Nov 9, 2009
Dogma: All the convenience of certainty without the hassle of thought
Like this post?
Man…desires to know, which is relief from uncertainty. But he doesn’t necessarily desire to think…. And that’s how dogma was born.
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© 2012 Abuyo. All rights reserved.
And is that a dogmatic statement, Mr. McHenry?
Or just your opinion?
I believe you. Next.
nice.
Historically, dogma was written to save the Church the work of refuting the same heresies over and over. Every time an old heresy popped up under a new name, pretending to be a new idea, the Church could point to a document and say, “See, this is just the same old thing we refuted 300 years ago.”
And that fits right in with the post, doesn’t it?
We want to know something is true or false without the burden of rethinking it.
Maybe I don’t want to waste the intellectual effort someone else has already expended to craft some carefully thought out statements on difficult topics. This could be frugality or laziness on my part.
Or maybe I’m not as confident in my own ability to think through those difficult topics as I am of those more brilliant and profound thinkers whose judgment I have come to trust. This could be out of my fear or my humility.
Dogma may be the refuge of the lazy and the fearful, but it can also be the starting place of thought for the prudent and the humble.
well said, andy.
There are three ways to learn the answer to a question:
1. Ask the question to someone who knows the answer.
2. Look up the answer in a book that can tell you the answer.
3. Do original research to find the answer.
All three are valid in different circumstances.
Would what you call “dogma” be under number two?
Seems to me like dogma can degenerate into laziness, but that’s not how it was born.
We generally tell children why 7 x 9 = 63 right before we tell them just to memorize it. In the .01% of cases when it is helpful to rethink this, we hope they won’t be too lazy to do so.
OK, i gotta throw in a few Chestertons There are a bunch. :-)
“There are only two kinds of people, those who accept dogmas and know it, and those who accept dogmas and don’t know it.” (“The Mercy of Mr. Arnold Bennett” Fancies vs. Fads)
“Atheism is indeed the most daring of all dogmas . . . for it is the assertion of a universal negative.” (“Charles II” Twelve Types)
I resonate especially with the first quote.
Your karma ran over my dogma.
So is the Doctrine of the Assurance of Salvation “dogma”?