When I entered seminary in 2006, it was at a time when the Church in the United States was making a transition to a new set of expectations with regards to a candidate’s formation in philosophy before beginning the study of theology. For those who already had a college degree, a time of pre-theology was required during which that necessary study of philosophy was undertaken. For many seminaries, this involved cramming several classes in philosophy into a single year, often presented in a non-systematic way. Seeing the problem with this, the bishops of the United States would now require that the study of philosophy would span two full years, ensuring an adequate study of this topic. I found myself at the tail end of the one-year study of philosophy, and as a result, certain classes in that discipline were left out. One such class that I did not have to take was Modern Philosophy. At the time, I was grateful to not have to take the class, having heard of its reputation for being pretty difficult. But as I read the next paragraph in Spe Salvi, my gratitude for dodging that class turned into regret, as I found myself feeling rather unequipped to appreciate the Holy Father’s reflections on the impact of modern philosophy on the topic of faith and hope.
Pope Benedict begins by asking why there has been a shift toward a “narrowly individualistic” idea of hope and a “selfish search for salvation which rejects the idea of serving others.” (Spe Salvi, 16) To begin answering that question, he turns to one of the early, key figures in modern philosophy, Francis Bacon. Since my knowledge of this important figure in modern thought was so lacking, I decided to do a little research. Francis Bacon has been referred to many as the father of empiricism. A basic definition of empiricism is that it is “the philosophical theory that all knowledge comes from sensory experience. In other words, we learn and understand the world through what we see, hear, touch, taste, and smell.” (from Catholic Encyclopedia).
We can begin to see a problem with this type of philosophy, because it discounts or discredits anything not based on sensory experience, including faith and divine revelation, which are essential for the Christian world-view. Recall the definition of faith given in the Letter to the Hebrews: “Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.” (Heb. 11:1) My guess is that Fracis Bacon, and the system he promoted, would have seen this passage as foolish. If it cannot be seen or experienced, it cannot be verified and it must not be true. Now, given that I am lacking in my understanding of modern philosophy, perhaps my conclusion is a bit too black and white, and that the position of empiricism is a little more nuanced. But nevertheless, I think we can begin to see how such a way of thinking can lead to trouble for a worldview rooted in faith.
In the conclusion of this paragraph, Pope Benedict notes that this way of thinking proposed by Bacon “would mean that the dominion over creation —given to man by God and lost through original sin—would be reestablished” (Spe Salvi, 16) Original sin has the effect of darkening our intellect, and thus our relationship to creation has been damaged. Instead of relying on faith and grace to overcome this deficit, Bacon is proposing that science and progress can bring about a reestablishment of what had been lost.
What comes to mind is a term I heard many years ago, in which humanity claims a sort of “intellectual pride” over previous generations. They did not know as much as we do now, thus their reliance on things like faith to explain what they could not understand. But now, being more advanced, we are much smarter and better equipped to answer those questions to where faith is no longer necessary. The more we tap into science and technology, there is no problem we cannot solve, thus eliminating just about any need for faith.
Perhaps that is a bit of a stretch, and there is likely much more nuance to this position, but I think we can begin to see the danger of this way of thinking, and how necessary it is for us to have an adequate response to it, which, thanks be to God, the Church does.