L'evolution de la pensee de john henry newman jusqu'a la veille du mouvement d'oxford : etude des sources et des origines de sa pensee religieuse
Institution:
Paris 3Disciplines:
Directors:
Abstract EN:
This period of newman's life has been neglected so far and generally misunderstood. Denying sometimes the evangelical nature of his first conversion, many critics wish to convey the impression that the evolution of his thought was a logical and harmonious development. According to them, after he had rejected - as early as 1825-26 - his evangelical convictions, he gradually adopted new ideas that grew steadily more high church and catholic. I have tried to prove that this is simply a fanciful cons- truction. An evangelical since his 1816 conversion, newman remained so throughout the years preparatory to the emergence of the oxford movement. The evolution of his thought was far from being a smooth and consistent process. He went through alternate phases of clearly sacramentalist and catholic convictions and periods when his evan- gelical beliefs would resurface with renewed vigour. Actually, his sermons of the year immediately preceding the birth of the oxford movement were definitely evangelical, a fact which confirms the feeling that there was a real continuity between that move- ment and the evangelical revival of earlier years. This study is based primarily on a manuscript study of unpublished sermons newman delivered from 1824 to 1832. I made a point of neglecting nothing that could help understand the evolution of his thought. Accordingly i studied his correspondence, his diaries, the books he read, as well as the personality and thought of those who exerted an influence on him.
Abstract FR:
Cette periode de la vie de newman a ete negligee et assez mal comprise. Niant parfois le caractere evangelique de sa premiere conversion, on veut donner l'impression que l'evolution de sa pensee fut un developpement logique et harmonieux. A partir du rejet de l'evangelisme des 1825-26, il aurait adopte des idees de plus en plus catholiques. Je me suis attache a demonter cette construction artificielle. Evangelique des sa conversion de 1816, newman le restera tout au long des annees preparatoires au declenchement du mouvement d'oxford. Loin d'etre un developpement regulier et coherent, l'evolution de sa pensee connut alternativement des phases sacramentalistes et catholiques et des periodes ou ses convictions evangeliques (protestantes classiques, voire calvinistes ) reprenaient vigueur. C'est notamment la tradition evangelique qui se manifeste avec une grande force dans ses sermons de l'annee qui preceda le mouvement d'oxford, confirmant le pressentiment de la filiation de celui-la avec le reveil evangelique. Mes conclusions se fondent essentiellement sur les manuscrits des sermons non publies que newman prononca entre 1824 et 1832. Je n'ai rien voulu negliger de ce qui pouvait eclairer l'evolution de sa pensee, aussi aije etudie sa correspondance, ses journaux, les ouvrages qu'il lut, la personnalite aussi et la pensee des hommes qui l'influencerent.