Roger Nutt, Does Thomism Offer a Theory of Doctrinal Development?
Nutt refers the reader to Charles Journet's What is Dogma for a Thomistic explication of doctrinal development.
An excerpt: Dogma and Mystery
Here is my initial shot:
As we are unable to give a real definition of God in this life (as we do not know God as He is in Himself), so His essence has not been captured in a single concept. Hence He reveals Himself to us in a way that we can understand, through His actions and attributes (via analogy). Our understanding of what has been Divinely Revealed can be deepened as we apply our reason to it. (But it seems that our understanding can also be deepened in itself through participation in the Divine Life and the life of the Church? - through both experiential reflection and contemplation?)
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The answer is "Yes."
St. Thomas likens doctrinal development correctly understood to the progress a learner makes in deepening his understanding of a particular subject, whereas doctrinal change ("doctrinal development" as commonly misunderstood) is like when the teacher himself makes advances in his science.
Summa II-II q. 1 a. 7, "Whether the articles of faith have increased in course of time?"
Objection 2. Further, development has taken place, in sciences devised by man, on account of the lack of knowledge in those who discovered them, as the Philosopher observes (Metaph. ii). Now the doctrine of faith was not devised by man, but was delivered to us by God, as stated in Ephesians 2:8: "It is the gift of God." Since then there can be no lack of knowledge in God, it seems that knowledge of matters of faith was perfect from the beginning and did not increase as time went on.
[...]
Reply to Objection 2. Progress in knowledge occurs in two ways. First, on the part of the teacher, be he one or many, who makes progress in knowledge as time goes on: and this is the kind of progress that takes place in sciences devised by man. Secondly, on the part of the learner; thus the master, who has perfect knowledge of the art, does not deliver it all at once to his disciple from the very outset, for he would not be able to take it all in, but he condescends to the disciple's capacity and instructs him little by little. It is in this way that men made progress in the knowledge of faith as time went on. Hence the Apostle (Galatians 3:24) compares the state of the Old Testament to childhood.
There is a huge difference between a "developing Tradition" and a "developing understanding of the one, unchanging Tradition."
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