Newman Studies Journal

Fr. Juan R. Velez, a priest of the personal prelature of Opus Dei, has written "a monograph on some of Newman's most important contributions to spirituality and theology" (15) with the stated purpose to "present the figure of Newman as a man, as a Christian, a priest, a theologian—as a new saint for our times" (16). To this end he writes for the broader Catholic public. This is no easy task, however, given the range of Newman's life and the complexities of both the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches in the nineteenth century. As a result, this work at times seems overly-simplistic to the Newman specialist and overly-specialized to the uninitiated Newman reader.

Fr. Velez analyzes a variety of topics demonstrative of Newman's holiness of life, originality of thought, and depth of spirituality. There are individual chapters dedicated to Newman's friendships, holiness, meditation on scripture, moral theology, Marian piety, and living in the world. Of the fifteen chapters, five are dedicated to Newman's educational ideas. This disproportionate attention given to educational topics may be inspired by Fr. Velez's hope that the book be read by college students, especially at Catholic Newman Centers.

The second chapter presents many of the most important friendships for Newman throughout his life. This chapter is indicative of the challenge of presenting Newman and his complex web of evolving relationships to a broad audience within a limited number of pages. At the end of this chapter Fr. Velez suggests that, "if after his future canonization Newman were declared a doctor of the Church, one of his possible titles would be doctor amicitiae (Doctor of Friendship)" (37). This is a unique claim, since, as Fr. Drew Morgan has argued, most anticipate Newman would be named the "Doctor of Conscience," if such an honor were ever bestowed on him.³

In his third chapter on holiness, Fr. Velez argues that Newman's writings on "holiness in everyday life" are comparable in quality and clarity to those of St. Francis de Sales, St. Therese of Lisieux, and St. Josemaría Escrivá (42). In chapter six, "A Christian Vision of Pursuits in the Word," Velez argues that Newman, like Escrivá, "offered laymen a vision of work in the world" (73). [End Page 93] In total, Escrivá receives nine references in the book. This frequency, along with the author's background, and the topics covered in the book, contribute to the book's presentation of the Newman of Opus Dei.

The fourth chapter deals with Newman and scripture in which Fr. Velez describes Newman's insistence on the secondary senses of biblical interpretation and the prevalence of scripture in Newman's preaching. Fr. Velez has an excursus in this chapter on the issue of biblical inspiration, which seems to be a departure from the intention to introduce Newman to the uninitiated. Fr. Velez draws on the typical Newman sources related to inspiration (Tract 85 and On the Inspiration of Scripture) to argue that Newman "anticipated by many years some of the teachings of Vatican II's constitution, Dei Verbum" (53). Fr. Velez goes on to acquit Newman of heresy, explaining that the condemnations by Pope Leo XIII and Pope Pius XII regarding any appeals to obiter dicta ("sayings in passing") were not meant to condemn Newman's appeal to obiter dicta regarding the inspiration of scripture. In his defense of Newman, Fr. Velez opens the door to the charge that Newman taught a form of partial inspiration of scripture in his later Catholic years. James Burtchaell has in fact argued this point in his book, Catholic Theories of Biblical Inspiration since 1810.⁴

The fifth chapter treats Newman's moral theology. Fr. Velez dedicates most of the chapter to the themes of obedience and conscience. He describes Newman's understanding of obedience as "healthy and appealing," (66) because for Newman "the moral life aspires to...