Lumen Fidei - page 45

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nous life of Jesus. It also illumines the material
world, trusts its inherent order and knows that
it calls us to an ever widening path of harmo-
ny and understanding. The gaze of science thus
benefits from faith: faith encourages the scien-
tist to remain constantly open to reality in all its
inexhaustible richness. Faith awakens the critical
sense by preventing research from being satisfied
with its own formulae and helps it to realize that
nature is always greater. By stimulating wonder
before the profound mystery of creation, faith
broadens the horizons of reason to shed greater
light on the world which discloses itself to scien-
tific investigation.
Faith and the search for God
35. The light of faith in Jesus also illumines
the path of all those who seek God, and makes
a specifically Christian contribution to dialogue
with the followers of the different religions. The
Letter to the Hebrews speaks of the witness of
those just ones who, before the covenant with
Abraham, already sought God in faith. Of En-
och “it was attested that he had pleased God”
(Heb 11:5), something impossible apart from
faith, for “whoever would approach God must
believe that he exists and that he rewards those
who seek him” (Heb 11:6). We can see from this
that the path of religious man passes through
the acknowledgment of a God who cares for us
and is not impossible to find. What other reward
can God give to those who seek him, if not to
let himself be found? Even earlier, we encounter