Christianity In Christianity, a
dogma is a belief communicated by divine revelation and defined by the Church, The organization's formal religious positions may be taught to new members or simply communicated to those who choose to become members. It is rare for agreement with an organization's formal positions to be a requirement for attendance, though membership may be required for some church activities. In the narrower sense of the church's official interpretation of divine revelation, theologians distinguish between defined and non-defined dogmas, the former being those set out by authoritative bodies such as the
Roman Curia for the
Catholic Church, the latter being those which are universally held but have not been officially defined, the nature of Christ as universal redeemer being an example. The term originated in
late ancient Greek philosophy legal usage, in which it meant a decree or command, and came to be used in the same sense in early Christian theology.
Protestants to differing degrees are less formal about doctrine, and often rely on denomination-specific beliefs, but seldom refer to these beliefs as dogmata. The first unofficial institution of dogma in the Christian church was by
Saint Irenaeus in his
Demonstration of Apostolic Teaching, which provides a 'manual of essentials' constituting the 'body of truth'.
Catholicism and Eastern Christianity For
Catholicism and
Eastern 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
Church of the East,
Oriental Orthodox,
Eastern Orthodox, or
Roman Catholic). These tenets are summarized by
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, directed at Christians, where he uses quotes from the
Bible and, occasionally, from works of other
Church Fathers, and the second, directed both at members of non-Christian religions and at
atheists, for whom he employs
Aristotelian logic and
dialectics. The decisions of fourteen later councils that Catholics hold as dogmatic and a small number of decrees promulgated by
popes exercising
papal infallibility (for examples, see
Immaculate Conception and
Assumption of Mary) are considered as being a part of the Catholic Church's sacred body of dogma.
Judaism In the Jewish commentary tradition,
dogma is a principle by which the
Rabbanim can try the proofs of faith about the existence of God and truth;
dogma is what is necessarily true for rational thinking. In Jewish
Kabbalah, a
dogma is an
archetype of the
Pardes or
Torah Nistar, the secrets of Bible. In the relation between "logical thinking" and "rational Kabbalah" the "
Partzuf" is the means to identify "dogma".
Buddhism View or position (; ) is a central idea in
Buddhism that corresponds with the Western notion of dogma. In Buddhist thought, a view is not a simple, abstract collection of propositions, but a charged interpretation of experience which intensely shapes and affects thought, sensation, and action. Having the proper mental attitude toward views is therefore considered an integral part of the Buddhist path, as sometimes correct views need to be put into practice and incorrect views abandoned, while at other times all views are seen as obstacles to enlightenment.
Islam In the context of Islam, dogma is best translated as عقيدة (ʿAqīda). ʿAqīda refers to the core tenets of Islamic belief, such as faith in Allah, the prophets, the afterlife, and other essential doctrines. It is a fundamental aspect of Islamic theology, and different Islamic schools (e.g., Ashʿarī, Māturīdī, and Salafī) have varying interpretations of ʿAqīda while agreeing on its foundational principles. ==See also==