Newman Studies Journal

The Oxford Handbook of Catholic Theology is divided into two parts with two distinct purposes. Part one, on "Catholic teaching," aims to give a "readable and dependable guide to the content of Catholic theology" (vii). This part consists of twenty-seven essays that explain Catholic doctrine on major aspects of the Creed, Sacraments and Morality. The various authors' "personal visions" of these teachings is also included, such that each essay strives to "combine faithful exposition and exploration" (vii). Many of the essays achieve this end in exemplary fashion and so are model examples of faith seeking understanding. Part two, "Modern Catholic Theology," contains twenty-nine essays that explore "the different schools and debates of modern Catholic theology against the broader background of Catholic tradition" (vii). This part has something for everyone, featuring expositions of such diverse thinkers and topics as Origen, Aquinas, Ressourcement theologians, liberation, feminist, and ethnic theologies, and Pope St. John Paul II's Theology of the Body. Whether you agree or disagree with the theologies being presented in these [End Page 110] essays, you will in any event understand their defining features well. While containing a rich supply of theological data and analysis, the straightforward, expository style of the Handbook should make it intelligible and helpful for non-specialists.

Part two contains the essays that are most relevant for students of Newman's life and thought. Ulrich Lehner's chapter on "Catholic Theology and the Enlightenment (1670–1815)" provides a historical overview of the major Catholic responses to Enlightenment ideas. Both heterodox and orthodox Catholic engagements with these ideas are presented in brief, chronological fashion. These brief treatments function as a helpful springboard for those who wish to study these thinkers further. This chapter will be helpful to students of Newman because it describes the intellectual, theological climate into which he was born and with which he grappled throughout his theological career.

Chapter thirty-seven, by Christian Washburn, contains an excellent exposition of the major teachings of the First Vatican Council. Washburn explains how Vatican I was called in response to anti-Catholic political revolutions, errant secular philosophies, and errant Catholic ecclesiologies. The council's teaching on papal infallibility is nicely presented in contradistinction to the errors of Gallicanism and Conciliarism. The author notes how Newman was a "moderate Ultramontane" but that he lacked enthusiasm for the "opportuneness of defining papal infallibility" (644). Further, while discussing the reception of Vatican I, mention is made of the fact that Newman privately "counselled Catholics that they could suspend their assent to Pastor Aeternus under the assumption that there were legitimate questions about the validity of the council" (649). Unfortunately, though, Washburn does not explain why Newman initially thought that there may be grounds for doubting the validity of the council. Were Newman's concerns legitimate or overblown? What made him eventually accept the council's teaching on papal infallibility? It would have been helpful if Washburn addressed these questions, but this is nevertheless a minor flaw in relation to an overall excellent treatment of Vatican I.

The chapter that contains the most sustained engagement with Newman's life and thought is Grant Kaplan and Holly Taylor Coolman's contribution on "The Development of Doctrine." This chapter details three distinct but related accounts of doctrinal development put forth by Johann Sebastian Drey, Johann Adam Möhler, and Newman, respectively. Drey founded the Tubingen School of theology, Möhler was his student, and Newman was influenced by the writings of Möhler. Drey's theory of development begins with the ecclesiological presupposition that the church is a living organism animated by the Holy Spirit. The divine life of God continually grows within the church, and this maturation includes the development of the church's understanding of revealed truths. Since such intellectual development requires the Spirit of God, this means that authentic doctrinal development cannot be brought about by those who deliberately cut themselves off from the...