Ressourcement

"The work of French philosopher Maurice Blondel lies behind most of the controversies in twentieth-century French Catholic thought, and bore its fruit in the Second Vatican Council. Recognized in Europe as one of the outstanding figures in the Catholic revival that began at the turn of the century, Blondel was described by Pope John Paul II as "one of the first to discern what was at stake in the Modernist crisis." Published together here are two of Blondel's most significant texts. The Letter on Apologetics (1896) is a key statement on the possibility and meaning of Christian philosophy. History and Dogma (1904), written in response to the Modernist crisis, is an important contribution to the notion of tradition, seeing it neither in terms of historicism nor as something mechanical, but as a living synthesis. Introductory essays by Alexander Dru and Illtyd Trethowan provide essential historical and biographical background as well as an account of the philosophical and theological principles of Blondel's thought." -- Back cover.

This book collects a fascinating series of letters written by theologian-philosopher Romano Guardini in the mid-1920s in which he works out for the first time his sense of the challenges of humanity in a culture increasingly dominated by the machine. With prophetic clarity and unsettling farsightedness, Guardini's letters poignantly capture the personal implications and social challenges of living in the technological age - concerns that have now come to fruition seventy years after they were first raised.

The universal appeal of Charles Peguy (1873-1914) has made him one of France's best-loved poets. His influence has also caused a gentle but unmistakable shift in twentieth-century Catholic thought, leaving a legacy that continues in such writers as Bernanos, Marcel, Guardini, de Lubac, and Balthasar. In The Portal of the Mystery of Hope Peguy offers a comprehensive theology ordered around the often-neglected second theological virtue, which is incarnated in his celebrated image of the "little girl Hope." As the first critical edition of Peguy's poetry to appear in English, this volume also contains a biographical chronology, a bibliography, and a host of notes that situate the poem in the context of Peguy's life.