“Education then is not merely to teach reading or writing—not to fit us for the successful performance of our worldly calling, nor to inculcate the bare principles of belief and practice; it is not to impart barren lifeless knowledge; but to work together with God in the salvation of souls.”  John Henry Newman

ARTICLES

Newman in Twentieth-Century American Literature: Fitzgerald, Lewis, and O’Connor

 James M. Pribek

 This essay traces Newman’s rich legacy in modern American literature in the writings of three prominent American writers of the last century: F. Scott Fitzgerald, who plays off of Newman’s definition of a gentleman in his The Beautiful and Damned (1922); Sinclair Lewis, who connects the figure of Carlyle Vesper to Newman in Gideon Planish (1943); and Flannery O’Connor, who mentioned Newman in four published letters, and whose artistic vision was shaped appreciably by Newman’s Apologia and his Grammar of Assent.

Fr. James Pribek, an assistant professor of English at Canisius College (Buffalo, New York), specializes in Modern and Contemporary Irish Literature, especially the work of James Joyce.

The Rise and Fall of Newman’s Anglican School: From the Caroline Divines to the Schola Theologorum

Drew Morgan

This essay examines Newman’s attention to the theological schools and the great weight he gave to theology as the regulating principle of the entire Church system.  The first section examines Newman’s adherence to the Caroline Divines and their influence upon his Lectures on the Prophetical Office of the Church.  The second section considers Newman’s “Preface to the Third Edition of the Via Media” (1877), which presented his expanded vision of the Schola Theologorum, which led to his Christological ecclesiology.  A brief conclusion reflects on the contemporary relevance of Newman’s final vision of the Church. 

 Very Rev. Drew Morgan, C.O., is Provost of the Pittsburgh Oratory and Director of the National Institute for Newman Studies.

How the Gospel Encounters Culture in the Catholic University: A Neglected Lesson from John Henry Newman

 John F. Crosby 

This essay—originally a presentation at the annual meeting of the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars, September 28, 2007, in Washington DC—uses the concept of a “power of assimilation” from Newman’s Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine to show how the Christian intellectual exercises this power in encountering the surrounding non-Christian culture.

 John F. Crosby, Professor of Philosophy at Franciscan University of Steubenville, is author of The Selfhood of the Human Person and Personalist Papers, as well as many studies on Newman.  

Benedict Of Nursia, John Henry Newman, and the Torrey Honors Institute Of Biola University: An Approach To Christian Learning

Greg Peters

This essay first considers the Benedictine monastic schools and their educational philosophy in relation to the writings of John Henry Newman on education and then provides a comparison with the curriculum at the Torrey Honors Institute of Biola University with particular emphasis on their respective views of scripture and its use in academic and formational contexts.

Greg Peters, assistant professor of theology at the Torrey Honors Institute of Biola University (La Mirada, California), was a scholar in residence last year at the National Institute for Newman Studies in Pittsburgh.  

John Henry Newman And Luigi Giussani: Similarities In Their Conceptions Of Reason

Matthew Briel

This essay examines some aspects of the conceptions of reason in the thought of Luigi Giussani and John Henry Newman.  Although the two writers have different approaches and emphases, their notions of reason display striking complementarities, especially in regard to the complex relationship of the reason and the will, converging probabilities, and the operation of reason in relation to faith (informal inference).

Matthew Briel, a graduate student in the department of Classical and Near Eastern Studies at the University of Minnesota, expresses his appreciation to his father who introduced him to Newman and read a preliminary draft of this essay.

The Eyes Of Faith:  Newman’s Critique Of Arguments From Design

Kevin Mongrain

This essay examines the theological and rhetorical concerns animating John Henry Newman’s evaluation of efforts to prove the existence of God and/or the truth of Christianity with philosophical arguments about the design of nature.  Newman’s complex position on arguments from design ought to be interpreted in light of his broader theological understanding of the challenges posed to the practice of Christian faith in his nineteenth century context. These challenges required that apologetics first and foremost defend the truth of Christianity as a religion of holiness, not as a religion of reasonableness.

Kevin Mongrain is an assistant professor in the Program of Liberal Studies at the University of  Notre Dame.

BOOK REVIEWS

Alvaro Silva reviewing:  Sebastián Randle, La Gran Conversación: Castellani–Newman.  

 John Ford reviewing: James Arthur and Guy Nichols:  John Henry Newman.

 IN MEMORIAM 

Avery Cardinal Dulles, SJ

Rev. Joseph C. Linck

BIBLIOGRAPHY

NEWMAN CHRONOLOGY