Step back from this statement for a minute. Do you actually suppose that every Protestant just simply pick and choose their beliefs like some kind of Protestant smorgasbord? It's all based upon the writings of the church fathers and the creeds. The only difference is Protestants do not believe the creeds of some "group" of people to be infallible. Everything must be checked through the scriptures and if the scriptures are silent, then we better be silent. To be sure the creeds and confessions are great guides in understanding what other saintly people have handed down to us but it is quite easy to invent things that are simply not there. Creeds that are solidly rooted in scriptural references are far more believable in my mind than those that are not.
A complaint of mine is that Catholics have subtly redefined their creeds and confessions over time to conform with their evolving doctrine. At least the Orthodox are up front about evolving their doctrine. Catholics would like to say, "All of this is based upon what the Fathers agreed to since the beginning of the Church." This is nonsense and rubbish in my mind and an objective analysis of history doesn't support it.
Each individual, not the Church, will have to answer to God for their own beliefs. I'm sorry but a person can't tell God, "The priest beguiled me and I ate." You and I are individually responsible for the doctrine we hold.
Can you cite examples of "evolving doctrine" and when the "evolution" occurred. Many Protestants confuse the Catholic Church's DEFINING of dogma with its origination.
Just because something was not defined until much later, does not mean that it didn't exist. This holds true throughout all of God's Creation. Take gravity, Newton didn't define it until the 17th Century, but mankind had long "understood" the concept of falling.
But this itself is not a claim made in Scripture. Therefore, in making this claim, you contradict yourself.
-A8