Newman: His Life and Legacy

by Ian Ker

In this new and up-to-date biography, the renowned Newman scholar Fr Ian Ker sets out the amazing life of John Henry Newman from his formative Anglican years, following his path to Rome, his founding of the Oratory, and his busy and often controversial Catholic years.

While a very thorough portrait of the man himself, this account also examines Cardinal Newman's rich legacy and tells the complete story leading to his beatification in 2010.

64 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 31, 2017

About the author

Fr Ian Ker (born 1942) is the leading expert on the life and works of John Henry Newman. He is an English Roman Catholic priest, a former Anglican. Father Ian Ker teaches theology at Oxford University, where he is a senior research fellow at Blackfriars, Oxford, and a member of the Faculty of Theology. He has taught both English literature and theology at universities in the UK and USA.

Reviews

[Steven R. McEvoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

With the canonization of John Henry Newman taking place in 2019 there is a renewed interest in the man, his life, his works, and the canonization itself. Newman will be the first British person to be made a saint who has lived since the 17th Century. I already had picked up this book and a different CTS Biography, John Henry Newman Apostle to the Doubtful by Meriol Trevor and Leonie Caldecott, to read even before news of the canonization was announced. They are both from series I am greatly enjoying and benefiting from reading published by the Catholic Truth Society. I have now read and reviewed nearly 100 books from the Catholic Truth Society, and this one in the Biographies Series is an another excellent read. This was the second I have read. I had read a couple of works by Newman about 12 years ago but had not got around to reviewing them. There is also a revised edition of this book due out in the fall of 2019, or at least a rebranded one.

There are only 4 chapters in this book:

The Anglican Years
The Path to Rome
The Catholic Years
Beatification

But the sections in the book are:

The Anglican Years
Formative Years
Fellow of Oriel
The Tracts
The Via Media

The Path to Rome
Doubts about the Church of England and Tract 90
The Development of Doctrine
The Essay on Development and Reception into the Catholic Church
The Oratory

The Catholic Years
The Catholic University of Ireland
The Laity
Newman’s Apologia
Against the Ultramontanes
Papal Infallibility
Last Years

Beatification
The Cause

This final section is likely the one to be updated to include information on the canonization and miracle that was needed for it. Fr Ian Ker is considered one of the world’s foremost experts on Newman. This brief volume gives a portrait of the man, and his through. And the events leading up to his beatification and now soon to be canonization. A friend recently posted that Saint John Henry Newman is the only one he can recall that we use all three of his names. In calling upon this saint we will be using his name as a mother upset with her child would. From What I have read to date I think Newman would appreciate that remark, and the humour in it.

The section towards the end of the book about his burial instructions was especially interesting. If you already have a devotion to this Saintly man, this book will likely have no surprises. But would still be worth the read. If like me you just want to know more about him, this is another excellent resource from the Catholic Truth Society and a great place to start.

Read the review on my blog Book Reviews and More and reviews of other books by from the Catholic Truth Society.

Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2019 Catholic Reading Plan!

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good summary

This is fairly short but brings together important biographical events, the people associated and ideas conceived. It was easy to read for me as a layman.