Voir l'invisible. Le monde surnaturel chez John Henry Newman by Frédéric Libaud (review)

Although John Henry Newman devoted but a single sermon among those preached during his Anglican years (1825–1843) to "The Invisible World" (16 July 1837), the theme permeates the entire corpus in the eight volumes published. Libaud finds in it "a cornerstone of Newman's thought" (170). While frequently emphasized by commentators on Newman, it has not been the subject of an in-depth study. This volume is intended to rectify the deficit.

To that end, L. divides his study into two parts. In the first, he traces various sources that shaped Newman's appreciation of the visible and invisible worlds and of their interrelation. In three chapters, he considers in turn significant life experiences that impacted Newman such as his conversion of 1816 and experiences of death and illness; the influence of Scripture and of the Fathers of the church, especially the Alexandrian Fathers; and Romanticism, especially in its literary guise. In part two he turns to the 191 sermons that comprise the Parochial and Plain Sermons. Here again the exposition is set out over three chapters. First, in a lexical study he retrieves equivalent expressions for "visible world" and "invisible world" (e.g., "external/outward world," "world of senses," "next world," "world to come," "inward world") and traces nuances among the use of these various expressions, before proceeding to a systematic rendering of the invisible world and its inhabitants, notably the angels. The final two chapters consider the implications of the invisible world for Newman's Christological, ecclesiological, and sacramental theology (chapter 5) and his spirituality (chapter 6).

To do theology systematically, it is necessary to decide upon an organizing principle, a way of ordering the data of revelation. In an analogous way, in an attempt to present another's theology systematically, an entry point is required, together with a decision on how to organize and present coherently statements distributed over time and content. In the second part of his study and indeed throughout, L. draws liberally from Newman's texts and sheds light on Christology, ecclesiology, and sacramental theology from the adopted perspective. He notes that the initial sermon in the collection is on holiness, which he views as a programmatic statement of the contents of the whole. What it means to live in the visible world in light of the invisible becomes the touchstone for presenting Newman's spirituality. The presentation of these two worlds and their interpenetration, set out in more general form in chapter 4 and applied in the succeeding chapters, is helpful in bringing together aspects of Newman's thought. L. makes good on his claim that the invisible world provides a privileged standpoint from which to view that thought as it is developed in the sermons. Occasionally, L. goes beyond that corpus to indicate how Newman later filled in lacunae in the sermons (e.g., the role of Mary) or points ahead to Vatican II to suggest how Newman was in some respects a precursor of positions adopted there.

That said, the initial chapters will require some patience on the reader's part. The setting out of the scriptural and patristic heritage that Newman drew upon is done at some length. The chapter on Romanticism begins with the movement as a more general phenomenon before suggesting some of its national particularities, its literary expressions, and, connections to Newman's own style of expression. Those familiar with Newman's life, patristic study, and literary output may want to go directly to part two. For Anglophone readers the placing of the original texts in endnotes means a lot of flipping back and forth to the French text. The author provides a perspective on Newman's thought that coordinates and connects various aspects and makes it worth the effort.