Dogma
in the Septuagint and New Testament, signified a decree or precept; by classical Greek writers it is used in the sense of a philosophical tenet . Its general meaning is a principle or maxim laid down in the form of a positive assertion, and hence "the Dogmatic Method" is the method pursued in such a science as mathematics, which starts from axioms and postulates, and deduces everything from these by means of proofs. But where the fundamental proofs. principles are either unknown or much contested, the dogmatist is one who assumes certain principles without proof as the foundation of his system. word dogma is especially used to signify the whole (or any one) of the doctrinal forms in which the religious experience of the Christian Church has from time to time authoritatively expressed itself, as distinguished from the opinions held by Church-teachers individually .