On Consulting the Faithful in Matters of Doctrine

By John Henry Newman and John 1919-1993 Coulson

Book Overview

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.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0934134510
• ISBN13: 9780934134514
• Release Date: January 1961
• Publisher: Sheed & Ward
• Length: 118 Pages
• Weight: 0.36 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.4" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

The Book That Begat Vatican II

The importance of this work on the development and conclusions of Vatican II cannot be overstated. Newman held vociferously that the laity, not just the hierarchy, form the consensus fidelium, or the consensus of the faithful. Newman asserts that the "magisterium" (although he doesn't use the word) comes into existence through pastoral consultation of the faithful. Newman shows that many times the Church held views it later discarded, because those views were ultimately disavowed by the faithful. It is to Newman's credit that he maintained the importance of the faithful in the development of christian doctrine (another topic on which he writes eloquently).