Profanation of sacred doctrine
- Contempt of religious doctrine
- Disparagement of scholastic theology
Nature
Incautious use of sacred doctrine, possibly regarded as the exclusive property of certain privileged classes. Such doctrine may also be profaned by failing to keep it quite distinct from other truths or opinions of lesser value.
Incidence
In different cultures their sacred scriptures may be considered to be profaned if they are read or taught to people outside the prescribed classes.
Claim
How deplorable it is then that this philosophy, received and honored by the Church, is scorned by some, who shamelessly call it outmoded in form and rationalistic, as they say, in its method of thought. They say that this philosophy upholds the erroneous notion that there can be a metaphysic that is absolutely true; whereas in fact, they say, reality, especially transcendent reality, cannot better be expressed than by disparate teachings, which mutually complete each other, although they are in a way mutually opposed. Our traditional philosophy, then, with its clear exposition and solution of questions, its accurate definition of terms, its clear-cut distinctions, can be, they concede, useful as a preparation for scholastic theology, a preparation quite in accord with medieval mentality; but this philosophy hardly offers a method of philosophizing suited to the needs of our modern culture. (Papal Encyclical, Humani Generis, 12 August 1950).