The thought of John Henry Newman influenced many theologians and churchgoers in the twentieth century, and continues to exert an influence today. in his day his was a towering intellect which dominated many of the ecclesiastical disputes of mid-nineteenth century England. Yet in many ways he was prescient and his work proved to be seminal for key documents of the Second Vativan Council. His writtings on the development of doctrine and on conscience proved to be hugely influential and are still the subject of much scholarship today. it is for work such as this that many believe that he will one day be declared a Doctor of the Church.