Thomas Reid, the father of Scottish Common Sense Realism, pointed out that the Empiricists had been misled by a trick of grammar. One can say, “I see a tree,” and “I feel a pain.” Thus, the idea is derived that we need some sort of intermediary between us and the “external world.” We perceive “percepts” rather than things.

I wonder if the sentence, “We teach doctrine,” is causing analogous theological damage.