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dogma, the explication and officially acceptable version of a religious teaching. The development of doctrines and dogmas has significantly affected the traditions, institutions, and practices of the religions of the world. Doctrines and dogmas also have influenced and been influenced by the ongoing development of…. Read More.
- Overview
- The relation of faith, reason, and religious insight to doctrine and dogma
- Changing conceptions
Insofar as doctrines and dogmas represent conceptualizations of the human encounter with the divine mystery, they are bound to reflect the interplay of faith and reason in religious experience and to imply some notion of levels and stages in the progress of believers as they move from the threshold of faith toward its fulfillment. Doctrine is concerned with communication and consensus, with the exposure of the religious vision to rational probes and queries. There is, therefore, a tension in all religions between mystical intuition and logical articulation, between insight and dialogue. Most traditions agree that perfect understanding is a goal that lies beyond a “simple faith” and the routine observance of rites and duties. Most of them also agree that the utmost pinnacle of religious insight is ineffable. One mode of differentiation between doctrinal traditions, therefore, is their relative openness or resistance to the auxiliary services of philosophy and science of faith’s fulfillment.
In the majority of the religions of the East, very broadly, reason’s chief role is the purgation of illusion and self-deception so that souls may follow the ways of wisdom and right conduct to their true fulfillment in nirvana. The Hindu passes from the initiatory level of “the student” (who is dependent on a teacher, or guru) to the ambivalent freedom of “the householder” to the great freedom of “the forest dweller” to the fullest freedom of the sannyasin (an enlightened ascetic). Reason, which is chiefly reflective, assists at every stage in perfecting faith’s self-understanding. In Buddhism, one follows the dharma from saddha (which is practical knowledge of one’s religious obligations) to jnana (rational insight) to vijnana (mystical illumination).
In most of the religions of the West, again very broadly, the primary function of reason is seen to be that of rendering the mysteries of faith as intelligible as possible, in support of the intellectual love of God. In Judaism, progress in the knowledge of Torah is focused in the Bible and the Talmud (commentaries on the Law), guided by the twin hermeneutical (critical interpretive) principles of Halakha (the oral precepts and decisions of the rabbis) and of Haggada (instructive stories, parables, and other similar devices).
Variations in Islam range from the rigid orthodoxy of the Ḥanbalites (a conservative school of law following the teachings of Ibn Ḥanbal) to the rational liberalism of the Muʿtazilites (a school of law utilizing Greek philosophical methods) to the dialectical doctrines (kalām) of the Arabian theologian al-Ashʿarī and the Turkish philosopher al-Fārābī. All these, however, are anchored in the twin dogmas of the unity of God and the prophetic office of Muhammad. Spiritual progress is measured by the believer’s faithfulness in obedience to the “Five Pillars,” or religious duties, including prayer, fasting, and the pilgrimage to Mecca.
Insofar as doctrines and dogmas represent conceptualizations of the human encounter with the divine mystery, they are bound to reflect the interplay of faith and reason in religious experience and to imply some notion of levels and stages in the progress of believers as they move from the threshold of faith toward its fulfillment. Doctrine is concerned with communication and consensus, with the exposure of the religious vision to rational probes and queries. There is, therefore, a tension in all religions between mystical intuition and logical articulation, between insight and dialogue. Most traditions agree that perfect understanding is a goal that lies beyond a “simple faith” and the routine observance of rites and duties. Most of them also agree that the utmost pinnacle of religious insight is ineffable. One mode of differentiation between doctrinal traditions, therefore, is their relative openness or resistance to the auxiliary services of philosophy and science of faith’s fulfillment.
In the majority of the religions of the East, very broadly, reason’s chief role is the purgation of illusion and self-deception so that souls may follow the ways of wisdom and right conduct to their true fulfillment in nirvana. The Hindu passes from the initiatory level of “the student” (who is dependent on a teacher, or guru) to the ambivalent freedom of “the householder” to the great freedom of “the forest dweller” to the fullest freedom of the sannyasin (an enlightened ascetic). Reason, which is chiefly reflective, assists at every stage in perfecting faith’s self-understanding. In Buddhism, one follows the dharma from saddha (which is practical knowledge of one’s religious obligations) to jnana (rational insight) to vijnana (mystical illumination).
In most of the religions of the West, again very broadly, the primary function of reason is seen to be that of rendering the mysteries of faith as intelligible as possible, in support of the intellectual love of God. In Judaism, progress in the knowledge of Torah is focused in the Bible and the Talmud (commentaries on the Law), guided by the twin hermeneutical (critical interpretive) principles of Halakha (the oral precepts and decisions of the rabbis) and of Haggada (instructive stories, parables, and other similar devices).
Variations in Islam range from the rigid orthodoxy of the Ḥanbalites (a conservative school of law following the teachings of Ibn Ḥanbal) to the rational liberalism of the Muʿtazilites (a school of law utilizing Greek philosophical methods) to the dialectical doctrines (kalām) of the Arabian theologian al-Ashʿarī and the Turkish philosopher al-Fārābī. All these, however, are anchored in the twin dogmas of the unity of God and the prophetic office of Muhammad. Spiritual progress is measured by the believer’s faithfulness in obedience to the “Five Pillars,” or religious duties, including prayer, fasting, and the pilgrimage to Mecca.
In all the great religious traditions, and between them, the clash of doctrines and dogmas has, more often than not, been polemical. The odium theologorum (“bitterness of the theologians”) of which Melanchthon once complained so plaintively has been notorious. Within the several traditions, doctrinal disputes have sometimes led to division or else ...
May 23, 2018 · DOGMA. DOGMA.Dogma, in the strictest sense, whether embodied in the sacred scripture of the Old and New Testaments or in tradition, is understood by the Roman Catholic Church to be a truth revealed by God (directly and formally), which is presented by the church for belief, as revealed by God, either through a solemn decision of the extraordinary magisterium (pope or council) or through the ...
Doctrine and dogma are two terms often used in religious contexts, but they have distinct meanings. Doctrine refers to a set of beliefs or teachings that are accepted and followed by a particular religious group. It is a more flexible concept that can evolve and adapt over time. On the other hand, dogma refers to a specific belief or principle ...
Dogma. A dogma (from Greek: Doxa, "Opinion"; Dokein, "to seem to believe") refers to a religious teaching or doctrine that is held by an organization (usually a religion) to be authoritative and indisputable. Dogmas are considered to be explications of divinely-given truths and therefore their denial is usually seen as tantamount to a rejection ...
Jul 1, 2016 · The word doctrine comes from the Greek word doxa, meaning belief. The doctrines of the Church are teachings or sets of beliefs which must be believed by the followers of the religion. Doctrines include dogmas and other teachings definitively proposed by the Church. Dogma is doctrines of divine faith since they are defined as formally revealed ...
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Jan 31, 2023 · Dogma in Religion. Michael Servetus was a theologian and physician from the 16th century. As a physician, he wrote about his findings on pulmonary circulation, describing how blood moves from the ...
