John Henry Newman: A Very Brief History (Very Brief Histories)

Cardinal John Henry Newman (1801-90) is now a saint, but this brief overview is not a simplehagiography. Eamon Duffy notes his very human flaws as well as his great abilities and virtues. The canonization was a moment of unity across the divides between Catholics and Anglicans, and acrossthe Catholic spectrum. He had something that everybody can like. But he also should be challengingto all of us, whether Catholic, Protestant, liberal, conservative or any other label.His grasp of history and the early Church Fathers led him to the Church, but also led him to struggle with ahistorical or static approaches.Newman's Anglican days produced his hymn Lead Kindly Light and some of his best sermonsin the Plain and Parochial Sermons. He took on theological liberalism as well as the Evangelicaltendencies in the Church of England.His conversion to the Catholic faith took place along with his theological masterpiece, the Essayon the Development of Christian Doctrine, with its seven tests or notes. Newman spent twentyyears perfecting his philosophical masterpiece, the essay on giving aid to A Grammar of Assent.This is on reaching certitude by inference, by the illative sense. There is a combination of headand heart, conscience, feeling, reason and will all in a balance. It's not just logic; even thoughNewman had such a great mind he needed heart and feeling as well. The Idea of a Universityremains popular in secular circles, but it presumes a prominent place for Catholic theology in aCatholic university. Finally, there is the Apologia Pro Vita Sua, an amazing autobiography offaith beginning with a debate with Charles Kingsley. Some challenged Newman's truthfulnessin his story, but the psychology is incredibly deep and nuanced.As a Catholic, Newman found his religion and faith more interesting, but his life more boring.It was typical of his personality type and temperament. Due to his need for both head and heart,he was never at home with the Scholastic approach to theology. This was in the anti-modernera in the 1800s of Popes Gregory XVI (1830-1846) and Pius IX (1846-1978). Leo XIII madehim cardinal, but emphasized Thomas Aquinas, where Newman was never completelyat home. He also had a hard time with ultramontanists (who overemphasized the Pope)like fellow convert Cardinal Manning, William Ward, and Fr. Frederick Faber, all in England.Newman had a tremendous impact on theology after his death. The other 19th century greatswere Mohler from Tubingen, and Scheeben who was more scholastic. At the turn of the century,the modernists Loisy and Tyrrell looked to Newman in spirit if not in actual doctrine. The greaterimpact came with German figures like Erich Pryzwara, Karl Adam and Romano Guardini. Ageneration later, this became the Vatican II theologians like Louis Bouyer, Yves Congar and Henri de Lubac.Also there were the transcendental Thomists like Karl Rahner and Bernard Lonergan. Lonergan'sInsight resembles the Grammar of Assent, while Congar's True and False Reform in the Churchdevelops the Development of Doctrine. Finally, Pope Benedict XVI has looked to Newmanfor conscience as not just subjective but magisterial, and of course Pope Francis canonizedNewman. Eamon Duffy notes that Benedict's interpretation can all be found in the Letterto the Duke of Norfolk, but Duffy finds it one-sided in terms of the meaning of the document.

I loved reading this concise examination of John Henry Newman. The writer gave me a new appreciation of Newman’s writings, especially those which influenced the documents of the Second Vatican Council. I highly recommend this book.

After reading an essay on Newman in the Saturday Review section of the Wall Street Journal, I was curious to learn more. The book is a very short intellectual history of Newman told from an admiring yet objective fashion. I could not on the surface detect the authors denomination or for that matter whether the author was religious at all.The book is broken down into the various stages of Newman’s intellectual life; Evangelical, High Church Anglo Catholic and Catholic convert. It helps to have a basic understanding of Christian doctrine and 19th English history to follow the Newman’s biography. There is a helpful chronology in the beginning that serves as a good reference if the reader gets lost or confused.

Fast delivery. Well researched and written. Made good subject for Catholic book discussion group.

An intellectually stimulating read. Not for the casual reader who doesn’t have a basic understanding of 19th century papal politics and some understanding of John Henry Newman already. I thoroughly enjoyed the read.

As you expect from Duffy this is engaging, scholarly and a superb read.

Eamon Duffy on a wet afternoon. Too brief to allow for engagement. For me, Newman remained an intellectualising Anglican. If you are going to convert to Catholicism why not do it properly? The grammar of shuffling.

A wonderful book about an exceptional man