrates is misleading the youth. in his defense, he clearly state that the charges are out of anger which proves that he only spoke the truth (Plato 5). Socrates goes to the men who are perceived as wise and after examining them, he realized that they were not really wise and only had pretentious wisdom. This made him an enemy to many (Plato 4). Young men followed his examples and examined many people in quest for true wisdom. All the people that were found to have pretentious wisdom were angry and said that Socrates was misleading the youth (Plato 5). This proves that the pursuit of true knowledge is met with resistance because most people hold their beliefs and opinions as true and questioning them makes them angry. In his text, Pope Benedict XVI states that nothing can bring us into close contact with the beauty of Christ himself other than the world of beauty created by faith and light that shines out from the faces of the saints, through whom his own light becomes visible (6).

Friedrich Nietzsche however holds a contrary view. According to him people should live as if God was dead without any ethics governing them. He holds that what is morally right to a person does not have to be morally right for another person. According to him, nothing is morally right or wrong and humans are a will to decide to make their values and live up to them and they do not have to conform to a set of rules.

Conclusion

In summation, rationality, truthfulness and pursuit of true knowledge as delicate matters that require a core informed and knowledgeable guideline without which people will live in confusion because of the many beliefs that are regarded as the ultimate truth.