John Henry Newman's treatise on Christian belief stands as one of the finest original works of church history in the nineteenth century. A prolific author, educator and priest, John Henry Newman sought to catalog, examine and improve knowledge and understanding of church doctrine. In this book, he delves deep into the past of the Catholic church and other traditions of Christianity, in order to accurately trace the development of various doctrines. By the nineteenth century, it was no secret that many of the Christian doctrines had been warped or adulterated by corruptions. Often these divergences would appear several centuries after a given doctrine first originated; part of Newman's quest was to determine which doctrines had undergone such corruption, and which had remained untouched over the ages.