Apologia Pro Vita Sua (A Defense of One's Life) (Dover Giant Thrift Editions) (Paperback)

~ (Author) "It may easily be conceived how great a trial it is to me to write the following history of myself; but I must not shrink..." (more)
Key Phrases: one little barbed arrow, plain practical result, cunning equivocation, Anglican Church, Church of Rome, Catholic Church (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Frank Turner provides a genuinely new and exciting reading of Newman's much-read "Apol???gia," juxtaposing the historical conditions of nineteenth-century England with Newman's version of them."-George Levine, Rutgers University --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Description

An influential Church of England vicar, John Henry Newman stunned the Anglican community in 1843 when he joined the Roman Catholic Church. Protestant clergyman Charles Kingsley launched the most scathing attacks against Newman and this was Newman's brilliant response. A spiritual autobiography, Apologia Pro Vita Sua explores the very depths and nature of Christianity.

 

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications (June 17, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0486442136
• ISBN-13: 978-0486442136
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 4.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #446,653 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars After Augustine's "Confessions," Comes . . . ., March 4, 2002

By	D. S. Heersink "D. Stephen Heersink" (San Francisco) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Apologia pro Vita Sua (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

There are few autobiographies as moving and eloquent as Newman's "Apologia." This is his "defense" of his life's choice to leave the Church of England and "go home to Rome." It's a moving testament to an individual's struggle with spiritual issues and theological dogmas and how they inform our lives. I know of no other spiritual autobiography of such importance other than Augustine's "Confessions."

Yet, for all these superb reasons to read this spiritual autobiography, perhaps there is one "secular" reason to read Newman: His command of the English language. Newman has an excellent command of rhetoric, logic, and exposition that makes him a stellar example of Victorian belle letters.

I'd recommend the Norton Critical Edition over the Penguin edition, obviously, not for the "translation," but for the criticism that helps put the issues involved in context for the 20th century reader.

47 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Spiritual Autobiography. . ., September 28, 2000

By	David Zampino "21st Century Hobbit" (Delavan, Wisconsin) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Apologia pro Vita Sua (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

since the "Confessions" of St. Augustine of Hippo 1600 years earlier.

In this book, John Henry Newman, in order to defend himself from (rather unfair) charges of insincerity, outlines the history of his spiritual development, from his beginnings as a liberal thinker, to his conversion to the Evangelical wing of the Church of England, to his ordination as an Anglican priest, to his gradual move toward Catholic thought, practice and worship in the Church of England, to his leadership in the so-called "Oxford Movement" and its call to holiness and Catholicity in the Church of England, and finally to his ultimate submission to Rome.

Whether one agrees or disagrees with Cardinal Newman theologically; whether one can accept his particular conclusions is not important to the enjoyment of this book. It is an honest account of a spiritual journey, written by an articulate man, which should prove inspirational to all persons of faith, and to all on a spiritual pilgrimage.

36 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Autobiography par excellence, January 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Apologia Pro Vita Sua (Everyman's Library (Paper)) (Paperback)

There are autobiographies, and then there is Newman's "Defense for my way of life." Sadly, this wonderful work is found in English Literature and Victorian England courses. This spiritual journey of one of the most influential thinkers of the late 19th century has much more applicability than such narrow confines.

Besides being one of the best autobiographies ever written, it is one of the most personal and intimate works in its field: Newman explains the changes, and the conflicts that gave rise to them, with an intensity and eloquence uniquely his own. While the subject matter is Newman's conversion from Anglicanism to Roman Catholicism, his story is about life's choices.