Christ, and as the Holy
Spirit taught them to the Apostles at the birth of the Christian
law--doctrines which know neither variation nor decay.

Hence, whenever it has been defined that any point of doctrine pertained
to the Catholic faith, it was always understood that this was equivalent
to the declaration that the doctrine in question had been revealed to the
Apostles, and had come down to us from them, either by Scripture or
tradition. And as the acts of all the Councils, and the history of every
definition of faith evidently show, it was never contended that a _new
revelation_ had been made, but every inquiry was directed to this one
point--whether the doctrine in question was contained in the Sacred
Scriptures or in the Apostolic traditions.

A revealed truth frequently has a very extensive scope, and is directed
against error under its many changing forms. Nor is it necessary that
those who receive this revelation in the first instance should be
explicitly acquainted with its full import, or cognizant of all its
bearings. Truth never changes; it is the same now, yesterday, and forever,
_in itself_; but our relations towards truth may change, for that which is
hidden from us today may become known to us tomorrow. "It often happens,"
says St. Augustine, "that when it becomes necessary to defend certain
points of Catholic doctrine against the insidious attacks of heretics they
are more carefully studied, they become _more clearly understood_, they
are _more earnestly inculcated_; and so the very questions raised by
heretics give occasion to a more thorough knowledge of the subject in
question."(29)

Let us illustrate this. In the Apostolic revelation and preaching some
truths might have been contained _implicitly_, _e.g._, in the doctrine
that grace is necessary for every salutary work, it is implicitly asserted
that the assistance of grace is required for the inception of every good
and salutary work. This was denied by the semi-Pelagians, and their error
was condemned by an explicit definition. And so in other matters, as the
rising controversies or new errors gave occasion for it, there were more
_explicit_ declarations of what was formerly _implicitly_ believed. In the
doctrine of the supreme power of Peter, as the visible foundation of the
Church, we have the _implied_ assertion of many rights and duties which
belong to the centre of unity. In the revelation of the super-eminent
dignity and purity of the Bles