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CATECHUMEN (Lat. catechumenus, Gr. Ka...
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See also:CATECHUMEN (See also:Lat. catechumenus, Gr. KarnXouµevos, instructed, from Kar17)(6v, to See also:teach orally) , an ecclesiastical See also:term applied to those receiving instruction in the principles of the See also:Christian See also:religion with a view to See also:baptism. As soon as See also:Christianity became a missionary religion, it was found necessary to make arrangements for giving instruction to new converts. At the beginning the Apostles themselves seem to have under-taken this See also:duty, and the instruction was apparently given after baptism, for in Acts ii. 41, 42, we are told that " they that gladly received the word were baptized . . . and they continued stedfastly in the Apostles' teaching." There are two instances in the New Testament where reference is made to individual instruction in this technical sense. See also:Luke (i. 4) in dedicating the third See also:Gospel to See also:Theophilus tells him that his aim in See also:writing the See also:book was " that See also:thou mightest have certainty in the things in which thou has been instructed " (Kar17Xi O s), and we are told that See also:Apollos was instructed (KarnxnyiPos) " in the way of the See also:Lord" (Acts xviii. 25). With the development of Christianity the instruction became more definite and formal. It is probable that the duty of instructing converts was assigned to " the teachers," who are ranked by See also:Paul immediately after the Apostles and prophets (1 See also:Cor. xii. 28), and occupied an important position in the Christian See also:ministry. In the See also:Didache, or Teaching of the Apostles, we have an excellent See also:illustration of the teaching which was given to candidates for baptism in See also:early times. There can be little doubt that the Didache was used as a See also:manual for catechumens for several centuries. See also:Athanasius (Festal Epistles, 39), for instance, says that " it was appointed by the Fathers to be read by those who are just recently coming to us, and wish to be instructed in the word of godliness " (KarrlXeiaOat rov rigs ebae/3eias Xoyov). The instruction prescribed by the Didache is very largely ethical, and stands in striking contrast to the more elaborate doctrinal teaching which came into See also:vogue in later days. The Shepherd of See also:Hermas too is another book which seems to have been used for the purpose of catechesis, for See also:Eusebius says that it " was deemed most necessary for those who have need of elementary instruction " (See also:Eccles. Hist. iii. 3-6).
With the rise of theological controversy and the growth of See also:heresy catechetical instruction became of vital importance to the See also: Augustine's See also:treatise was written at the See also:request of a catechist, named Deogratias, who had asked him for See also:advice. After replying to the question of Deogratias, and giving sundry counsels as to the best method of interesting catechumens, Augustine concludes by giving a See also:model catechetical lecture, in which he covers the whole of biblical See also:history, beginning from the opening chapters of See also:Genesis, and laying particular stress on the doctrinal parts of Scripture. Cyril and Augustine differ, as we should expect, in the doctrines which thty select for emphasis, but they both agree in requiring a knowledge of See also:sound See also:doctrine on the See also:part of the candidates. In spite of the numerous references to catechumens in Patristic literature, our knowledge of the details of the See also:system is often very deficient, and upon some points there is considerable diversity of See also:opinion amongst experts. The following are the most important questions which come under See also:consideration. I. The See also:Classification of Catechumens.—Bingham and many of the older writers held that there were four classes of catechumens, representing different stages in the See also:process of instruction: (a) " The inquirers " whose See also:interest in Christianity had been sufficiently aroused to make them See also:desire further See also:information, and who received private and individual instruction from the teachers before they were admitted into the second class. (b) The hearers " (audientes), who were admitted into the Church for the purpose of listening to sermons and exhortations. (c) The prostrati or genii flectentes, who were allowed also to take part in the prayers. (d) The electi or competentes, who had completed the See also:period of See also:probation and were deemed ready to receive baptism. See also:Modern scholars, however, for the most part, deny that there is sufficient basis to justify this elaborate classification, and think that its See also:advocates have confused the catechumenate with the system of See also:penance. The See also:evidence does not seem to See also:warrant more than two classes, (a) the audientes, who were in the initial stages of their training, (b) the competentes, who were qualified for baptism. 2. The Relation of Catechumens to the Church.--Catechumens were allowed of course to attend church services, but at a certain point were dismissed with the words " Ite catechumeni, missa est." The moment at which the dismissal took place cannot be exactly deter-See also:mined, and it is not clear whether the catechumens were allowed to remain for a portion of the Communion service, and if so, whether as spectators or as partial participants. A passage in Augustine seems to imply that in some way they shared in the See also:Sacrament, " that which they (the catechumens) receive, though it be not the See also:Body of See also:Christ, is yet an See also:holy thing and. more holy than the See also:common See also:food which sustains us, because it is a Sacrament (De peccatorum meritis, ii. 42). The explanation of these words has occasioned considerable controversy. Many scholars hold (and this certainly seems the most natural interpretation) that consecrated See also:bread was taken from the See also:Eucharist and given to the catechumens. See also:Bingham, however, maintains that the reference is not to the consecrated bread, but to See also:salt, which was given to them as a See also:symbol "that they might learn to purge and cleanse their souls from See also:sin." 3. The Duration of the Training.—Various statements with regard to the duration of the catechumenical training are found in ecclesiastical authorities. The See also:Apostolical Constitutions, for instance, See also:fix it at three years; 1 the See also:synod of See also:Elvira at two? The references in the Fathers, however, imply that for practical purposes it was limited to the See also:forty days of See also:Lent. Very probably, however, the forty days of actual instruction were preceded by a period of probation. 4. The Relation between the Catechumenate and Baptism.-Catechetical instruction was designed as a preliminary to baptism. There were two directions, however, in which this purpose was enlarged: (a) We have no See also:reason to suppose that when See also:infant baptism was introduced, those who had been baptized in See also:infancy were excluded from the catechetical training, or that instruction was deemed unnecessary in their See also:case, though as a See also:matter of fact we have no definite reference to their See also:admission. The See also:custom of postponing baptism, which was very See also:general in the 4th and 5th centuries, probably made such cases more rare than is generally supposed, and so accounts for the See also:absence of any allusion to them 1 Apost. Constit. viii. 2. See also:Canon 42.in connexion with the catechumenate, (b) We have no reason to suppose that the instruction given in the famous catechetical See also:schools of See also:Alexandria and See also:Carthage was restricted to candidates for baptism. There is no doubt that" catechetical " is used in a much wider sense when applied to the lectures of See also:Origen than when used of the addresses of Cyril of Jerusalem. The " instruction " of Origen was given to all classes o Christians, and not merely to those who were in the initial stages. 5. Characteristics of the Catechumenical Training.—Besides instruction there were some other important features connected with the catechumenate. (a) The duty of See also:confession was impressed on the candidates. (b) The ceremony of See also:exorcism was often per-formed in See also:order to See also:free the catechumen from evil See also:spirits. (c) At a certain point in the training the creed and the doctrine of the Sacraments were delivered to the candidates by the See also:bishop with much impressive ceremonial.. This teaching constituted the " holy See also:secret" or See also:mystery " (discipline arcani). of Christianity, and could only be imparted to those who were qualified to receive it. The acquisition of this arcanum was regarded as the most essential See also:element in the catechetical discipline, and marked off its possessors from the See also:rest of the See also:world. There can be little doubt that this conception of the " Holy Secret "came into the Church originally from the See also:Greek mysteries, and that much of the ceremonial connected with the catechumenate and baptism was derived from the same source. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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