Doctor of the Church
Sainted influential theologian
Doctor of the Church is an honorary title in Catholic tradition bestowed on saints whose writings and teachings have been especially influential in Christian theology.
The designation recognizes exceptional learning and doctrinal soundness: Augustine and Thomas Aquinas are among the most studied Doctors of the Church.
Only about three dozen individuals have received the title across two millennia.
- homiliesReligious instructional addresses
- canonizationOfficial declaration of sainthood
- ChristologyDoctrine of the Messiah's nature
- St. Thomas AquinasThirteenth-century Doctor of Church
- St. AugustineHistoric Florida coastal city
Ambrose · holy wisdom · treatises · Jerome · eschatology · sainthood · patron saint · feast day · apologetics · Catholic theology · ecclesiology · writings · venerable · ecclesiastical · Latin · Aquinas · encyclical · cardinal
- church scholarstheologian, exegete, biblical scholar, commentator, apologist
- AugustineConfessions, original sin, divine grace, predestination, Monica
- Papal honors
Doctor of the Churchheretic
Challenger of official doctrine
apostate · schismatic · Martin Luther · excommunicate · Luther
Doctor of the Churchdamned soul
Spirit condemned to hell
Antichrist · reprobate · Judas Iscariot · lost soul · devil