Category:Dogma

Dog"ma, n.; pl. E. Dogmas, L. Dogmata. Etym: [L. dogma, Gr. pl., fr. decet it is becoming. Cf. Decent.]

1. That which is held as an opinion; a tenet; a doctrine. The obscure and loose dogmas of early antiquity. Whewell.

2. A formally stated and authoritatively settled doctrine; a definite, established, and authoritative tenet.

3. A doctrinal notion asserted without regard to evidence or truth; an arbitrary dictum.

Syn. -- tenet; opinion; proposition; doctrine. -- Dogma, Tenet. A tenet is that which is maintained as true with great firmness; as, the tenets of our holy religion. A dogma is that which is laid down with authority as indubitably true, especially a religious doctrine; as, the dogmas of the church. A tenet rests on its own intrinsic merits or demerits; a dogma rests on authority regarded as competent to decide and determine. Dogma has in our language acquired, to some extent, a repulsive sense, from its carrying with it the idea of undue authority or assumption. this is more fully the case with its derivatives dogmatical and dogmatism.