Intellige ut credas i crede ut intelligas? Kilka uwag o rozumności wiary w nauczaniu św. Augustyna

Abstract

The teaching of St. Augustine about the relation between faith and reason should be considered in the intellectual context determined by ancient philosophy. For Plato faith is in it the beginning stage to cognition, in the Plato’s system it is crucial element relating mind and oversensual world; where Manichaeism reduces faith to mind, but scepticism questioning the value of every cognition, deprives mind of meaning and faith closes in sensual world. A point of departure for St. Augustine’s discussions is the analysis of human existence, of person who is immersed in sensual world and is blind to the light of God, which is determined by J. Ratzinger as “the situation of nonsalvation”. Faith leading a human to invisible things wakes the mind from being dulled and lets it think by giving confidence. The support which is given by faith is authority. Aspiring to understand, faith needs strengthen authority on solid because judicious bases. The reasoning of faith consists in searching God, in thinking which following the faith authority is still aspiring to understanding. That is why St. Augustine underlines that the understanding is the crowning the faith. However the situation of nonsalvation makes the faith authority leading the mind to invisible truth, order it to search using some visible things and basing on sensual forms, which are determined by St. Augustine as miracles of Christ and all Saints and especially the universality and enormity of Church. Because of it, faith in the area of St. Augustine’s teaching, a formula: intellige ut credas is unjustified, and only a thesis: crede ut intelligas can be right, because the necessary faith has to follow the understanding and to direct a person who needs salvation to the way of judicious searching God.