THE
P RTAL
December 2018
Page 10
Thoughts on Newman
Turning of the Year
Dr Stephen Morgan
I t is
a commonplace that the older one gets, the faster time seems to pass: the summer holidays of my
school days stretched out for ever and yet this last summer’s glory was gone in the blink of an eye; I’m even
prepared to speculate school Greek Grammar Lessons which were as close to the eternal as my eleven year
old self could conceive of, would now whizz by…well, perhaps not (pace Mrs Mitchell).
Psychologists propose a number of reasons for this
change in perception: favourite amongst them is that
memory measures time by recording not the regular
markers of linear time that make a physical impression
upon us, such as the days and seasons, but, instead, the
occurrence of new experiences.
Remembering the precise order of the occurrence
of things that happen in our life becomes more and
more difficult and we are regularly surprised by just
how much time has elapsed since things that seem
relatively recent occurred. Being put to proof on these
matters becomes ever more difficult.
Which of us could, with accuracy, give a detailed
account of the events, thoughts, emotions and subtle
developments of religious belief that preceded our
conversion – our reception into full communion, if
you prefer that expression (I do not).
of the wicked world which marries and is given in
marriage. Whether his notion be doctrinally correct
or not, it is, at least, historically so.
The accusation was that Newman had been either
religiously inconsistent or simply dishonest in
remaining in the Church of England whilst already
convinced of the truths of Catholicism. Kingsley’s charge
was that Newman either lied when, post-conversion,
he said that it was his deepening understanding of the
truth, to which he remained ever faithful, that had
led him from the Communion of his baptism to the
Catholic Church, or that he had lied when, whilst still
a clergyman of the Established Church, Newman (and
by implication his fellow Tractarians) had claimed to
be a faithful Anglican seeking not to subvert the CofE
but to recover its true identity.
I think that almost every convert – especially every
convert from Anglican/Episcopalian Christianity – has
When Charles Kingsley traduced his integrity, had at least one such allegation leveled at him or her.
honesty and straightforwardness in 1863/4, Newman In his response to Kingsley, Newman engaged in the
was compelled to undertake exactly such a task. It is most extraordinary feat of memory – aided, of course,
– I suppose – possible that Newman might have left by his letters, journals and notes, but undoubtedly a
the defamation uncommented upon but he was very prodigious exercise in trawling his recollection not
conscious that he was not simply a private person with just of events but of thoughts, feelings and developing
religious sentiment.
only his own reputation to consider.
He was, first and foremost, a Catholic priest
and Kingsley’s libel (published initially almost
pseudonymously – only initials were used – in the
January 1864 edition of Macmillan’s Magazine, which
appeared in December of the previous year and was
then expanded in a 48-page tract What, Then, Does Dr
Newman Mean?) had not only traduced Newman but
every Catholic priest, writing:
The product, his Apologia pro vita sua, is, perhaps,
quite the best religious autobiography ever written but
it is something else too: it is a reminder to us all to
cherish the story of our conversion, for our own soul’s
sake but also for the edification of others.
Who can know how many have come to know the
consoling joy of the Communion of Saints in all its
fullness because of the witness of our recollection of
the turning years.
Truth for its own sake has never been a virtue with
the Roman clergy. Father Newman informs us that it
PS. My students gave very sound presentations and
need not be, and on the whole ought not to be; — that
cunning is the weapon which Heaven has given to the have formed the distinct opinion that Newman really
saints wherewith to withstand the brute male force understood Irenaeus like no one else!