An Essay On Development Of Christian Doctrine - Softcover

Cardinal Newman, John Henry

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1545295050 ISBN 13: 9781545295052

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2017

Synopsis

John Henry Newman's treatise on Christian belief stands as one of the finest original works of church history in the nineteenth century.

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.

By the nineteenth century, it was no secret that many of the Christian doctrines had been warped or adulterated by corruptions. Often these divergences would appear several centuries after a given doctrine first originated; part of Newman's quest was to determine which doctrines had undergone such corruption, and which had remained untouched over the ages.

Newman is certain to differentiate between the early church and Gnostic traditions, the Catholic church, and the various Protestant and other Christian denominations. Throughout the text, he keenly notes how different groups reinterpreted or simply added to the canon. Knowing this, Newman attempts to distinguish spirited developments of Christian doctrine from flagrant corruptions of the ancient, early principles of the church.

Owing to the resources at his command, and his tireless and resolute determination, John Henry Newman made substantial headway in a topic which many historians and theologians had written off as too obscure or simply impenetrable. The result of Newman's years of investigation and study are largely contained within this single, lengthy essay.

Inevitably, the work proved controversial as scholars disagreed with or otherwise scorned Newman's conclusions. However, over the many years since its initial publication, both ordinary and scholarly Christians have judged this work to be of enormous merit and significance, noting its marked and genuine thirst for truth and insight.

An Essay On Development Of Christian Doctrine is an important historical text which has been innumerably cited since its first publication in 1845. Revised and updated multiple times during and after John Henry Newman's life, it is with great pleasure that the publisher presents this printing, which is based upon the 14th impression of 1909.

About this title

Review

"It is a great boon to Newman scholars and to the general public to have available the revised, 1878 edition of Newman's essay on development. . . . As an added benefit, it contains a superb foreword by Father Ian Ker which places the essay within the context of Newman's own theological work as well as that of the theological understandings of development which preceded and followed the essay. [It] is also the profoundly personal stand of one of the finest theological minds of the nineteenth century. . . . This book belongs in every theological library, and is accessible to most educated readers. It is especially rewarding for those who find the study of history a liberating theological exercise." -- The Catholic World, January/February 1990

Edition details

• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 1545295050
• ISBN 13: 9781545295052
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 154