On the dust-jacket of this volume is a reproduction of a stained-glass window found in the chapel of Oriel College, Oxford, displaying one of the most illustrious fellows of the college—John Henry Newman (1801-1890). As with all stained-glass windows, the object which is represented is broken up into pieces; the image has been shattered into fragments which have been artistically pieced together. Such an image, however vague or diffuse it may be, if placed within an ecclesiastical context reads in a very specific way. A stained-glass rendition has something definitive to say about the person depicted—a saintly image, a father of the Church.
Receptions of Newman has been produced against the backdrop of two events that have given rise to a renewed interest in Newman. For anyone even remotely aware of the great volume of Newman studies appearing over the last half-century, such a statement seems, if nothing else, surprising. Yet, Pope Benedict’s 2010 beatification of Newman and the appearance of Frank M. Turner’s highly controversial Newman biography in 2002 have brought new life to some of the controversies that have followed Newman’s person since the 1830s. Among the many ‘great’ thinkers—theologians and philosophers—of the nineteenth century, Newman remains an uncommonly ambiguous figure. As is pointed out in this anthology, verdicts on Newman’s merits (or lack thereof) tend not to follow denominational lines; favourable opinions are not only found among Catholics, and negative views are not confined to Protestant commentators. One might ask what has brought this division about. It is possible to point at the very complexity of Newman’s thought; a seminal thinker whose oeuvre can be read in many ways with equal claims to sincerity and intellectual credibility on the part of the interpreter. One might also point at the ways in which people pursuing radically different agendas—champions of Christian orthodoxy, philosophical sceptics and gay activists alike—have found in Newman a ‘kindred spirit’. To some extent, and quite paradoxically, we have to acknowledge that Newman’s persona, carefully crafted in his own lifetime, has created a space that has made such radically different views possible. There has always been a certain elaborate ‘vagueness’ attached to the image of Newman. When the ‘self’ is often hidden from the eyes of the beholder this may result in vagueness and contractions.
This collection originates from a colloquium held in the U.S. in 2013. In the introduction the editors strike an ‘ecumenical’ note; the intent has not been to further controversy for its own sake. Rather, fair judgements, both of Newman himself and his many and diverse commentators have been attempted throughout this volume. The decision to dedicate this book to both Turner and Basil Mitchell—two scholars who have broken new ground in Newman research—is telling of the spirit within which this volume has been conceived.
As is evident, Receptions of Newman points towards a term that has been much theorised in recent years. In spite of such scholarly advances, the editors have chosen to use ‘reception’ in the plural as synonym for ‘interpretation’. The anthology includes articles on three of Newman’s principal works: An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine (contributions by King and Parker/Shea), An Essay in Aid of a Grammar of Assent (contributions by Aquino and McInroy) and The Idea of a University (contributions by Sullivan and Barr). To these are added studies on processes of reception within three different theological contexts (Nockles on the Tractarians, Beaumont on French Modernists and Lattier on the Orthodox tradition) and, finally, two pieces dealing constructively with Newman’s theological inheritance (contributions by Abraham and O’Regan). Both historical and more constructive theological approaches can be found among the articles.
Overall, the contributions included in this anthology deserve a readership well beyond Newman specialists. The quality of the texts and the interpretations put forward testifies to the strength of Newman-studies today. As is often the case in heavily specialised fields, the analysis could occasionally benefit from a more contextualised reading. In particular, Newman’s theory of development needs to be placed within the context of the more general drift of ‘the Victorian frame of mind’. A few minor critical comments can be offered. Benjamin J. King’s long-term categorisation of responses to Newman’s essay on development becomes just a little bit too rigid. It runs the risk of glossing over the theological cross-fertilisation that occurred above all in the early twentieth century. Furthermore, Daniel J. Lattier’s decision to include Jaroslav Pelican among the Orthodox theologians studied, a decision justified only by the observation that he, upon his conversion to the Orthodox Church, was embraced ‘as one who had been theologically, though not sacramentally, one of their own for a number of years’ (p. 190), is not entirely convincing. Pelikan was a Lutheran until 1998 and to use his works as expressions of the Orthodox tradition without further qualifications is equally unfair to both traditions.
Special mention is due to Colin Barr’s article with its clear focus both on Newman’s Idea of a University but also on the various ways in which Newman’s Irish endeavour has been understood. Peter Nockles’ analysis of how Tractarian historiographers dealt with the ‘Newman-topos’ during the nineteenth century reveals a complexity of carefully moulded interpretations which have hitherto merited little attention. And, finally, William J. Abraham’s constructive, yet critical, reading of Newman’s theology of divine revelation turns into a philosophical essay on securing definitive knowledge, in theology and in history.
The stained-glass rendition of Newman is just a part of more complex piece of ecclesiastical decoration. Celestial beings, symbols representing the life and history of both college and university, images from Newman’s Oxford life are all included in the Oriel College window. Newman becomes a part of a complex tapestry. Like the chapel window Receptions of Newman adds to an increasing number of books that try not only to focus on the great man himself, but to interpret his life and legacy in relation to both his and our own time.
