Gospel Simplicity
@gospelsimplicity·100K subscribers·705 videos
Protestants Need Doctrinal Development, Schaff Can Help
Posted
November 22, 2025
Views
6,415
Likes
393
Comments
106
Engagement
7.78%
November 22, 2025
6,415
393
106
7.78%
Every word spoken in this episode is indexed. Type any phrase to jump straight to the moment it was said.
Type any word or phrase that may have been spoken. Click a result to seek the player to that exact moment.
Try a name, a topic, or a quoted line
12:24Now PlayingTheology is inextricably tied up with history, and it's all but impossible to claim that doctrines haven't changed over time.
The question is, are those changes good, bad, or indifferent? And, if change at least can be good in some instances, how do we tell the good from the bad?
To answer those questions, theologians turn to a concept known as "doctrinal development." St. John Henry Newman, a Catholic, is the figure most commonly associated with this idea, but he is by no means the only person to take up these questions. At the same time that Newman was writing, a Swiss-born, German-educated Reformed minister teaching in America, Philip Schaff, was also writing about this. But he took a different approach. In this video, I outline Schaff's theory of doctrinal development, noting how it compares to Newman's.
Book in discussion: stpaulcenter.com/obscurityofscripture
My video on Newman's Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine
Support the Channel:
Give monthly
Make a onetime donation
Book a meeting
Read my writings
Sentinel Indexing in Progress
Metadata and chapters are available. Claim extraction for this episode is pending.
All video content is delivered via YouTube embedded players in accordance with the YouTube Terms of Service. Sentinel provides research tools that promote discovery and accountability across political media.
