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Dogma - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dogma is a principle or set of principles laid down by an authority as incontrovertibly true.[1]It serves as part of the primary basis of an ideology or belief system, and it cannot be changed or discarded without affecting the very system's paradigm, or the ideology itself. They can refer to acceptable opinions of philosophers or philosophical schools, public decrees, religion, or issued decisions of political authorities.[2] The term derives from Greek "that which seems to one, opinion or belief"[3] and that from (dok eo), "to think, to suppose, to imagine".[4] Dogma came to signify laws or ordinances adjudged and imposed upon others by the First Century. The plural is eitherdogmas or dogmata, from Greek . The term "dogmatics" is used as a synonym forsystematic theology, as in Karl Barth's defining textbook of neo-orthodoxy, the 14-volumeChurch Dogmatics .
Contents [hide] 1 In religion 2 Other usage 3 See also 4 References 5 External links 6 See also

In religion

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See also: Roman Catholic dogma, Jewish principles of faith, and The six articles of Islamic faith Dogmata are found in religions such as Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, where they are considered core principles that must be upheld by all believers of that religion. As a fundamental element of religion, the term "dogma" is assigned to those theological tenets which are considered to be well demonstrated, such that their proposed disputation or revision effectively means that a person no longer accepts the given religion as his or her own, or has entered into a period of personal doubt. Dogma is distinguished from theologicalopinion regarding those things considered less well-known. Dogmata may be clarified and elaborated but not contradicted in novel teachings (e.g., Galatians 1:6-9 ). Rejection of dogma may lead to expulsion from a religious group. In Christianity, religious beliefs are defined by the Church.[5] It is usually on scripture or communicated by church authority.[6] It is believed that these dogmas will lead human beings towards redemption and thus the paths which lead to God".[7] For Catholicism and Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Christianity, the dogmata are contained in the Nicene Creed and the canon laws of two, three, seven, or twenty ecumenical councils(depending on whether one is Nestorian, Oriental Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox, or Roman Catholic). These tenets are summarized by St. John of Damascus in his Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, which is the third book of his main work, titled The Fount of Knowledge. In this book he takes a dual approach in explaining each article of the faith: one, for Christians, where he uses quotes from the Bible and, occasionally, from works of otherFathers of the Church, and the second, directed both at nonChristians (but who, nevertheless, hold some sort of religious belief) and at atheists, for whom he employsAristotelian logic and dialectics. The decisions of fourteen later councils that Catholics hold as dogmatic and numerous decrees promulgated by Popes' exercising papal infallibility (for examples, see Immaculate Conception and Assumption of Mary) are considered as being a part of the Church's sacredbody of doctrine. Roman Catholic dogmata are a distinct form of doctrine taught by the Church. Protestants to differing degrees affirm portions of these dogmata, and often rely on denomination-specific "Statements of Faith" which summarize their chosen dogmata (see, e.g., Eucharist).
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Dogma - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In Islam, the dogmatic principles are contained in the aqidah. Within many Christian denominations, dogma is referred to as "doctrine".

Other usage

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As a possible reaction to skepticism, dogmatism is a set of beliefs or doctrines that are established as undoubtedly in truth.[8] They are regarded as (religious) truths relating closely to the nature of faith.[9] The term "dogmatic" can be used disparagingly to refer to any belief that is held stubbornly, including political[10] and scientific [11] beliefs. A notable use of the term can be found in the Central Dogma of Molecular Biology. In hisautobiography, What Mad Pursuit, Francis Crick wrote about his choice of the word dogmaand some of the problems it caused him: I called this idea the central dogma, for two reasons, I suspect. I had already used the obvious word hypothesis in the sequence hypothesis, and in addition I wanted to suggest that this new assumption was more central and more powerful. ... As it turned out, the use of the word dogma caused almost more trouble than it was worth.... Many years later Jacques Monod pointed out to me that I did not appear to understand the correct use of the word dogma, which is a belief that cannot be doubted... I used the word the way I myself thought about it, not as most of the world does, and simply applied it to a grand hypothesis that, however plausible, had little direct experimental support.

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