Richard Dawson did not write “The Complete History of the Oxford Movement.” Instead, he gives us “The Spirit of the Oxford Movement,” a thoroughgoing account of the relationships and friendships between three of the movement’s figureheads: Keble, Froude, and of course, Newman. By focusing on the relationships between the movement’s pioneers, Dawson can argue for the emotional impetus that underlies the mission of the Oxford Movement, a sense that is perhaps best captured by the men’s poetry rather than their Tractarian works.

When the Pope beatified Newman in 2010, he traveled to the United Kingdom to honor the “saintly Englishman” from whom he had learned numerous invaluable lessons. In his sermon for the occasion, the Pope exclaimed, “in Blessed John Henry, that tradition of gentle scholarship, deep human wisdom and profound love for the Lord has borne rich fruit.” It is in this scholarly yet prayerful pursuit of the truth that Ratzinger found a fellow friend in Newman. 

Two major pieces of literature on Augustus Welby Pugin (1812–1852), the renowned Gothic Revivalist and Catholic convert who designed Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, six cathedrals, and more, state, in summary fashion, that Pugin illustrated St John Henry Newman’s Live of the English Saints. The late Professor Margaret Belcher, however, provided a great deal of detail on this subject in the second volume of her The Collected Letters of A.W.N. Pugin, published in 2003. This essay republishes, for the first time since 1914, all eleven of Pugin’s illustrations and does so for the first time ever in a single document.

Matthew Levering’s Newman on Doctrinal Corruption navigates St. John Henry Newman’s responses to five separate challenges directed against the Catholic Church.

Festivals of Faith: Sermons for the Liturgical Year, by St. John Henry Newman, edited by Melinda Nielsen, presents an impressive and carefully arranged collection of Newman’s homilies. 

Time to Delay No Longer is, as its subtitle suggests, a true search for faith. In this work, the late Bill Evans (1933–2017) endeavors to recount his conversion to the Catholic faith. His account of conversion centers around a profound systematic analysis of the Catholic Church and its claim towards religious authority.

If our charge as Christians is to be holy in all that we do, what does this way of life look like in today’s world? This question is not easily answered simply by looking to past examples. 

Earlier this year, NINS got the chance to sit down with Grant Kaplan and discuss the release of his new book Faith and Reason through Christian History -- Dr. Kaplan provides some helpful insights into the genesis and implications of his book.

“The LORD is with me to the end. LORD, your mercy endures forever. Never forsake the work of your hands! – Psalm 138:8 -- The above verse is one of importance to John Henry Newman. He chose Psalm 138 as the epithet for his younger brother, Charles’s, headstone. Newman’s biographer, Sheridan Gilley, refers to Charles as “the black sheep of the family.” 

Anne Carpenter was kind enough to give NINS some insight into her new book Nothing Gained is Eternal (Fortress, 2022), where she provides a refreshing metaphysical perspective on the topic of Christian Tradition.