Filozoficzno – kulturowe uwarunkowania wiary w encyklice „Lumen fidei”

Abstract

Papal Encyclical is opened with the discussion of the illusory light. The author of the encyclical notes that in the modern era the light of faith is regarded to be insufficient. Modern man boasts of his independence and reason. In this context, faith is associated with darkness and ridiculed. Many Christians also treat faith as an escape. Today we can observe the aestheticization of religion, which is linked with the above understanding of faith. While according to the message of the encyclical, every human being needs a powerful light of faith that is able to enlighten the whole of human life. According to the Holy Father, the crisis of truth, especially its relativization and subjectivation, has also impact on the weakening of the modern day religion. The encyclical also emphasizes the relationship between truth and love. Authentic love needs truth, but the truth needs also love, without which it becomes impersonal and cold. Francis Pope also recalls that the Christian faith has brought into human culture the category of human dignity. Faith is a personal and interpersonal reality. Understood in this way, according to the author of the encyclical, faith is the light for the social life and helps to find the right patterns of human development.