Joseph Butler

This chapter emphasizes the life-long significance of Newman’s relationship with the works of Bishop Joseph Butler (1692–1752). His reading and re-reading of Butler influenced Newman’s critique of natural theology, his understanding of religious knowledge and the role of conscience, and his sensitivity to the importance of language in the cultivation of a religious imagination. Newman nuanced and contested other nineteenth-century interpretations of Butler’s concepts of analogy, probability, and certitude in the process of developing his own distinctive approach to delineating the intellectual context of faith and reflecting rigorously on moral philosophy, psychological intuition, and pastoral engagement. His ongoing conversation with Butler provided intellectual and affective underpinning for Newman’s reflection on his religious journey and his mediation of Catholicism and Englishness.