John Henry Newman owned a “long view,” especially in relation to the development of Christian doctrine over the centuries. Much lesser known, and fitting nicely with his doctrinal works, are two novels which own equal importance for Newman scholars: the semi-autobiographical “Loss and Gain,” and the historical romance “Callista.”
Now it must be observed that the writings of St. Alfonso, as I knew them by the extracts commonly made from them, prejudiced me against the Roman…