A Deeper Vision: The Catholic Intellectual Tradition in the Twentieth Century

by Robert Royal

In this wide-ranging and ambitious volume, Robert Royal, a prominent participant for many years in debates about religion and contemporary life, offers a comprehensive and balanced appraisal of the Catholic intellectual tradition in the twentieth century. The Catholic Church values both Faith and Reason, and Catholicism has given rise to extraordinary ideas and whole schools of remarkable thought, not just in the distant past but throughout the troubled decades of the twentieth century. Royal presents in a single volume a sweeping but readable account of how Catholic thinking developed in philosophy, theology, Scripture studies, culture, literature, and much more in the twentieth century. This involves great figures, recognized as such both inside and outside the Church, such as Jacques Maritain, Bernard Lonergan, Joseph Pieper, Edith Stein, Alasdair MacIntyre, Charles Taylor, Romano Guardini, Karl Rahner, Henri du Lubac, Karol Wojtyla, Joseph Ratzinger, Hans Urs von Balthasar,Charles Peguy, Paul Claudel, George Bernanos, Francois Mauriac, G. K. Chesterton, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Christopher Dawson, Graham Greene, Sigrid Undset, J. R. R. Tolkien, Czeslaw Milosz , and many more. Royal argues that without rigorous thought, Catholicism – however welcoming and nourishing it might be – would become something like a doctor with a good bedside manner, but who knows little medicine. It has always been the aspiration of the Catholic tradition to unite emotion and intellect, action and contemplation. But unless we know what the tradition has already produced – especially in the work of the great figures of the recent past – we will not be able to answer the challenges that the modern world poses, or even properly recognize the true questions we face. This is a reflective, non-polemical work that brings together various strands of Catholic thought in the twentieth century. A comprehensive guide to the recent past - and the future.

Genres: Philosophy, Theology, Catholic, History, Religion, Literature, Reference

619 pages, Paperback

First published October 19, 2015

Reviews

[Justin Evans · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not going to pretend I got nothing from this book, but it's hard to take seriously. It was hard to take seriously when I read it last month; it's even harder to take seriously now, because this book's essential argument is: The Catholic Intellectual Tradition in the Twentieth Century is the policy platform of the American Republican Party.

Um... no, it's not. But Royal, like so many Americans, sees everything in an absurdly politicized, Cold War-tinged light. Despite his protestations, it seems fairly clear that he despises Vatican II and everything that went with it; he sees any attempt to, you know, care about people as a horrendous betrayal of the essentially American-conservative nature of his religion.

That would be fine; one can hold that ridiculous position consistently, provided you're willing to ignore the enormous mass of Catholic Social Teaching that would suggest American society is, in fact, a tool of the devil.

What is not fine is Royal's utter ignorance of anyone and everyone who doesn't fit his cramped understanding of the true and the good. So, in this book, John Paul II is somehow considered a more important theologian than anyone from South America, ever. Strange. Edward Gibbon, meanwhile, is said to have thought it worthless to study history between the fall of the Roman Republic and the 'pagan' Renaissance--which would come as quite a shock to anyone who's read through his thousands and thousands of pages about, you know, everything in between.

Royal has the stamina for this immense project, which is quite an achievement. On the evidence of this book, though, he lacks the intellectual depth, cultural breadth, and, well, cosmopolitanism needed to do it well.

[Stuart · Rating 5 out of 5]

When we think back on the 20th Century, the first thing that enters most of our minds is war. The United States and other global parties lived through two World Wars and many lives were lost. When we look at the Catholic landscape in the 20th Century, the big event that comes to mind is the Second Vatican Council. However, there was so much going on in this century, both in the secular world and the Catholic world, that it's easy to get overwhelmed. Robert Royal's latest book A Deeper Vision provides a brief (600+ pages) overview of the Catholic intellectual tradition of the 20th Century. Such figures discussed include Ratzinger, Wojtyla, du Lubac, Pieper, Chesterton, and Tolkien just to name a few! Royal's book is divided into the following sections:

Part One: Faith and Reason
1. The Thomist Revival and Preconcilar Catholic Thought
2. Catholic Philosophy in a Time of Turmoil
3. Theology and the Throes of Modernity
4. Critical Interlude: The Second Vatican Council
5. A Renewed Theology and Modern Culture
6. The Three Ages of Scripture Studies
7. Scripture Study after the Council

Part Two: Creed and Culture
8. The Emergence of Culture as a Protagonist
9. Freshness Deep Down Things: The Catholic Literary Revival
10. The Two Frances
11. The Motley Society and After

I started this book at the beginning, as you would any book, but quickly found myself puzzled. Philosophy has never been my strong suit, nor has Thomas Aquinas. I plugged along, absorbing as much as I could. Chapter Three I started to get more familiar with the subject matter and didn't feel as overwhelmed. I found Pope Paul VI's statement on Vatican II very telling. He said that he felt "the sensation that through some fissure, the smoke of Satan has entered the temple of God. There is doubt, uncertainty, trouble, disquiet, dissatisfaction, confrontation. The Church is not trusted. . . . It was believed that after the [Second Vatican] Council there would be a day of sunshine for the history of the Church. What has come instead is a day of clouds, of darkness, of seeking, of uncertainty. . . . We believe that something preternatural (the devil) has come into the world to disturb, to suffocate, the fruits of the Ecumenical Council and to prevent the Church from bursting into a hymn of joy for having regained full awareness of itself."

As a book lover, I found the chapter on the Catholic Literary Revival to be most fascinating. Apart from talking about the great writers like Chesterton, Tolkien, and Belloc, Royal treats us to some excerpts of their writings. Chesterton's "Wine and Water" is one such example we read in this book. As a lover of the Bible, I thoroughly enjoyed reading Chapter Six and Seven. We learn about different Biblical interpretation methods and how interpretation methods have changed and evolved over time. We also learn about the three criteria Church Fathers have to guarantee that the interpretation method is in line with what the author wrote. First, you must keep divine authorship in mind. Second, you must keep in mind the content and unity of the whole work. Lastly, you must keep in mind church tradition and the "analogy of faith."

Overall, I found this book to be a deep but edifying book. It is not a book you just skim and put down, but one you read slowly and digest piece by piece. I think it would be especially useful in a classroom setting at the high school and/or college level, both in Catholic schools and in the homeschool setting. If you are looking for an impressive overview of the Catholic Church's intellectual tradition in the 20th Century, then this is the book for you. It is the perfect skeleton (and I say that lightly for a 600+ page book) that will provide you with plenty of names of people to read and flesh out your understanding on many different subjects.

[Samuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good survey of Catholic thought and creative writing in the twentieth century. While by no means comprehensive, it summarizes the basic thrust of various important thinkers and artists. I added quite a few new authors to my “to-read” list over the course of reading this book. It seemed to me that the second half of Royal’s survey, dealing with Catholic literature, was better written and easier to follow than the first, which deals with theology and philosophy— although perhaps that is just a case of my literary acumen outpacing my philosophical background.

[Conor · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an incredible book. It took me two years not because it is bad but because put it aside for awhile. Royal has written a phenomenal book.

[Christopher Blosser · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quoting from the publisher's description:

Royal presents in a single volume a sweeping but readable account of how Catholic thinking developed in philosophy, theology, Scripture studies, culture, literature, and much more in the twentieth century. This involves great figures, recognized as such both inside and outside the Church, such as Jacques Maritain, Bernard Lonergan, Joseph Pieper, Edith Stein, Alasdair MacIntyre, Charles Taylor, Romano Guardini, Karl Rahner, Henri du Lubac, Karol Wojtyla, Joseph Ratzinger, Hans Urs von Balthasar,Charles Peguy, Paul Claudel, George Bernanos, Francois Mauriac, G. K. Chesterton, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Christopher Dawson, Graham Greene, Sigrid Undset, J. R. R. Tolkien, Czeslaw Milosz, and many more.

I've long appreciated the writing of Robert Royal (see for example his regular online contributions to "The Catholic Thing"), so reading this book was a great pleasure. As expected, while the subject matter wide-ranging he demonstrates great personal familiarity with everyone.

The book wastes no time and gets down to business, with Part One dealing with "The Thomist Revival and Preconcilar Catholic Thought"; "Catholic Philosophy in a Time of Turmoil" and "Theology and the Throes of Modernity" … here Royal is particularly adept at translating some fairly difficult (at times) philosophical and theological subject matter for a popular audience. Others might gravitate towards his treatment of the theological (his explication of the documents of Vatican II, the thought of John Paul II and Pope Benedict), or the fascinating tour of Catholic literary giants — as far as I'm concerned the first section alone is worth the price of admission. I would easily select it as a readable and accessible college-level introduction to contemporary Catholic philosophy.

Another reviewer elsewhere on Amazon.com has expressed what I thought to be a legitimate reservation about Royal's treatment, being his:

… "acceptance" (as representatively Catholic,) of the content of so many of the authors he lists. There are definite, and quite dark threads that run through the works of authors like Mauriac and Bernanos, just to name a couple, and whether their dark-inspired yarns represent a true Catholic Intellectual Tradition is entirely arguable.

I admit to having a similar impression while reading whether the diversity of the authors and views represented (particularly in the realm of Catholic literature, which is understandable) could represent a coherent "Tradition" in the formal sense of the term. That being said, if one wishes to acquire an introduction and decent understanding of pivotal Catholic philosophers, theologians, poets and novelists in the Twentieth century, I could not think of a better place to start than here.

[Gregory Weber · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Deeper Vision is a good survey of Catholic intellectual life in the 20th century, but with the following limitations:

1. It is restricted to European Catholic intellectual tradition. Royal plans a second volume on the American side, according to the Introduction; I'm not sure whether that means the United States, or North and South America. There is no mention of Africa or Asia or the Pacific, either in the present volume or for a planned third volume. Perhaps there was nothing to mention from those places in the 20th century, though I certainly hope for great things from Africa in the 21st.

2. The "intellectual" tradition includes only philosophy, theology, history, and literature (poetry, plays, novels, etc.); there is no consideration of developments in areas such as economics and politics, the natural sciences, or other social sciences. Of course, some of these are less closely connected with the Catholic faith than others, so even though they are practiced by Catholic thinkers and scientists, the results of their work in some of these fields might not be considered part of the "Catholic" tradition.

Within these limits, the book surveys a broad variety of thinkers and writers, not only summarizing their ideas and stories but also with some biographical information and some critical evaluation. It is primarily useful to me as a jumping off place -- as a source of names of writers and books that I'd like to delve into more -- though some of the people and works were old friends.

[Eric Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's generally very good, and while Royal could of course widen his Catholic ambit beyond Europe next time, and while he definitely knows his Catholic (and especially French Catholic) literature, he still has an annoying habit of being a bit too Hegelian about where he has ended up politically, and still a touch too liberal than he would probably like to think, despite his efforts to come across as a bit centrist.

I'm not particularly sure who the audience is for this book, though. As a scholar, I am already familiar with the theological-philosophical side of the figures treated, knew most of the literary ones, but in general the book goes on for a bit too long (which he admits). If he was trying to make figures 'accessible', it would have been better to break this book into two.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

A survey of 100 years of Catholic intellectual thought.