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John Henry Newman (1801-1890) remains one of the best-known and influential English churchmen of the nineteenth century. Ordained as a priest in the Anglican Church in 1825, he converted to Roman Catholicism, being ordained as a priest and later appointed cardinal. His works include Grammar of Assent (1870) and Apologia Pro Vita Sua (1865-1866) as well as this Essay (1845), written in the midst of his own religious transformation. He discusses his theory of the development of Christian dogma: 'from the nature of the human mind, time is necessary for the full comprehension and perfection of great ideas ... the longer time and deeper thought for their full elucidation'. By showing how fidelity to timeless truths coexisted in Christianity together with deeper and more developed understanding over time, Newman provides a helpful personal and theological apology for the teaching and practice of Catholicism against its detractors.… (more)
A prolific author, educator and priest, John Henry Newman sought to catalog, examine and improve knowledge and understanding of church doctrine. In this book, he delves deep into the past of the Catholic church and other traditions of Christianity, in order to accurately trace the development of various doctrines.
Amazing book. Life changing for me. Doctrine develops from ideas implicit in the life of the Christian community. The Church, like Mary, ponders the mystery of God through the ages, shedding light here and there but never exhausting our understanding of Him. A simple idea, but revolutionary at its time. Work through this book slowly, asking yourself tough questions about what you think you believe. Your faith will deepen. ( )
1681 An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, by John Henry Newman (read 25 Dec 1981) This is the 1845 edition of this famous work. I confess I found it hard to read, and not what I expected. Newman's arguments are not as dependent on reasoned proof as I would like, and I found some of his arguments not overly convincing. He obviously was very well-versed in early Church history--in fact, one wonders where one could learn all he knew, though obviously the books do so exist. This book was written at the time of his conversion, and was revised in 1873. But this version is the 1845 version. ( )
If you are Anglican, then this is a good insight into the doctrine of the original church, as John Henry Newman was the founder of the Oxford Movement which was a group which was trying to force the church to return to its roots of the 16th c. JHN converted to RC, founded a school and was highly thought of and one of the best theologians. After he died he was made a "venerable" of the RC Church. ( )
TO THE REV. SAMUEL WILLIAM WAYTE, B.D. PRESIDENT OF TRINITY COLLEGE, OXFORD
MY DEAR PRESIDENT, {v} NOT from any special interest which I anticipate you will take in this Volume, or any sympathy you will feel in its argument, or intrinsic fitness of any kind in my associating you and your Fellows with it,—
But, because I have nothing besides it to offer you, in token of my sense of the gracious compliment which you and they have paid me in making me once more a Member of a College dear to me from Undergraduate memories;—
Also, because of the happy coincidence, that whereas its first publication was contemporaneous with my leaving Oxford, its second becomes, by virtue of your act, contemporaneous with a recovery of my position there:— {vi}
Therefore it is that, without your leave or your responsibility, I take the bold step of placing your name in the first pages of what, at my age, I must consider the last print or reprint on which I shall ever be engaged.
I am, my dear President, Most sincerely yours, JOHN H. NEWMAN. February 23, 1878.
First words
CHRISTIANITY has been long enough in the world to justify us in dealing with it as a fact in the world's history.
Quotations
To be deep in history is to cease to be a Protestant.
In a higher world it is otherwise, but here below to live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often.
That the increase and expansion of the Christian Creed and Ritual, and the variations which have attended the process in the case of individual writers and Churches, are the necessary attendants on any philosophy or polity which takes possession of the intellect and heart, and has had any wide or extended dominion; that, from the nature of the human mind, time is necessary for the full comprehension and perfection of great ideas; and that the highest and most wonderful truths, though communicated to the world once for all by inspired teachers, could not be comprehended all at once by the recipients, but, as being received and transmitted by minds not inspired and through media which were human, have required only the longer time and deeper thought for their full elucidation. This may be called the Theory of Development of Doctrine.
John Henry Newman (1801-1890) remains one of the best-known and influential English churchmen of the nineteenth century. Ordained as a priest in the Anglican Church in 1825, he converted to Roman Catholicism, being ordained as a priest and later appointed cardinal. His works include Grammar of Assent (1870) and Apologia Pro Vita Sua (1865-1866) as well as this Essay (1845), written in the midst of his own religious transformation. He discusses his theory of the development of Christian dogma: 'from the nature of the human mind, time is necessary for the full comprehension and perfection of great ideas ... the longer time and deeper thought for their full elucidation'. By showing how fidelity to timeless truths coexisted in Christianity together with deeper and more developed understanding over time, Newman provides a helpful personal and theological apology for the teaching and practice of Catholicism against its detractors.
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An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine is one of the most significant works of John Henry Newman, probably the greatest religious thinker of modern times. The concept of the development of religious doctrine is one of tremendous importance, and fascinated Newman, who devoted many years to its study. The rich fruit of his meditation and study is this Essay, which provides a liberal education in Christian history and theology on a vast panoramic scale extending across the centuries.
Newman begins the Essay with a definition of development, pointing out that the real problem is how to distinguish true developments from corruptions and decays. From this starting point, he goes on to a sweeping consideration of the growth and development of doctrine in the Catholic Church, from the time of the Apostles down to his own era. He shows that the basic "rule" under which Christianity proceeded through the centuries is to be found in the principle of development, and emphasizes that throughout the entire life of the Church this law of development has been in effect and safeguards the faith from any real corruption.
He concludes by saying that in the Catholic Church "Doctrine is where it was, and usage, and precedence; and principle and policy; there may be changes, but they are consolidations or adaptations; all is unequivocal and determinate, with an identity which there is no disputing."
The day after he had finished the Essay, Newman's tortured search was at an end. On October 9, 1845, he entered the Catholic Church.
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