| Admin_History | John Henry Newman was perhaps the most important and influential theologian of the nineteenth century. He was born in London in 1801 and educated at Ealing School. It was here, influenced by a schoolmaster, Rev Walter Mayers, that Newman experienced his first religious awakening towards a Calvinistic form of evangelicalism. He also developed a staunch anti - Catholicism based around the concept of the pope as Antichrist following a reading of Thomas Newton's Dissertation on the Prophecies(1754û8). In 1817, Newman entered Trinity College, Oxford, and won a college scholarship the following year. Although he underachieved in his final examinations, he was elected a fellow by examination at Oriel College in 1822 and was ordained priest three years later. His first position was curate at St ClementÆs, a working class parish in east Oxford. During this period, NewmanÆs religious beliefs became more notably high - church with a rejection of the doctrine of imputed righteousness in favour of baptismal regeneration. Shortly after his appointment as tutor at Oriel in 1827, Newman suffered a nervous collapse brought on by overwork, family financial troubles and the death of his sister, Mary. He recovered sufficiently to support his mentor, Edward Hawkins, in his successful candidature for the vacant Oriel provostship, which enabled Newman to succeed Hawkins as vicar of the university church of St MaryÆs. However, he developed a fractious relationship with the new provost, brought about by political disagreements over Catholic Emancipation. In the 1830s, Newman began publishing a series of controversial tracts which were to form the basis of the Oxford Movement. The main criticism levelled at these tracts was that they appeared to be undermining the protestant character of the Church of England. Newman replied to this criticism in two tracts published in 1834, wherein he argued that the Anglican Church effectively occupied a via media(or middle position) between Protestantism and Catholicism. Newman further developed this theory in his Lectures on Justification(1838), arguing that the Protestant theory of justification by faith alone and the Roman Catholic doctrine of justification by works were incomplete truths. Instead, he opted for a theory based around the Johannine and Pauline doctrine of the Holy Spirit that both justifies and sanctifies. However, the most controversial of all these tracts was Tract 90, published in February 1841. In it Newman argued that the articles of the Church of England were patient of a Catholic interpretation. This led to calls for a public censure, although Newman agreed to the request of the bishop of Oxford, Richard Bagot, to refrain from publishing any more tracts. Feeling that he no longer had the confidence of the bishop, and concerned about his own position within the Church of England, Newman resigned his position as vicar of St MaryÆs in September 1843. That Newman appeared to be heading towards a conversion to Catholicism was evident in his Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrinepublished in September 1845. In it, he argued in favour of the importance of an infallible authority to distinguish true from false developments in the unfolding of a revelation. Catholicism, he argued, was the only religion which provided this guarantee of authority. It was no surprise, therefore, when Newman was accepted into the Roman Catholic Church on 9 October 1845 and ordained priest two years later. One of his first achievements as an ordained Catholic was to establish an oratory in England. Based on the Oratory of St Philip Neri, a new oratory was formally set up on a temporary basis at Maryvale, Birmingham, in February 1848, with Newman confirmed as superior, before it was moved to a disused gin distillery in Alcester Street, Birmingham, in the following year. A parallel institution was also established in London by another Catholic convert, F.W. Faber. Following the Restoration of the Hierarchy in October 1850, Newman delivered a series of lectures in Birmingham which were published as Lectures on the Present Position of Catholics in England(1851). His fifth lecture contained an attack on the anti - Catholic lecturer, Giacinto Achilli. The consequence of this was a drawn - out libel case which Newman lost, although the original sentence of a yearÆs imprisonment was reduced to a ú100 fine because the judge believed the jury was prejudiced against him. Newman was also working towards the establishment of a new Catholic university in Ireland. In a series of lectures, later published as The Idea of a University(1873), Newman defended the idea of a liberal education, arguing in favour of a grounding in both science and theology which were compatible with each other. In May 1854, the university was formally approved and Newman was appointed as rector. However, four years later he resigned. This was partly in response to his inability to manage the Birmingham Oratory effectively but it was also based on disagreements with Paul Cullen, the archbishop of Armagh, as to the mode of discipline within the university. In the early 1860s, Newman published a series of weekly pamphlets which were originally intended as a defence of the Catholic religion from attacks made by Charles Kingsley, Regius Professor of Modern History at Cambridge, but which ended up as an autobiographical defence of his own conversion. The pamphlets were published as a volume in 1864, entitled Apologia pro vita sua, and became not only an instant best - seller but also received favourable reviews from Catholics and non - Catholics alike. It also ensured financial security for Newman for the first time since his conversion. NewmanÆs response to the declaration of papal infallibility at the Vatican Council of 1870 was initially subdued, particularly as it had appeared to be more moderate than the Ultramontanes had hoped for. However, following the publication of W.E. GladstoneÆs attack on the declaration, in which he argued that it had not only deprived Catholics of their intellectual freedom but also put their civic loyalty into serious question, Newman felt the need to defend it. In his last published book, Letter to the Duke of Norfolk(1875), he argued that all papal declarations required interpretation by theologians, conceding that, although he would be willing to disobey a papal edict, he could not do so conscientiously for papal teaching. With the exception of two articles, and revised editions of earlier works, Newman published no new material in his later years. In December 1877, Newman became the first honorary fellow of Trinity College, Oxford. Two years later, he received an even greater honour when the new pope, Leo XIII, made him a cardinal, the acceptance of which, Newman hoped, would finally end suspicions of his commitment to the Catholic Church. NewmanÆs health began to fail in 1886 and he died on 11 August 1890. He was buried in the grave of Ambrose St John at the oratory country house at Rednal, outside Birmingham. In 1991, over a century after his death, Pope John Paul II declared Newman to be Venerableand in September 2010, he was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI. |