“In Blessed John Henry, that Tradition of Gentle Scholarship, Deep Human Wisdom and Profound Love for the Lord has Borne Rich Fruit, as a Sign of the Abiding Presence of the Holy Spirit Deep Within the Heart of God’s People, Bringing Forth Abundant Gifts of Holiness”

Abstract

EDITORIAL PREFACE 3 “IN BLESSED JOHN HENRY, THAT TRADITION OF GENTLE SCHOLARSHIP, DEEP HUMAN WISDOM AND PROFOUND LOVE FOR THE LORD HAS BORNE RICH FRUIT, AS A SIGN OF THE ABIDING PRESENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT DEEP WITHIN THE HEART OF GOD’S PEOPLE, BRINGING FORTH ABUNDANT GIFTS OF HOLINESS.” BENEDICT XVI “A picture is worth a thousand words.”1 What more needs to be said to readers of Newman Studies Journal about the picture on this issue’s front cover? The photograph was taken at the mass of beatification of John Henry Newman,at Crofton Park, Rednal, Birmingham, on 19 September 2010; in his homily at that mass, Pope Benedict XVI emphasized: England has a long tradition of martyr saints, whose courageous witness has sustained and inspired the Catholic community here for centuries.Yet it is right and fitting that we should recognize today the holiness of a confessor, a son of this nation who, while not called to shed his blood for the Lord, nevertheless bore eloquent witness to him in the course of a long life devoted to the priestly ministry, and especially to preaching, teaching, and writing. He is worthy to take his place in a long line of saints and scholars from these islands,Saint Bede,Saint Hilda, Saint Aelred, Blessed Duns Scotus, to name but a few. In Blessed John Henry, that tradition of gentle scholarship, deep human wisdom and profound love for the Lord has borne rich fruit, as a sign of the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit deep within the heart of God’s people, bringing forth abundant gifts of holiness.2 In this excerpt from the pope’s homily,the final phrase emphatically links Newman’s “gentle scholarship, deep human wisdom and profound love for the Lord.” These three dimensions of Blessed John Henry Newman’s life might well serve as guidelines for Newman Studies Journal:to present Newman’s thought with rigorous 1 This familiar phrase is attributed to Frederick R.Barnard,whose article in Printer’s Ink,December 1921, on the effectiveness of graphics in advertising had the title “One look is worth a thousand words”; see: http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/a-picture-is-worth-a-thousand-words.html. 2 Excerpt from the homily of Pope Benedict XVI at the mass of beatification of Blessed John Henry Newman; available at: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/homilies/2010/documents/ hf_ben-xvi_hom_20100919_beatif-newman_en.html. NEWMAN STUDIES JOURNAL 4 yet “gentle scholarship”; to apply his “deep human wisdom” to the problems of the present; and to benefit from his deep spiritual insights and “profound love for the Lord.” In different but definite ways, the essays in this issue reflect all three of these dimensions. CONTENTS The initial essay by John F. Crosby considers the claim of Newman’s contemporary,Thomas Huxley, that a “primer of infidelity” could be composed from Newman’s writings; Huxley’s claim prompted Crosby to examine Newman’s “kill-orcure ” argument and to conclude that, its complexity aside, it was an effective apologetical and rhetorical strategy against his critics. In the next essay, concerned with making Newman’s educational views relevant today, Michael P. Krom, after recalling how his own undergraduate study of Newman’s The Idea of a University led to personal transformation, discusses how Newman’s Idea might be taught in such a way that today’s undergraduates would be energized by the universal call to holiness. As was evident during Pope Benedict’s visit to England for Newman’s beatification, papal teaching is still a controversial issue. Considering the specific case of the infallible magisterium of the pope, Lawrence J. King compares and contrasts the interpretations of the First Vatican Council’s teaching on infallibility by John Henry Newman and Vincent Gasser; in contrast to many of their contemporaries, both Newman and Gasser placed the papal exercise of infallibility alongside the infallibility exercised by the bishops and the Catholic faithful; King concludes that while the Second Vatican Council’s teaching on infallibility in Lumen Gentium cited Gasser, its theology is really closer to Newman’s. The relationship between “gentle scholarship” and “deep human wisdom” surfaces in Chau Nguyen’s examination of...