John Henry Newman's Ecclesiology

Although Newman never wrote a treatise on ecclesiology, the "church" is a recurrent theme in his work and writings. In contrast to the speculative ecclesiological treatises in vogue in the nineteenth century, Newman's writings about the church were mainly motivated by pressing pastoral concerns that he encountered both as an Anglican cleric and as a Roman Catholic priest. After his Anglican ordination, his sermons began treating various aspects of the "one, holy, catholic and apostolic church". As a participant in the Oxford Movement, his efforts to present the Church of England as a via media between Protestantism and Roman Catholicism, eventually led to his decision to enter the Roman Catholic Church. As a Roman Catholic, Newman provided ground-breaking answers to two vital ecclesiological questions: the role of the laity in the church and the role of the magisterium in teaching the doctrine of Christ.