Which Cardinal Newman books to read first?

[CharlesdeFoucld]

It seems to me that John Henry Newman is regarded as one of the most significant Catholic thinkers/theologians to have written in modern English (I have a hard time thinking of many: Avery Dulles, Aidan Nichols, maybe G.K. Chesterton).

If I wanted to read Newman systematically, where should I begin? To date I’ve only read Essays on the Development of Doctrine, the occasional sermon, and parts of Apologia pro vita sua. I’d be willing to read the Apologia again, as it was many years ago and I don’t remember it.

Any recommendations for approaching Newman?

 

[edarlitrix]

While I personally have only read The Development of Christian Doctrine, I think you might find this blog post helpful: socrates58.blogspot.com/2015/02/books-by-dave-armstrong-cardinal-newman.html

Plus anything else on the website you can find about Cardinal Newman.

 

[dmar198]

It seems to me that John Henry Newman is regarded as one of the most significant Catholic thinkers/theologians to have written in modern English (I have a hard time thinking of many: Avery Dulles, Aidan Nichols, maybe G.K. Chesterton).

If I wanted to read Newman systematically, where should I begin? To date I’ve only read Essays on the Development of Doctrine, the occasional sermon, and parts of Apologia pro vita sua. I’d be willing to read the Apologia again, as it was many years ago and I don’t remember it.

Any recommendations for approaching Newman?

I’ve also heard high praise of his Grammar of Assent, and to your list of modern English-language Catholic thinkers/theologians I would add Hilaire Belloc, J.R.R. Tolkien, Bishop Henry G. Graham, Cardinal Gibbons, and Archbishop Fulton Sheen. A lot of other great thinkers from the mid-1800s to early 1900s have also been translated into English, like Karl Adam’s Spirit of Catholicism and Ludwig Ott’s Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma.

 

[CharlesdeFoucld]

to your list of modern English-language Catholic thinkers/theologians I would add Hilaire Belloc, J.R.R. Tolkien, Bishop Henry G. Graham, Cardinal Gibbons, and Archbishop Fulton Sheen.

Good additions. Also, Ronald Knox should definitely be included. I believe Baron von Hügel wrote in English as well.

Thanks for the link, edarlitrix!

 

[ladysherlockian]

I heartily recommend Tolkien, especially his *Letters *which include many Catholic themes and helped me to return to faith after a crisis. It is thanks to Tolkien that I am still Catholic so I cannot recommend him enough. As for Newman, I read only *Callista *- similar to Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz, it is quite moving and can be found for free on-line on sites such as Project Gutenberg. I believe it would make a good Lent reading

 

[CharlesdeFoucld]

I heartily recommend Tolkien, especially his *Letters *which include many Catholic themes and helped me to return to faith after a crisis. It is thanks to Tolkien that I am still Catholic so I cannot recommend him enough. As for Newman, I read only *Callista *- similar to Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz, it is quite moving and can be found for free on-line on sites such as Project Gutenberg. I believe it would make a good Lent reading

Thanks for the recommendation of Tolkien’s letters, which I didn’t even know were published. My feelings about his fiction are mixed, but I’d be very happy to read his non-fiction.

I’m sort of in the mood to tackle public domain (pre-1923) Catholic writers who wrote originally in English. Before Newman, I think I’ll start with a non-Catholic, John Wesley’s Journals. I read somewhere that to understand modern religion in England, one had to read three writers: Newman, John Wesley and George Fox. Wesley is the one I haven’t picked up at all yet, so I’ll start with him.

 

[AngelusDomini]

Before reading any of Newman’s work I’d suggest reading a good and faithful biography of Newman. Getting to grips with where the man came from and the times he was living in will certainly help with reading his work. The Apologia becomes easier to read with background knowledge.

There are also some lovely books by English Catholics of our own time - I highly recommend Cardinal Basil Hume and Timothy Radcliffe.

Rowan Williams’ (former Archbishop of Canterbury) recent books on Mark and Being a Christian are also well worth reading. A Catholic friend of mine was particularly impressed with his chapter on the Eucharist.