In our age of variable thinking, the word dogma has a slight negative connotation, indicates the rigidity of judgments and some outdatedness. Although initially this term did not have the meaning of absolute truth, over time in society it acquired the meaning of a constant in mathematics.
The word "dogma" comes from the Greek. dogma - opinion, decision, teaching. Over time, the meaning of the term changed shades. For example, in ancient literature, he denoted any state decrees or regulations that have the property of indisputable truth, and in ancient Greek philosophy, philosophers began to be called dogmatists, who, in contrast to skeptics, affirmed a positive view of the knowability of the world. In the field of science, the term dogma usually denotes an unchanging formula applied without taking into account specific historical conditions, and the derivative concept of "dogmatic thinking" has become hostile to scientific knowledge. An example of this way of thinking is the attitude of the church towards heliocentrism during the times of Copernicus and Galileo.
Now this term has a predominantly religious meaning and means some theoretical provisions of the doctrine, recognized as an immutable truth and not subject to criticism or doubt. A set of dogmas is characteristic of all emerging religions of the world, be it Christianity, Judaism, Islam or Hinduism.
In Christianity, the first official formulation of dogma was given in 325 at the Council of Nicaea and constituted the "creed." In 381, at the Council of Constantinople, the Nicene symbol was supplemented with a number of new dogmas, these include the provisions on the unity and trinity of the deity, the fall and redemption, the Resurrection of Christ, the Last Judgment, etc. Gradually, in the course of the intra-church ideological and political struggle, new dogmas were adopted. At the 4th Ecumenical Council, the idea of two natures of Christ - human and divine, was recognized as an immutable truth. In the struggle against iconoclasm, the 7th Ecumenical Council (781) adopted the dogma of "religion about veneration of icons." Further, a split occurred and the Orthodox Church did not establish any more constants, while the Catholic Church has repeatedly replenished the number of Christian dogmas, sometimes by the sole decision of the Pope. Among the new dogmas can be called the infallibility of the pope; Catholicism also recognizes the existence of purgatory, the virginity of the conception of the Virgin, and some others.
In Protestantism, there is no firmly established system of immutable truths. Initially, the dogma of Protestantism was distinguished by the fact that it did not take into account the "sacred tradition", relying only on the Bible. But since the Bible lends itself to different and often contradictory interpretations, Protestantism created a huge theological literature, the task of which was to introduce some uniformity in the interpretation of the "truths of faith." Orthodox Protestantism tends to view the basic tenets of Luther's catechism as dogma.
In Islam, the main dogmas are - "the unity of God-Allah, who" did not give birth and was not born, and there is no one equal to him "and" the prophetic mission of Muhammad, who, by inspiration from above, informed the human race of the divine revelation recorded in the Koran."
In Hinduism, the main dogmas can be considered the recognition of the sanctity of the Vedas, the inequality of people and the transmigration of souls.
