Newman the Priest: A Father of Souls by Gerard Skinner (review)

NEWMAN STUDIES JOURNAL 88 self. Each of these gave Newman an opportunity to explain himself and Catholicism. Chadwick rightly notes that these efforts served to lessen Protestant prejudice against Catholics and to remind Catholics that there was great intellectual breadth and depth to their tradition. Chadwick’s ready familiarity with the history of Christianity in England and Europe during the nineteenth century serves well here. In the final chapter of substance, Chadwick addresses Newman’s “fight against liberalism.” In this reviewer’s estimation, Chadwick missed the opportunity to expand on Newman’s own testimony found in his 1879 “Biglietto Speech” and decided instead to offer clarifications about various forms of liberalism which were possibly necessary in 1983, when he first published this work, but which seem unnecessary, or at least incomplete, today. It is no easy to task to write a short introduction to Blessed John Henry Newman. Professor Chadwick is to be thanked for reissuing this work. While the chapters are a bit uneven, he provides a thoughtful portrait of a Christian intellectual without equal in the English speaking nineteenth century. Probably not an introduction to Newman for your barber, accountant, or college freshman, this brief work would be a fine introduction for anyone familiar with the basic contours of Christian thought in the past 200 years and who is curious how Newman both reflected and shaped it. Chadwick writes with sensitivity to history and theology, as well as with an evident admiration for the many of Newman's unique contributions. While he is generally even-handed toward Newman before and after his conversion to Catholicism, his explanations bear more traces of Anglican than Catholic sympathy. Nicholas J. Rouch St. Mark Seminary, Erie, PA Newman the Priest: A Father of Souls. By Gerard Skinner. Leominster, Herefordshire:Gracewing,2010. Pages:xxiv + 302. Paper:ISBN 978–0–85244–736–9.£12.99. John Henry Newman has long been recognized as the author of four classics: his Apologia pro vita sua is considered a classic example of Victorian autobiography by historians, as well as literati; his Idea of a University has long been regarded by educators as a classic statement about the theory and practice of higher education. Similarly, philosophers and theologians have studied his Grammar of Assent as a classic explanation of the nature of belief, while his Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine has come to be recognized as a classic turning point in modern theological thought. Indicative of their stature as classics is the fact that all four of these volumes are both available in paperback and internet-accessible.1 Often missing from conventional lists of Newman’s classics are his spiritual writings—in spite of the fact that a substantial portion of his published corpus consists of sermons: ten volumes published during his Anglican years. Yet, rather incongruously, the most studied of his sermons—Oxford University Sermons—have often been viewed as theological treatises rather than spiritual reflections intended both to challenge and to encourage Christians in their pursuit of holiness. While 1 Most of Newman’s published works are available at: http://www.newmanreader.org. 89 there are some very good books on Newman’s spirituality, the list is comparatively short. On the one hand are authors such as Blehl, Bouyer and Honoré, who have presented Newman’s spirituality in tandem with his biography.2 On the other hand are authors, such as Dessain, Graef and Ker, who have highlighted important themes in Newman’s spiritual teaching.3 Another important resource is the on-going publication of his previously unpublished papers and sermons.4 These three views of Newman’s spirituality are masterfully combined in Gerard Skinner’s Newman the Priest. The first part of this book is a biographical portrait— based largely on Newman’s writings—of his Anglican ministry beginning with his ordination as a deacon of the Church of England on 13 June 1824, his service as a curate at St. Clement’s, his teaching as a tutor at Oriel, his preaching as Vicar of St. Mary’s, and then his Roman Catholic ministry: his ordination to the priesthood in Rome,his founding of the Oratory and his varied priestly activities at the...