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Document Details : Title: Johann Adam Möhler's Influence on John Henry Newman's Theory of Doctrinal Development Subtitle: The Case for a Reappraisal Author(s): PARKER, Kenneth , SHEA, C. Michael Journal: Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses Volume: 89 Issue: 1 Date: 2013 Pages: 73-95 DOI: 10.2143/ETL.89.1.2985323 Abstract : The question of Johann Adam Möhler’s influence upon John Henry Newman’s theory of doctrinal development provoked much speculation after the release of the latter’s 1845 Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine. Yet scholarship of the past seventy-five years has abandoned this idea, insisting upon Newman’s independence from the German theologian. The present article offers a revision of this thesis. The authors examine published and unpublished correspondences, translations of Möhler’s works in Newman’s library, patterns involved in Newman’s citation of sources, and correlations between the two men’s work that have remained unexamined. As a result of this evidence, a new picture emerges of the early evolution of Newman’s theory of development and Möhler’s place in it, beginning with 1840 correspondence shortly after the translation of Möhler’s Unity in the Church into French, and culminating in the 1845 Essay on Development. The authors argue that Möhler’s influence was not merely possible but probable, and potentially definitive in the formation of Newman’s theory of Christian doctrine in relation to history. |
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