others with holding on to or increasing their power, what we are left with are conflicts or spurious
agreements where the last thing either party is concerned about is caring for the environment and
protecting those who are most vulnerable. Here too, we see how true it is that “unity is greater than
conflict”.
140
V.
RELIGIONS INDIALOGUEWITHSCIENCE
199. It cannot be maintained that empirical science provides a complete explanation of life, the
interplay of all creatures and the whole of reality. This would be to breach the limits imposed by its
own methodology. If we reason only within the confines of the latter, little room would be left for
aesthetic sensibility, poetry, or even reason’s ability to grasp the ultimate meaning and purpose of
things.
141
I would add that “religious classics can prove meaningful in every age; they have an
enduring power to open new horizons… Is it reasonable and enlightened to dismiss certain writings
simply because they arose in the context of religious belief?”
142
It would be quite simplistic to think
that ethical principles present themselves purely in the abstract, detached from any context. Nor does
the fact that theymay be couched in religious language detract from their value in public debate. The
ethical principles capable of being apprehended by reason can always reappear in different guise and
find expression in avarietyof languages, including religious language.
200. Any technical solution which science claims to offer will be powerless to solve the serious
problems of our world if humanity loses its compass, if we lose sight of the great motivations which
make it possible for us to live in harmony, to make sacrifices and to treat others well. Believers
themselves must constantly feel challenged to live in a way consonant with their faith and not to
contradict it by their actions. They need to be encouraged to be ever open toGod’s grace and to draw
constantly from their deepest convictions about love, justice and peace. If amistaken understanding of
140
Ibid., 228:AAS 105 (2013), 1113.
141
Cf. Encyclical Letter
Lumen Fidei
(29 June 2013), 34:AAS 105 (2013), 577: “Nor is the light of faith, joined to the truth
of love, extraneous to the material world, for love is always lived out in body and spirit; the light of faith is an incarnate
light radiating from the luminous life of Jesus. It also illumines thematerialworld, trusts its inherent order, and knows that
it calls us to an ever widening path of harmony and understanding. The gaze of science thus benefits from faith: faith
encourages the scientist to remain constantly open to reality in all its inexhaustible richness. Faith awakens the critical
sense bypreventing research frombeing satisfiedwith its own formulae and helps it to realize that nature is always greater.
By stimulating wonder before the profoundmystery of creation, faith broadens the horizons of reason to shed greater light
on theworldwhichdiscloses itself to scientific investigation”.
142
ApostolicExhortation
EvangeliiGaudium
(24November 2013), 256:AAS105 (2013), 1123.
