The Genius of John Henry Newman: Selections from his Writings

Ian Ker presents a major collection of Newman's writings, celebrating his full achievements as both a universally significant religious thinker, and a major Victorian writer. An unsystematic thinker, Newman's ideas are scattered throughout his works - most of which were 'occasional' in their origin. This anthology provides a rich and varied sampling from his voluminous works, drawing our attention to some of the very finest passages in Newman's writings whether selected from his well-known publications or from occasional texts that are difficult to find in print. The selection is divided into five sections, which focus on his life as an educator, a philosopher, a preacher, a theologian, and a writer.

Table of Contents:
1. The Educator The Idea of a University 2. The Philosopher Oxford University Sermons A Grammar of Assent 3. The Preacher Parochial and Plain Sermons 4. The Theologian The Arians of the Fourth Century 'On the Introduction of Rationalistic Principles into Revealed Religion' Lectures on the Doctrine of Justification Oxford University Sermons An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine 'A Characteristic of the Popes. St Gregory the Great' Apologia pro Vita Sua A Grammar of Assent A Letter to the Duke of Norfolk 5. The Writer Preface to the Via Media Apologia pro Vita Sua Letters 'The Anglo-American Church' 'Private Judgment' The Tamworth Reading Room Lectures on the Difficulties of Anglicans Lectures on the Present Position of Catholics

About the Author :
Ian Ker has taught both English literature and theology at universities in both the United States and Britain, where he is currently a member of the University of Oxford theology faculty. He is the author and editor of more than twenty books on John Henry Newman, including the standard biography, reissued with additional material in 2009. His other books include The Catholic revival in English Literature, 1845-1961 and G. K. Chesterton: A Biography.

Review :
`Review from previous edition 'a judicious selection from Newman's writings... The obvious advantage of the book, apart from its representation of the range of Newman's concerns, is that many of the extracts are otherwise not easily accessible... an exciting book to read. Ker seems to have read and absorbed everything Newman ever wrote, including his voluminous correspondence, and in the process to have acquired a remarkable ability to see everything from his perspective.' ' David Brown, Notes & Queries `'Ian Ker is unquestionably the most authoritative and all-round Newman scholar of our day. In a whole range of articles and major studies, he has demonstrated a breathtaking familiarity not only with the life and times of a man whose career spanned very nearly the whole of the nineteenth century, but with his theological and literary achievement as well. Newman's polar complexity and Ker's comprehensive appropriation of the same is excellently displayed in The Genius of John Henry Newman.' ' Terrance Merrigan `'wide-ranging and felicitous selection' ' B. L. Horne