Has Rome's Doctrine Stayed the Same?
Many Catholics have been taught that their church has believed the same things since the apostles, and Rome's own documents say so. The First Vatican Council (1870) taught that the Holy Spirit was promised to Peter's successors “not so that they might, by his revelation, make known some new doctrine,” but so that they might guard and explain the deposit of faith handed down by the apostles. The same council pronounced anathema on anyone who says the church's dogmas may ever be given a sense different from the one the church has understood.
The historical record tells another story. Rome's doctrine has not stayed the same for 1,700 years. Teachings unknown to the apostles have been added. Beliefs and practices that were long debated have been made binding on pain of anathema. And some earlier teaching has been revised. This study sets out that record date by date, presents Rome's own explanation fairly, and then answers from Scripture.
“Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”JUDE 1:3 · KJV
Jude urged believers to earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. The Greek word behind once is hapax, once for all. The faith was handed over complete in the apostles' day. It can be understood more deeply, believed more firmly, and preached more clearly, but it cannot be added to.
This timeline lists only what the documents show: councils, bulls, and paragraphs that anyone can look up. Some popular lists of Catholic inventions give dates no historian can source, and a Catholic friend will rightly set them aside. Notice too that not every entry is a brand-new idea. Often a belief or practice grew for centuries before Rome made it binding. That is the point. Something the apostles never taught became something every Catholic must believe.
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For Deeper Study
- An Essay on the Development of Christian DoctrineAmazon John Henry NewmanRome's classic account of doctrinal development (1845; revised 1878), by an Anglican who became a Roman Catholic and later a cardinal. Read it to understand the argument this study answers.
- Catechism of the Catholic ChurchAmazon The primary source for Catholic teaching today (1992; second edition 1997). See §§66 and 846–848, and compare §2267 across its editions.
- Roman Catholic Theology and Practice: An Evangelical AssessmentAmazon Gregg R. AllisonA Southern Baptist theologian's careful, fair assessment of Catholic teaching, organized by the Catechism.
- The Gospel According to RomeAmazon James G. McCarthyBy the founder of Good News for Catholics; compares Catholic teaching with Scripture, keyed to the Catechism.
- The Roman Catholic ControversyAmazon James R. WhiteOn authority, the Mass, justification, and Mary, by a Reformed Baptist apologist; Calvinist in its view of salvation.
- Roman CatholicismAmazon Loraine BoettnerAn older (1962) Presbyterian survey. Its popular list of dated Catholic inventions is a starting point only: several of its dates cannot be sourced, so check each against the documents.
- Foxe's Book of MartyrsAmazon John FoxeThe classic Protestant record of those who died for the faith, from the early church to the English Reformation.
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How the Roman Church Rose
The Roman Catholic Church was not founded whole by Christ on Peter. It grew over centuries as bishops rose over local churches, the church joined the Roman state, and Rome's bishop claimed rule over all, while Christ's free churches stood apart.
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