''Apologia Pro Vita Sua'' (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

: ''A defence of one's own life'') is

John Henry Newman John Henry Newman (21 February 1801 – 11 August 1890) was an English theologian, academic, intellectual, philosopher, polymath, historian, writer, scholar and poet, first as an Anglican ministry, Anglican priest and later as a Catholi ...

's defence of his religious opinions, published in 1864 in response to

Charles Kingsley Charles Kingsley (12 June 1819 – 23 January 1875) was a broad church priest of the Church of England, a university professor, social reformer, historian, novelist and poet. He is particularly associated with Christian socialism, the working ...

of the Church of England after Newman quit his position as the Anglican vicar of St. Mary's, Oxford.

Description

Friction during the years from 1833 to 1841 had led Newman and his allies in the

Oxford Movement The Oxford Movement was a movement of high church members of the Church of England which began in the 1830s and eventually developed into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose original devotees were mostly associated with the University of O ...

to publish a statement, the ''

Tracts for the Times The Tracts for the Times were a series of 90 theological publications, varying in length from a few pages to book-length, produced by members of the English Oxford Movement, an Anglo-Catholic revival group, from 1833 to 1841. There were about a do ...

'', to which Newman was a contributor. The tensions culminated in Newman's 1845 resignation as Anglican vicar of St. Mary's, Oxford and his departure from the Anglican church and conversion to Roman Catholicism.^{/sup>

Newman's essay was written in response to attacks from Charles Kingsley

Charles Kingsley (12 June 1819 – 23 January 1875) was a broad church priest of the Church of England, a university professor, social reformer, historian, novelist and poet. He is particularly associated with Christian socialism, the working ...
of the broad church party, and Newman's rival in the controversy surrounding the Tractarian movement

The Oxford Movement was a movement of high church members of the Church of England which began in the 1830s and eventually developed into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose original devotees were mostly associated with the University of O ...
, who responded to Newman's conversion with attacks impeaching his truthfulness and honour. ''Apologia Pro Vita Sua'' was a spiritual autobiographical defence to Kingsley's attacks.

The book became a bestseller, and remains in print today. A revised version of the ''Apologia Pro Vita Sua'' with many passages rewritten and some parts omitted, was published in 1865.Svaglic, Martin J. (1952). "The Revision of Newman's 'Apologia'," ''Modern Philology,'' Vol. 50, No. 1, pp. 43–49.

References

Further reading

* Colby, Robert A. (1953). "The Poetical Structure of Newman's 'Apologia Pro Vita Sua'," ''The Journal of Religion,'' Vol. 33, No. 1, pp. 47–57.
* Deen, Leonard W. (1962). "The Rhetoric of Newman's ''Apologia''," ''ELH,'' Vol. 29, No. 2, pp. 224–238.
* Peterson, Linda H. (1985). "Newman's Apologia Pro Vita Sua and the Traditions of the English Spiritual Autobiography," ''PMLA,'' Vol. 100, No. 3, pp. 300–314.
* Ward, Wilfrid (1913). Introduction t
''Apologia Pro Vita Sua.''
London: Oxford University Press, pp. v–xxx.

External links

''Apologia Pro Vita Sua,''
at Internet Archive

The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

*

Literary Encyclopedia article

1864 non-fiction books
Books about Christianity
Christian apologetics
Works by John Henry Newman

{{christian-book-stub}