I spoke with the hospital chaplain today, and the general questions of Church history and dogma came up. She mentioned that in parish work, people would ask "Why do we do things this way?" and she was glad of learning the historical background which allowed her to explain Well, in the 4th C the issue came up between Group A and Group B..., which I followed with a comment on how the answer arrived at then had held up well for over 15 centuries, so the Church was inclined to keep...
But she went immediately to But we've found that doesn't work so well for us any more and we're changing it to...
I don't entirely reject that approach. Things do change. We apply old principles in new ways. We might even count some lessons as already learned and move on to next steps. But my default is clearly to the former position, and hers to the latter. I don't consider it a mere humorous difference in approach. I think it's key.
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