Lumen Fidei - page 48

48
Faith and theology
36. Since faith is a light, it draws us into itself,
inviting us to explore ever more fully the hori-
zon which it illumines, all the better to know the
object of our love. Christian theology is born of
this desire. Clearly, theology is impossible with-
out faith; it is part of the very process of faith,
which seeks an ever deeper understanding of
God’s self-disclosure culminating in Christ. It
follows that theology is more than simply an ef-
fort of human reason to analyze and understand,
along the lines of the experimental sciences. God
cannot be reduced to an object. He is a subject
who makes himself known and perceived in an
interpersonal relationship. Right faith orients
reason to open itself to the light which comes
from God, so that reason, guided by love of the
truth, can come to a deeper knowledge of God.
The great medieval theologians and teachers
rightly held that theology, as a science of faith, is
a participation in God’s own knowledge of him-
self. It is not just our discourse about God, but
first and foremost the acceptance and the pursuit
of a deeper understanding of the word which
God speaks to us, the word which God speaks
about himself, for he is an eternal dialogue of
communion, and he allows us to enter into this
dialogue.33 Theology thus demands the humili-
33 Cf. Bonaventure, Breviloquium, prol.: Opera Omnia, V,
Quaracchi 1891, 201; In I Sent., proem, q. 1, resp.: Opera Omnia,
I, Quaracchi 1891, 7; T homas Aquinas, S. Th I, q.1.