John Henry Newman: A Biography

by Ian Ker

The first comprehensive biography of the great religious leader John Henry Newman (1801-90), this compelling and well-written volume draws on a number of published and unpublished sources to examine his extraordinarily varied life and career. Ker stresses the complexity of Newman's character
and the range of his achievement as major prose writer, dominant religious leader who anticipated the Second Vatican Council and the modern ecumenical movement, and universal Christian thinker, whose significance transcends his culture and time.

Genres: Biography, History, Theology, Nonfiction, Catholic, Christianity, Religion

778 pages, Paperback

First published February 16, 1989

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

[Sergio Velazquez · Rating 5 out of 5]

John Henry Newman, futuro santo de la Iglesia católica y que me da gusto adelantarme a conocerlo antes del 13 de octubre del presente año. Una mente brillante que nunca quiso ser una autoridad, pero que no se calló ante la indiferencia y el radicalismo. Una personalidad fuerte, pero con tacto. Sabiendo cuando ceder y cuando mostrarse fuerte. Y sobre todo, una mente incomprendida. Sufrió mucho, y al que mucho sufro, Dios da abundancia. Incansable y nunca dejo de luchar por lo que creía correcto. Buscando la verdad y no basándose en banalidades ni en modas. Buscando siempre la unidad y fomentado la educación para los laicos. Gracias Cardenal Newman por no haber desistido y por si querer abrir la mente de una manera ordenada. Gracias por tu heroísmo y por tu gran servicio a la causa de Dios. Cor ad cor loquitur.

[John Handel · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book provides very little in the way of critical or original insight and is instead content just to replicate Newman's own narrative about himself. That is to say, Ker quotes Newman's letters, autobiography and works extensively, but never questions their accuracy or takes into account wider contextual forces. This is a book that blatantly celebrates Newman instead of critically reflecting on his life resulting in a facile account with little methodological rigor or original contributions.

[Alonso Hilka Sares · Rating 5 out of 5]

Biografía exhaustivísima del gran apóstol de las islas británicas del siglo XIX. Compuesto prácticamente en su totalidad de fragmentos de su correspondencia y de sus apuntes íntimos, con enorme pudor inglés, el libro es una enciclopedia de las ideas y los eventos centrales de la vida de Newman, y permite asomarse a su genio y al periodo de la historia que protagonizó muy a su pesar, sin idealizarle, pero dando cuenta cumplida de sus muchas y heroicas virtudes y dones.

[Christopher Moellering · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent work to which all interested in St. John Henry Newman are indebted. A thorough portrait of the man throughout his life which gives us great insight into his thought and struggles with copious quotations from his letters and works.

I think this is the 4th biography I have read of St. John Henry Newman and it is thorough and dense. It’s not the first book on or by Newman that I would recommend to someone interested in him and his thought, but one I would say is definitely required reading for someone who really wants a thorough appreciation of him and the events that shaped his life, and by which he did so much to shape the Church. Truly a definitive biography.

[Patrick McNamara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Canonized by Pope Francis in October 2019, St. John Henry Newman (1801-1890) was the greatest Catholic thinker since St. Thomas Aquinas. Some of the subjects his writing addressed included the development of doctrine, the role of the laity, the relationship between faith and unbelief, and the place of religion in a secularized age. There are numerous studies of Newman's life and work, but Father Ian Ker's 1990 biography is hands-down the best. He tells Newman's life story in detail while providing an in-depth analysis of his writings. The result is that (like Peter Frampton) Newman comes alive! You get the sense here that while Newman was a very cerebral person, he was also nobody's fool. And he was no plaster saint either. Looking at Newman's life as a Catholic priest living in a religious community, Ker shows that Newman didn't tolerate fools gladly. By his own admission, he had to be careful about his temper lest he "blow people out of the water." But Ker's Newman comes across as a person with a particular gift for human friendship. This is a hefty book (745 pages of text), but it's without doubt the foremost work on England's newest saint.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ian Ker appropriately writes a biography of Newman's life that is not simply a chronicle of events but a chronicle of the thought and writing of Newman. So much of Newman's life was caught up in controversy and much of his written work arose out of this, whether the Tracts for the Times including controversial Tract 90 which led to his conversion to Catholicism, or his Idea of a University, which arose out of the struggle to establish a Catholic University in Ireland, or the Apologia Pro Vita Sua, which arose out of accusations of dis-ingenuousness in his conversion to Catholicism, or The Grammar of Assent, on the justification of belief in an increasingly skeptical era.

Ker traces out these controversies and the contours of Newman's thought, along with his relations, good and ill, with many leading characters in Anglicanism and Catholicism in his day. As a consequence, this is a long and dense, but worthwhile book for anyone interested in the life and thought of Newman.

[Liam Guilar · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fine narrative of Newman and his writing and thought, My only reservation is that sometimes a little context would have helped. Perhaps this lack is only noticed because most of the biographies I read are of early modern subjects where context tends to overwhelm the biographical details, but as someone who isn't an expert in Anglican theology or establishment quarrels at the start of the 19th century, there were times when i knew what Newman thought about something, without knowing what he was thinking or writing about.
I read Newman's Apologia first, which did make it easier to follow. Fittingly for a biography of a man who wrote such fine prose, Ker's writing is clear and precise and enjoyable to read.

[Anthony]

Great book! Kind of an intellectual biography. Deep coverage of the works. However, I would recommend "Apologia pro vita sua" for a beginner in Newman studies.

[Alejandro Sada · Rating 5 out of 5]

Indispensable.

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book thirty years ago and only got through 200 pages before events took over and it was shelved. Coming back to it now in my retirement I have been overwhelmed by the contents. I have lived with Newman through these pages for the past ten weeks and I feel as if his mind and heart have seeped into my own. It is a remarkable book on a remarkable life. It is almost 750 pages but only rarely did it feel like a chore; most of the time I was enthralled by the workings of Newman’s mind as he sought to respond to the huge questions of life, faith, ecclesiology and politics of his day. I did read the Apologia first, which is a good way into his thinking, but this, for me, is an indispensable and magisterial ‘life’. Read it!

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Established as the most recent exhaustive biography of Newman. Focuses more, in my opinion, on Newman's intellectual and literary path than his human growth, character, relations. But still a must-read for all who really wish to know more about him. To supplement this book, the volumes by Edward Short are excellent.

[George · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thorough, well researched and written biography by an expert on Newman.

[Geo Forman]

A far better knowledge than I possess of the history of the Church of England in the 19th century is required to appreciate this biography. Far too many things are discussed without an explanation which indicates the author assumes his reader to already have knowledge of them. While not totally without value, it is far too tedious to read for me.

[Isra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quería saber sobre el tal Newman, que parecía un gran personaje, y vaya si he sabido... setecientas y pico páginas de citas de sus cartas, libros y escritos hilvanadas en tono biográfico, pero sin mucho sabor a biografía tradicional. Un viaje apasionante a la cabeza y el corazón de un grande, muy grande, de la historia católica de los últimos doscientos años.

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not critical enough about Newman’s autobiographical perspective