Note

These letters, which explain Tyrrell's notion of ‘prophetic truth’ were written to the Abbé Louis Venard, who, as a young seminarist had become a keen student of Biblical exegesis under the influence of his teacher, Loisy. He later made an eirenic contribution to the debate between Loisy and Blondel over the relation between history and dogma (‘La valeur historique du dogme’, Bulletin de Littérature Ecclesiastique, 5 (1904), 338–57) which included a discussion of Lex Orandi. The letters are reproduced by kind permission of Father André Venard.

The ‘via media’: an unwritten chapter of Lex Orandi

Richmond, Yorkshire – Jan. 15, 1905

My dear Abbé Venard –

I am immensely obliged to you for your excellent piece of criticism which, it is no paradox to say, has enabled me to understand myself better and to see my relationship to those other three from whom I have learned so much, and with whom I deem it a great honour to be thus associated by you. As regards my own book Lex Orandi it was a great satisfaction to me to see how exactly you have comprehended my less obvious implications; and amongst these, my designed ambiguity in regard to the point which divides M. Loisy from Père L. and from M. Blondel, namely the determination of history (and, mutatis mutandis, science or philosophy) by dogma.