Newman's Turning Moment

John Henry Cardinal Newman (1801-1890) was a prominent Victorian essayist and theologian. Working as an Anglican scholar-pastor, Newman studied the works of the early Church and became convinced that the Church of England, of which he was a member, was not the early Church of the Apostles. He outlines the various discoveries that led to his conversion in his famous Apologia Pro Vita Sua, written after the integrity of his conversion was challenged by a certain English gentleman (whose name eludes me).

I do not intend here to review Newman's decisions in detail. Certainly, I believe he was right-on in certain regards, especially in his evaluation that Protestant sects really were simply a regurgitation of ancient heresies. What I intend here to focus on is the "sign," not that which convinced him that the Anglican Church was not Catholic, but that which confirmed for him which he already suspected. The sign of which Newman speaks in his book (APVS) is the Jerusalem Archbishoporic. There were little to none Anglicans in Jerusalem, and yet the Anglican Church decided to set up an Archbishoporic nonetheless. To whom was this archbishop to minister? With no Anglicans in the area, the only other Christians were Calvinists, Lutherans, etc. An Anglican archbishop, therefore, was serving, as though in communion, non-Anglicans, those whose beliefs differed from the formal teachings of the Anglican Church, as found in documents such as the 39 Articles. Newman had a small fit over this and makes special place for it in his book rather than simply alluding to it.

Nowadays, were this reason published in an Apology, it would be laughed off. While doctrinal agreement amongst Protestant groups has not been established, many Protestant groups of varying beliefs inter-commune. I will not mention the horrors that have swept across the Anglican and Episcopal communions.

I honestly do not understand the Church of England--or the Anglican Church. It sometimes touts itself as the "Middle Way"--neither too Protestant to the point of rejecting the sacraments and Church tradition, nor too Catholic to the point of believed superstition. Yet, its members do not seem to be affected by the divergence of belief, even when there is disagreement of essentials. Newman was a member of what became known as the High Church--emphasizing liturgical and traditional prayer. Considering the widening varieties of Anglican expression that have since Newman's time widened, it is no surprise that Newman and other Anglicans would leave the Anglican communion.