The College of Saint Thomas More is also the home of the "Cardinal Newman Institute for the Study of Faith and Culture." John Henry Newman was the leader of the Oxford movement and a pivotal figure in 19th century England. As the corrosive effects of modernity beset the Church, Newman advocated a faith more firmly rooted in tradition and the sanctification of the soul as the primary purpose of Christian religion. His commitment to the truth eventually led him to seek communion with Rome at great personal expense. His influence is very much with us today. Pope John Paul II has called him "an outstanding defender of the rights of conscience."

The focus of this course of studies will be on the development of doctrine within the tradition of the Catholic Church. Through the lens of history, the pilgrim nature of the Church and Gods special care for His people are clearly seen. The Church that Christ established to carry on His work is first of all a communion of persons who are called to be holy, to live in truth and to testify to the Gospel as the pearl of great price demanding our deepest affection and aspiration. The Church on earth is also a community of sinners, ever beset by trials and tempted to easy compromise. On the night before His death our Lord promised his disciples, "When the Spirit of truth comes, the Paraclete, He will lead you in the way of all truth" (John 16:13). While the truth of the Christian faith is eternal and unchanging, new challenges ever arise on the Church's pilgrimage through time.  These challenges call upon all the members of Christs Body to "proclaim the word and to be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient through all patience and teaching" (II Tim. 2:4).

While this task is demanding, Cardinal Newman reminds us, "This is what it is to be one of Christs little ones, to be possessed by His presence as our life, our strength, our merit, our hope, our crown; to become in a wonderful way His members, the instruments, or visible form, or sacramental sign, of the One Invisible ever-present Son of God, mystically reiterating in each of us all the acts of His earthly life, His birth, consecration, fasting, temptation, conflicts, victories, sufferings, agony, passion, death, resurrection and ascension; He being all in all, - we, with as little power in ourselves, as little excellence or merit, as the water in Baptism, or the bread and wine in Holy Communion; yet strong in the Lord and in the power of His might."

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