Cambridge Library Collection - Religion
2 total works
John Henry Newman (1801-1890) was an English priest and theologian, whose highly publicised and controversial conversion to Catholicism helped to dispel prejudice towards Catholics in Victorian society. After graduating from Trinity College, Oxford, Newman was ordained as an Anglican deacon in 1824. He gradually became more conservative in his beliefs, becoming a member of the Oxford Movement before converting to Catholicism and being received into the Roman Catholic Church in 1845; he was made a cardinal in 1879. This volume, first published in 1864, contains Newman's classic religious autobiography. Writing in response to a perceived attack on Catholicism by historian and novelist Charles Kingsley, Newman describes his changing religious beliefs between 1833 and 1845 and discusses his spiritual motivations for converting. Newman's emotional sensitivity and clear style ensured the popularity of this volume, which was extremely influential in establishing him as the leading exponent of Catholicism in Victorian England.
John Henry Newman (1801-1890) remains one of the best-known and influential English churchmen of the nineteenth century. Ordained as a priest in the Anglican Church in 1825, he converted to Roman Catholicism, being ordained as a priest and later appointed cardinal. His works include Grammar of Assent (1870) and Apologia Pro Vita Sua (1865-1866) as well as this Essay (1845), written in the midst of his own religious transformation. He discusses his theory of the development of Christian dogma: 'from the nature of the human mind, time is necessary for the full comprehension and perfection of great ideas ... the longer time and deeper thought for their full elucidation'. By showing how fidelity to timeless truths coexisted in Christianity together with deeper and more developed understanding over time, Newman provides a helpful personal and theological apology for the teaching and practice of Catholicism against its detractors.