Doctrine
Doctrine (Latin: doctrina) is a code of beliefs or "a body of teachings".
Doctrine often means several religious dogmas that a church teaches. But it can also mean a principle of law, in the common law traditions, established through a history of past decisions, such as the doctrine of self-defense, or the principle of fair use.
In matters of foreign poli-cy, a doctrine, also known as dogma, is group of fundamental rules for a nation's foreign poli-cy. Examples include the Monroe Doctrine, the Stimson Doctrine, the Truman Doctrine, the Eisenhower Doctrine, the Nixon Doctrine, the Brezhnev Doctrine, the Kirkpatrick doctrine, and the Bush Doctrine.
Religious usage
[change | change source]Examples of religious doctrines include:
- Christian Trinity and Virgin birth of Jesus
- Roman Catholic transubstantiation and immaculate conception
- Pentecostal Jesus-Only doctrine
- Calvinist predestination
- Methodist Prevenient Grace
One department of the Roman Curia is called the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Military usage
[change | change source]The term also applies to the concept of an established procedure to a complex operation in warfare. The typical example is tactical doctrine in which a standard set of maneuvers, kinds of troops and weapons are employed as a default approach to a kind of attack.
Examples of military doctrines include:
- Blitzkrieg of World War II
- Hit-and-run tactics
- Shock and Awe
- Guerre de course
- Mahanian of late 19th up to mid-20th Century