The Development of Doctrine

Papers on this Site:

• My Two Cents - A very brief summary of some of the arguments, from my Summary of Catholic Apologetics page.

Links to other Sites:

• Is Protestantism a Legitimate Development of Catholicism? [0k] - Dave Armstrong, 4KB

• Is Catholicism Pagan? - Catholic Answers, 8KB
  An article dealing with the misconception that Catholicism is largely composed of a gradual accretion of pagan concepts.

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• Development of Doctrine: "He Will Teach You..." - Dave Armstrong, 30KB  (My Pick)
  Addresses the Catholic understanding of this issue.  Includes a number of excerpts from Cardinal John Henry Newman's Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, one of the most significant works on this subject.  Also covers New Testament evidence for the development of doctrine, and the history of the concept.

• Can Dogma Develop? - Catholic Answers, 16KB
  A tract from Catholic Answers describing the way the Church's understanding of God's revelation deepens as time goes by.

• Gradual Development of Catholic Doctrine: Debunking the Anti-Catholic Myth of "Late Inventions" - Larry Nolte, 18KB
  From the Beggar King homepage, a response to an anti-Catholic booklet.  This section is a reply to 43 so-called Catholic Inventions.

• How Newman Convinced me of the Apostolicity of the Catholic Church [51k] - Dave Armstrong, 46KB
  Describes the impact that Cardinal Newman's ideas on the development of doctrine had on a committed Evangelical Protestant with a great respect for Christian history.

• History of Dogmatic Theology [0k] - 70KB
  From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia, a lengthy article on the history of dogma, broken up into three sections:  the Patristic Period (AD 100 to AD 800), the Middle Ages (800 - 1500), and Modern Times (1500 - 1900).

  Dave Armstrong's The Development of Doctrine [23k] index page.