Sermons, Chiefly on the Theory of Religious Belief, Preached Before the University of Oxford

by John Henry Newman

Publisher:

Francis & John Rivington

, 1844

Overview

This volume contains sermons delivered during Newman's post at Oriel College, Oxford. Most of the sermons in this collection include the date of delivery, making it easy to compare the practical, homiletical presentation of Newman's theories to the more intricate nuances of his argument in a corresponding essay.

Key Features

• Extensive studies on Church history from an author burdened for the Church of Jesus Christ
• Logos edition provides integrated access to Scripture references, instantly linking to English and original text versions of the Bible

Contents

Top Highlights

“what is language but an artificial system adapted for particular purposes, which have been determined by our wants” (Page 70)

“‘Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen².’” (Page 170)

“the real method by which the influence of spiritual principles is maintained in this carnal world” (Page 64)

“there is no necessary connexion between the intellectual and moral principles of our nature” (Page 40)

“but the natural and almost spontaneous result of the formed and finished character within” (Page 67)

Praise for the Print Edition

The quality of his literary style is so successful that it succeeds in escaping definition. The quality of his logic is that of a long but passionate patience, which waits until he has fixed all corners of an iron trap. But the quality of his moral comment on the age remains what I have said: a protest of the rationality of religion as against the increasing irrationality of mere Victorian comfort and compromise.

—G. K. Chesterton

The philosophical and theological thought and the spirituality of Cardinal Newman, so deeply rooted in and enriched by Sacred Scripture and the teachings of the Fathers, still retain their particular originality and value.

—Pope John Paul II

Newman placed the key in our hand to build historical thought into theology, or much more, he taught us to think historically in theology and so to recognize the identity of faith in all developments.

—Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI)

Product Details

• Title: Sermons Preached Before the University of Oxford
• Author: John Henry Newman
• Publisher: Francis and John Rivington
• Publication Date: 1844
• Pages: 354

About John Henry Newman

John Henry Newman (February 21, 1801–August 11, 1890), also referred to as Cardinal Newman and Blessed John Henry Newman, was an important figure in the religious history of England in the nineteenth century. He was known nationally by the mid-1830s. Originally an evangelical Oxford academic and priest in the Church of England, Newman was a leader in the Oxford Movement. This influential grouping of Anglicans wished to return the Church of England to many Catholic beliefs and forms of worship traditional in the medieval times to restore ritual expression. In 1845 Newman left the Church of England and was received into the Roman Catholic Church where he was eventually granted the rank of cardinal by Pope Leo XIII. 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’s beatification was officially proclaimed by Pope Benedict XVI on September 19, 2010 during his visit to the United Kingdom. His canonisation is dependent on the documentation of additional miracles. Newman was also a literary figure of note: his major writings including his autobiography Apologia Pro Vita Sua (1865–1866), the Grammar of Assent (1870), and the poem The Dream of Gerontius (1865), which was set to music in 1900 by Edward Elgar as an oratorio. He wrote the popular hymns “Lead, Kindly Light” and “Praise to the Holiest in the Height” (taken from Gerontius).