Newman And Heresy

This 1991 study links Newman's historical researches to the teeming world of early nineteenth-century controversy.

"Alas," Newman said of liberalism, "it is an error overspreading, as a snare, the whole earth." The Great Dissent examines how from his implacable opposition to liberalism Newman developed a sweeping critique of modern values only rivaled in breadth and scorn by that of Nietzsche. The Great Dissent offers a revaluation of Newman's whole thought and establishes his place in the history of ideas as the leading English dissident from the liberalism of contemporary civilization and the foremost modern spokesman for the reality of dogmatic truth.

“Considering the high gifts, and the strong claims of the Church of Rome and its dependencies on our admiration, reverence, love, and gratitude, how could we withstand it, as we do; how could we refrain from being melted into tenderness, and rushing into communion with it, but for the words of Truth itself, which bid us prefer it to the whole world? ‘He that loveth father or mother more than Me, is not worthy of Me.’ How could we learn to be severe, and execute judgment, but for the warning of Moses against even a divinely-gifted teacher who should preach new gods, and the anathema of St. Paul even against Angels and Apostles who should bring in a new doctrine?” Aeterna Press

John Henry Newman and the Development of Doctrine provides an analysis of the attempts by John Henry Newman to account for the historical reality of doctrinal change within Christianity in the light of his lasting conviction that the idea of Christianity is fixed by reference to the dogmatic content of the deposit of faith. It argues that Newman proposed a series of hypotheses to account for the apparent contradiction between change and continuity, that this series begins much earlier than is generally recognized and that the final hypothesis he was to propose, contained in An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, provides a methodology of lasting theological value and contemporary relevance. Stephen Morgan establishes the centrality of the problem of change and continuity in theology, to Newman's theological work as an Anglican, its part in his conversion to Catholicism and its contemporary relevance to Catholic theology. It also surveys the major secondary literature relating to the question, with particular reference to those works published within the last fifty years. Additionally, Morgan considers the legacy of the Essay as a tool in Newman’s theology and in the work of later theologians, finally suggesting that it may offer a useful methodological contribution to the contemporary Catholic debate about hermeneutical approaches to the Second Vatican Council and post-conciliar developments in doctrine.

An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, reprinted from the 1878 edition, “is rightly regarded as one of the most seminal theological works ever to be written,” states Ian Ker in his foreword to this sixth edition. “It remains,” Ker continues, "the classic text for the theology of the development of doctrine, a branch of theology which has become especially important in the ecumenical era.” John Henry Cardinal Newman begins the Essay by defining how true developments in doctrine occur. He then delivers a sweeping consideration of the growth of doctrine in the Catholic Church from the time of the Apostles to his own era. He demonstrates that the basic “rule” under which Christianity proceeded through the centuries is to be found in the principle of development, and he emphasizes that throughout the entire life of the Church this principle has been in effect and safeguards the faith from any corruption.

On Consulting the Faithful in Matters of Doctrine was first published in July, 1859, as an article in the Rambler. It was the immediate cause of great controversy both in Rome and in England. Newman did not withdraw his views, but the article was not reprinted or published in England since that time, and appeared only once in an American journal, Cross Currents. Scholars without access to Rambler archives have had to resort to a German translation, and the ordinary reader has had to rely on brief quotation and heresy. This edition of Newman's essay is the first in any language to contain a collated version of the text published in the Rambler for July, 1859, and the abbreviated and amended version of 1871. The book also contains an extract from The Arians of the Fourth Century, which bears on the same subject and amplifies Newman's views.

This work, which establishes Irenaeus as the most important of the theologians of the second century, is a detailed and effective refutation of Gnosticism, and a major source of information on the various Gnostic sects and doctrines. This volume contains Book One. +