Lectures on the doctrine of justification: Sixth Edition

by John Henry Newman

Lectures on the doctrine of justification - Sixth Edition is an unchanged, high-quality reprint of the original edition of 1892. Hansebooks is editor of the literature on different topic areas such as research and science, travel and expeditions, cooking and nutrition, medicine, and other genres. As a publisher we focus on the preservation of historical literature. Many works of historical writers and scientists are available today as antiques only. Hansebooks newly publishes these books and contributes to the preservation of literature which has become rare and historical knowledge for the future.

Genres: Theology

428 pages, Paperback

Published February 5, 2020

About the author

Saint John Henry Cardinal Newman was an important figure in the religious history of England in the 19th century. He was known nationally by the mid-1830s.
Originally an evangelical Oxford University academic and priest in the Church of England, Newman then became drawn to the high-church tradition of Anglicanism. He became known as a leader of, and an able polemicist for, the Oxford Movement, an influential and controversial grouping of Anglicans who wished to return to the Church of England many Catholic beliefs and liturgical rituals from before the English Reformation. In this the movement had some success. However, in 1845 Newman, joined by some but not all of his followers, left the Church of England and his teaching post at Oxford University and was received into the Catholic Church. He was quickly ordained as a priest and continued as an influential religious leader, based in Birmingham. In 1879, he was created a cardinal by Pope Leo XIII in recognition of his services to the cause of the Catholic Church in England. He was instrumental in the founding of the Catholic University of Ireland, which evolved into University College Dublin, today the largest university in Ireland.

Newman was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI on 19 September 2010 during his visit to the United Kingdom. He was then canonised by Pope Francis on 13 October 2019.

Newman was also a literary figure of note: his major writings including the Tracts for the Times (1833–1841), his autobiography Apologia Pro Vita Sua (1865–66), the Grammar of Assent (1870), and the poem The Dream of Gerontius (1865),[6] which was set to music in 1900 by Edward Elgar. He wrote the popular hymns "Lead, Kindly Light" and "Praise to the Holiest in the Height" (taken from Gerontius).

Reviews

[Solomon Trimble · Rating 4.75 out of 5]

Outstanding. Far and away the best book by Newman I’ve yet read. This is from his Anglican period, and represents his attempt to find a middle way between Protestant and ‘Romanist’ accounts of justification. He begins by giving accounts of each of these. Then he begins to chart his path, arguing for a view of justification in which Christ’s righteousness is both imputed and imparted. For Newman the Protestant view is “beside the truth” and the Romanist view “defective.” He puts the Protestant view to something of a reductio ad absurdum. Does it really make sense that imputed righteousness should preclude an actual or real righteousness? How can it be that in receiving Christ’s righteousness we shouldn’t by consequence become to some degree righteous ourselves?

Challenging the strict divide between justification and sanctification that Protestantism invokes, Newman sees them as organically connected. For Newman, Christ draws near to the believer with a justifying presence by which they are drawn into the divine life. This presence is cultivated by faith, yes, and a continued faith at that, not a once and for all faith at the beginning, but also by the sacraments and good works.

The argument is argued exclusively out of scripture, minus the occasional appeal to the Anglican homilies. Newman’s command of scripture is remarkable, and his ability to read it as a unified whole a treasure. I wish he had written more focused theological work like this.

One important feature for Newman is baptismal regeneration. He insists that justification begins at baptism. This is a part that Protestants will have most difficulty with. As for the rest, it reads as a remarkable reflection on an issue which tends to dog Protestant theology, namely, the issue of legalism versus anti-nomianism. Newman’s response is amazing. While reading I felt truly inspired to wish to draw near to Christ, and to follow the pursuit of holiness. This indeed is what drew me to Catholicism in the first place - intimacy with Jesus and the pursuit of a truly holy life.

Though it is (ironically) Newman’s work which has shut the door on Catholicism for me, for other reasons, in reading this I had the joy of remembering what it was once that I had sought to find in the Catholic faith, and in a sense what I have to try and find again elsewhere.

Newman does not engage with Calvin, though if I understand that man correctly, his own view is that Christ bestows His sanctifying presence by the Spirit through the faith of the believer, and also through the sacraments, which resonates very deeply with what Newman is saying. Again, if the Finnish interpretation of Luther is right, then Newman and Luther are on the same page (cf Tuomo Mannermaa). There is an actual possibility that Newman is just describing Christianity here over against some of its more common corruptions, Protestant and Catholic.

The point is, for Christians, Christ dwells in the heart of the believer, for their justification. Whereas Calvin locates that strictly within sanctification, Newman wants it to be a part of justification too. And I think from this book, that he has good grounds for doing so. The main point however is one of consensus. The difference is of language and praxis. The underlying theology is basically the same. An excellent book.

[Cornelius Pulung · Rating 5 out of 5]

Buku ini adalah kumpulan lectures tentang doktrin justifikasi yang ditulis Newman waktu dia masih seorang Anglican. Sambil membandingkan ajaran Protestan dan Katolik, Newman memaparkan sudut pandangnya sendiri yang sangat biblis dan berdasarkan doktrin Bapa Gereja, dan karenanya pemikirannya sangat dekat dengan ajaran Katolik. Bukan bacaan yang mudah dicerna, namun bila diupayakan membacanya sampai selesai, ada banyak hal2 yang mencerahkan.

[Caden Cramsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Synthesis of Scripture, Anglican Formularies and Roman Catholic view on Justification. Little unfair/inaccurate to Luther's view by conflating it with contemporary Lutherans. Really nails down the difference between Rome and Classical Protestantism on Justification.

"We are justified by the very presence of Christ, given in baptism, received by faith, grown by charity and the sacraments."