Was Newman a «Theologian»?

Abstract

John Henry Newman is widely recognized as the greatest Catholic thinker of the 19th century; why then did he refuse the title of «theologian »? This refusal expressed above all a rejection of the dominant Catholic theology and philosophy of his day which was essentially conceptual, profoundly unhistorical, and – most importantly – divorced from the domain of spiritual experience. Newman’s own theology is steeped in history, is profoundly biblically-based, and above all is inseparable from his spirituality. He insists on the importance of the «real» as opposed to the purely «notional ». And if he insists on the importance of «dogma», it is because he is keenly aware that our manner of thinking about God determines our ability to <i>pray</i> to him and to <i>seek</i> him.