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To: CpnHook
Yes, ecclesiology in general and the Papacy in particular developed over the initial centuries. So did the canon of the NT. So did the doctrine of the Trinity. I accept development of all three.

So you're ok with progressive revelation?

383 posted on 02/16/2015 10:55:36 AM PST by ealgeone
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To: ealgeone
So you're ok with progressive revelation?

Revelation was certainly progressive from Adam onward: what Noah knew was less than what Moses knew, which was less than what the prophets knew, which was less than what the Apostles knew. At the death of the last surviving Apostle, General Revelation ended.

Now, understanding of what was revealed developed over time. All of what we now call the NT was written by the close of the century, but recognition of such as "Scripture" was by no means immediate, and the process of fixing the canon was not completed until about 380 C.E.

Similarly, the doctrine of the Trinity ("That in the unity the Godhead there are three distinct Persons, who are consubstantial, co-equal and co-eternal.") No NT writer comes close to explicitly articulating the Godhead as such, nor is such found explicitly in the earlier post-Apostolic writers. As Christological controversies arose in the 2nd to 5th centuries, the doctrine was developed and clarified.

But development of doctrine is distinct from progressive revelation.

388 posted on 02/16/2015 11:35:26 AM PST by CpnHook
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