Essay in Aid of A Grammar of Assent, An Paperback – Download: Adobe Reader, October 31, 1992

Widely recognized as an extrodinary piece of 19th century literature and scholarly insight. And the work contributed and inspired diverse intellectual areas, especially 20th century Catholic theology, which culmninated in Vatican II.Newman's almost conversional style and approach to essential philosophical matters, demonstrates and exemplifies the bridge that grammer assumes between the internal and external grasp of knowledge.

This product is a photocopy of some volume checked out from a UC-system library. As such it bears library markings throughout its pages, and even some notes from previous readers. The cover itself is well-designed, but is clearly made by a company that re-publishes post-copyrighted works. It is a good read of a particular earlier edition of Newman's Essay, but for the sake of serious academic reflection I do not recommend this particular volume. Let it be known that this is an edition composed after his conversion to Catholicism, so it is not the volume during his Oxford movement Anglican days. Having taken a class on Newman it was embarrassing to have the one volume that was totally off in page numbers. The content is relatively the same, but readers must understand that this volume has gone through several editions.To find out what edition you need, confirm with your professor because I even copied in the ISBN number in Amazon to find the volume he wanted and it still led me to this. You won't be at a complete loss if you have this work, but just know that there are as many as 70 pages of distance between quotes in this edition and other editions, depending on where you are in the book.

Heavy material but a necessary read!

Of great interest for anyone interested in the way in which the debate between rationalism and faith squared up in the early years of the 19th century

Order arrived promptly and as described.

Thanks

This edition, which cost me only $23.31, without warning turned out to be digitally printed. The too dark, thick print is applied to cheap, non-acid-free paper. This makes the reading the book not only unpleasant but physically difficult. Had I opened this volume in a book store and saw the shabbiness inside, I would not have purchased it.

"A Grammar of Assent" by J. H. Newman is without doubt the most elegant, eloquent, and persuasive argument yet for the belief in God by any Christian philosopher. Despite its 19th-century origins, it remains one of the most modern of Christian philosophies yet. Gone are all references to Aristotle and Aquinas and their antediluvian methodologies of a priori logic to "prove" the existence of God and why it is supposedly "rational" to believe in such a God.In its stead, Newman uses the Humean methodology of a posteriori inferences that lead one to believe that the "uneasiness" one feels (another Humean concept) about certain disturbances of the mind/soul that are attributable to the indwelling, or natural inclination, of the "conscience." From this natural inclination (again Hume) and by rational inference (Hume again), Newman posits step by step, and from different angles, that it is only a natural logical inference to assent to the belief in God. But it is the a posteriori experience of "conscience," not some a priori "proof," that leads the way.Don't be put off by the rigorous prelude of the first-two chapters; they give considerable detail to the methodology Newman intends to use, which again is empirically oriented, not a priori logically deduced. The reading after that is a breeze, containing absolute wonderment at the level of perspicuity, rhetorical advantage, and logical nuances that infer God's existence from natural inclinations. It was, and remains, a revolutionary approach, and is a worthy work to include in any Christian's library.

The actual text of the book appears to be fine - it appears to be virtually new - however - the front cover has a sticky substance on it like someone spilled a sweet jam or something like that on the book and failed to clean it - so this is not very good - I am a Masters student - so the book will be used to assists in essay writing and perhaps for my dissertation and perhaps for a phd thesis if I go that far - so I am pleased to have the book but someone needs to clean up their act!

This is the book which took JHN twenty years to write. Possibly his best. A must for anyone interested in belief and faith. Unfortunately the title on the front cover is misspelt, ascent should be assent. Obviously the proof readers had the day off.

excellent

It's a very good book!

John Henry Newman, der große Konvertit, hat zwei besonders wichtige Werke hinterlassen. Jeweils sind es Essays über den Glauben. Einmal behandelt er die Glaubensentwicklung und einmal die Bedeutung dessen, was wir in der Kirche "glauben" nennen.In diesem Essay zerlegt Newman die säkularen Vorurteile seiner Zeit, die bis heute noch fortwirken. Das gängigste Vorurteil: Glaube und Vernunft würden sich widersprechen. Wer auf so einer philosophisch unreifen "Altlast" rumsitzt, der sollte diesen Aufsatz lesen.Vor einigen Jahren sagte ein Kölner Theologieprofessor, er könne nicht glauben, was er nicht zuvor mit dem Verstand begriffen hätte. Deshalb soll die Sprache der Liturgie Deutsch sein und zwar so, daß es verständlich wäre. - Diesem Professor würde es gut tun, aufrichtig dieses Buch zu lesen. Es würde von solchen "truisms", solchen Binsenweisheiten, nichts mehr übrig bleiben. Führt man die These fort, man könne nur dem zustimmen, was man verstanden hat, so dürfte jener Professor nie wieder zum Arzt gehen und kein modernes Verkehrsmittel außer Fahrrad benutzen. Und keine Computer. Und kein ...Newman führt das alles aus und geht richtig tief in die Grundlagen dessen, was wir Zustimmung nennen. Beim Glauben wird es irgendwann sehr anspruchsvoll. Denn die Dinge, die höchste Bedeutung haben, sind ein Mysterium. Wer meint, sie "ausgeforscht" und "vollständig dechiffriert" zu haben, der geht völlig irre. Gott ist ein unausschöpfliches Meer an Erkenntnis. Es gibt immer ein "Tiefer" für uns Menschen.Der vorurteilsbehaftete Mensch wird hier "debunked". Seine vermeintlichen Gewißheiten werden zermalmt. Aber aus diesem Staube wird eine neue Sicherheit geboren und das ist der Glaube, der ein sicheres Fundament hat und der deutlich mehr aushält als dessen Kritiker.Wer seinen Glauben an Jesus Christus auf ein intellektuell krisensicheres Fundament stellen will, der kommt an diesem Werk nicht vorbei (und auch nicht an dem anderen Essay von Newman).