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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 230.0
EAN num: 9780393097665
ISBN number: 0393097668
Label: W. W. Norton & Company
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
Quantity: 1
Printing Date: 1968-07
Publishing house: W. W. Norton & Company
Sale Popularity Level: 605047
Studio: W. W. Norton & Company
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Once a well-known Anglican clergyman, Newman left his living in the 1840's, recanted his former criticism of the Roman Catholic Church and entered the priesthood. Framing his Apologia in reply to a grave and gratuitous slander made by Charles Kingsley, Newman produced one of the masterpieces of spiritual writing: honest, passionate, scrupulous and moving, this work is also a highly accomplished prose paradigm.
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Rated by buyers 
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Every conversion story seems to adhere to common themes. One of those is entailed in the story of David confronted by the prophet Nathaniel in Nathaniel's accusation, "You are that man!" John Newman's experience was not far removed. He set out to study the development of Christian doctrine with the intent of disproving heretical elements in his denomination and, in the process, found himself to be a heretic as well. His own position was indefensible in light of church history. With each heresy in history he found himself on the side of heresy. No, not because his beliefs were unorthodox but because he found himself challenged by the church that demanded the heretical groups defend their challenge to the authority of the church. He was not at odds with church doctrine so much as he was with church authority. And he realized the common denominator of all heresies was just that - a challenge to the teaching authority of the church.
All heresy came down to the same question, who had the final authority to define heresy? And any organization or individual who claims that authority, without the legitimate credentials of the church, is by definition, a heretic. Dr. Newman began to identify himself in every heresy he encountered in church history and the conclusion was apparent. No matter the cost, no matter the humiliation and criticism it might evoke, there was only one choice for him. He had to return to the mother church and turn away from kicking against her authority. His monumental and definitive historical study, An Essay On The Development Of Christian Doctrine, resulted in his now famous quip, "To be deep in history is to cease to be Protestant."
Dr. Newman's writing style is sometimes complex and difficult to follow. But this conversion story provides a depth of self-examination unmatched by many others. It follows several trails to the same destination at one time in explaining how conversion is seldom a one-track development of thought in a single moment of discovery. His conversion, like most conversions, was one that developed over time and even against his will in many ways. It is the study of a man increasingly challenged by his own presuppositions and the internal contradictions they revealed in his core beliefs. What is of particular interest is his conclusion that there are only two destinations - Catholic or Atheist - and that Protestantism, therefore, is nothing more than an expression of early development in Atheism. Or, more simply, Atheism is the logical and inevitable conclusion of Protestantism. The thoughts behind that conclusion are subtle and beyond the scope of a simple review so you will want to read it for yourself to see how that develops.
It is a road many have taken but few have dissected in such exacting detail. This is certainly a must read for anyone in the Anglican traditions. It is an enjoyable and challenging read for any Protestant.
Rated by buyers -
Cardinal Newman's journey from Anglicanism to the Roman Catholic Church cannot be told better than in his own words. Yet, in his own words, one must read slowly to get the style firmly in mind. Once done, the light of his words shines poetically and clearly. He is a man of great ability and devotion and worthy of hearing no matter how one feels about Anglicanism or Catholicism. A very economical value, too, as books go for the value of his words.
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This is an excellent defense of why one prominent Anglican intellectual and clergyman became a Catholic. Cardinal Newman gives a detailed account of his life through excerpting letters and other writings of his journey from the High-church Anglican Tractarian movement at Oxford, to a withdrawal from public life at a quiet parsonage, to final reception into the Catholic Church. Cardinal Newman gives his whole thought process and method of discovery that the fullness of the faith was only in the Catholic Church and why his longed for Via Media of Anglicanism existed only in his head. While written in the dry English style of the day, it is still an enjoyable read and a classic among conversion stories and apologetics.
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It is interesting to note that John Henry Cardinal Newman's Apologia Pro Vita Sua is as well regarded for its literary value
as for its theological depth. Perhaps the greatest modern figure in Roman Catholic/Anglican relations, this is Cardinal Newman's personal account of his conversion to Catholicism.
A moving, beautifully written work.
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"Apologia Pro Vita Sua" is John Henry Cardinal Newman's explanation of his religious views and actions from 1833 to the time of his writing in 1864. In order to understand this work, it must be understood that "Apologia" is translated more precisely as an explanation, rather than as an apology. Newman apologizes for nothing. He explains everything.
John Henry Cardinal Newman was a major British religious figure of the Nineteenth Century. A prominent Anglican priest, leader of the Oxford Movement and proponent of the "Via Media", Newman's conversion to Catholicism created many hard feelings among his Anglican friends.
This book was written as an answer to specific charges brought against him by particular people at various times. Much of the book involves references to actions and words of those with whom he collaborated, corresponded or met. At times it is difficult to maintain interest in charge-counter charges which make up much of the book. Although some of the charge-counter charges seem of little import today, I cannot say that the book ever becomes boring.
In some sections, particularly in his footnotes, Newman explains theological issues, although that is not the main thrust of the work.
This book gave me a deeper understanding of Newman individually and of the religious environment in England during his time than I had had previously. This book reveals the Anglican Church as a "Big Tent", so to speak, including a "High Church" which valued hierarchy and formal liturgy and a "Low Church" which more resembled the Methodist and other Protestant churches.
Newman viewed the Anglican Church as a branch of Catholicism in England. He was troubled by various steps taken by the Anglican Church, particularly the establishment of a Bishop in Jerusalem. Newman's position was that there were virtually no Anglicans in Jerusalem and that the plan for the bishop to have authority over Protestants, a group with which Newman did not identify, was unjustified. If the Anglican Church was a branch of the Catholic Church in England, what business did it have establishing a bishop in Jerusalem, a non-British territory, as a cooperative venture with German Protestants? He regarded this endeavor to use the Anglican Church to promote British prestige and national interests as another unjustified interference of politics in ecclesiastical matters.
I had always thought that Newman's conversion and rise in the Catholic hierarchy were unusual. In this book I learned that Newman was one of several Anglican clergymen who converted to Catholicism around his time, including another who became a Cardinal. The Catholic hierarchy was restored in England during Newman's day so his rapid rise may not have been as surprising as it would have been under more stable circumstances.
One might think that Newman's conversion from the Church of England to the Church of Rome and his subsequent treatment by some Englishmen may have dampened his patriotic enthusiasm. Nothing could be further from the truth. Newman's status as a proud Englishman remains obvious throughout this book.
In summation, this book is readable, interesting and gives the reader a taste of history and theology. I recommend it for anyone interested in Newman in particular and the history of the Church in general.
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