Catechism

[10]There are thousands of catechisms in the Catholic tradition, with texts already appearing in print for the instruction of lay people by the early medieval period.

"[28] Fidei depositum is an Apostolic Constitution which states that the catechism of the Catholic Church is for the laity in its address to all the people of God.

[32] Elucidarium Encyclopedic work about medieval Christian theology, originally written in the late 11th century by Honorius Augustodunensis.

De quinque septenis seu septenariis by Hugh of Saint Victor Work about seven deadly sins, seven petitions of the Lord's Prayer, seven gifts of the Holy Ghost, seven virtues, and Beatitudes.

Ignorantia Sacerdotum are the first words and the better-known title of De Informatione Simplicium, a catechetical manual drafted by Archbishop Pecham's provincial Council of Lambeth in 1281.

"The Explanations of St. Thomas," wrote Spirago, "are remarkable for their conciseness and their simplicity of language; they are especially noteworthy because the main parts of the catechetical course of instruction are brought into connection with one another so that they appear as one harmonious whole."

The influence of these works is especially prominent in the "Roman Catechism" which the Council of Trent ordered written for parish priests and for all teachers of religion.

Amongst the contents of the Doctrina are the Spanish alphabet and phonics, basic prayers shown in both languages – in the case of the Tagalog, using archaic words and both scripts – and a brief catechism in question-and-answer format.

[citation needed] Most Orthodox would refer back to the original writings of the Church Fathers, including the Catechetical Lectures of St. Cyril of Jerusalem[6] and The Ladder of Divine Ascent.

The catechism's question-and-answer format, with a view toward the instruction of children, was a form adopted by the various Protestant confessions almost from the beginning of the Reformation.

These catechisms showed special admiration for Chrysostom's view of the family as a "little church", and placed strong responsibility on every father to teach his children, to prevent them from coming to baptism or the Lord's table ignorant of the doctrine under which they are expected to live as Christians.

[citation needed] Luther's Large Catechism (1529) typifies the emphasis which the churches of the Augsburg Confession placed on the importance of knowledge and understanding of the articles of the Christian faith.

For example, the author stipulates in the preface: Therefore it is the duty of every father of a family to question and examine his children and servants at least once a week and to ascertain what they know of it, or are learning and, if they do not know it, to keep them faithfully at it.

The catechism, Luther wrote, should consist of instruction in the rule of conduct, which always accuses us because we fail to keep it (Ten Commandments), the rule of faith (Apostles' Creed), the rule of prayer (Lord's Prayer), and the sacraments (baptism, confession, and communion).Luther adds: However, it is not enough for them to comprehend and recite these parts according to the words only, but the young people should also be made to attend the preaching, especially during the time which is devoted to the catechism, that they may hear it explained and may learn to understand what every part contains, so as to be able to recite it as they have heard it, and, when asked, may give a correct answer, so that the preaching may not be without profit and fruit.Luther's Small Catechism, in contrast, is written to accommodate the understanding of a child or an uneducated person.

[65][66] Calvin's 1545 preface to the Genevan Catechism begins with an acknowledgement that the several traditions and cultures which were joined in the Reformed movement would produce their own form of instruction in each place.

While Calvin argues that no effort should be expended on preventing this, he adds: We are all directed to one Christ, in whose truth being united together, we may grow up into one body and one spirit, and with the same mouth also proclaim whatever belongs to the sum of faith.

Catechists not intent on this end, besides fatally injuring the Church, by sowing the materials of dissension in religion, also introduce an impious profanation of baptism.

After Protestantism entered into the Palatinate, in 1546 the controversy between Lutherans and Calvinists broke out, and especially while the region was under the elector Otto Heinrich (1556–1559), this conflict in Saxony, particularly in Heidelberg, became increasingly bitter and turned violent.

[citation needed] When Frederick III, Elector Palatine, came into power in 1559 he put his authority behind the Calvinistic view on the Lord's Supper, which denied the local presence of the body of Jesus Christ in the elements of the sacrament.

He turned Sapienz College into a school of divinity, and in 1562 he placed over it a pupil and friend of Luther's colleague, Philipp Melanchthon, named Zacharias Ursinus.

The structure of the Heidelberg Catechism is spelled out in the second question; and the three-part structure seen there is based on the belief that the single work of salvation brings forward the three persons of the Trinity in turn, to make God fully and intimately known by his work of salvation, referring to the Apostles' Creed as an epitome of Christian faith.

That I with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own, but belong unto my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ; who, with his precious blood, has fully satisfied for all my sins, and delivered me from all the power of the devil; and so preserves me that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head; yea, that all things must be subservient to my salvation, and therefore, by his Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life, and makes me sincerely willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto him.

[67][68][69][70][71][72][73][74][75] According to Norman DeWitt, the early Christians appropriated the practice of compiling catecisms from the Epicureans, a school whose founder Epicurus had instructed to keep summaries of the teachings for easy learning.

[citation needed] Islam teaches children and new Muslims the matters of faith, worship, and ethics in the form of a concise manual.

There is a well-known book of catechism that is studied in Islamic boarding schools in Indonesia called Safinatun Najah, which talks about of matters of faith, worship and jurisprudence.

[citation needed] In the Pali Canon of Theravada Buddhism a small bit of catechism appears as the fourth section of the Khuddakapatha, as well as the forty-third and forty-fourth suttas of the Majjhima Nikaya.

[citation needed] In Zoroastrianism there is the "ČĪDAG ANDARZ Ī PŌRYŌTKĒŠĀN"[77] also known as "Pand-nāmag ī Zardušt" (Book of the counsels of Zoroaster), which is a post-Sasanian compendium of apothegms intended to instruct every Zoroastrian male, upon his attaining the age of fifteen years, in fundamental religious and ethical principles, as well as in the daily duties incumbent upon him.

In Robert Charles Zaehner's words, it "sums up succinctly the whole of Zoroastrian doctrine: it is what every boy and girl of fifteen must know before he or she is invested with the sacred girdle {kusti}.

The 17th episode of James Joyce's novel Ulysses, known as "Ithaca", is written in the form of a catechism, as is Ted Hughes' poem Examination at the Womb Door, from the collection Crow.

[85] In Henry IV, Part 1: Act V, Scene I, Line 141 Falstaff refers to his monologue as a catechism, explaining his view of the virtue of honor.