Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine

One of the founders behind the Oxford Movement in England in the 1830's and early 1840's, Cardinal John Henry Newman's research into Church history troubled him because he did not realize how far the Church of England had drifted in essence and principles from those of the early Church. Newman examines the different distinctions between the beliefs held by Catholics, the Eastern Churches, and Protestants and seeks to show through the records of history - both what they reveal and what they conceal - how to distinguish between "developments" of Revelation and "corruptions." The major doctrines of the different Christian churches are looked at with an eye towards explaining how often what appears to be an "addition" to the Christian faith is but a development or a greater understanding in an explicit manner of what was held in earlier times implicitly. These are properly termed "developments." Likewise, many beliefs that are taken as "givens" by Christians are shown to be anything but "givens" in terms of their relationship to the ancient Church or their profound absence from it in any form explicitly or implicitly (the latter are properly styled as "corruptions of Revelation", "inventions", or "traditions of men"). Newman’s book is a fascinating work by one of the most brilliant minds of the 19th century.