Doctor, doctor, give me the news...

I'm interested in learning more about Doctors of the Church. I admit that when I first heard the term many decades ago, immediately thought of medical doctors, and wondered if the church might have had a bad cold, or something. Other protestants thought the same thing.

The easiest way to understand what a Doctor of the Church does is to think of those doctrines which mean the most to you personally; the Incarnation, the Trinity. The Incarnation was defined -- and defended against Arians -- by St. Athanasius, and he was made a Doctor of the Church for his efforts. The doctrine of the Trinity did it for St. Augustine. These two are the most obvious examples, and best show how important their contribution is to the most essential parts of Christian belief. A Doctor of the Church makes the church healthier.

Perhaps just being Catholic has made me interested in Doctors, but I don't think so. They have always fascinated me. In fact, when Pope John Paul II, raised St. Therese of Lisieux to be Doctor of the Church, that was probably the jump start came in to my spiritual life. At that time, I was in a terrible state spiritually, so hearing that she had been raised to a Doctor really hit me in the basement o' faith. What did this mean? Why her of all people? Anyone who has read my blog more than once knows what role "her of all people" currently plays in my devotional life. Maybe I should say here that St. Therese was the motivation to my conversion? Wow, what a thought.

But there are a large number of Doctors of the Church these days. Here's a list.