Protestant here, so forgive me if this is a dumb question.
The Catholic church teaches that doctrines can develop over time, and the church achieves a “fuller” understanding of previous, less well-defined doctrines.[1] Correct?
I’m wondering what the source of the developments are. The Holy Spirit?
It can’t be Papal Infallibility, because the Pope hasn’t extended his infallible authority to most doctrinal developments.[2]
Phrased differently, a doctrinal claim can be thought of as a kind of information. “Jesus died on the cross” is a historical claim. “Purgatory cleanses you of Venial sin” is a factual claim.
Since the Apostles never specifically said, “Purgatory cleanses you of Venial sin”, where did that information come from?
[1]
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Development_of_doctrine
[2]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_Infallibility#Instances_of_infallible_declarations
I don’t know how deeply you want to go into this issue. It happens to be one of my favorites, so forgive me if go into it too much.
Let’s start with two things.
I.
In exploring it one needs to address the issue of the explicit formulation of truth from what is implicit.
Truths–revealed ones included–have consequences. If they are valid consequences from revealed truths, they are by definition also true and revealed. If God has revealed truths to us His creature, who He knows can draw valid consequences, He has revealed the consequences to us as well.
So if something is truly implicitly contained in the deposit of faith, how early does it have to be given formulation, i.e., made explicit or emerge, for one to consider it to have been revealed?
Is there an expiration date on when valid theorems can be drawn from Euclid’s postulates?
Is there, similarly, an expiration date on when valid and true consequences can be drawn from the deposit of faith?
Can one put a time table on when, how, and under what contingent circumstances of history a valid and true consequence of the deposit of faith will be drawn out and made explicit?
II. Required reading
St. Vincent of Lérins,
Commonitory, Chapter 23.
John Henry Cardinal Newman -
Fifteen Sermons Preached Before the University of Oxford, Sermon 15.
Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine
Vatican II,
Dei Verbum, #8. Below
“And so the apostolic preaching, which is expressed in a special way in the inspired books, was to be preserved by an unending succession of preachers until the end of time. Therefore the Apostles, handing on what they themselves had received, warn the faithful to hold fast to the traditions which they have learned either by word of mouth or by letter (see 2 Thess. 2:15), and to fight in defense of the faith handed on once and for all (see Jude 1:3). Now what was handed on by the Apostles includes everything which contributes toward the holiness of life and increase in faith of the peoples of God; and so the Church, in her teaching, life and worship, perpetuates and hands on to all generations all that she herself is, all that she believes.
This tradition which comes from the Apostles develops in the Church with the help of the Holy Spirit. For there is a growth in the understanding of the realities and the words which have been handed down. This happens through the contemplation and study made by believers, who treasure these things in their hearts (see Luke, 2:19, 51) through a penetrating understanding of the spiritual realities which they experience, and through the preaching of those who have received through Episcopal succession the sure gift of truth. For as the centuries succeed one another, the Church constantly moves forward toward the fullness of divine truth until the words of God reach their complete fulfillment in her.”
As an aside, the doctrine of Purgatory is not that it removes venial sin, rather that it removes the temporal punishment due to sin, i.e., it is the inner correction, discipline, necessary to restore what was disordered in us due to sin. All sin involves a disordered pursuit of creatures over God and therefore a disordered orientation toward them. That state of character in our soul, our (conscious and unconscious) self, doesn’t just magically disappear when we die. As we enter God’s presence we, as a conscious self in relationship with God, will be reoriented to the love of God above all things. And that is not an easy experience even here on earth.
