Oxford University Press will publish a new book by Father Ian Ker, Newman on Vatican II, this fall (September 28, 2014). This will clearly be an important book, as it addresses one of the most common statements about Blessed John Henry Newman and the Second Vatican Council:
John Henry Newman is often described as "the Father of the Second Vatican
Council." He anticipated most of the Council's major documents, as well as being
an inspiration to the theologians who were behind them. His writings offer an
illuminating commentary both on the teachings of the Council and the way these
have been implemented and interpreted in the post-conciliar period. This book is
the first sustained attempt to consider what Newman's reaction to Vatican II
would have been. As a theologian who on his own admission fought throughout his
life against theological liberalism, yet who pioneered many of the themes of the
Council in his own day, Newman is best described as a conservative radical who
cannot be classed simply as either a conservative or liberal Catholic. At the
time of the First Vatican Council, Newman adumbrated in his private letters a
mini-theology of Councils, which casts much light on Vatican II and its
aftermath.
Noted Newman scholar, Ian Ker, argues that Newman would have greatly welcomed the reforms of the Council, but would have seen them in the light of his theory of doctrinal development, insisting that they must certainly be understood as changes but changes in continuity rather than discontinuity with the Church's tradition and past teachings. He would therefore have endorsed the so-called "hermeneutic of reform in continuity" in regard to Vatican II, a hermeneutic first formulated by Pope Benedict XVI and subsequently confirmed by his successor, Pope Francis, and rejected both "progressive" and ultra-conservative interpretations of the Council as a revolutionary event. Newman believed that what Councils fail to speak of is of great importance, and so a final chapter considers the kind of evangelization -- a topic notably absent from the documents of Vatican II -- Newman thought appropriate in the face of secularization.
Noted Newman scholar, Ian Ker, argues that Newman would have greatly welcomed the reforms of the Council, but would have seen them in the light of his theory of doctrinal development, insisting that they must certainly be understood as changes but changes in continuity rather than discontinuity with the Church's tradition and past teachings. He would therefore have endorsed the so-called "hermeneutic of reform in continuity" in regard to Vatican II, a hermeneutic first formulated by Pope Benedict XVI and subsequently confirmed by his successor, Pope Francis, and rejected both "progressive" and ultra-conservative interpretations of the Council as a revolutionary event. Newman believed that what Councils fail to speak of is of great importance, and so a final chapter considers the kind of evangelization -- a topic notably absent from the documents of Vatican II -- Newman thought appropriate in the face of secularization.
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