John Henry Newman and the English Sensibility: Distant Scene (T&T Clark Studies in English Theology)

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Contents viii Chapter 7 RESERVE IN THE SECOND SPRING 7.1 Metaphysical developments in ideas in the Development essay 7.2 Reserve questioned 7.2.1 The supernatural virtue of faith in Difficulties 7.2.2 On Marian devotion 7.2.3 A cultivated intellect in the Idea of a University 7.3 Summary Chapter 8 EMPIRICISM IN THE SECOND SPRING 8.1 The Development essay as an empirical inquiry 8.2 Industry in Difficulties and the Present Position 8.3 Pragmatism and law in Difficulties 8.4 Summary Chapter 9 COMPROMISE IN THE MATURE NEWMAN 9.1 Truth as a virtue and the Apologia 9.1.1 The Kingsley controversy and Englishness 9.1.2 Truth as a virtue and the Apologia 9.1.3 Anglicanism as a 'halfway house' 9.2 System and mystery in the Grammar 9.3 Freeborn subjects of the pope 9.4 Summary Chapter 10 RESERVE IN THE MATURE NEWMAN 10.1 Affections and passions 10.1.1 Affections and passions in the Apologia 10.1.2 Affections and passions in the Grammar 10.2 Dogmatic formulations as positive in the Grammar 10.3 Summary Chapter 11 EMPIRICISM IN THE MATURE NEWMAN 11.1 The illative sense 11.2 Pragmatic development and empirical consciousness 11.3 Summary Asides about John Henry Newman being either particularly English or particularly un-English are common. John Henry Newman and the English Sensibility scrutinises Newman's theological writings to establish how his theology can be considered distinctively English or un-English at the different stages of its development. In his Tractarian period, Newman's theology is shown to be profoundly characterised by common 19th-century tropes of a perceived English sensibility, namely an instinct for compromise, an affection for reserve and a markedly empirical orientation to life. In the period following Newman's conversion to Catholicism in 1845, however, his theology turns against the Englishness of his earlier years as he critiques of the many theological dangers of a self-confident cultural sensibility. In his mature writings, nonetheless, Newman re-incorporates certain elements of his earlier Englishness with a Catholic grounding, yet also maintains an antipathy to certain targets of his post-conversion polemics. Phillips finds that the English instinct for compromise is not incorporated into Newman's mature theology, which remains unabashedly one-sided in its understanding of God and the Catholic Church, taking precedence over elements of a cultural sensibility pertaining ultimately to the sphere of the natural. The affection for reserve, however, is shown to be capable of gracious elevation when reconfigured on a Catholic grounding. Most importantly, the profoundly empirical orientation to life which was considered typical of Englishness in Newman's day emerges as something exhibiting what Newman might consider a 'antecedent affinity' to Catholic theology. This book thus concludes by offering a view of the English Catholic sensibility as characterised by a mindset of careful reserve toward knowledge and words about God, arising from a marked concern for the living, embodied present as the site of God's transformative action in the twists and turns of human life. John Henry Newman and the English Sensibility scrutinises Newman's theological writings to establish how his theology can be considered distinctively English or un-English at the different stages of its development. Jacob Phillips finds that in Newman's Tractarian period, his theology is profoundly characterised by common 19th-century tropes of a perceived English sensibility, namely an instinct for compromise. In the period following Newman's conversion to Catholicism in 1845, however, this book argues that Newman's mature theology remains unabashedly one-sided in its understanding of God and the Catholic Church, taking precedence over elements of a cultural sensibility pertaining ultimately to the sphere of the natural. The affection for reserve, however, is shown to be capable of gracious elevation when reconfigured on a Catholic grounding. Most importantly, the profoundly empirical orientation to life which was considered typical of Englishness in Newman's day emerges as something exhibiting what Newman might consider a 'antecedent affinity' to Catholic theology. This book thus concludes by offering a view of the English Catholic sensibility as characterised by a mindset of careful reserve toward knowledge and words about God, arising from a marked concern for the living, embodied present as the site of God's transformative action in the twists and turns of human life. "Jacob Phillips employs key coordinates of cultural theory to discern how the notion of English sensibility applies to John Henry Newman, with a detailed study of Newman's lifelong conflict with his own cultural identity. Phillips compares Newman's early Anglican work, featuring integral qualities of 'reserve', 'pragmatism' and 'moderation', and compares them both with Newman's later critiques of his own work, and the ways in which English tendencies resurface in his mature work. This book thus sheds new light on the complexity of Newman's Englishness, as well as the broader lineaments of English theology, by examining the body of scholarship on Newman, English culture and Newton's fluctuating proximity and distance, English sensibility and Newman's distance after his conversion. Phillips also contributes to theological reflection on culture more generally, by discerning how theological subject matter is always determined by cultural expression, and yet expands the reach of that expression to attain a scope more fitting to its proper scope; the ultimate universality of God."-- Provided by publisher "Jacob Phillips employs key coordinates of cultural theory to discern how the notion of English sensibility applies to John Henry Newman, with a detailed study of Newman's lifelong conflict with his own cultural identity. Phillips compares Newman's early Anglican work, featuring integral qualities of 'reserve', 'pragmatism' and 'moderation', and compares them both with Newman's later critiques of his own work, and the ways in which English tendencies resurface in his mature work. This book thus sheds new light on the complexity of Newman's Englishness, as well as the broader lineaments of English theology, by examining the body of scholarship on Newman, English culture and Newman's fluctuating proximity and distance, English sensibility and Newman's distance after his conversion. Phillips also contributes to theological reflection on culture more generally, by discerning how theological subject matter is always determined by cultural expression, and yet expands the reach of that expression to attain a scope more fitting to its proper scope; the ultimate universality of God"-- Provided by publisher Cover Half Title Series Title Copyright Dedication Contents Chapter 1 Newman And Englishness Chapter 2 The English Sensibility Chapter 3 Newman’s Tractarian Compromise Chapter 4 Newman’s Tractarian Reserve Chapter 5 Newman’s Tractarian Empiricism Chapter 6 Compromise in the Second Spring Chapter 7 Reserve in the Second Spring Chapter 8 Empiricism in the Second Spring Chapter 9 Compromise in the Mature Newman Chapter 10 Reserve in the Mature Newman Chapter 11 Empiricism in the Mature Newman Chapter 12 Conclusion: Distant scene Bibliography Index