Idea of a University

John Henry Newman

Feb 2010 · Ignatius Press

About this ebook

No man was ever better qualified to write such a book as The Life of a University than Cardinal Newman was. And the subject has never been more pressing than it is today. In this classic, Newman poses a number of important questions: What is the purpose of education? What does it mean to be educated? What is the role of a university? What is the relationship between learning and the life of a society? And where does Catholicism fit in?

The issues Newman examined with incomparable insight continue to be relevant today, one hundred and fifty years after it was first published. This book has been recognized as probably the greatest of its kind, and no one interested in the relationship between religion, learning, culture and politics can afford to neglect it.

On John Henry Newman:
"The most original religious thinker and the finest preacher in the English-speaking Catholic world."

On the book Idea of University:
"Why these interminable conferences on the meaning of education? This is the definitive book on education, and on Catholic education."

About the author

John Henry Newman (1801–1890) was an Anglican priest, theologian, and author most famous for his role in the Oxford Movement and his conversion to Catholicism. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1846 and was elevated to the rank of cardinal in 1879. His works include The Idea of a University, Apologia Pro Vita Sua, Loss and Gain, and Parochial and Plain Sermons .