Dec 14, 2023
"True Religion is slow in growth, and, when once planted, is difficult of dislodgement; but its intellectual counterfeit has no root in itself: it springs up suddenly, it suddenly withers. It appeals to what is in nature, and it falls under the dominion of the old Adam. Then, like dethroned princes, it keeps up a state and majesty, when it has lost the real power. Deformity is its abhorrence; accordingly, since it cannot dissuade men from vice, therefore in order to escape the sight of its deformity, it embellishes it."
In 1854, Newman was invited to Dublin by the Catholic Bishops of Ireland to serve as rector for the newly established Catholic University of Ireland, now University College, Dublin. Though he retired after only four years, during this time he composed and delivered the lectures that would become The Idea of a University.
In this eighth discourse, Newman examines the bearing of intellectual culture—whether for good or for ill—upon the exercise of religion. Notable in this chapter is Newman's survey of the moral and ethical character of the "gentleman."
Links
Cluny Media edition: https://clunymedia.com/collections/john-henry-newman/products/the-idea-of-a-university
The Idea of a University full text: https://www.newmanreader.org/works/idea/
Donate at: http://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio
Theme music: 2 Part Invention, composed by Mark Christopher Brandt, performed by Thomas Mirus. ©️2019 Heart of the Lion Publishing Co./BMI. All rights reserved.