THE TWO WINGS OF FAITH | KAIROS GLOBAL | APRIL 2021

Author: Dr. Chackochan J Njavallil

There is a widely prevalent, erroneous belief that Christian faith and the Church are against science, development and technology. Anybody who seriously investigates this issue will realise that this fallacious presumption has no sound basis. On the contrary, it is the Church that has significantly contributed to the development of science. Agenda driven mainstream  media, those with particular ideologies and a host of adversaries of Christian faith continue to spread false propaganda that many fall prey to.

Many youth happen to be victims of such misinformation campaigns. Unless they find out appropriate means to clarify their doubts, they continue to believe falsehoods, start distrusting the Church and its people and either drift away or start opposing the Church. I grew up in a very traditional Catholic family in a rather remote village environment. By age ten, I was an altar boy and involved in the local parish at various levels. Even then, by the time I turned 15, many doubts about faith and the Church began to emerge. Books I read which had atheistic leanings added to my confusion. Providentially, I happened to attend a renewal retreat in the first year of my college and that helped me with a new vantage point to relook everything and root my faith once again in Christ and His Church. 

Similar experiences of a large number of people makes it clear there should be conscious, systematic efforts to replace the ideologies and campaigns that put faith, Church and Christ in bad light. Various steps were taken by Kairos in this regard in the past.

-          For several years we had a regular column in Kairos Malayalam with the theme, Faith and Science

-          A large number of those articles were later published in the form of various books

-          On few occasions Kairos carried detailed cover stories on the topic

-     The theme of one of the webinars conducted by Kairos Media at the beginning of the lockdown period was ‘Is Science and Faith Contrary?’

-      In the era of social media communication Kairos initiated a weekly poster series, ‘Catholic Contributions’ which depicts the scientific contributions of scores of Christians and Catholics in the sphere of science and technology

-          Heeding to suggestions and requests from many, this issue of Kairos Global is discussing Faith and Reason

-          Kairos Media has also announced the publication of a new book for teenagers on the same topic

All these steps were taken with the conviction that in today’s world even ordinary people should be prepared and ready to counter questions relating to faith arising on various levels. 

The Church does not want its members to be blind regarding their faith and is never hesitant in answering questions from seekers. The encyclical by Pope John Paul II titled Fides at Ratio specifically addresses this issue: ‘Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth.’

We want our readers to be equipped to respond to questions regarding their faith. This issue of Kairos Global is a humble step in that direction.

We wish you all a blessed and joyous Easter.