Understanding John Henry Newman

[StJoseph8]

I am confused with what Cardinal Newman is saying. Here is an excerpt from his An Essay in Aid of a Grammar of Assent:

It is thus that the Church ever forbids inquiry in those who already acknowledge her authority; but if they will inquire, she cannot hinder it; but they are not justified in doing so.

And now I think you see, my brethren, why inquiry precedes faith, and does not follow it. You inquired before you joined the Church; you were satisfied, and God rewarded you with the grace of faith; were you now determined to inquire further, you would lead us to think you had lost it again, for inquiry and faith are in their very nature incompatible.

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What does the word “inquiry” mean for Cardinal Newman? Are we allowed to ask questions? I am confused since he said earlier,

Mere investigation {227} indeed into the grounds of our faith is not to doubt; nor is it doubting to consider the arguments urged against it, when there is good reason for doing so; but I am speaking of a real doubt, or a wanton entertainment of objections.

Here is the link to the whole document. Any help clarifying this will be greatly appreciated.

newmanreader.org/works/discourses/discourse11.html

 

[LethalMouse]

Without reading the whole thing but just your quotes and its personal relevance to me I will give my opinion.

Me:

Born cradle cultural catholic (lapse/half butted/cafeteria friends and family etc…) so I was never 100% “in”

I diverted epically for a time.

I “inquired” in the way I think he means and was “satisfied” ergo becoming Catholic.

I could still ask questions about specifics etc… I can think thoughts but I being satisfied do not “inquire” in the same manner. If I asked the same questions in the same ways as before it would be because I was “lost” again in the same way as before.

For me for example I studied much of church teaching (sound no wiggle room doctrine) and seperated the wheat from the chaff (sound doctrine vs that which has wiggle) I was “satisfied” in the truth of actual teaching and find it good. So to become lost would be to listen to the chaff again or perhaps if a “new teaching” came out I wasn’t sure about, but to go into the same previous inquiry mode would mean I had lost faith instead of learning of the new teaching within faith.

Idk Cardinal Newman or such, but that is my interpretation

 

[LaetenturCaeli]

This is the key sentence, found at the beginning of the initial paragraph you quoted from:

Here then are some of the reasons why the Catholic Church cannot consistently allow her children to doubt the divinity and the truth of her words.

Newman seems to be arguing that, once someone has been given the grace of faith, and once someone has become a Catholic when previously they weren’t, they should not consistently be revisiting every fundamental doctrine and attempting to examine it for truth. He uses the word inquiry in the sense of getting to know and examine something that is foreign, possibly for the purposes of one day embracing it.

That happens before conversion, he says, which should be a thoughtful process.

Be convinced in your reason that the Catholic Church is a teacher sent to you from God, and it is enough. I do not wish you to join her, till you are. If you are half convinced, pray for a full conviction, and wait till you have it. It is better indeed to come quickly, but better slowly than carelessly; and sometimes, as the proverb goes, the more haste, the worse speed. Only make yourselves sure that the delay is not from any fault of yours, which you can remedy

 

[StJoseph8]

This is the key sentence, found at the beginning of the initial paragraph you quoted from:

Newman seems to be arguing that, once someone has been given the grace of faith, and once someone has become a Catholic when previously they weren’t, they should not consistently be revisiting every fundamental doctrine and attempting to examine it for truth. He uses the word inquiry in the sense of getting to know and examine something that is foreign, possibly for the purposes of one day embracing it.

That happens before conversion, he says, which should be a thoughtful process.

So, basically, what he is saying is that if we look at the doctrines of the faith and say to ourselves, “well this might be true or might not be” and research to find out, that is very bad. However, if we look and say to ourselves, “OK, this is true, but I want to find out more about it and why”, and go into our research with that mentality, that is OK? Is that about right?

 

[kdbueno]

JHN is a possible, and a highly knowledgeable candidate for a Doctor of the Church.

I understand what he is pin pointing. What matters is, that faith according to reason is credible. Faith according to malice, is not a probable cause for its approval.

 

[Genesis315]

What he is saying was taught by the First Vatican Council:

1. Consequently, the situation of those, who by the heavenly gift of faith have embraced the Catholic truth, is by no means the same as that of those who, led by human opinions, follow a false religion; for those who have accepted the faith under the guidance of the Church can never have any just cause for changing this faith or for calling it into question.
   ewtn.com/library/COUNCILS/V1.HTM

Faith is believing what God has revealed on the authority of He who reveals. We have to “inquire” to find His revelation, but once we accept it as His revelation, to question its veracity would be to question the integrity of God the revealer. This is different than seeking understanding (“faith seeks undestanding”). In other words, faith seeks understanding, it does not seek doubts.

From the Catechism:
2088 The first commandment requires us to nourish and protect our faith with prudence and vigilance, and to reject everything that is opposed to it. There are various ways of sinning against faith:

Voluntary doubt about the faith disregards or refuses to hold as true what God has revealed and the Church proposes for belief.

 

[LaetenturCaeli]

Is that about right?

Yes, I think so!

I would summarize it like this:

We must cultivate a relationship with the Church as teacher, and we must not put ourselves up as judges over her doctrines.