THE Catholic faithful around the world mourns the demise of Pope Benedict XVI, a brilliant theologian and intellectual.

His views on faith and reason harmonise various reasonable streams of thought without damaging or doing away with fundamental human and spiritual foundations.

His death leaves a great legacy of teaching on faith and reason in a world that is deeply secularised on one end and adhering to religious fundamentalism on the other.

Pope Benedict articulated the harmony of faith and reason by arguing against interpretations of faith that denies God’s reasonableness and against interpretations of rationality that denies faith’s reasonableness.

He argued that faith provides checks and balances against soulless reasoning, and reason is a check against unbridled religious extremism.

His teachings have relevance in Malaysia and around the world today where we see the rise of the religious right that tends to look at faith as merely following divine laws and denying the reality of the human condition that need to be shown love and mercy more than anything else. Meanwhile, in the West, we see the tide of extreme secularism that denies the basic principles of human existence, such as the natural biological functions of a boy and a girl, and the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman.

There is a tendency among polarised ideologues of both sides to limit and pare down realities according to rigid interpretations of ideology.

For example, the so-called scientific school of reasoning affords humans a much lower standing than the one granted them by classical philosophy and revealed religions. One person can do anything to another, especially if they are weak and poor, if one were to view human beings as mere collections of particles, lacking any special origin or destiny.

On other hand, the rigid interpretation of religion that tends to impose ancient laws on others without understanding historical contexts or current realities of the human condition would wind up making religion oppressive instead of creating conditions for liberating experiences, which should be what authentic faith is about.

Therefore, let us harmonise faith and reason as an authentic approach to nation building.

The legacy of Pope Benedict’s teachings of faith and reason is still relevant in a polarised world. – January 2, 2023.

* Ronald Benjamin is secretary of the Association for Welfare, Community and Dialogue.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.