Newman Studies Journal

Volume 10, Issue 1, Spring 2013

C. Michael Shea
Pages 28-40

The “French Newman”
Louis Bautain’s Philosophy of Faith, Reason, and Development and the Thought of John Henry Newman

Louis Bautain (1796–1867) has been described as the “French Newman” because of the resemblances between their lives and writings. This essay compares three aspects of the thought of Newman and Bautain: their respective understanding of faith, reason, and development. Both thinkers understood faith and reason in relation to conversion and the realities of life and viewed faith and reason as functioning in tandem with doctrinal development.