Introduction to Dogma

Excerpts from Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma

by Dr. Ludwig Ott

1. Definitions:
   1. Doctrine:
      1. Refers to all that the Church believes and teaches.
   2. Dogma:
      1. Refers to the fundamentals of the faith to which every Catholic must subscribe.
      2. These are referred to by the Latin designation: 'De fide' (of the faith).
      3. The 'De fide' designation indicates that the doctrinal statement is an essential part of Catholic faith and that denial of it is heresy.
      4. The Church’s magisterium exercises the authority it holds from Christ to the fullest extent when it defines dogmas, that is, when it proposes, in a form obliging the Christian people to an irrevocable adherence of faith, truths contained in divine Revelation or also when it proposes, in a definitive way, truths having a necessary connection with these. (CCC-88)
   3. Disciplines:
      1. For Catholics, there is an important difference between the teachings that we must believe, which are infallible and unchangeable (doctrine), and the rules that we must obey but which are changeable (disciplines). Finally, there are areas where we are free to believe or not believe without offending against faith (theological opinions). 1
      2. There are many theological questions which the Church has not definitively answered one way or another. A wide range of theories or opinions on these questions are perfectly legitimate, provided the theory does not contradict any other doctrinal teaching of the Church. Such opinions must be held with a due tentativeness or reserve, ready to submit faithfully to the final judgment of the magisterium. The danger here is to treat what is merely an opinion as a doctrine (as some did with St. Thomas’s theory of limbo) or to hold on to a mere theological opinion after the Church has declared a theological question settled (for instance, in the contemporary case of the priestly ordination of women). 2