Devil's Advocate
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- For the 1997 film, see Devil's Advocate (movie). The Devil's Advocate (West novel)" is a novel by Morris West.
Formerly, during the canonization process by the Roman Catholic Church, the Promoter of the Faith (Latin Promotor Fidei), or Devil's Advocate (Latin advocatus diaboli), was a canon lawyer appointed by the Church to argue against the canonization of the proposed candidate. It was his job to take a skeptical view of the proceedings, to look for holes in the evidence, to argue that the miracles attributed to the candidate were fraudulent, etc.
The office was established in 1587 and was in effect until it was abolished by Pope John Paul II in 1983. This streamlined the canonization process considerably, helping to usher in John Paul's unprecedented number of elevations: nearly 500 individuals canonized and over 1,300 beatified, as opposed to 98 canonizations by all his 20th-century predecessors.
The title advocatus diaboli, which is unofficial, would perhaps be more accurately translated into English as the Devil's lawyer.
In common parlance, the term has come to mean a person who argues a position that they do not necessarily believe in, simply for the sake of arguing; or who presents a counterargument for a position they do believe in to another debater. This process can be used to test the quality of the original argument and identify weaknesses in its structure.
External links
- Article from the 1911 Catholic Encyclopedia (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01168b.htm)cs:Ďáblův advokát
de:Advocatus diaboli es:Abogado del diablo he:פרקליטו של השטן no:Djevelens advokat fi:Paholaisen asianajaja pl:Adwokat diabła (chrześcijaństwo) pt:Advogado do Diabo ru:Адвокат дьявола sv:Djävulens advokat