The "four conversions" of John Henry Newman

Authors' seem opinions seem to vary on the number of "conversions" experienced by John Henry Newman.

The Pope mentions three in his recent pre-Christmas address.

In a new book on Conscience and Conversion in Newman we see FOUR:

Although most Christians have an awareness of Newman’s conversion from the Church of England to Roman Catholicism in 1845, the great theologian had actually experienced two prior conversions: one in his youth (1816), which Conn describes as a “prime example of basic Christian moral conversion, with important affective, cognitive, and religious dimensions” (p. 8). Newman’s second conversion, from Evangelic faith to Anglo-Catholicism constituted the basis for more change, “the political Tractarian movement that sought to transform the Church of England” (p. 8).

This could be a useful framework for us to understand the changes that Newman's life and thinking underwent to bring him to the full vision of the reality of man's life and relation to God, the Church and the modern world.

See below for the full review:
http://catholicbooksreview.org/2010/conn.htm

However, we must also ask the fundamental question - what is meant by conversion?

Is it just a change in our behaviour or being offended by moral incorrectness in society, "becoming nice" as most of us probably imagine, or is it a deeper change in the way we see ourselves, other people, things?

I invite everyone who's interested in the conversion and spirituality aspect of Newman to join me in reading this note from Traces on the meaning of conversion in our lives today, in order to better recognise if we feel the need for a daily conversion to Christ because of the way ordinary things strike us. Comments welcome!