Creative Tension

Ellen M. Leonard's study of Baron Friedrich von Hügel's life, thought, and spiritual vision rediscovers this important Catholic voice from the turn of the 20th Century.  Hügel was a lay theologian who maintained both his personal equilibrium and his spiritual leadership role during the complex days of the "modernist movement."  Hügel sees three elements of religion: the authoritative, historical, and institutional; the critical, speculative, and philosophical; the intuitive, vocational, and mystical.  Leonard's study concentrates both on Hügel's writings and spiritual activities.