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The aim of the study is to provide a look at Newman’s understanding of doctrinal development up to his An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine and outline the relevance of Newman’s apologetics even today. In accordance with Newman’s personal assessments, the criteriological and heuristic value of his Essay is examined. It is confirmed that Newman did not plan to convince all his readers, but to remove objections to his personal acceptance of Roman Catholicism. He thus provided an example of not a strictly scientific argument, but a process of acquiring moral certainty through the accumulation of various probabilities. Newman’s Essay fits into a model of cumulative case apologetics, which emphasises above all the liveliness of Christianity. In this way, the basic principles of Newman’s personal search for living truth have the potential to appeal to contemporary man.
Pavol Hrabovecký (Mon,) studied this question.