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I’m interested in your thoughts about this. Why do we rarely use the term? Have we just substituted something else for it? Is there any significance to how much/little we use the word? We’ve got doctrine all day long, and we don’t use dogma at all.
I think LDS people often use the word doctrine when they mean theology. From my point of view there is a difference in the two words. Theology sounds experimental; that is to say if pressed we really don’t know what we’re talking about. Not the most solid of foundations to promote Truth. Doctrine sounds definitive; straight from Jesus’ lips.
Dogma sounds pejorative; people don’t tend to have positive things to say when they start talking about religious dogma.
Everyone uses their own definitions, the above is my gut reaction to those words. I don’t find it surprising that we’ve settled on “doctrine.”
Edit:
Doing a quick word search. The word doctrine appears in the scriptures multiple times, theology and dogma don’t make an appearance. That probably has more to do with it than anything.
As has been said, I think most Mormons don’t see much of a difference. Doctrine seems to me more cut and dried and absolute. Theology tends to mean something not quite so solid – like Jello. Maybe that is why Utah is known as the Jello belt.
LookingHard wrote:As has been said, I think most Mormons don’t see much of a difference.
Doctrine seems to me more cut and dried and absolute. Theology tends to mean something not quite so solid – like Jello. Maybe that is why Utah is known as the Jello belt.
I think that’s just the point – people want solid, not jello. Hence, a Mormon is (IMO) more likely to frame something as a commandment or doctrine as opposed to something we’re still learning (as might be indicated by an “ology” ending).
Thread Jack – Since my faith transition I have begun substituting or inserting the word Theology into answers I give. It sounds super spiritual, and it gives some lateral room to my unorthodox take on things. – It’s kind of my little crutch. The way I’m understanding it, anyone – peasant, prophet, pope, professor – can be a theologian. And it seems like the goal of the Mormonism I’m interested in is a church full of theologians. But then there’s a cynical part of me that isn’t sure the setters of doctrine want that. Edit: I get that we’re no different than most churches I can think of in that regard, but I wish we leaned more to “teach them correct principles” and “we don’t know” than we currently do.
I think “theology” implies, to many Mormons, people who pay lots of money to get a college degree to make money as a preacher of some kind, which Mormons tend to view as priestcraft. Thus, a theologian is a professional preacher in their minds. I use the word all of the time, and I think it is a noble pursuit – but I understand completely why so many members don’t like it.
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