Alfred Loisy’s enduring significance, in Maude Petre’s view, lay in his struggle to define the relationship between religious faith and facts accessible to historical critics. Arguing from both his understanding of religious faith and his commitment to historical scholarship, he opposed what Petre called the “theologico-scientific presentation of dogma” prevalent in the Roman Catholic Church of the early 20th century. Loisy thus sought to preserve the integrity of both critical scholarship and mystical faith.