In Pursuit of Truth
By Simeon Elderfield
Earlier this month on October 13th, around 50,000 people gathered
in St Peter’s Square to celebrate the momentous canonisation of 5 new saints into
the Catholic Church, including St John Henry Newman. Simeon, a friend of Youth2000 who was present at the canonisation, reflects on the remarkability of St Newman’s life,
and the lessons from his pursuit of Truth that we should be inspired to act upon.
St John Henry Newman
is to me, one of the more challenging saints that we are presented with in the
modern world. It is fortuitous that he has been recently canonised, as
hopefully it will bring his ideas and life into the zeitgeist in a way they
have not been in a long time. For he was a thoroughly modern man; engaging in
intellectual matters, debating publicly, a member of that venerable institution
of Oxford University. Whilst a member of the Anglican Communion, he undertook a
heroic effort to argue for the rationality of his faith, specifically in the
Anglo-Catholic movement which was known as the controversial but engaged Oxford
Movement. This was a direct response to the new tide of Liberalism which Newman
saw sweeping across Anglicanism, driving it towards Protestantism. This was
problematic to Newman because he viewed Anglicanism as a middle way between the
excesses of the Catholic Church, and the lack of orthodoxy in the Protestant
congregations.
In his zealotry, I am
somewhat reminded of Alexander Hamilton; an immigrant and Founding Father who
was responsible for writing many of the Federalist papers arguing for the
American Constitution, convincing the public and political establishment to
adopt what he saw as the best form of government. He saw as his responsibility
the need to be a part in building a new world founded on Truths.
In an analogous way,
we can see the passion in Newman’s writings of the Oxford Movement’s Tracts for
the Times, documents which set out how he and his fellow 'Tractarians' saw the
direction the Anglican Communion ought to move. Indeed, both men saw themselves
as being on the forefront of an ideological war; in Hamilton’s case also a
literal war. But I'd go so far as to say Newman’s has proven to be pervasive
because, although it never became a physical war, it continues to haunt us. For
Newman saw himself as fighting the precursor to our modern Materialistic
Relativism, an ideology which declared all truths were as valid as each other,
and absolutes did not exist. Naturally, he was repulsed by this as it directly
contradicted the point of Truth in any form.
Newman’s journey
towards Truth was both stubbornly rational and intensely emotional. Although he
can be characterised as a stuffy old academic, that is a huge misunderstanding
of who he was. Whilst writing Apologia Pro Vita Sua, he wept as he was forced
to expose his spiritual history. His relationships with friends were deep and
emotive and his arguments were fuelled by a great imagination as well as
intellect. A violinist whose favourite composer was Beethoven, he embraced
beauty in the world. Even his motto, Cor ad Cor loquitor, was an
absolute example of this. One might assume the intellectual would speak solely
to the head, but he understood that it is also the heart God talks from, and so
it is the heart we must talk to others through.
In light of this
version of Newman, I believe that his legacy confronts the modern Church as
well as the Church of his day because he encourages us to follow the journey
into Truth without restraint, never being comfortable with the status quo. He
followed where he was led by the Spirit. By his example we are called to a
self-awareness of our state. He rode high as an Anglican, achieving national
renown and prestige but himself commented on the fact that, upon joining the
Roman Church, he did not achieve so highly. But as a priest, he was devoted to
his flock, serving the poor and fully submerging himself into living out the
Truth he professed.
For me, Newman is a
good example of how we can be sacrificial in our pursuit of truth. To be
honest, one of the reasons I laud him to Modernity is precisely because he
didn’t lose his life. Those who were martyred represent the ultimate sacrifice
we should be willing to pay, but it is unlikely we will be put in the situation
of losing our life. Instead, by virtue of our privilege here in the Western
world, we face the enemy of wilful ignorance that tempts us with the easy life
of closing our ears to Truth. But we are part of the insurgency now, not the
majority and we must be prepared to be radical in building up the world for
God’s glory. Newman challenges us to action in a way that only we can. We must
be prepared to sacrifice our reputations or ambitions and stand up to be
counted as defenders of Truth against the creeping malevolence of
Relativism.
Being at his
Canonisation was enormously moving, because it forced me to question how
devoted I was to the pursuit of Truth. The answer, is that I am a sinner, and
yet God has still given me the grace of seeing a measure of Truth. If I do not
use what I am given, languishing in apathy, then I am wilfully ignorant. It
convinced me ever more that we must take hold of every opportunity given to us
and strive to promote the Truth, not with aggression but by being genuine,
honest and faithful. Sacrifice ambition for Truth. Use the tools and talents
you have to advance Truth. Share Truth with everyone you meet. Work with the
rest of the Church, united in our direction towards God, as it is only when the
Body of Christ acts in unity, that it stands strong. Do not be ashamed that you
know Truth but never assume you know it all. Indeed, the example we see in St
John Henry Newman is in his honesty to himself and humility before God that he
knew he was always in pursuit of Truth even to his end.
Where do I think this
leaves us? Well, in advocating pursuing Truth, I do leave out what Truth is.
But then, that's the easy part. It's written very clearly in the Gospel of John
where Jesus identifies Himself as 'the Way, the Truth and the Life’; the ultimate
answer to what we are all born searching for. What St John Henry Newman teaches
us is what it looks like to make that Truth your life's destination, and how to
draw others closer along that journey.
To see more photos from the Canonisation weekend in Rome, check out the following link https://www.flickr.com/photos/catholicwestminster/albums/72157711363372297/page1
