Show Notes
Who better to talk about John Henry Newman and the debate around faith and reason than the Theologian of the Papal Household? Dominican Father Wojciech Giertych OP has served the Pontifical Household since 2005 – covering the pontificates of both Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. Fr Giertych gives us an academic yet accessible reflection. "Newman stressed the autonomy of faith and of the rational mind, insisting that the two are not to be confused. Believers engage with God because they have been moved by Him and they need to preserve the purity of this graced relationship. Faith accepts the divine Word as the supreme light and guidance. Philosophical reason has its dignity but also its limits and so it should not encroach upon faith, imposing its own standards." "... The true Christian does not scan the mysteries of faith according to rational criteria accepting only those that are deemed to be valid. The Christian does the reverse. The totality of what God has revealed enjoys primacy, and then practical life is measured by the unique criterion that is the received divine mystery."
More from Journeying With Newman
Today's 'Journeying With Newman' podcast, a new offering to mark the first anniversary of the Canonisation of Saint John Henry Newman, looks back ten years to the Oratorian's Beatification in Birmingham. These words come from Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI's homily at Cofton Park when the then-Holy Father declared Newman 'Blessed'.
Brother Emmanuel Durant is a Dominican academic who teaches theology at the Angelicum in Rome. In this podcast, he examines John Henry Newman's teaching on Divine Providence and Human Agency.
Today's reflection for our 'Journeying With Newman' podcast series is notable as it's the first episode released after the canonisation. John Henry Newman is now a saint. Dr. Andrew Meszaros is a lecturer in Systematic Theology at Ireland’s Pontifical University, Saint Patrick’s College, Maynooth. His focus falls today on Newman's Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine. "The power of Newman’s prose comes, in part, from the cumulative weight that accrues from all his examples of how the various elements of the Christian tradition all stand and fall together... Newman reminds us that to pick one aspect of Christianity, and reject another is tantamount to a false Christianity. And conversely, we should remember that all that we believe and do as Catholics is in some way related to the core of our faith. Nothing authentically Catholic is insignificant."
Historian and commentator Joanna Bogle gives us an entertaining and insightful reflection on Newman and the Church with a particular historical focus on the Church as the guardian of truth. "[The Church] is glorious in her cherishing of truth: we cannot, we must not, ever allow ourselves to do less than honour her. Her story is a great one. Saints and martyrs, heroes and heroines, great missionary endeavours, glorious art and music, the foundations of modern sciences and of the great universities… and much, much more. We cannot, we must not, dismiss or ignore all of this, muddled though it all is – and muddied too by cruelty and injustice, by human sin and error. "In John Henry Newman, we find a passion for truth that we should follow. It is his greatest single gift to us."
Today's 'Journeying With Newman' podcast is a reflection from Fortunato Morrone - a parish priest from Italy and teacher of Systematic Theology at the Calabrian Theological Institute.