Progress and Religion: An Historical Inquiry (The Works of Christopher Dawson)

Foreword

Foreword by Christina Scott Thirty years have elapsed since the death of Christopher Dawson— years in which we have seen vast cultural and scientific changes—and while at first it seemed as if his work might sink into oblivion or be overtaken by new philosophies and ideas, this has evidently not been the case. On the contrary, interest in his work seems to be steadily on the increase. As my father’s literary executor, I am on the receiving end, so to speak: scholars write to me, not only from America, where his work is most widely known and respected, but from Japan to Spain and Mexico and countries that were formerly behind the Iron Curtain. A recently published Russian dictionary of philosophy nominates Dawson among the four hundred most eminent thinkers of all countries and all times. And my current correspondence includes a student from Siberia. Since 1990 no fewer than five of Dawson’s books have been published in Prague with a sixth on its way. In America, particularly, interest is growing. The Centre for Catholic Studies at the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minnesota, has acquired the library and archive of Dawson’s papers (formerly at the University of St. Thomas More, Saskatchewan). St. Mary’s College, Notre Dame, still runs the course in Christian culture founded by Dr. Bruno Schlesinger in Dawson’s lifetime, under the new description of Humanistic Studies. And there have been various symposia to study aspects of his thought, most recently one at Belmont Abbey College, with the theme: “Christopher Dawson—Historian for the 21st Century.” However, in the past 30 years, while a few individual volumes have been reissued in the English language there has never been a systematic attempt to republish Dawson’s major works until recently when the Catholic University of America Press, in conjunction with the Univervii sity of St. Thomas, announced their intention to do so. They propose to reissue, during the course of the next two years, three of Dawson’s most important books, in the following order: Progress and Religion, Medieval Essays and The Making of Europe which will be introduced by scholars with the specialized knowledge to point out changes brought about by modern research. This important publishing event will, I am sure, be welcomed by all students and admirers of Dawson’s work, who have been unable to obtain up-to-date editions of these books which have been out of print for about fifty years. i i Christopher Dawson was born in 1889 in the last years of the Victorian age. He grew up in the Edwardian era and came to his maturity in the period between the two world wars when he made his name as a cultural historian and one of the first supporters of European unity. During this time he was also seen as one of the leading figures in the Catholic intellectual revival, among whom were numbered such in- fluential writers as his great friend E. I. Watkin, Martin D’Arcy, S.J., Alec Dru (the authority on Kierkegaard), Jacques Maritain and Etienne Gilson. During World War II, in his writings as editor of the Dublin Review and as Vice-President of The Sword of the Spirit Movement , he appealed to all Christians to defend their spiritual heritage in the face of the totalitarian menace. This ecumenical enterprise, founded by Cardinal Hinsley, Archbishop of Westminster, did not receive whole-hearted acceptance from the rest of the Catholic hierarchy in Great Britain; for them it was a bridge too far, and they stood firmly against any attempt at inter-church cooperation—an attitude which had to wait for Vatican II to show any signs of change. His post-war career was marked by two important academic appointments. The first was an invitation to deliver the GiVord Lectures (1948–1949) at Edinburgh University—a lectureship generally considered the most coveted and distinguished in Great Britain. The second, ten years later, was his appointment as first occupant of the Chair in Roman Catholic Studies at Harvard University founded by the late Chauncey Stillman. This was the crowning achievement of his career at a time when he would viii Foreword have reached retirement age in England—he was nearly 69 when he took up his post. It was curtailed, however, when, after a series of strokes, he felt obliged to resign from his Chair in 1962. He then...