Now, let us suppose for the sake of argument that all the Protestants were wrong. Calvin, Jewel, Gerhard, Turretin, and the rest misread the fathers. In that circumstance, what would be necessary is a careful investigation of the historical evidence to demonstrate how the Protestants erred in their historical claim. What obviously will not suffice is jubilant quotations of Newman, as though simply repeating “to be deep in history is to cease to be Protestant” settled the matter. Instead, we must patiently work through the historical data.
