Daily Archives: September 26, 2006

Doctrine and Discipline

Can one of my more Catholic readers offer a suitable distinction between doctrine and discipline? Specifically, I’m thinking about the development of doctrine issue. The faith of the Church never changes, never has–and so when Catholics are confronted with the contradiction between clerical celibacy and Paul’s prescription in the Pastorals (husbands of one wife…) they tell me that that’s a matter of *discipline* not doctrine. Discipline can change but doctrine can’t. So–where’s the line?