About John Henry Newman

Published works written by authors on the life and teachings of John Henry Newman.

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Biographies

  • Ian Ker, John Henry Newman: A Biography (OUP, 2009). Click here to find this book on Amazon.
  • Sheridan Gilley, Newman and His Age (DLT, 2002). Click here to find this book on Amazon.
  • Joyce Sugg, John Henry Newman: Snapdragon in the Wall (Gracewing, 2001). Click here to find this book on Amazon.
  • Brian Martin, John Henry Newman: his Life and Work (Continuum, 2000). Click here to find this book on Amazon.
  • Wilfrid Ward, The Life of John Henry, Cardinal Newman: Based on His Private Journals and Correspondence 2 vols (Longmans and Green, 1912; in print by various publishers who reprint old books).
  • Meriol Trevor and Leonie Caldecott, John Henry Newman: Apostle to the Doubtful (Catholic Truth Society, 2001). Click here to find this book on Amazon.

Books on Newman’s Thought

  • Ian Ker, The Achievement of John Henry Newman (University of Notre Dame Press, 1991). Click here to find this book on Amazon.
  • Thomas Norris, Cardinal Newman for Today (Columba Press, 2010). Click here to find this book on Amazon.
  • Avery Dulles, John Henry Newman (Continuum, 2009). Click here to find this book on Amazon.
  • Stanley L. Jaki, Newman’s Challenge (Eerdmans, 2000). Click here to find this book on Real View Books.
  • Ker, Ian, and Alan G. Hill (eds) Newman after a Hundred Years. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1990; out of print).
  • Nicholls, David and Fergus Kerr (eds) John Henry Newman: Reason, Rhetoric and Romanticism (Bristol Press, 1998). Click here to find this book on Amazon.

Other Books about Newman

  • Vincent Ferrer Blehl, Pilgrim’s Journey: John Henry Newman 1801-1845 (Continuum, 2001). Click here to find this book on Amazon.
  • Philippe Lefebvre and Colin Mason, John Henry Newman: In His Time (Family Publications, 2007). Click here to find this book on Amazon.
  • Ian Ker, Newman: On Being a Christian (University of Notre Dame Press, 1992). Click here to find this book on Amazon.
  • Paul Shrimpton, A Catholic Eton?: Newman’s Oratory School (Gracewing, 2005). Click here to find this book on Amazon.
  • Joyce Sugg, Yours Ever Affly: John Henry Newman and his Female Circle (Gracewing, 1996). Click here to find this book on Amazon.

Brother Berry’s Reading Suggestions

If you’re keen to start reading Newman in print, try a selection of his works, like the ones listed here.

  • If you’re keen to start reading Newman in print, try a selection of his works, like Ian Ker’s ‘John Henry Newman: Selected Sermons’.
  • If you want to delve straight in (online, go to newmanreader.org, then ‘Works’) go straight to the Parochial and Plain Sermons. Why not start with Newman’s powerful sermon ‘The Cross of Christ the Measure of the World’ (Volume 6, Sermon 7), or the immensely original and interesting ‘Unreal words’ (Volume 5, Sermon 3).
  • If you’re interested in the relationship between faith and science, have a look at ‘The Philosophical Temper, First Enjoined by the Gospel’, Newman’s first ‘University Sermon’, from 1826.
  • It’s worth reading the striking beginning of Newman’s Essay on the ‘Development of Christian Doctrine’ (1845) – on the history of the Christian faith.
  • From Newman’s Catholic period, you’d make a good start looking at his classic ‘Apologia pro Vita Sua‘ (1864) – the story of his conversion. Start at the beginning – or look at Chapter five, which begins with one of Newman’s most famous passages.
  • Among the few Catholic sermons which Newman wrote down, two important and challenging ones are ‘The Infidelity of the Future’ (1873), on Christianity and the modern world, and ‘The Mental Sufferings of Our Lord in his Passion’ (1855).
  • Or to learn why Newman believes that Conscience leads to the teaching of the Catholic Church, look at ‘Dispositions for Faith’ (1856).
  • Don’t miss the Biglietto Speech – which he gave after being elected Cardinal (1879). It deals with what Newman calls his great enemy: ‘religious liberalism’.
  • Many of Newman’s beautiful prayers are included in his ‘Meditations and Devotions‘.
  • Want to try reading one of Newman’s novels? They are ‘Loss and Gain’ (1848) and ‘Callista’ (1855).
  • Finally, there’s the ‘Dream of Gerontius’, Newman’s poem about the human soul after death, which was later set to music by Elgar.

For more hints, look at any of the biographies of Newman listed above, which will lead you into the rest of his works.