The Rule of Our Warfare: John Henry Newman and the True Christian Life: A Reader

NEWMAN STUDIES JOURNAL 92 BOOK REVIEW THE RULE OF OUR WARFARE: JOHN HENRY NEWMAN AND THE TRUE CHRISTIAN LIFE: A READER BY JOHN HULSMAN, ED The Rule of OurWarfare:John Henry Newman and the True Christian Life: A Reader.Ed.John Hulsman. NewYork:Scepter Publishers,2003. Pages 195. Paper, $9.95, ISBN 1-889334-83-9. This handsomely bound anthology presents 94 short selections drawn primarily from John Henry Newman’s Parochial and Plain Sermons. A fair sampling of readings from his other Anglican and Catholic writings are sprinkled in for breadth and variety. Running an average of just under two pages each,every excerpt provides enough text to afford a reader an adequate context for fruitful Christian meditation. The book’s title—The Rule of Our Warfare—is a curious one. Its ambiguity invites readers to look for clues as to the nature of this project. Beyond the subtitle, which indicates that readers will have some access to Newman’s view of Christian living, one is not disappointed to discover on the dedication page the following evocative quotation: Such is the rule of our warfare. We advance by yielding; we rise by falling; we conquer by suffering; we persuade by silence; we become rich by bountifulness; we inherit the earth through meekness; we gain comfort through mourning;we earn glory by penitence and prayer. Heaven and earth shall sooner fall than this rule be reversed; it is the law of Christ’s kingdom, and nothing can reverse it but sin (Sermons Bearing on Subjects of the Day, 162; emphasis added). This early signpost suggests that readers have in hand at least a threefold prospect if they continue reading. No doubt readers will be engaged and uplifted by Newman’s refined English prose. Certainly readers should be braced for the challenge of counter-cultural living as citizens of Christ’s Kingdom. And perhaps,if readers obtain this anthology, they will have in possession a convenient window into some of Newman’s most riveting orations for years to come. This volume is organized thematically around six broad areas relevant to the Christian life, under the chapter titles: Faith,The True Christian Life,Temptations,The World,Doubts,and Mysteries. A 10-page introduction gives the uninitiated a brief but adequate summary of the life and importance of Newman. Here the purpose of the anthology is described as being motivated by Professor Hulsman’s desire to have his undergraduate English students introduced to Newman the homilist, whose brilliant sermons centered so much on“the restoration of holiness to the Christian life,that of both individuals and the Church.” For Hulsman,Newman combined the gifts of“sage 93 and shepherd,” and was ever engaged in “a profound attempt to relate learning and inquiry, even into the great mysteries of Redemption, to the most humble duties of daily Christian life”(12). Such a perspective should provide a necessary complement to the standard Newman anthologies studied in many universities. Within each chapter there is no further introductory material for the selections beyond a pithy subtitle supplied by the editor. These subtitles generally succeed at suggesting a line of thought or overarching admonition found in the piece. A reference at the end of each selection provides a citation from Longman’s Uniform Edition of Newman’s works, which can be readily accessed at www.newmanreader.org. The addition of the original composition’s date would have provided a context for the excerpt within Newman’s developing spirituality. The seven-page index covers both the introduction and selections and it proved useful on several occasions. Its overall scope and detail is proportionate to the work as a whole. Another helpful addition for a revised edition might be a separate index of all the primary sources used, listed by volume and sermon titles with their page numbers, and cross-referenced to the anthology’s page numbers. If not costprohibitive , the formatting might be improved by beginning each new selection at the top of a fresh page. Three well-chosen portraits of Newman illustrate the book,corresponding to the breadth of years the writings represent. The cover is graced with the perennially favorite chalk drawing by Richmond that idealizes Newman...