- doctrine
- doctrine, dogma, tenet are synonymous only when they mean a principle (usually one of a series or of a body of principles) accepted as authoritative (as by members of a church, a school of philosophers, or a branch of science).Doctrine is often used in a much broader sense to denote a formulated theory that is supported by evidence, backed by authority, and proposed for acceptance{
the doctrine of evolution
}{Einstein's doctrine of relativity
}In the narrower sense doctrine retains its basic implication of authoritative teaching, but it presupposes acceptance by a body of believers or adherents{a catechism of Christian doctrines
}{a . . . mathematical doctrine of waves which nowadays has almost come to dominate . . . physics— Darrow
}Dogma also stresses authoritative teaching but unlike doctrine it seldom implies proposal for acceptance. A dogma is not advanced as reasonable and worthy of acceptance but laid down as true and beyond dispute{the dogmas of a church are usually stated in a creed or confession
}{in 1870 Pope Pius IX defined the dogma of papal infallibility
}Dogma (or especially its derivative dogmatic) often connotes insistence, sometimes arrogant insistence, on authority or imposition by authority{the dogma that the king can do no wrong
}Tenet emphasizes acceptance and belief rather than teaching. It is therefore thought of as a principle held or adhered to and implies a body of adherents{the tenets of modern Socialism are not in every instance identical with the doctrines of Karl Marx
}
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.
