Doctrine

Doctrine, a belief system that forms a part of every religion. Although the word doctrine is sometimes used for such a system as a whole (“Christian doctrine”), it is more commonly used for particular items of belief (“the Judeo-Christian doctrine of creation”; “the Buddhist doctrine of reincarnation”). The particular beliefs constitute a more or less coherent whole, however, and it is in the context of the whole that each doctrine should be understood and evaluated. The Latin word doctrina means “teaching,” and religious beliefs are often first specifically formulated in the process of instructing initiates. Although religious doctrines have sometimes been regarded as unchanging truths, today it is generally recognized that even if a doctrine contains some permanent core of truth, its expression will always reflect the relativities of a particular age and culture, so that new expressions are constantly needed if doctrines are to remain intelligible and persuasive. Although in some religions doctrines have not been precisely formulated, in many others they have been the subject of sharp controversy, even to the point of disrupting the community of believers. Most of the world religions do, in fact, exhibit doctrinal divisions. When a religious authority proposes one expression of a doctrine to the exclusion of other possible ones, it becomes known as a dogma.