The last lecture my professor in Fundamental Theology gave us was on doctrine. I have this great metaphor for apples and apple pie, apple tart, baked apples, well you get the idea. The apples are the principles, always staying the same, the doctrine always developing into something wonderful for the people, with the right guidance of course! I didn't get to share my theory, professor was a football fan as soon as class let out.
From Dei Verbum
"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 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.
