As people are arguing about the development of doctrine again, often without any acknowledgement from either side of the principles the Church gives us for discerning what can & cannot change, my take on our "Doctrine on the Development of Doctrine".

RT @hf_222222: As a younger man, I always suspected the idea you get wiser as you age was bullshit, but its still depressing to find as I g…

(Intentionally designed because in the formative period of the USA, & indeed in England before it, the Government doing anything new was viewed with great suspicion. The State's job was almost exclusively administering laws, not developing or reforming them, at least ideally).

When I was an Anglican for example, I was pompously told by a co-religionist that St Paul extolled "faith, hope, charity", and that truth didn't even warrant a mention. As if any of those others could persevere without truth - Because of course they can't.

As a younger man, I always suspected the idea you get wiser as you age was bullshit, but its still depressing to find as I get older that I was correct.

@DonalPHanley Especially since Anselm of Canterbury's "Credo ut intelligam" is sitting right there!

@ThyGeekdomCome Hugo is an example, perhaps, of God writing straight with crooked lines.

@ThyGeekdomCome Indeed so. But these technicalities mattered to Victor Hugo, especially since his Bishop is supposed to be a critique by comparison with actual existing Bishops, so he wordsmithed it so it wouldn't be an actual lie.

@dsaorthocaucus Heh, this is still only Thomistic work arounds, wait until we get to Jesuit mental reservation etc.😆

The thing about international law, is while it is absolutely real (especially when you work in fields like taxation as I do), it is often only equivocally "law" in the way people use that word colloquially.

This is also, by the way, why Valjean doesn't simply do good following his conversion by the Bishop. He is a sinner in need of mercy, and his conversion / repentance is a work in progress through out the story, which advances only in stages.

Guess we are safe for a while then.