ABSTRACT
At an International Symposium in Rome, held in honor of the centenary of the death of John Henry Newman, Pope John Paul II referred to the “special place in the history of the Church” held by “the great English Cardinal.” This chapter proposes that the direction Newman began has been carried to a new stage in the recent writings of George Lindbeck. It believes that here is found a new understanding of doctrine which complements Newman’s idea of development. Lindbeck lamented the inadequacy of standard models of doctrine, which he classified as either “classical” or “modern.” Unlike the case in Anglicanism, Newman saw that doctrine was neither demeaned nor neglected in Roman Catholicism. Newman and Lindbeck were both concerned to retain the importance of doctrine and to accommodate the finest strengths of modern times. Modernity was part of the world in which Newman was raised.
