Trinity

In his book, The Closing of the American Mind, Alan Bloom recalls the 1960s and ‘70s, when some Black Power student groups at Cornell University held professors at gunpoint until they met their demands. What is remarkable about this, Bloom thinks, is that these students were never punished or given consequences for their dangerous behavior and anti-intellectual tactics. Still today, university campuses are increasingly strange places that do not devote to respectful intellectual inquiry and dialogue, but permit (and sometimes encourage) censorship, oppressive monologue, indoctrination, and name-calling. Authentic intellectual inquiry is being denigrated, while radical political posturing is being rewarded. What happened? How did we get here?

Discourse 2 of The Idea of a University begins to answer these questions. We must recall that, in the Prologue and Discourse 1, Newman works with the definition of a university as a place devoted to universal knowledge. We must also keep in mind how Newman works with the root meaning of the word science: derived from the Latin verb scire, it simply means “to know.” So, Newman uses the word science to mean “knowledge,” or more specifically, a method of knowing something. In Discourse 2, his main point is that, in light of these definitions, a university that lacks theology as a science is in fact not a university. Every science has an object, a thing it is trying to know the truth of–the biologist seeks to know the truth of plants and animals, the physicist the laws of the universe, and the theologian God.

Newman insists that studying the truth of God is an objective science within the realm of what is called natural theology, a discipline that explores theological principles through logic and reason—using data that is available to us naturally (i.e. Reason). It attempts to do so without appeal to Revelation—which uses data available supernaturally. For instance, the idea of the Trinity, that God is one being in three persons, is beyond the realm of logic and requires an act of faith in the fact that God reveals himself as Trinitarian. On the other hand, Newman lists the following attributes of a Supreme Being as discernible through philosophical reasoning: “Individual, Self-dependent, All-perfect, Unchangeable, intelligent, living, personal, present, almighty, all-seeing, all-remembering,” transcendent, uncreated, all-sufficient, Creator, Sustainor, and final judge of the “Law of right and wrong he has written on our hearts.” If these truths are knowable on the natural level, then “theology is a science”–it is a discipline of knowing something that is not just for churches and pastors, but is proper and essential to universities.  Newman stresses that theology is a branch of knowledge about something–God–within the objective universe, and it would be an “intellectual absurdity” to exclude it from the curriculum of a university which aims at universal knowledge.

Theology is not only fitting to university education, but necessary and indispensable. One can try to “divide Knowledge into human and divine, secular and religious, and to lay down that we will address ourselves to the one without interfering with the other; but it is impossible in fact.” He says that “mutilation of the divine” will “break up into fragments the whole circle of secular knowledge.” Just as Jesus Christ is both God and man, and his Church is both Divine and human, just so, Newman shows that authentic intellectual inquiry, and thus sound university education, is Incarnational–it requires both the Divine and the human in order to fully be what it is. Theology is “…the subject-matter of a science, far wider and more noble than any of those which are included in the circle of secular Education.”

Theology is the cornerstone upon which the entire edifice of knowledge stands and subsists. If a university lacks theology, it can not aspire to universal knowledge, and thus would not in fact be a university. In the next post, we will be begin to look at what Newman thinks happens when a university foregoes theology as a science.

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Aim at ‘seeing the King in His beauty’.  All things that we see are but shadows to us and delusions, unless we enter into what they really mean.

“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal which comes upon you to prove you, as though something strange were happening to you.”

The Psalms, the "voice of the Church," invite us to enter into the sufferings of Christ and His people, and cling to God above all.

Applying Newman's theory, it seems clear that the notion that women's ordination to to the priesthood, would not maintain the type of the early Church.

In 1990, the International Theological Commission, issued a document titled "The Interpretation of Dogma" in which Newman's seven notes are endorsed.

The path forward for us personally and for the Church at large, requires returning to the core truths that Christ Himself has revealed to us.

We are made to be gifts to God and gifts to each other, body and soul; to go against God’s law, which is for our good, is to refuse the gift.

What does John Henry Newman mean by the words: "to live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often?"

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About Cardinal John Henry Newman

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A Guide to John Henry Newman will interest educated readers and professors alike, and serve as a text for college seminars for the purpose of studying Newman.

Review by Catherine Maybanks
(Catholic Herald, April 1, 2023)

Review by Serenheed James
(Antiphon, April 2023)

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Fr Peter Conley takes us on an exciting journey into the spirituality and inner life of Saint John Henry Newman.
 

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Endorsement by Neyra Blanco (Amazon)
I bought this book for my son and he loved it, he wrote this review and urged my to submitted: “I think this book has a very beautiful message, because it shows how the young Newman was so determined to achieve his dream of becoming a priest, but even after his dream he continued to work in the church with passion until the day he died, it’s so admirable that even Newman so old and so weak still had that urge to continued his work of being a priest. And the book is well written with words not too complicated with very enjoyable texts and well illustrated pictures. I highly recommend this book for a 5th grader.  

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What is a Classical Liberal Arts Education? Why is it so important for the development of a person?

Fr. Juan R. Vélez answers these and more questions you might have about University Education in the 21st century. This book is aimed for parents, prospective University students, and educators. It will help you discern why adding Liberal Arts electives to your education will help it form it better, and help the student learn to reason, and not just learn.

He also explains how many Universities have changed the true meaning of Liberal Arts, and the subjects, and gives advise on how to choose College Campus, Subjects, and Teachers.

A wonderful book that every parent should also read way before your children are College bound. A Liberal Arts education can start earlier in life, even from home.

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Endorsement by Christopher Moellering (Goodreads, September 14, 2019)
In Passion for Truth Fr. Vélez gave us an outstanding biography of Cardinal Newman. In this work, he provides a concise overview of his thought and his devotion. This is a great work for someone who, perhaps hearing of Newman for the first time because of his beatification 13 October, 2019, wants to know more about this English saint.Vélez is a wonderful writer in his own right, and the frequent quotations from Newman round out the work nicely. I especially appreciated the frequent citing of Newman’s Meditations and Devotions, which show a different side of his spirituality than his more well-known works, Development of Christian Doctrine and the Grammar of Assent.

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Take Five: Meditations with John Henry Newman, endorsement by Illow M. Roque (Amazon, September 3, 2010)
“There is a time to put direct inquiry on hold and give ourselves to prayer and practical duties.” Sound advice from one of the earlier, thought-provoking reminders in this sparkling gem of a book: Take Five | Meditations with John Henry Newman, written by Mike Aquilina and Fr. Juan R. Vélez and published by Our Sunday Visitor. This particular paragraph, referenced above, which begins with a direct quote from soon-to-be canonized priest, cardinal and poet, John Henry Newman: “Study is good, but it gets us only so far . . .” is actually the 15th in a series of 76 concise, logically organized meditations moving from the elementary to the sublime. Each meditation–one per page–is built upon the great man’s writings and remarkably rich spirituality. Whether taken whole in one reading or in part page-by-page over a course of weeks and months, these wonderfully insightful meditations will open up, even to the busiest reader in the midst of the world, a unique pathway into prayer and contemplation. My advice to spiritual inquirers at all levels, from the novice to the spiritually adept, is to follow the authors’ recommendation to use this book as a guide for daily prayer and meditation. The structure of the book itself is ideal: first, the authors introduce us to Cardinal Newman, the man, where we are given the opportunity to get to know him through a brief sketch of his life and spirituality at the beginning of the book. This is something readers will likely find themselves referring to again and again, prompting many, I suspect, to even wider explorations of this most gifted Christian leader. Then comes the meditations, consisting of a short summary of Newman’s thoughts on subjects taken, as the authors explain, from various salient points for which Newman is justly remembered: The pursuit of objective religious truth; Teaching on the Virtues; Defense of the Catholic Church; A devout spiritual and moral life; and Generosity and loyalty in his friendships, which sets the topic and tone for each meditation to follow. Each meditation consists of an excerpt taken from Newman’s thirty-plus volumes of writings and diaries. Next comes three brief and extremely useful sections entitled: “Think About It,” which establishes a prayerfully resonant tone throughout the book; “Just Imagine,” which provides a vivid, prayerful experience of the Scriptures that tie in, and finally, “Remember,” a pithy summation which the authors suggest may be used as a daily aspiration. Each meditation is given its own page, which makes it ideal for daily reflection for readers on the go. This book is a must have for every serious Catholic who wants to take their faith to the next level, which is to respond appropriately to the universal call to holiness and seek interior union with God.
Fr. Peter Conley

Aim at ‘seeing the King in His beauty’.  All things that we see are but shadows to us and delusions, unless we enter into what they really mean.

David Warren

“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal which comes upon you to prove you, as though something strange were happening to you.”

Robert Kirkendall

The Psalms, the "voice of the Church," invite us to enter into the sufferings of Christ and His people, and cling to God above all.

Fr. Juan Velez

Applying Newman's theory, it seems clear that the notion that women's ordination to to the priesthood, would not maintain the type of the early Church.

Fr. Juan Velez

In 1990, the International Theological Commission, issued a document titled "The Interpretation of Dogma" in which Newman's seven notes are endorsed.

David Warren

The path forward for us personally and for the Church at large, requires returning to the core truths that Christ Himself has revealed to us.

Robert Kirkendall

We are made to be gifts to God and gifts to each other, body and soul; to go against God’s law, which is for our good, is to refuse the gift.

Fr. Juan Velez

What does John Henry Newman mean by the words: "to live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often?"

Fr. Juan Velez

Listening to God is done keeping in mind the normative value of the whole of Tradition and of the Church’s Teaching.