Product Overview
In this book two college professors explain how believing and reasoning are two human activities that may be integrated to form a complete view of human existence. They take their title from the opening of John Paul II's encyclical Fides et Ratio, which speaks of the human spirit rising on the two wings of faith and reason to stretch toward the truth that is available to all.
In the first part of the book, the authors offer a basic yet engaging encounter with traditional arguments for and against God's existence. They grapple with doubts arising from the question of evil and the discoveries of contemporary natural science. The final chapters take up questions from ethics and politics that impact the way individuals and communities choose to structure their lives.
This book is non-dogmatic; it seeks to probe the contours of the questions asked by inquiring minds. The authors fairly address arguments supporting and opposing their own viewpoints while using simple analogies designed for non-specialists. Thus they provide the best available starting point for confidently entering into the greatest conversation of all time.
Editorial Reviews
"A powerful and wide-ranging response to the view that faith and reason are mere opposites—and not both vital powers of a well-formed heart, mind, and soul. Clayton and Kries have made good use of their long experience in the classroom to provide accessible yet solid commentary on God, man, thought, cosmology, modern biology, the moral life, life in community, and much more."
— Robert Royal, President, Faith & Reason Institute; Author, A Deeper Vision
"Two Wings harmonizes theism with sound philosophy and contemporary science, and draws out its implications for moral and political life. This thoughtful introduction to the integration of Christian faith with human reason is illuminating without being dogmatic, exploratory without being indecisive, simple without being simplistic."
— Michael Augros, Ph.D., Author, The Immortal in You and Who Designed the Designer?
"Comprehensive, illuminating, and accessible, Two Wings provides a wonderfully wide-ranging investigation of the relationship between faith and reason, and religion and science. After discussing how faith and reason work together in theory and in practice, the book explores the classic arguments for and against God's existence and examines the great modern scientific challenges to faith—Darwinian evolution, the Big Bang, and modern physics." — John Hill, Ph.D., Author, After the Natural Law
"Although written from a Catholic perspective, the authors are nonetheless fair and judicious in addressing both the common ground and the differences between Christian, Jewish, and Muslim perspectives. The valuable historical context provided for each issue and the many superb examples are the result of years of classroom experience."
— Paul McNellis, S.J., Professor of Philosophy, Boston College
"Readers will feel as though they are in Clayton's and Kries' classrooms, conversing with teachers who listen well to the real questions they have and answering with clarity and care."
— Thomas Harmon, Ph.D., Professor of Theology and Culture, John Paul the Great University
