Discussions and Arguments on Various Subjects

Description

Discussions and Arguments on Various Subjects, volume VII in the Birmingham Oratory Millenium Edition, is a collection of six articles, which were written between 1835, after the publication of The Arians of the Fourth Century, and 1866, when, as a Roman Catholic, Newman contributed a review to the Jesuit periodical The Month. Two of these articles appeared as Tracts for the Times; two are a series of letters to a newspaper. The letters discuss the nature of scientific knowledge as a quasi-substitute for faith, and the nature of the balance between executive power and democratic constraints. The opening essay, in the imaginary setting of the Roman forum, is a discussion between three friends of the nature of the via media, its shortcomings, and how it can be made to work. This book has been unavailable for many years and contains some of Newman's best and most amusing writing, scattered throughout with historical and literary references, which have been extensively researched for the modern reader in this edition.

Author Bio

Gerard Tracey was archivist of the Birmingham Oratory. He died suddenly in January 2003, at the age of 48, while preparing the notes for this book.

James Tolhurst, a former priest of the Southwark archdiocese, is the series editor of the Millennium Edition.

Reviews

“If we Catholics wish to understand ourselves in this first decade of the 21st century, we can do no better than to read Newman as he explained himself in the 19th century.” —The New Oxford Review

“ . . . readers will welcome warmly the publication of this attractive volume that facilitates the enjoyment of these lesser known and often neglected writings of Newman.” —The Catholic Historical Review