This addition to the Modern Spiritual Masters Series provides an astute selection of thematically organized writings from Newman's vast corpus. John T. Ford presents a collection of inspiring texts to perceptively illumine a renowned spiritual journey that was surrounded by heart-wrenching controversies and characterized by widely recognized accomplishments. The organization of themes is based on the most significant events and persons in Newman's life. The biographical chapter at the start of the book offers a remarkably clear and succinct account of Newman's complex life, which spanned the nineteenth century in Victorian England. Those who contributed to and participated in Newman's spiritual journey were many, and lists at the end of the collection help track the chronology of and protagonists in his long life.

The themes that shape these spiritual writings follow Newman from his Anglican through his Catholic years. These selected writings could have been organized in quite a different manner, such as by systematic topics like providence or prayer, but that would have been far less effective than what has been so imaginatively achieved. By connecting the themes with what was routine and what was extraordinary in Newman's rather unusual and very exciting life, the reader obtains surprising and moving glimpses into his mind, heart, and soul.

Matters of the mind absorbed Newman continuously, from his early difficulties and surprising accomplishments at Oxford, both as a student and as an Anglican tutor, to his struggle with the development of doctrine, his conversion to Catholicism and its explanation in his famous Apologia, his highly original defense of religious faith as being reasonable, and his engagement with the controversy over papal infallibility at Vatican I in 1870. Also, matters of the heart characterized his lifelong pastoral sensitivity to care for those in his charge, from his university students at Oxford and Dublin for whose intellectual and moral formation he assumed responsibility to his parishioners during his time as an Anglican priest to the religious community and laity for whom he was rector and pastor at the Birmingham Oratory—a sensitivity expressed toward the end of his life in his coat of arms and his motto as cardinal, Cor ad cor loquitur (Heart speaks to heart). Finally, matters of the soul were perhaps what concerned him most deeply, both personally for himself and pastorally for others, in the quest for holiness in this life and salvation in the next. In brief, these spiritual writings give a wonderful peek into Newman's mind, heart, and soul.

This book will be a superb text for any undergraduate course to engage the historical and spiritual quest that Newman's life represents. Also, the work will be a fine acquisition for library shelves. Most importantly, this thoughtful selection of unusually revealing writings should inspire teachers, students, religious, and laity to be more deliberative about matters of the mind, the heart, and the soul in their own spiritual journeys.