the Second Day after Christmas
Click here to learn more!
Bible Dictionaries
Doctors of the Church
1910 New Catholic Dictionary
or
Writers who received this title from the Church, owing to their eminence in theology and holiness. They are extolled by the Church not primarily as witnesses of her faith (as are the Fathers), but on account of their brilliant exposition and skilful defense of Catholic doctrine. Unlike the titles of Doctor subtilis; Doctor resolutissimus; Doctor irrefragabilis, which enthusiastic scholars of the Middle Ages bestowed on renowned professors, this title is official. The first to confer it was Pope Boniface VIII, who in 1295 declared four Fathers the great Doctors of the Latin Church: Saint Ambrose, Saint Augustine, Saint Jerome, Saint Gregory the Great. The next to be declared a Doctor was Saint Thomas Aquinas in 1567. Since then more than twenty renowned theologians, all of them canonized saints, have received the same seal of approval, either from some pope or from the Sacred Congregation of Rites; the latest are Saint Peter Canisius and Saint John of the Cross, who received this honor from Pius XI. Owing to their title, the Doctors of the Church enjoy a special authority in the Church, though not all in the same degree nor in the same manner. As a rule, the range and degree of their authority are set forth in the decree by which the title is conferred. Thus Saint Alphonsus of Liguori is recommended to theologians as master of moral theology, Saint Jerome as biblical scholar, Saint Bonaventure as eminent in scholastic theology. Still, their writings are not therey pronounced infallible throughout, but they are proposed as safe guides, so that their doctrines are to be preferred unless solid reasons favor the opposite.
The following are Doctors of the Church:
- Albertus Magnus
- Alphonsus Maria de Liguori
- Ambrose of Milan
- Anselm of Canterbury
- Anthony of Padua
- Athanasius
- Augustine of Hippo
- Basil the Great
- Bede the Venerable
- Bernard of Clairvaux
- Bonaventure
- Catherine of Siena
- Cyril of Alexandria
- Cyril of Jerusalem
- Ephrem of Syria
- Francis of Sales
- Gregory Nanzianzen
- Gregory the Great
- Hilary of Poitiers
- Isidore
- Jerome
- John Chrystostom
- John Damascene
- John of the Cross
- Lawrence of Brindisi
- Leo the Great
- Peter Canisius
- Peter Chrysologus
- Peter Damian
- Robert Bellarmine
- Teresa of Avila
- Therese of Lisieux
- Thomas Aquinas
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Entry for 'Doctors of the Church'. 1910 New Catholic Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ncd/d/doctors-of-the-church.html. 1910.
