The Letter on Apologetics' is a key statement on the possibility and meaning of Christian philosophy. 'History and Dogma', written in response to the Modernist crisis, is an important contribution to the notion of tradition, seeing it neither in terms of historicism nor as something mechanical, but as a living synthesis.Modernism was almost a traumatic experience for Roman Catholicism. Its official condemnation led to an era of fear and unfreedom in Catholic scholarship, wit repercussions that continue even today.