The Swinging Pendulum Of Doctrinal Development

In another post, I’ve discussed the problems passages like Luke 2:48-50 and John 2:3-4 pose for traditional Roman Catholic beliefs about Mary. Raymond Brown gives an example, related to Luke 2 and John 2, of how a popular belief that develops at one period in history can be reversed by later generations:

“Wherever mariology has been strong, the thought that Mary was limited in her understanding of Jesus has been repugnant. While the Venerable Bede could allow the view that Mary received only a progressive revelation of the divinity of Jesus, by the thirteenth century it was generally agreed that Mary had full knowledge from the time of the annunciation. Peter Canisius (1521-1597) attacked theories of Mary’s limited knowledge as product of the heresies of the Reformers, and only in modern times and gingerly could the question be raised again in Roman Catholicism. See E.F. Sutcliffe, ‘Our Lady and the Divinity of Christ,’ The Month 180 (1944), 347-51; also footnote 19 above.” (The Birth Of The Messiah [New York, New York: Doubleday, 1993], n. 45 on p. 492)