although "doctrine" used to mean "teaching" or
"instruction," that definition is now regarded as "archaic" or
"obsolete." What does the word "doctrine" mean in
contemporary English? Webster's Collegiate Dictionary
reads: "Doctrine – a principle accepted by a body of
believers or adherents to a philosophy or school; principles
of knowledge or a system of belief." "Doctrinaire –
dictatorial or dogmatic." "Indoctrinate – to imbue with a
partisan or sectarian opinion, point of view or principle."
Synonyms used for "indoctrinate" include "propagandize,
program, brainwash, infect, instill, inculcate, etc." Is it any
wonder that newer English translations tend to avoid the
word "doctrine"? The New American Standard Bible, for
example, uses the word "doctrine" only fourteen times, and
even those are probably a carry-over of the traditionalism
of ecclesiastical terminology. The Greek words, didache
and didaskalia, should be consistently translated
"teaching," except when reference is being made to "man-
made doctrines" (Eph. 4:14; Col. 2:22; etc.)
In contemporary English language "doctrine" has come
to mean "a traditional belief-system as interpreted and
accepted by a particular group of people." "Doctrinaire"
means "to dogmatically assert a traditional belief-system as
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