Development of doctrine is a term used by John Henry Newman and other theologians influenced by him to describe the way Catholic teaching has become more detailed and explicit over the centuries, while later statements of doctrine remain consistent with earlier statements.
The term was introduced in Newman's 1845 book An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine. Newman used the idea of development of doctrine to defend Catholic teaching from attacks by some Anglicans and other Protestants, who saw certain elements in Catholic teaching as corruptions or innovations. He relied on an extensive study of early Church Fathers in tracing the elaboration or development of doctrine which he argued was in some way implicitly present in the Divine Revelation in Sacred Scripture and Tradition which was present from the beginnings of the Church.
He argued that various Catholic doctrines not accepted by Protestants (such as devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, or Purgatory) had a developmental history analogous to doctrines that were accepted by Protestants (such as the Trinity or the divinity and humanity of Christ). Such developments were, in his view, the natural and beneficial consequences of reason working on the original revealed truth to draw out consequences that were not obvious at first. This thinking of Newman had a major impact on the Bishops at the Second Vatican Council, and appears in their statement that ″the understanding of the things and words handed down grows, through the contemplation and study of believers, [...] [which] tends continually towards the fullness of divine truth."[1]
There is a more radical understanding of development of doctrine that is known as evolution of dogmas. This view, mixed in with philosophical currents such as vitalism, immanentism and historicism, was at the heart of the modernist controversy during the papacy of Pius X, and was condemned in the encyclical Pascendi dominici gregis. Although modernist intellectuals such as George Tyrrell and Alfred Loisy did at times cite the influence of Newman's ideas on their thinking, their goal was not so much to understand the ancient roots of Church doctrine but to make it change meaning, according to their own ideas in the liberal spirit of the times.[2]
Eastern OrthodoxyEdit
Archpriest Oleg Davydenkov wrote: "This theory is very convenient for Western Christians, because it makes it easy to justify arbitrary dogmatic innovations of both the Roman Catholic Church and Protestant denominations. On the one hand, this theory seems quite logical, but on the other — it leads to paradoxical conclusions. In this case, we will have to admit, for example, that the Church of the time of the apostles and even the holy apostles themselves knew incomparably less about God than any modern Christian who attended a course of dogmatics. Naturally, it is impossible to agree with such an understanding of the problem".[3]
Daniel Lattier has argued that some older Eastern Orthodox thinkers did not reject the concept outright, and that Eastern Orthodoxy may allow a form of doctrinal development, albeit more limited than Western forms of it.[4]
^"Modernism", in "Glossary", 1987 Catholic Almanac, Huntington, IN: Our Sunday Visitor, p. 318.
^Давыденков, Олег (2005). "Часть первая. Введение в догматическое богословие раздел I. Догматическое богословие как наука". Догматическое богословие. Теория эта очень удобна для западных христиан, поскольку легко позволяет оправдать произвольные догматические нововведения как Римо-Католической церкви, так и протестантских конфессий. С одной стороны, эта теория кажется довольно логичной, но с другой — она ведёт к парадоксальным выводам. В таком случае придется, например, признать, что Церковь времен апостолов и даже сами святые апостолы знали о Боге несравненно меньше, чем любой современный христианин, прослушавший курс догматики. Естественно, что с таким пониманием проблемы согласиться нельзя
^Daniel J. Lattier (2011). "The Orthodox Rejection of Doctrinal Development". Ecclesia (20(4)): 389–410.
Further readingEdit
John Henry Newman. An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine. (1845, revised 1878).
October 20, 2023
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This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Development of doctrine news newspapers books scholar JSTOR July 2015 Learn how and when to remove this template message Development of doctrine is a term used by John Henry Newman and other theologians influenced by him to describe the way Catholic teaching has become more detailed and explicit over the centuries while later statements of doctrine remain consistent with earlier statements John Henry Newman Contents 1 Newman s Formulation 2 As distinct from evolution of dogmas 3 Eastern Orthodoxy 4 See also 5 References 6 Further readingNewman s Formulation EditThe term was introduced in Newman s 1845 book An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine Newman used the idea of development of doctrine to defend Catholic teaching from attacks by some Anglicans and other Protestants who saw certain elements in Catholic teaching as corruptions or innovations He relied on an extensive study of early Church Fathers in tracing the elaboration or development of doctrine which he argued was in some way implicitly present in the Divine Revelation in Sacred Scripture and Tradition which was present from the beginnings of the Church He argued that various Catholic doctrines not accepted by Protestants such as devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary or Purgatory had a developmental history analogous to doctrines that were accepted by Protestants such as the Trinity or the divinity and humanity of Christ Such developments were in his view the natural and beneficial consequences of reason working on the original revealed truth to draw out consequences that were not obvious at first This thinking of Newman had a major impact on the Bishops at the Second Vatican Council and appears in their statement that the understanding of the things and words handed down grows through the contemplation and study of believers which tends continually towards the fullness of divine truth 1 As distinct from evolution of dogmas EditThe neutrality of this section is disputed Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page Please do not remove this message until conditions to do so are met May 2023 Learn how and when to remove this template message There is a more radical understanding of development of doctrine that is known as evolution of dogmas This view mixed in with philosophical currents such as vitalism immanentism and historicism was at the heart of the modernist controversy during the papacy of Pius X and was condemned in the encyclical Pascendi dominici gregis Although modernist intellectuals such as George Tyrrell and Alfred Loisy did at times cite the influence of Newman s ideas on their thinking their goal was not so much to understand the ancient roots of Church doctrine but to make it change meaning according to their own ideas in the liberal spirit of the times 2 Eastern Orthodoxy EditArchpriest Oleg Davydenkov wrote This theory is very convenient for Western Christians because it makes it easy to justify arbitrary dogmatic innovations of both the Roman Catholic Church and Protestant denominations On the one hand this theory seems quite logical but on the other it leads to paradoxical conclusions In this case we will have to admit for example that the Church of the time of the apostles and even the holy apostles themselves knew incomparably less about God than any modern Christian who attended a course of dogmatics Naturally it is impossible to agree with such an understanding of the problem 3 Daniel Lattier has argued that some older Eastern Orthodox thinkers did not reject the concept outright and that Eastern Orthodoxy may allow a form of doctrinal development albeit more limited than Western forms of it 4 See also EditThomas Bayes Bayes theorem Bayesian probability Grammar of Assent Probabiliorism Progressive revelation Christianity References Edit Constitution on Revelation article 8 Modernism in Glossary 1987 Catholic Almanac Huntington IN Our Sunday Visitor p 318 Davydenkov Oleg 2005 Chast pervaya Vvedenie v dogmaticheskoe bogoslovie razdel I Dogmaticheskoe bogoslovie kak nauka Dogmaticheskoe bogoslovie Teoriya eta ochen udobna dlya zapadnyh hristian poskolku legko pozvolyaet opravdat proizvolnye dogmaticheskie novovvedeniya kak Rimo Katolicheskoj cerkvi tak i protestantskih konfessij S odnoj storony eta teoriya kazhetsya dovolno logichnoj no s drugoj ona vedyot k paradoksalnym vyvodam V takom sluchae pridetsya naprimer priznat chto Cerkov vremen apostolov i dazhe sami svyatye apostoly znali o Boge nesravnenno menshe chem lyuboj sovremennyj hristianin proslushavshij kurs dogmatiki Estestvenno chto s takim ponimaniem problemy soglasitsya nelzya Daniel J Lattier 2011 The Orthodox Rejection of Doctrinal Development Ecclesia 20 4 389 410 Further reading EditJohn Henry Newman An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine 1845 revised 1878 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Development of doctrine amp oldid 1157705701, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
