Orthodoxy
ORTHODOXY
Soundness of doctrine or opinion in matters of religion. The doctrines which are generally considered as orthodox among us, are such as were generally professed at the time of the reformation, viz. the fall of man, regeneration, atonement, repentance, justification by free grace, &c. Some have thought, that, in order to keep error out of the church, there should be some human form as a standard of orthodoxy, wherein certain disputed doctrines shall be expressed in such determinate phrases as may be directly levelled against such errors as shall prevail from time to time, requiring those especially who are to be public teachers in the church to subscribe or virtually to declare their assent to such formularies. But as Dr. Doddridge observes,
1. Had this been requisite, it is probable that the Scriptures would have given us some such formularies as these, k or some directions as to the manner in which they should be drawn up, proposed, and received.
2. It is impossible that weak and passionate men, who have perhaps been heated in the very controversy thus decided, should express themselves with greater propriety than the apostles did.
3. It is plain, in fact, that this practice has been the cause of great contention in the Christian church, and such formularies have been the grand engine of dividing it, in proportion to the degree in which they have been multiplied and urged.
4. This is laying a great temptation in the way of such as desire to undertake the office of teachers in the church, and will be most likely to deter and afflict those who have the greatest tenderness of conscience, and therefore (caet par.) best deserve encouragement.
5. It is not likely to answer the end proposed, viz. the preserving and uniformity of opinion, since persons of little integrity may satisfy their consciences, in subscribing what they do not at all believe as articles of peace, or in putting the most unnatural sense on the words. And whereas, in answer to all these inconveniences, it is pleaded, that such forms are necessary to keep the church from heresy, and it is better there should be some hypocrites under such forms of orthodoxy, than that a freedom of debate and opinion should be allowed to all teachers; the answer is plain, that, when any one begins to preach doctrines which appear to those who attend upon him dangerous and subversive of Christianity, it will be time enough to proceed to such animadversion as the nature of his error in their apprehension will require and his relation to them will admit.
See articles ESTABLISHMENT and SUBSCRIPTION; Doddridge’s Lectures, lec. 174; Watts’s Orthodoxy and Charity United.
Fuente: Theological Dictionary
Orthodoxy
(Greek: orthodoxos, right believer)
Signifies correct belief or true faith. Since Christ founded only one true Church, faith is really orthodox only when in conformity with the doctrines of that Church. The term is sometimes used however by some who claim to be the true church, but who are nevertheless not in communion with the Church of Rome.
Fuente: New Catholic Dictionary
Orthodoxy
Orthodoxy (orthodoxeia) signifies right belief or purity of faith. Right belief is not merely subjective, as resting on personal knowledge and convictions, but is in accordance with the teaching and direction of an absolute extrinsic authority. This authority is the Church founded by Christ, and guided by the Holy Ghost. He, therefore, is orthodox, whose faith coincides with the teachings of the Catholic Church. As divine revelation forms the deposit of faith entrusted to the Church for man’s salvation, it also, with the truths clearly deduced from it, forms the object and content of orthodoxy.
Although the term orthodox or orthodoxy does not occur in the Scriptures, its meaning is repeatedly insisted on. Thus Christ proclaims the necessity of faith unto salvation (Mark 16:16). St. Paul, emphasizing the same injunction in terms more specific, teaches “one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Ephesians 4:5, 6). Again, when directing Titus in his ministerial labours, he admonishes him to speak in accord with “sound doctrine” (Tit., ii, 1). And not only does St. Paul lay stress on the soundness of the doctrine to be preached, but he also directs attention to the form in which it must be delivered: “Hold the form of sound words which thou hast heard of me in faith” (2 Timothy 1:13).
Consistent with the teachings and method of Christ and the Apostles, the Fathers point out the necessity of preserving pure and undefiled the deposit of revelation. “Neither in the confusion of paganism”, says St. Augustine, “nor in the defilement of heresy, nor in the lethargy of schism, nor yet in blindness of Judaism is religion to be sought; but among those alone who are called Catholic Christians, or the orthodox, that is, the custodians of sound doctrine and followers of right teaching” (De Vera Relig., cap. v). Fulgentius writes: “I rejoice that with no taint of perfidy you are solicitous for the true faith, without which no conversion is of any avail, nor can at all exist” (De Vera Fide ad Petrum, Proleg).
The Church, likewise, in its zeal for purity of faith and teaching, has rigorously adhered to the example set by the Apostles and Early Fathers. This is manifest in its whole history, but especially in such champions of the faith as Athansius, in councils, condemnations of heresy, and its definitions of revealed truth. That orthodox faith is requisite for salvation is a defined doctrine of the Church. “Whosoever wishes to be saved”, declares the Athanasian Creed, “must first of all hold integral and inviolate the Catholic faith, without which he shall surely be eternally lost”. Numerous councils and papal decisions have reiterated this dogma (cf. Council of Florence, Denz., 714; Prof. of Faith of Pius IV, Denz., 1000; condemnation of Indifferentism and Latitudinarianism in the Syll. of Pius IX, Denz., 1715, 1718; Council of the Vatican, “De Fide”. can. vi, Denz., 1815, condemnation of the Modernistic position regarding the nature and origin of dogma, Encyc. “Pascendi Dominici Gregis”, 1907, Denz., 2079). While truth must be intolerant of error (2 Corinthians 6:14, 15), the Church does not deny the possibility of salvation of those earnest and sincere persons outside her fold who live and die in invincible ignorance of the true faith (cf. Council of the Vatican, Sess. III, cp. iii, Denz., 1794; S Aug., Ep.xliii ad Galerium). (See CHURCH; FAITH; PROTESTANT CONFESSIONS OF FAITH; HERESY; INDIFFERENTISM.)
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CHARLES J. CALLAN Transcribed by Geoffrey K. Mondello, Ph.D.
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XICopyright © 1911 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat, February 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., CensorImprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York
Fuente: Catholic Encyclopedia
Orthodoxy
Beliefs which are declared by a group to be true and normative. Heresy is a departure from and relative to a given orthodoxy. — V.S.