In the encyclical Fides et Ratio, John Paul II powerfully pleads for a strenghtened dialogue between Christian faith and philosophical reason. The Pope draws his argument from a personalist idea of revelation: if thruth rests in plenitude in the incarnate Word, it necessarily follows that a cooperation between faith and reason is required in order to elucidate the Christian mystery and to make it available to all nations. The twofold mission of faith (self-clarification and attention to the various forms of rationality which develop in the world) implies a resort to philosophical reason. The logic of incarnation applies to this dialogue, in which both confusion and division ought to be avoided. There is confusion when an excessive rationality transforms the Christian message into a mere philosophy (in this lies the always resurgent danger of gnosis). There is division either when faith rejects rationality or when reason cuts itself off completely from the problems of sense. Division between Christian faith and philosophy has been prevalent in modern times, but nowadays hopeful signs of a renewed dialogue seem to appear on the horizon.
