Synopses & Reviews
One of the most controversial religious figures of the nineteenth century, John Henry Newman (1801and#8211;1890) began his career as a priest in the Church of England but converted to the Roman Catholic Church in 1845. He became a cardinal in 1879.
Between 1833 and 1845 Newman, now best known for his autobiographical Apologia Pro Vita Sua and The Idea of a University, was the aggressive leader of the Tractarian Movement within Oxford University. Newman, along with John Keble, Richard Hurrell Froude, and E. B. Pusey, launched an uncompromising battle against the dominance of evangelicalism in early Victorian religious life. By 1845 Newmanand#8217;s radically outspoken views had earned him censure from Oxford authorities and sharp criticism from the English bishops.
Departing from previous interpretations, Turner portrays Newman as a disruptive and confused schismatic conducting a radical religious experiment. Turner demonstrates that Newmanand#8217;s passage to Rome largely resulted from family quarrels, thwarted university ambitions, the inability to control his followers, and his desire to live in a community of celibate males.
Review
"Frank Turner provides a genuinely new and exciting reading of Newman's much-read
Apologia, juxtaposing the historical conditions of nineteenth-century England with Newman's version of them."—George Levine, Rutgers University
Review
"In his own life and for the Church, John Henry Newman navigated the narrows between change and tradition, freedom and dogma, conscience and authority. Such tensions split the world still. Newman's masterpiece, as elegantly presented by Frank M. Turner, has never been more relevant."—James Carroll, author of House of War
Review
"An exceptionally fertile and thought-provoking interpretation of both John Henry Newman and his great work."—Colin Barr, The Journal of Ecclesiastical History
Review
“Professor Turner has written a very full and significant Introduction for this new edition of the Apologia. It will be a great addition to the scholarly literature on Newman.”—Robert Bruce Mullin, SPRL Professor of History, The General Theological Seminary
Synopsis
One of the most distinguished cultural and intellectual historians of our time, Frank Turner taught a landmark Yale University lecture course on European intellectual history that drew scores of students over many years. His lectures--lucid, accessible, beautifully written, and delivered with a notable lack of jargon--distilled modern European history from the Enlightenment to the dawn of the twentieth century and conveyed the turbulence of a rapidly changing era in European history through its ideas and leading figures.
Richard A. Lofthouse, one of Turner's former students, has now edited the lectures into a single volume that outlines the thoughts of a great historian on the forging of modern European ideas. Moreover, it offers a fine example of how intellectual history should be taught: rooted firmly in historical and biographical evidence.
Synopsis
This newly edited version of John Henry Newmans
Apologia Pro Vita Sua sheds new light on Newmans celebrated account of his passage from the Church of England to the Roman Catholic Church and repositions his narrative within the context of transformative religious journeys of other Victorian intellectuals. Frank M. Turner is the first historian of Victorian thought, religion, and culture to edit Newmans classic autobiographical narrative. Drawing on extensive research in contemporary printed materials and archives, Turners powerfully revisionist Introduction reevaluates and challenges the historical adequacy of previous interpretations of Newmans life and of the
Apologia itself. He further presents Newmans volume as a response to ultramontane assertions of papal authority in the l860s.
In addition to numerous explanatory textual annotations, the volume includes an Appendix featuring six important Anglican sermons that providesignificant insights into Newmans thought during the years recounted in the Apologia.
About the Author
Frank M. Turner (1944-2010) was John Hay Whitney Professor of History at Yale University. He was the author of John Henry Newman: The Challenge to Evangelical Relgion.