{"title":"John Henry Newman: The Harmony of Difference","authors":"His Majesty King Charles","doi":"10.1353/rel.2023.a909160","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"John Henry Newman:The Harmony of Difference His Majesty King Charles III (bio) First published in l'Osservatore Romano, 12th October, 2019. Reproduced here with kind permission of Clarence House. When Pope Francis canonises Cardinal John Henry Newman tomorrow, the first Briton to be declared a saint in over forty years, it will be a cause of celebration not merely in the United Kingdom, and not merely for Catholics, but for all who cherish the values by which he was inspired. In the age when he lived, Newman stood for the life of the spirit against the forces that would debase human dignity and human destiny. In the age in which he attains sainthood, his example is needed more than ever—for the manner in which, at his best, he could advocate without accusation, could disagree without disrespect and, perhaps most of all, could see differences as places of encounter rather than exclusion. At a time when faith was being questioned as never before, Newman, one of the greatest theologians of the nineteenth century, applied his intellect to one of the most pressing questions of our era: what should be the relationship of faith to a sceptical, secular age? His engagement first with Anglican theology, and then, after his conversion, Catholic theology, impressed even his opponents with its fearless honesty, its unsparing rigour and its originality of thought. Whatever our own beliefs, and no matter what our own tradition may [End Page 178] be, we can only be grateful to Newman for the gifts, rooted in his Catholic faith, which he shared with wider society: his intense and moving spiritual autobiography and his deeply-felt poetry in \"The Dream of Gerontius\" which, set to music by Sir Edward Elgar—another Catholic of whom all Britons can be proud—gave the musical world one of its most enduring choral masterpieces. At the climax of \"The Dream of Gerontius\" the soul, approaching heaven, perceives something of the divine vision: a grand mysterious harmony:It floods me, like the deep and solemn soundOf many waters. Harmony requires difference. The concept rests at the very heart of Christian theology in the concept of the Trinity. In the same poem, Gerontius says: Firmly I believe and trulyGod is three, and God is One; As such, difference is not to be feared. Newman not only proved this in his theology and illustrated it in his poetry, but he also demonstrated it in his life. Under his leadership, Catholics became fully part of the wider society, which itself thereby became all the richer as a community of communities. Newman engaged not merely with the church, but with the world. While wholeheartedly committed to the Church to which he came through so many intellectual and spiritual trials, he nonetheless initiated open debate between Catholics and other Christians, paving the way for later ecumenical dialogues. On his elevation to the Cardinalate in 1879, he took as his motto Cor ad cor loquitor (\"heart speaks to heart\"), and his conversations across confessional, cultural, social and economic divides, were rooted in that intimate friendship with God. His faith was truly catholic in that it embraced all aspects of life. It is in that same spirit that we, whether we are Catholics or not, can, in the tradition of the Christian church throughout the ages, embrace the unique perspective, the particular wisdom and insight, brought to our universal experience by this one individual soul. We can draw inspiration from his writings and his life even as we recognise that, like all human lives, it was inevitably flawed. Newman himself was aware of his failings, such as pride and defensiveness which fell short of his own ideals, but which, ultimately, left him only more grateful for the mercy of God. His influence was immense. As a theologian, his work on the development [End Page 179] of doctrine showed that our understanding of God can grow over time, and had a profound impact on later thinkers. Individual Christians have found their personal devotion challenged and strengthened by the importance he attached to the voice of conscience. Those of all traditions who seek to define and defend Christianity have found themselves grateful for...","PeriodicalId":43443,"journal":{"name":"RELIGION & LITERATURE","volume":"6 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.1000,"publicationDate":"2023-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"RELIGION & LITERATURE","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1353/rel.2023.a909160","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"LITERATURE","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
John Henry Newman:The Harmony of Difference His Majesty King Charles III (bio) First published in l'Osservatore Romano, 12th October, 2019. Reproduced here with kind permission of Clarence House. When Pope Francis canonises Cardinal John Henry Newman tomorrow, the first Briton to be declared a saint in over forty years, it will be a cause of celebration not merely in the United Kingdom, and not merely for Catholics, but for all who cherish the values by which he was inspired. In the age when he lived, Newman stood for the life of the spirit against the forces that would debase human dignity and human destiny. In the age in which he attains sainthood, his example is needed more than ever—for the manner in which, at his best, he could advocate without accusation, could disagree without disrespect and, perhaps most of all, could see differences as places of encounter rather than exclusion. At a time when faith was being questioned as never before, Newman, one of the greatest theologians of the nineteenth century, applied his intellect to one of the most pressing questions of our era: what should be the relationship of faith to a sceptical, secular age? His engagement first with Anglican theology, and then, after his conversion, Catholic theology, impressed even his opponents with its fearless honesty, its unsparing rigour and its originality of thought. Whatever our own beliefs, and no matter what our own tradition may [End Page 178] be, we can only be grateful to Newman for the gifts, rooted in his Catholic faith, which he shared with wider society: his intense and moving spiritual autobiography and his deeply-felt poetry in "The Dream of Gerontius" which, set to music by Sir Edward Elgar—another Catholic of whom all Britons can be proud—gave the musical world one of its most enduring choral masterpieces. At the climax of "The Dream of Gerontius" the soul, approaching heaven, perceives something of the divine vision: a grand mysterious harmony:It floods me, like the deep and solemn soundOf many waters. Harmony requires difference. The concept rests at the very heart of Christian theology in the concept of the Trinity. In the same poem, Gerontius says: Firmly I believe and trulyGod is three, and God is One; As such, difference is not to be feared. Newman not only proved this in his theology and illustrated it in his poetry, but he also demonstrated it in his life. Under his leadership, Catholics became fully part of the wider society, which itself thereby became all the richer as a community of communities. Newman engaged not merely with the church, but with the world. While wholeheartedly committed to the Church to which he came through so many intellectual and spiritual trials, he nonetheless initiated open debate between Catholics and other Christians, paving the way for later ecumenical dialogues. On his elevation to the Cardinalate in 1879, he took as his motto Cor ad cor loquitor ("heart speaks to heart"), and his conversations across confessional, cultural, social and economic divides, were rooted in that intimate friendship with God. His faith was truly catholic in that it embraced all aspects of life. It is in that same spirit that we, whether we are Catholics or not, can, in the tradition of the Christian church throughout the ages, embrace the unique perspective, the particular wisdom and insight, brought to our universal experience by this one individual soul. We can draw inspiration from his writings and his life even as we recognise that, like all human lives, it was inevitably flawed. Newman himself was aware of his failings, such as pride and defensiveness which fell short of his own ideals, but which, ultimately, left him only more grateful for the mercy of God. His influence was immense. As a theologian, his work on the development [End Page 179] of doctrine showed that our understanding of God can grow over time, and had a profound impact on later thinkers. Individual Christians have found their personal devotion challenged and strengthened by the importance he attached to the voice of conscience. Those of all traditions who seek to define and defend Christianity have found themselves grateful for...
约翰·亨利·纽曼:差异的和谐查理三世国王陛下(传记)首次发表于2019年10月12日的《罗马观察报》。经克拉伦斯宫许可,此处转载。教皇方济各明天将册封红衣主教约翰·亨利·纽曼为圣人,他是四十多年来首位被封为圣徒的英国人。这不仅是英国的庆典,不仅是天主教徒的庆典,也是所有珍视他所受到的价值观的人的庆典。在他所生活的时代,纽曼代表着生命的精神,反对贬低人类尊严和人类命运的力量。在他成为圣徒的时代,我们比以往任何时候都更需要他的榜样——因为在他最好的状态下,他可以主张而不指责,可以不尊重地反对,也许最重要的是,他可以将差异视为相遇而不是排斥的地方。在信仰受到前所未有的质疑的时候,纽曼,这位19世纪最伟大的神学家之一,将他的智慧应用于我们这个时代最紧迫的问题之一:信仰与一个充满怀疑的世俗时代的关系应该是什么?他先是接触了英国国教神学,然后,在他皈依天主教神学之后,他甚至以其无畏的诚实、毫不留情的严谨和思想的独创性给他的对手留下了深刻的印象。无论我们自己的信仰是什么,无论我们自己的传统是什么,我们都只能感谢纽曼的礼物,这些礼物根植于他的天主教信仰,他与更广泛的社会分享:他强烈而感人的精神自传和他在“杰罗尼蒂乌斯之梦”中深情的诗歌,由爱德华·埃尔加爵士(另一位所有英国人都引以为傲的天主教徒)谱曲,给音乐界带来了最经久不衰的合唱杰作之一。在《格罗尼修斯之梦》的高潮部分,灵魂接近天堂,感受到了某种神圣的景象:一种宏大而神秘的和谐:它像许多水的深沉而庄严的声音,淹没了我。和谐需要差异。这个概念位于基督教神学三位一体概念的核心。在同一首诗中,格罗尼修斯说:“我坚定地相信上帝是三位,上帝是一位;因此,差异并不可怕。纽曼不仅在他的神学中证明了这一点,在他的诗歌中说明了这一点,而且在他的生活中也证明了这一点。在他的领导下,天主教徒完全成为更广泛社会的一部分,从而成为更富裕的社区。纽曼不仅与教会交往,而且与世界交往。虽然他全心全意地投身于教会,经历了如此多的智力和精神考验,但他还是发起了天主教徒和其他基督徒之间的公开辩论,为后来的普世对话铺平了道路。在1879年升任枢机主教时,他以“心与心说话”(Cor ad Cor loquitor)为座右铭,他的谈话跨越了忏悔、文化、社会和经济的鸿沟,植根于与上帝的亲密友谊。他的信仰是真正的天主教,因为它涵盖了生活的方方面面。本着同样的精神,无论我们是否是天主教徒,我们都可以,按照历年来基督教会的传统,接受这个个体灵魂带给我们普遍经验的独特视角、特殊智慧和洞察力。我们可以从他的作品和他的生活中汲取灵感,尽管我们承认,像所有人的生活一样,他的生活不可避免地存在缺陷。纽曼自己也意识到自己的缺点,比如傲慢和自卫,这些都与他自己的理想不符,但最终,这些都让他更加感激上帝的仁慈。他的影响巨大。作为一名神学家,他在教义发展方面的工作表明,我们对上帝的理解可以随着时间的推移而增长,并对后来的思想家产生了深远的影响。由于他重视良心的声音,个别基督徒发现他们的个人奉献受到了挑战,同时也得到了加强。那些试图定义和捍卫基督教的人发现他们很感激……