The Necessity of an Authentic Development of Doctrine in the Church’s Theology - By Stephen Beach

The Necessity of an Authentic Development of Doctrine in the Church’s Theology

The idea of the development of Catholic doctrine has been a contentious topic in recent decades. The modern world has certainly changed rapidly due to the ways in which technology has revolutionized human life. Naturally, many assume that the Church will change alongside everything else in society. In fact, in the face of contemporary cultural beliefs and practices many people view the Church’s teachings as quite unpalatable to modern sentiments. Under this pressure, an inevitable question manifests itself: Can there be authentic development towards modern ideas, or must the Church remain exactly the same in every regard in its guidance for the faithful over the centuries? The goal of this paper is to put forth two reasons why there can be an authentic development of theological doctrine. This is not to claim that essential teachings of the Church can change, but that, even given the Aristotelian framework of logic and metaphysics that St. Thomas uses, not every new idea must be rejected. First, it will be argued that the metaphysical essences that make up the propositions of faith cannot, by definition, be fully comprehended all at once in the Church’s understanding, leaving room for some development. Secondly, it will be argued that, like the human conscience, the Church must consider the historical situation and circumstances in its application of first principles, thus potentially leaving room for the development of doctrines that are not first principles.

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