In today's modern Western society, it has become increasingly popular not to identify with any religion, namely Christianity. The view that people today have about the existence of God and the role He plays in our world has changed dramatically since the period of the Enlightenment. Many look exclusively at the concept of reason, or the phenomenon that allows human beings to use their senses to draw conclusions about the world around them, to try to understand the environment in which they live. However, there are some who look to faith, or the concept of believing in a higher power as the reason for our existence. Since this is a fundamental question for humanity, there have been many attempts to explain what role each concept plays. I am convinced that faith and reason are both necessary to acquire knowledge for three reasons: first, both concepts coexist with each other; secondly, each deals with separate realms of reality, and thirdly, one without the other can lead to cases of extremism. There have been many Catholic thinkers who have addressed this topic, most notably John Paul II in his 1998 encyclical Fides et Ratio, or Faith and Reason in English. In it, he attempted to point out that faith and reason are not opposed to each other and that faith does not contradict reason. Rather, they actually complement each other. This is clear from the beginning of the encyclical, which states: «Faith and reason are like two wings with which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the heart of man the desire to know the truth - in a word, to know himself - so that, by knowing and loving God, men can reach the fullness of the truth about themselves. (FR 1).” The truth is discovered through interaction… in the middle of the paper… without each other leading to cases of extremism, including scientific materialism and biblical materialism. As John Paul II says in his encyclical Fides et Ratio, God has placed in our hearts the desire to know, and to achieve full understanding both faith and reason are needed together. Works Cited Barbour, Ian G. Religion in an Age of Science. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1990. Print. (BL 240.2 .B368 1990) Peacocke, AR Theology for a Scientific Age: Being and Becoming: Natural and Divine. Oxford, OX, UK: B. Blackwell, 1990. Print. (BL 240.2.P352 1990)"Fides et ratio, Encyclical Letter, John Paul II, 14 September 1998." Fides Et Ratio, Encyclical Letter, John Paul II, 14 September 1998. Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1998. Web. 21 November 2013Holy Bible: contemporary English version. New York: American Bible Society, 1995. Print. (BS195.C66 1995)