The Feast Day of St. John Henry Newman: A Doctor of the Church

Today we mark the Feast Day (Church of England) of St. John Henry Newman (1801-1890). He was born in London in 1801 to a banker and a mother from French (Huegonot) descent. At the age of 15, Newman underwent a conversion experience and became an evangelical Anglican. During the eighteenth century the Church of England had undergone an evangelical revival with leaders such as John Newton and William Wilberforce. This transformed the trajectory of global Angiclanism for generations to come. As a student in Oxford, John Henry Newman felt a vocational call to the ministry, and was ordained a deacon in the Church of England in 1824. One year later he was ordained to the priesthood in 1825. Newman remained at Oxford and was appointed the vicar (pastor) at St. Mary’s University Church in 1828.

Over time Newman began to explore the Catholic roots of Anglicanism, and was drawn to a higher form of corporate worship. At the same time, he began to experience a shift in his theology as well. As an evangelical Anglican Newman had adopted the theology of English Calvinism. Yet as he began a deeper study of the Early Church Fathers, Newman’s theology began to take on a more Catholic posture. This shift started to take form in his sermons, liturgical changes, and also in his writing. Newman and a few fellow Catholic leaning Anglicans started publishing tracts that they called “Tracts for the Times” as a way to express their theological opinions. They became known as “Tractarians” and more formally as the Oxford Movement.

One of Newman‘s most famous, and controversial tracts is Tract 90, whose formal title is “Remarks on Certain Passages in the Thirty-Nine Articles.” In this tract Newman interpreted the Articles, which are the founding documents of the Church of England, in a more Catholic light. This reading of the Articles was highly controversial in the nineteenth century when being a member of the state church held not only ecclesial, but also social capital. Newman’s interpretation of the Articles led him down a path that eventually led to Rome.

Newman’s theological journey led him to resign from his role as a pastor, and he sought to retreat in the town of little Moore. During this period, which was akin to a monastic-like retreat, Newman delved deeper into the writings of the Church Fathers. This time his study led him to the point that he converted to Roman Catholicism. Left without a vacation, Newman didn’t know what the future held. Yet he was filled with a new sense of joy.

Eventually, he was ordained as a Catholic priest, and a lifelong lover of education, Newman founded the Saint Phillip Neri Oratory in Birmingham, England. The Oratory was a monastic type community (without strict vows) that housed a school, among other ministries. Interestingly, one of the Oratory’s future students would be one J.R.R Tolkien. In 1879 Newman was made a non-bishop cardinal by Pope Leo XIII. He died a few years later in 1890. In 2019 he was canonized as a saint by Pope Francis, and as of this writing, he is in the process of being named a Doctor of the Church by Pope Leo XVI in 2025. 

St. John Henry Newman’s Legacy is vast and wide reaching. He was a prolific writer with famous works such as the Tracts for the Times (1833-1841) , An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine (1845), The Idea of a University (1852), and his autobiography Apologia Pro Vita Sua (1864). He is probably most famous for the quote “to be deep in history as to cease to be Protestant”. The sentiments of this saying are felt by many who experience the rootlessness of modern evangelical Christianity. Some would likely push back and advocate for a more robust historically rooted Protestantism. Yet Newman did live in a more historically rooted form of Protestantism, and was left wanting.

The purpose of this article is not to convince the reader to become a Roman Catholic. That would be hypocritical of me because I myself am not Roman Catholic. However, the life, legacy, and teachings of St. John Henry Newman point us to a more rooted, robust form of Christianity. 

Collect (Prayer) of the Day

Almighty God, you gave your servant St. John Henry Newman special gifts of grace to understand and teach the truth revealed in Christ Jesus: Grant that by this teaching we may know you, the one true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (taken from the Book of Common Prayer, 2019).

Bible Reading

2 Timothy 4:1-5 (ESV)

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. But as for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

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