Le Cogito newmanien: La preuve du théisme by Grégory Solari (review)

Knox’s influence on the Tractarians is somewhat opaque, but the sense in which he was a forerunner of this catholicizing branch of Anglicanism was summed up well by Newman toward the end of his life (1887): “we were happy to have [Knox] as far as he went, and I think we used him” (253). Throughout the book, the ecumenical implications of “Mr. Knox’s system” (107, 259) become apparent, and this feature of Knox’s thought is applauded by McCready in the conclusion. Especially after Catholicism’s conciliar and postconciliar experiences, when reform became so tightly linked to ressourcement, Knox’s desire to be “a Christian of the first six centuries” (129, 262), rooted in the church fathers—especially when combined with his friendships across denominational lines, irenic approach to disagreement, and support of political relief for Catholics in the form of the Emancipation finally promulgated in 1829 (though Knox still emphatically supported an Established Church) show Knox as a scion not only of irenicism but of ecumenism. This excellently researched and well-written book is an important contribution to our knowledge of an underappreciated thinker at the crossroads of a number of important ecclesial and political events. The Knox that emerges from McCready’s study is a generous, erudite man with something to say to Calvinists and Evangelicals, Catholics and Tractarians. Some theological and historical background is assumed, but advanced undergraduates and up will be able to benefit from this excellent book.