Catholic exegesis, the Church and the historic-critical method at the break of the 20th century

Abstract

The paper presents an attempt to a general presentation of the fates of the Catholic exegesis at the break of the 20th century. It shows on the lives of Catholic bible scholars (M.

J. Lagrange OP, Vincent Zapletal OP, Alfred Loisy and Franz von Hummelauer SI) the transformations of the progressive scientific exegesis in the Catholic Church that underwent a dynamic advancement.

The refusal of the historic-critical method in the exegesis of the Scriptures in the beginning of the pontificate of Pius X led to partial or complete suspension of the scientific career of most of them. The paper follows later fortunes of these men and their reaction to the drastic restriction of their scientific and academic freedom from the Church authorities.