Though the figures associated with the Modernist crisis in Roman Catholicism are normally viewed as looking forward in terms of critical history and philosophy, they also looked back in history to the church's mystical tradition. Modernists and Mystics is the first book to tell the story of the Modernist turn to the mystical. It focuses on four diverse modernist-era figures—Friedrich von Hügel, Maurice Blondel, Henri Bremond, and Alfred Loisy—and explores their understanding of mysticism and their relationship to mystics. In addition to Talar, the contributors are: Lawrence Barmann, professor emeritus, Saint Louis University; Harvey Hill, associate professor of religion, Berry College; +Michael J. Kerlin, former professor and chair of philosophy, LaSalle University; William L. Portier, Mary Ann Spearin Chair of Catholic Theology, University of Dayton; C. J. T. Talar is professor of systematic theology at the University of Saint Thomas. He was co-convener of the Roman Catholic Modernism Seminar (1995-1999) and has worked on John Henry Newman and modern French Catholicism. He is coauthor, with Harvey Hill and Louise-Pierre Sardella, of and his chapter on Marcel Hébert appears in David G. Schultenover, ed., both published by the Catholic University of America Press. PRAISE FOR THE BOOK: "Catholic Modernists were seen by their opponents as prone to rationalism and subjectivism. , however, reminds us how many of them strove to regain the 'deeper and freer Catholic cause' (F. von Hügel) against what they saw as a neo-scholastic constriction of a rich spiritual tradition. This highly readable volume is the newest fruit of American research on Modernism, unparalleled in the world by its continuity of vivid discussion."—Claus Arnold, Professor of Church History, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main " opens a door to a unique group of thinkers and theologians who attempted to create a Roman Catholic renaissance out of the meeting of science, critical thinking, and their own mystical sensibility. The study's contributors eloquently fill an important gap in the modern study of Western mysticism and Chris