2026-07-072026-07-07http://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/33950We argue that the geodesic hypothesis based on auto-parallels of the Levi-Civita connection may need refinement in theories of gravity with additional scalar fields. This argument is illustrated with a re-formulation of the Brans-Dicke theory in terms of a spacetime connection with torsion determined dynamically in terms of the gradient of the Brans-Dicke scalar field. The perihelion shift in the orbit of Mercury is calculated on the alternative hypothesis that its world-line is an auto-parallel of such a connection. If scalar fields couple significantly to matter and spinless test particles move on such world-lines, current time keeping methods based on the conventional geodesic hypothesis may need refinement.7 pages LATEX file, no figuresGeneral Relativity and Quantum Cosmologytext