Letters from a Modernist: The Letters of George Tyrrell to Wilfrid Ward, 1893-1908

by George Tyrrell

192 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1981

About the author

George Tyrrell SJ (6 February 1861 – 15 July 1909) was an Irish Jesuit priest (until his expulsion from the Society) and a modernist theologian and scholar. His attempts to evolve and adapt Catholic theology in the context of modern ideas made him a key figure in the modernist controversy within the Roman Catholic Church in the late 19th century.

Reviews

[Allan Savage]

To Tyrrell's letters Weaver has written annotations which are exceptionally detailed and prove, to my way of thinking, to be the most valuable part of this book for the historian and anyone interested in specifics of the relationship between Tyrrell and Ward. In her introduction she says that the demise of the relationship between Tyrrell and Ward "helps us to understand more clearly why late nineteenth century Catholic intellectuals were drawn to one another and to a common dream of a more expansive church" (p. xiii). Her presentation acknowledges Newman's role in the Modernist controversy as reflected through Tyrrell's correspondence. This book is an enlightening chronicle, albeit a one-sided chronicle, since Ward's letters are no longer extant. However, while I was left informed by Tyrrell's letters as presented by Weaver I was not as passionately moved by this book as I have been by other books on Tyrrell. Nevertheless, Weaver allows Tyrrell's letters to speak for themselves without any annoying overlay of opinionated interpretation. That consideration on her part is a joy in itself. Given all the material available on Tyrrell and Modernism this book is not a "must read", yet, one is poorer in choosing not to read it.