The Catholic Enlightenment

"Gone are the days when one could ignore the existence of a rich and vibrant Catholic Enlightenment. This collection of texts, the first of its kind, powerfully brings to light Catholicism's multifaceted engagement with the values and methodologies of the eighteenth century. It is sure to become an indispensable resource for all those interested in the history of Christianity and its role in the intellectual foundations of modernity"—Helena Rosenblatt, author of The Lost History of Liberalism: From Ancient Rome to the Twenty-first Century

"This pioneering volume makes it possible to put key Catholic Enlightenment sources in the hands of American students. It will revolutionize our ability to teach the subject to students at all levels. It will be a major aid in transforming the regnant conception of the Enlightenment as a secular phenomenon hostile to religion."—David Sorkin, author of The Religious Enlightenment: Protestants, Jews, and Catholics from London to Vienna

"This book offers an admirable cross-section of voices, many of which are under-represented in previous research on eighteenth-century learned culture, and they encourage us to consider the pluralism that is often eclipsed by the term "Enlightenment". By highlighting often overlooked sources from Catholics of this period, Lehner and Blanchard challenge our understanding of early modernity. Early Modern Catholic Sources is, therefore, a valuable counterweight to established narratives about the Enlightenment and a useful resource book for professors developing course materials on this period."—Seventeenth-Century News

"The Catholic Enlightenment: A Global Anthology is a most welcome addition to the growing corpus of works focused on the Catholic Enlightenment. It provides specialist and non-specialist readers alike with an accessible and manageable introduction to the topic, with each chapter containing short explanatory introductions and further reading lists. For those seeking to broaden their understanding of the movement, and indeed of the wider history of the Church in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, this volume will be an invaluable introduction and asset."—British Catholic History