The Word on Fire Show
Episode: WOF 523: The Grammar of Assent (10 of 12)
Date: January 5, 2026
Host: Bishop Robert Barron (Lecture), Dr. Matthew Petrusek (Intro)

Episode Overview

In this tenth installment of the lecture series on St. John Henry Newman, Bishop Robert Barron turns to what is widely regarded as Newman's intellectual masterpiece: An Essay in Aid of a Grammar of Assent. Barron explores how Newman confronts the idea that religious belief is groundless or irrational—what Newman calls "liberalism in matters of religion." He explains Newman's crucial distinction between notional assent (assent to abstract concepts) and real assent (assent to particulars and lived realities), and how conscience forms a powerful, personal connection point to God, making religious truths existentially compelling.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Newman's Battle with Religious "Liberalism"

• Definition of Liberalism (as per Newman):

  • Not to be confused with today’s political liberalism or even advocacy of liberal education.
  • Newman describes "liberalism in religion" as "the view that there is no truth in matters of religion."
    • He spent his life standing against the reduction of religion to mere sentiment or private experience without claims on objective truth.
    • (03:00) “Religion is not simply a matter of feeling... it’s a type of knowledge.” — Barron summarizing Newman

• Second Problematic Tenet:

  • The idea that only formal, logical demonstration provides certitude.
  • (04:07) “Demonstration or formal logic is the only basis for certitude.” — Barron quoting the idea Newman opposes

• The Grammar of Assent is Newman's reply to both; it’s the capstone of his intellectual journey.

2. The Challenge of Writing The Grammar of Assent

• Personal Struggle:
  • Newman attempted to start the book 19 different times over 20 years before finalizing his approach.
  • The breakthrough: Don’t start with certitude (the standard of philosophical inquiry since Descartes) but with assent—the act of saying “yes” to a claim.
  • (07:23) “The right way to commence this analysis is not with certitude, but with assent.” — Barron quoting Newman

3. Notional Assent vs. Real Assent (09:05)

• Notional Assent:
  • Assent to abstract propositions or ideas ("breadth of mind, but shallow").
• Real Assent:
  • Assent to concrete realities—to faces, voices, experiences ("deep, but narrow-minded").
• Newman values both:
  • “Without the apprehension of notions, we should forever pace around one small circle of knowledge. Without a firm hold on things, we shall waste ourselves in vague speculations.” — Barron paraphrasing Newman (11:05)
  • But real assent moves hearts and engenders action in a way notional assent never can.

Language Analogy: Anglo-Saxon vs. Norman-French (14:00)

• English contains both “streams”: the concrete, earthy Anglo-Saxon and the abstract, elevated Norman French (Latinate).
  • Example: “Pig” (Anglo-Saxon) vs. “Pork” (French); “Cow” vs. “Beef”
• “You want to move people to action in a sermon, don’t use abstract, Latinate language. Use the forceful Anglo-Saxon.” — Barron

Churchill Example (16:30)

• Winston Churchill’s speeches relied on blunt, concrete English to inspire action:
  • “All I have to offer you is blood, toil, tears and sweat.”
  • “Some chicken, some neck.”

Theological Analogy (18:15)

• Thomas Aquinas’s Summa is a masterpiece of notional exploration.
• But: To move people religiously, especially regarding an abstract topic like God, you need real assent.

4. Conscience as the Route to Real Assent in Religion (19:20)

• Newman on Conscience:

  • Conscience is our inner, visceral experience of right and wrong, not merely abstract thought.
    • (20:10) “Conscience is a certain keen sensibility, pleasant or painful, attendant on certain of our actions, which in consequence we call right or wrong.” — Barron quoting Newman
  • Conscience is both a moral sense (the informational side) and a sense of duty (the motivational side).
    • It immediately moves us, even rewards or punishes internally.
    • (21:25) “If on doing wrong, we feel the same tearful, broken-hearted sorrow which overwhelms us on hurting a mother... we certainly have within us the image of some person to whom our love and veneration look.” — Newman, quoted by Barron
    • Barron highlights Newman’s alliterative prose: “sunny serenity... same soothing, satisfactory delight,” capturing the felt experience.

• Unlike the aesthetic sense (which makes judgments but isn’t experienced as a “voice”), conscience is a “voice,” experienced as another person speaking to us.

• Key Quote:

  • (22:05) “Conscience is a connecting principle between the creature and his creator. And the firmest hold of theological truth is gained by habits of personal religion.” — Newman, quoted by Barron

• Conclusion:

  • Newman’s answer to “Why do I believe?” is ultimately:
    • “Because conscience confirms the truth of his experience of God.” — Barron summarizing Newman

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “My whole life has been dedicated to battling liberalism in matters of religion.” — Newman’s Biglietto Speech (03:00)
• (07:23) “The right way to commence this analysis is not with certitude, but with assent.” — Barron recounting Newman’s breakthrough
• (11:05) “Without the apprehension of notions, we should forever pace around one small circle of knowledge. Without a firm hold on things, we shall waste ourselves in vague speculations.”
• (16:30) Churchill: “All I have to offer you is blood, toil, tears and sweat.”
  “Some chicken, some neck!”
• (20:10) “Conscience is a certain keen sensibility, pleasant or painful, attendant on certain of our actions, which in consequence we call right or wrong.”
• (21:25) “If on doing wrong, we feel the same tearful, broken-hearted sorrow which overwhelms us on hurting a mother... we certainly have within us the image of some person to whom our love and veneration look.”
• (22:05) “Conscience is a connecting principle between the creature and his creator.”

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 03:00 — Newman's Biglietto Speech and battle with liberalism in religion
• 07:23 — Newman's breakthrough: start with assent, not certitude
• 09:05 — Notional vs. real assent defined
• 14:00 — English language analogy (Anglo-Saxon vs. Norman-French)
• 16:30 — Churchill and powerful, action-oriented language
• 18:15 — Thomas Aquinas and notional assent
• 19:20 — Conscience as experiential access point to God
• 20:10, 21:25, 22:05 — Key quotations on conscience and real assent

Final Thoughts

Bishop Barron captures the depth of Newman’s project: defending the rationality and fullness of religious faith against a reductive, overly abstract modernism. Real assent—rooted in lived experience and especially the voice of conscience—is at the core of both conviction and personal relationship with God. This lecture offers a compelling case for how faith is not a weak substitute for reason, but instead a response engaging the whole human person.