Believe you are confusing “Church Theology” with “Church Philosophy” the former as someone pointed out correctly, comes from the big T “Tradition” and “Scripture”
The latter does not exist.
The Church has had philosophers arguing for this or that method forever. No philosophical system is perfect, all have flaws.
Certainly not of necessity; otherwise the pursuit of knowledge or understanding would always be a vanity and we could never make any progress.
Philosophers have made contributions to our understanding of God and helped develop our Theology but…
What concepts do you believe that the Church should “modernize” ?
Philosophy is just the love of wisdom. Holy Scipture teaches that wisdom is something real and definite and encourages us to pursue “her”: the Book of Proverbs, for example, is loaded with references to (lady) Wisdom. For example,
Prov. 4:1 Sons of mine, take a lesson from your father; a lesson that will make discerning men of you, will you but heed it. 2 A precious heirloom it is, the tradition I teach, not to be lightly bartered away. 3 Time was when I had a father of my own; and when I was but a boy, my mother’s darling, 4 in such words as these he would teach me: Ever be thy heart true to my bidding; if thrive thou wouldst, hold fast the charge I give thee. 5 Wisdom be thy quest, thy quest discernment still; thy father’s apt and faithful pupil, 6 keep her at thy side, thy guardian; cherish her, thy preserver. 7 Wisdom be thy chief thought, make discernment thine at all hazards; 8 her attainment exalts, her embrace ennobles thee; 9 a wreath of fresh graces she will give thee, a crown of glory, to overshadow thy brow.
But the Scripture presupposes revelation and knowledge of God/theology; notwithstanding, we are told by revelation to pursue wisdom. Now Catholics among Christians are above all noted for their philosophical endeavours and openess to the pursuit of philosophy: i.e. of wisdom. Therefore the Church has a philosophy and does so with Scriptural approval; otherwise, the Church would have failed to pursue wisdom in accordance with the command of revelation. However, this she has always done and is still doing. So the Church does not only have wisdom and a love of it (philosophy), but is ever teaching and cultivating it in her sons.
For Catholics, theology or revelation trumps any purely human effort to attain to wisdom or understanding if that alleged wisdom contradicts revelation, which is manifested in both Scripture and Sacred Tradition. Now if we understand philosophy as a synthesis of human knowledge and learning into a coherent system, then it certainly can at least grow and -so far as it grows- change; but it can never contradict theology or revelation. But as the Catechism teaches, “
Faith seeks understanding.” That seeking of greater understanding (especially of God and Revelation) is and will be the Church’s philosophy.
?.Why don’t we switch to having Church philosophy based on someone from the eary 1700’s and onwards?.Is it b/c there hasn’t reay been anyone who’s produced the same leve of significantly impacting stuff as Aquinas since?.
