What is the reason for the continued interest in Newman’s theology? This article’s reply that Newman was a contextual theologian is based on a consideration of three questions:Was Newman a theologian? What was the context of his theology? What are the reasons for Newman’s theological longevity?

For two decades (1859-1879), ultramontane Roman Catholics viewed Newman with suspicion and surreptitiously questioned his orthodoxy; such covert charges were practically impossible to refute. Vindication came only in Newman’s declining years, when Pope Leo XIII (1878-1903) named him a cardinal. Such an honor was an irrefutable riposte to Newman’s critics. His elevation to the cardinalate unleashed a torrent of congratulations from religious communities and civic organizations, from personal friends as well as from the general public. This article revisits Newman’s cardinalatial years and samples some of the “Addresses” and messages of congratulation that he received along with his replies

Newman’s theology is known for its personalism: Newman was concerned not only with a notional or intellectual appeal, but also with eliciting a real assent from his audience. This article locates the beginnings of that “personalist theology” in his pastoral ministry at St.Clement’s (Oxford) and his first theological treatise, The Miracles of Scripture.

This article examines two statements that Hopkins made on Newman as a poet and as a critic of poetry. Hopkins carefully analyzed the literary genealogy of Newman’s poetry, indifferently assessed its general achievement, and specifically criticized one point in Newman’s judgment of a poet. Hopkins’ statements, which came late in his own career, give no hint of a process of change in his response to Newman’s poetry. But Newman’s numerous remarks, gleaned from random sources over forty years, demonstrate change in his theory of poetry.

Most people believe in an afterlife, but is such a belief warranted? While Newman did not specifically treat the doctrine of afterlife, his Grammar of Assent furnishes a trajectory that shows that Christians can believe in this doctrine with a warranted assent, precisely because the Church is a warranted belief.

This article, originally delivered at the Third Oxford International Newman Conference (Somerville College, 15 August 2004), looks at the long association between Newman and Gladstone and finds a combative mutual respect that survived not only Newman’s conversion but also Gladstone’s attack against Pope Pius IX and English Roman Catholics.