It might be helpful to compare how the full blown Catholic understanding, say, of Mary developed out of the Scriptural and early Christian understanding of Mary with the way an oak tree develops from an acorn. In each case, the before and after look different but are essentially the same. And one naturally leads to the other just as promise leads naturally (on a good day) to fulfillment.
How about defining it as an instance of functional complexity? And treating the list of properties as following necessarily from this definition? Okay, this is very diamond-in-the-rough (or perhaps zirconium...) but here goes my thoughts on the matter: (Complexity) Many diverse parts (functional) acting for the sake of the whole I think I need to add something like "not as the instrument of another" or something like that. Given that they act together as one whole and given entropy, etc., the organism will need to posses more order than its surroundings (homeostasis). It will therefore need to take in energy (nutrition), which it will use to sustain its readiness to interact with its environment so as to preserve its own being (homeostasis again?), but which will eventually break down (death), so that in order for that life form to continue it will need to duplicate itself (reproduction), which, upon occurring, will involve both development (growth) to maturity and...
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So the Old Eve / New Eve contrast alluded to, I think by Iraneaus (or was it Ignatius -- I get those two guys mixed up) is a kind of acorn from which the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception developed.
As for intercession of the saints, that is very, very helpful inasmuch as it undercuts the possible claim that the Catholic focus on the saints is an adaptation of the Roman Pantheon. But if ancient Jews understood Elijah as you say, then the doctrine of intercession was already "oakie" to begin with (I probably should avoid such wordplay when in Oklahoma).