Loss and Gain

By Saint John Henry Newman Loss and Gain: This semi-autobiographical story of a convert, set during the Tractarian controversy in the Church of England in the 1820s, follows the young Oxford student, Charles Reding, as he seeks solid ground for his faith. In the heady intellectual climate of Oxford, Charles takes a part in its involved, at times impassioned, religious and ecclesiastical debates, wrestling with the sectarian, the evangelical, and the Catholic interpretations of what constitutes the true Church—as founded by Christ himself and “as defined in the Creeds.” Most famous for his cogent scholarship, persuasive apologetics, and profound sermons, St. John Henry Newman was also a gifted novelist. Writing in 1852, at the heights of the rise of the novel as a literary form, Newman offered this assessment of literature’s purpose: “Man is a being of genius, passion, intellect, conscience, power. He exercises these various gifts in various ways, in great deeds, in great thoughts, in heroic acts, in hateful crimes. He founds states, he fights battles, he builds cities, he ploughs the forest, he subdues the elements, he rules his kind. He creates vast ideas, and influences many generations. He takes a thousand shapes, and undergoes a thousand fortunes. Literature records them all to the life…”   John Henry Newman (1801–1890) had a notable career at Oxford University and was an Anglican priest before converting to Roman Catholicism in 1845 and becoming a Catholic priest in 1847. A prolific author and preacher, his written works include Apologia pro Vita Sua, A Grammar of Assent, and The Idea of a University; he also founded Oratory houses and served as rector of the Catholic University of Ireland. In 2019, he was canonized a saint of the Catholic Church. * * * Paperback: 326pp. ISBN: 978-1685953577