Protestants Need Doctrinal Development, Schaff Can Help
November 22, 2025
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12:24Now PlayingProtestants Need Doctrinal Development, Schaff Can Help
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as posted by the channelTheology 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
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