Newman, John Henry | Research & Encyclopedia Articles

Newman, John Henry

NEWMAN, JOHN HENRY (1801–1890), Anglican and Roman Catholic controversialist and cardinal.

Life and Works

Newman was born in London. He was raised an Anglican, but in 1816, under evangelical influence, he underwent a profound religious experience that transformed his understanding of his faith. The same year he entered Trinity College, Oxford, and in 1822 was elected a fellow of Oriel College. There, formative contacts with the so-called Noetics Edward Hawkins and Richard Whately, who freely applied logic to traditional Christian doctrines, introduced him to rationalist analysis of religious concerns. After 1828 illness, bereavement, and personal friendships with Richard Hurrell Froude, John Keble, and Edward Bouverie Pusey drew him toward the high church tradition. At this time he began to read the documents of the patristic church; this interest led to the publication of The Arians of the Fourth Century, Their Doctrine, Temper and Conduct as Exhibited in the Councils of the Church (1833) and The Church of the Fathers (1833–1836).

Newman was ordained an Anglican priest in 1825 and was appointed vicar of the university church Saint Mary the Virgin, where he gained fame as a preacher. His sermons there were collected in Parochial and Plain Sermons (8 vols., 1834–1843), Sermons Preached before the University of Oxford on Faith and Reason, 1826–1843 (1843), and Sermons Bearing on Subjects of the Day (1843).

Newman, John Henry article

Read the rest of this article.
This article contains 2,687 words (approx. 9 pages at 300 words per page).