Ebook
In his autobiography Joseph Turmel (1859-1943) has left an intensely personal account of his struggles to reconcile his Catholic faith with the results of historical-critical methods as those impacted biblical exegesis and the history of dogma. Having lost his faith in 1886, he chose to remain as a priest in the Church, even while he worked to undermine its teachings. He did so initially in writings published under his own name and, as his conclusions became increasingly radical, under a veritable team of pseudonyms. He was excommunicated in 1930. His account of his life is less a discussion and defense of his ideas than it is a moral justification of his conduct. Turmel is associated with the left wing of Roman Catholic Modernism along with Albert Houtin, Marcel Hebert, and Felix Sartiaux
”Disillusioned as a young priest in his twenties by discovering
the incongruity of Catholic dogma with serious critical scholarship
on Scripture and church history, Joseph Turmel dedicated the rest
of his life to destroying church authority by remaining a priest
while at the same time pseudonymously publishing scholarly books
and articles undermining church dogma. Only as an old man was he
discovered and excommunicated."
--Lawrence Barman, Saint Louis University
“’Martyr to the Truth is an important book that, for the
first time, gives English readers direct access to one of the more
intriguing characters involved in the modernist crisis. Turmel’s
account of his painful loss of faith, and his effort to justify his
decision to remain in the Catholic Church under false pretenses,
illustrate both the human dimension and the moral issues at stake
in a controversy sometimes seen as purely intellectual."
--Harvey Hill, UST School of Theology
C. J. T. Talar is Professor of Systematic Theology at the
University of Saint Thomas, Houston. He has published extensively
on Roman Catholic Modernism.
Elizabeth Emery is Professor of French at Montclair State
University. She has published works dedicated to nineteenth- and
early twentieth-century European and American literature, art, and
history.
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