A synoptic investigation of the underlying philosophies of twelve religious thinkers from Newman to Ratzinger. It argues that between the Oxford Movement and Vatican II, there was a profound shift, not so much in the content of religious belief, as in the way it was held. This shift, more intellectual than theological, is in the book termed the Critical Impulsion. It may be described as a change from categorically affirmed authority to critically observed method.

S.A.M. ADSHEAD is Professor Emeritus in History at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand. He was educated at Stowe School and Christ Church, Oxford, and studied Chinese History at Harvard University. He is the author of The Modernization of the Chinese Salt Administration, Province and Politics in Late Imperial China, Salt and Civilization, Central Asia in World History and The Philosophy of History in Nineteenth-Century England and Beyond.

Preface PART ONE: TRUTH Introduction: From Authority to Method Newman: Method and Authority Manning: Authority and Method Wilberforce: High Authority, Low Method Tait: The Implosion Deflated Creighton: The Sufficiency of History Bradley: From History to Mystery PART TWO: MEANING Teilhard de Chardin: From the Absolute to Omega White: The Testimony of Psyche Griffiths: Twilights of the Raj Florovsky: Critical Tradition Lonergan: Critical System Ratzinger: Critical Magisterium Notes Bibliography Index