A catechism is a manual that contains the main provisions of the Christian faith. That is, it is a kind of elementary textbook of faith, which outlines the very foundations of dogma and Christian morality. But often, as a rule, something completely dry and boring, out of touch with life, is associated with this word. The Catechism seems to be a set of largely meaningless rules and formulas, and then Goethe’s words “dry, my friend, theory is everywhere, and the tree of life is lushly green” would seem to apply to it more than to anything else.

Indeed, the word ἡ κατήχησις (katēhēsis) translated from ancient Greek means "instruction", "edification", "instruction". And modern man does not particularly like being taught. Especially when they teach something that seems to him very far from the needs and requirements of his own life. Indeed, in the catechism, the question and the answer are such an indissoluble whole that they appear under the single name “question-correspondence”. What kind of question is this if the answer is already known to it? It's not interesting somehow.

However, if the catechism is really a textbook of faith, then why is it still perceived as something extremely boring? After all, no one considers boring, say, a primer. However, this ancient Greek word has another meaning that can help to understand why and under what conditions the catechism is associated with something boring and unnecessary.

After all ἡ κατήχησις derived from the verb κατηχέω (katēheō) - (orally) to instruct, instruct, announce. And this shade of the meaning of the word as precisely an oral teaching, an announcement (when a person seemed to be touched and embraced by a sounding word), is important for understanding the meaning of the catechism as a textbook of faith, for understanding what it also suggests as an addition to it, so as not to be only a burden dead letter.

Recall that that part of the liturgy that precedes the liturgy of the faithful is called. In the ancient Church, catechumens were those people who were not yet actually Christians, who were just preparing to receive Baptism. Therefore, the catechumens did not have the right to be present at the Liturgy of the faithful and had to leave the church where the service was being held before it began.

Then it turns out that the catechism as an initial introduction to the Christian dogma, to its very elements, although necessary in itself, is not sufficient for a correct, real faith. St. Philaret of Moscow in his "Large Catechism" says that "the Orthodox Catechism is instruction in the Orthodox Christian faith, taught to every Christian for the pleasing of God and the salvation of the soul." But for this pleasing, Filaret says further, “it is necessary, firstly, to know the True God and right faith in Him; secondly, life by faith and good deeds. Thus, the study of the very foundations of faith and instruction in it necessarily presuppose a living faith of the person himself and the performance of good works, because faith without works is dead (James 2:20).

Thus, the reading of the catechism and instruction in it is only an announcement, which presupposes the further movement of a person in faith, just as Baptism must follow the announcement. In order to willingly read and study the catechism, you need to have a real interest in the Christian doctrine and try to live by faith, so that there is a fire in the soul that feeds this interest. And then the catechism will become for its reader a real living book.

The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church instructed the Synodal Theological Commission to start preparing a new Orthodox catechism - a special short set of church dogma. In the 19th century, about a dozen such catechisms were written, most of them can still be found on church bookshelves today. Why did the Church need a new “faith handbook” and what will it be like?

Answers without questions

For almost three centuries in the history of Russian theological science, the Catechism of the Moscow Hierarch Philaret (Drozdov) has been used in the Russian Church. As early as the first third of the 19th century, it was recommended for use by the Holy Synod. It is this catechism, generously republished by Orthodox book publishers, that often becomes the first “reference book” in the field of Orthodox theology for many thousands of neophytes. “If you ask me how I would like to see the new catechism, I would answer: such as the catechism of St. Philaret,” admits Archpriest Boris Levshenko, head of the department of dogmatic theology at the Orthodox St. Tikhon Humanitarian University. “He must give precise and succinct answers to direct questions, and this was precisely the catechism of the Moscow saint.” However, the catechism of St. Filaret after 200 years is perceived rather as a museum piece. And the point is not only in outdated formulations or ponderous language - “it is not the catechism that has become obsolete (it, like the dogmas of the Church, cannot become obsolete), but society and the consciousness of people have changed. And this means that the language of preaching must also change, ”says DECR Chairman Archbishop Hilarion (Alfeev).

The decision to write a new catechism was made by the Bishops' Council of 2008, which was held under the chairmanship of Patriarch Alexy II less than six months before the Primate's death. In the summer of 2009, his successor, Patriarch Kirill, instructed the Theological Commission to begin work. “In addition to the accessibility of the language, the novelty of the catechism should primarily lie in the accessible language and the emphasis on those problems that concern modern people,” says Archbishop Hilarion (Alfeev). – For example, in Russia there is no longer a monarchy, duels are not practiced, which Metropolitan Filaret writes about among the sins that violate the commandment “Thou shalt not kill”. But the abortions that have become widespread in our time are not mentioned at all by the saint. It must also be remembered that Filaret's catechism was intended for people born and raised in Orthodoxy. We live in a society brought up by atheistic propaganda, which is not only non-Orthodox in its spirit, but often hostile to Christianity in general.” In addition, quite a few catechisms are currently in circulation, “claiming to be official, but often of too low quality of the text and sometimes even non-Orthodox statements,” Vladyka emphasizes. “The question of a standard edition explaining the beginnings of the Orthodox dogma is still open.”

“Catechisms, as they were in the 19th century, are a set of correct answers to non-existent questions,” a well-known church publicist, missionary and teacher at the Moscow Theological Academy Protodeacon Andrey Kuraev determined. — I simply cannot imagine a person who could ask something in such a formulation. The form of questions and answers (as in the catechism of St. Philaret) then was nothing more than a trick. Today we live in a world where people are ready to ask questions about the essence of the Orthodox dogma, including those that simply could not have arisen in a person of the 19th century. Of course, a catechism is not an attempt to convince anyone, but a solemn declaration, a designation of the conditions for membership in the Church. But for a modern person, it must be modern.”

Archpriest Boris Levshenko believes that such changes are natural: “Different epochs of church history implied different forms of answers to the same questions, and it is best to give these answers in the universal language that exists at a particular time.”

Teaching without foolishness

Catechisms are different: there are those that are primarily teaching aids, there are reference catechisms, there are catechisms for beginners. There is a catechism as a tool for a missionary that can be given to a person so that he understands the basic essence of Orthodoxy, and there is a catechism as a tuning fork for internal church discussions, explains Archdeacon Andrey Kuraev. What will be the new "textbook of faith" has not yet been decided, but one of the main tasks has already been set. “The Catechism is an attempt to put an end to the personal foolishness of some church or even near-church preachers,” says Archdeacon Andrey Kuraev. – A new catechism is needed so that the common man is not in a hurry to identify any publication or oral advice coming from the mouth of a parish priest with the opinion of the Orthodox Church. The creators of the catechism will face the problem of how not to go beyond the limits set by the holy fathers. Today we see many people who outline these boundaries of Orthodoxy according to their own taste, and often purely secular questions are included in the circle of doctrinal questions - political, cultural, attitude to the phenomena of modern culture. The writers of the catechism must be careful. One should not rush to pass off as the teachings of the holy fathers even those questions in relation to which there is a unified position in the modern Church.”

Unlike all the previous ones, the first official catechism of the Russian Orthodox Church since the beginning of the 19th century, according to Archbishop Hilarion, will not be the work of the author, but the result of the work of the best contemporary theologians and church scholars, a whole team of authors led by the Theological Commission and the Synod.

“I think the same technology will be used as in the creation of the Fundamentals of the Social Concept of the Russian Orthodox Church,” the archbishop suggests. “A working group will be created, which will include specialists from various areas of theological science, and the new catechism will become a collective work, which will be approved first by the Biblical and Theological Commission, and then by the Holy Synod and the Council of Bishops.” The specific composition of the authors in the near future should be approved by the Biblical and Theological Commission.

REFERENCE
What is a catechism?

A catechism is a short, precise and succinct statement of faith, a kind of religious multiplication table. The details are clarified for the "NS" by the chairman of the DECR, a well-known theologian and church scientist, rector of the general church postgraduate school named after. Sts. Cyril and Methodius Archbishop Hilarion (Alfeev):
- Catechism (from the Greek. catecheo- announce, instruct, teach) - a brief instruction in faith to new Christians or those who wish to be baptized. In early Christianity, a catechism was the oral instruction given to those preparing to be baptized. It is in this sense that the word is used in the New Testament. Thus, the "catechism" has become a genre of Christian literature, revealing the unshakable doctrinal principles of Christianity. In the modern sense, the catechism can indeed be called a guide to the basic dogmatic concepts of Orthodoxy. This is a book containing in a concise form the quintessence of Christianity, moreover, in such a form that should not cause confusion or ambiguous interpretations. It is a concentrated expression of what the Church considers to be the necessary basis of the faith of every person. In this form, traditional for us, the catechism was first formed in the West. The first book to be called the Catechism was the work of the Protestant Andreas Althamer, compiled in the form of questions and answers at the beginning of the 16th century.
However, even in the early Christian era, Saints Cyril of Jerusalem, John Chrysostom, and Blessed Augustine owned entire cycles of catechetical teachings or homily, which served as a model for later medieval and modern European catechisms. Those preparing to be baptized needed to get an idea of ​​the meaning of church sacraments, as well as to get acquainted with the Creed as the most important statement of the foundations of Christian doctrine, with the Lord's Prayer ("Our Father") as an expression of the essence of Christian spirituality and with the ten commandments as the main moral guide for Christians. In early Christianity, the genre form of the catechism, like its content, was quite free - not necessarily a question and answer. And in the Middle Ages, numerous doctrinal manuals for clergy and laity were created in the Western Church, far from the genre originality of modern catechisms.
In the current terminological meaning, the catechism (as a dogmatically accurate statement of the foundations of faith in questions and answers) appears only in the Reformation. The most popular of these are the Small and Large Catechisms compiled by Martin Luther. There were also catechisms of Calvin, Melanchthon, adherents of Zwingli and other Protestant leaders. As a Catholic reaction, catechisms prepared by the Jesuits appeared. It was the Catholic catechisms (and there are not so many of them) that, in terms of the number of editions and circulations, became the most massive of the doctrinal books. For example, the catechism of the Jesuit Peter Canisius, written by him in 1554, went through more than 400 editions in two hundred years. The last updated Catholic catechism was created in 1992 under Pope John Paul II.
In the Russian church tradition, preparation for baptism was called "announcement", and those who underwent such training were called "catechumens". There was also the word "catechumen", which denoted a book of teachings for those preparing to accept Christianity, and the expression "catechumenized words", that is, teachings for catechumens. Until the 17th century in Russia, enumerations of the main categories of Christianity, together with the Creed and the catechism, as a rule, were placed in primers, explanatory prayer books and other educational and liturgical collections or codes.
The first "catechism" in the East Slavic tradition was written in 1562 by the famous Belarusian Protestant Simon Budny, and not in Church Slavonic, but in a simple dialect, and was called "Catechism, that is, ancient Christian science, from holy writing, for ordinary people of the Russian language, in trials and denials collected. This is a Protestant catechism that is heavily dependent on Luther's publications.
The first Orthodox catechism among the Eastern Slavs was developed by the teacher of the Lvov fraternal school Lavrentiy Zizaniy. However, due to the poor translation into Slavonic, his catechism turned out to be largely inaccurate. As a result, the circulation was confiscated and almost completely destroyed. With the name of Lavrenty Zizaniy and his brother Stefan, researchers associate several more, unfortunately, not preserved catechisms of the late 16th - first third of the 17th century.
After Zizania, the Russian Church had two official Orthodox catechisms until the 20th century. The first is the "Orthodox Confession of the Catholic and Apostolic Church of the East" by the famous rector of the Kiev Academy, the Kiev Metropolitan Peter Mohyla, and the second is the "Large Christian Catechism" by the Moscow Metropolitan Filaret (Drozdov). These catechisms largely follow the traditional pattern: an explanation of the Lord's Prayer, the Creed and the Ten Commandments, and the Christian sacraments.

In any religion there is a publication in which parishioners can find answers to common theological questions. It also contains provisions for elementary education before baptism. This publication is called "catechism". What it is? How did this edition come about? Who was the compiler? Is the Catholic catechism different from the Christian one? More on this later in the article.

Terminology

So, what is a catechism? The definition itself has ancient Greek roots. Then the word passed into Latin. Literally definition means "instruction", "instruction". In other words, the catechism is a confessional document. It is also called the "catalogue book", containing the foundations of the dogma. Such a publication exists within the framework of different denominations. For example, there is a catechism. As a rule, information is contained in the publication in the form of "question-answer". In general, the term "catechism" was used not only in religion. This definition can be called any deep manual, compiled according to the example of a religious document. For example, in 1869 Nechaev's catechism was created. In this work, in contrast to the religious document, a program of large-scale terror, which assumed a huge number of victims, against the "vile tyrants of the people" was promoted.

General information

The main provisions that contained the original Orthodox catechism were developed in the period from 1822 to 1823. Its author was St. Philaret (Drozdov). The edition was approved by the Synod and published in 1823. This catechism of Philaret was first approved as a guide. Subsequently, the work was subjected to significant processing. Corrections and corrections were made by the author, chief prosecutor and other members of the Synod. This work has been constantly improved and has gone through many editions. Some of the theologians, including such personalities as Metropolitan Macarius Bulgakov, position Philaret's catechism as one of the "symbolic books." According to many, the work of the saint is among the most authoritative sources of dogmatic teaching. It is in it that the main postulates of the church are most fully stated on behalf of the church.

controversial issues

However, some of the Orthodox theologians dispute the authorship of Metropolitan Philaret. But, despite this, they also recognize the importance that the catechism has (what it is, said above) in the history of the ROC. This statement is based on the fact that, according to Bishop Vasily Krivoshein, the main religious document has undergone radical editing. Due to the intervention of the chief procurator of the Holy Synod - a secular person - the status of the book as an unshakable dogmatic monument of Ecumenical Orthodoxy can also be questioned, since the catechism of Filaret of Moscow does not contain all the creeds and describes the influence of non-Orthodox theology.

Problems of the role of a religious document in the modern Russian Orthodox Church

At the beginning of 2014, not a single "instruction" was published, approved under the leadership of one of the highest governing bodies of the Russian Orthodox Church, whether it be or the Holy Synod. The publication of the catechism is scheduled for 2015. For Protestants and Miaphysites, in the absence of an official religious document, the ROC makes it possible to consider the existing publication, approved by the Synod, only as a guide. They consider, structurally considering the catechism, that this is not a dogmatic source, which should be a work expounding a dogma. It is interesting that the publication is usually called Christian, and not Orthodox. This is due to the fact that it sets out general Christian postulates for the inhabitants of the Russian Empire. It also stipulates the status of the authorities. For example, Nicholas the First was not only the head of Russia, but also the patron and superintendent of his Lutheran subjects and participated in the election of the Armenian patriarchs. And, despite the disapproval of catechisms by the ROC as official and dogmatic sources, it was decided to develop their own manual, which would set out the basic truths of Orthodoxy.

The part "On love" is devoted to the ten commandments of God. Four of them are carved on the first tablet. They are commandments of love for the Creator. The remaining six are the laws of love for one's neighbor. The description of each commandment is accompanied by the prescriptions necessary for observance and a description of the sins that may contribute to its violation. At the end of the religious document, "The use of the doctrine of faith and piety" is indicated. It should be noted, having considered the structure of the catechism, that this manual is very convenient for study and understanding. The text is formed in the form of questions and answers. So, at first the suffering person is interested in the very faith, content and main goal of Orthodoxy. The confessional document answers the question posed. The text of the guide has undergone deliberate archaization. The book contains a large number of Church Slavonicisms. For example, the turn "in what sense" sounds in the catechism as "in what power / mind." This archaism became noticeable already in the first half of the nineteenth century.

Briefly about the creation of a unified leadership

The first quarter of the nineteenth century was marked by the use of a fairly large number of catechisms. The most common in the Orthodox environment were the manuals of the authorship of Metropolitans Peter Mohyla and Platon. Created under the influence of these works, new editions, like their primary sources, were repeatedly criticized by the church. In the first case, a "Catholic" bias was seen. The second was criticized for the presence of Protestant elements. The solution to this situation was the creation of a new catechism. In addition, due to the new translation of Bible books into Russian carried out in 1816, it was decided to transfer the relevant quotations from the old editions of the manual to the new one. At the same time, correspondence with the used edition of the translation was maintained. The development of a new unified catechism was initiated in 1822.

Authorship

The task of compiling the catechism was assigned to one of the most educated and professional Russian theologians, Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow and Kolomna. The first edition was published in 1823. The Catechism was compiled according to the structure that was subsequently preserved in all editions and editions. It contained the obligatory three sections on Faith, Hope and Love. The author retained the presentation of the material in the form of "question-answer". Quotations from the Holy Scriptures were given in accordance with the translation of 1816, some of the phrases were translated personally by Filaret. The most important provisions of the manual from the point of view of the compiler were displayed in large print.

new document

The year 1823 was marked by the reprinting of the catechism. The work was spared from the errors noted in the first edition. Later, in 1824, four more editions were published, typed in Church Slavonic and civil type (two editions for each type of style). An abbreviated version of the religious document saw the light after the middle of 1824 and was called the "Short Catechism". What edition was it? It was intended primarily for illiterate persons and children. The manual included text highlighted in the main edition using large print. The signature stamp "Published by the Highest Command" was not in the Short Catechism. The original Catechism began to be called "Various".

Criticism of the religious document and its results

The appearance of catechisms fell into the same time period when the translations of the books of the Holy Scriptures carried out by the Russian Bible Society were actively criticized. A number of conservative government officials and high-ranking clergy were especially critical of the activities of the RBO. Supported by A.A. Arakcheev, Minister of Public Education A.S. Shishkov and Archimandrite Fotiy actively declared that the Russian language is unacceptable in prayer and sacred texts. Moreover, its use can give rise to various heresies. A.S. Shishkov, being a supporter of the idea of ​​the identity of the Church Slavonic and Russian languages, defended his opinion before Metropolitan Seraphim. According to Photius, Drozdov's catechism and Peter Mohyla's guide are comparable to each other in the same way that "ditch water" is comparable to "... the good water of the Neva."

Differences from the original

From the initiative of A.S. Shishkov, the study of the catechisms of Metropolitan Filaret began. The purpose of this activity was to identify the degree of deviation from the original source, which was the Orthodox dogma. The main emphasis is made by the reviewer on the expediency of using biblical quotations in Russian in a religious document. In this matter, his opinion coincided with Fotiy and A.S. Shishkov. On the other hand, remarks concerning the purely theological content of the catechism do not have sufficient force of argument. The reviewer reinforces the description of the essential shortcomings of the leadership with a form containing the question: "What is the best teaching about piety?" This is followed by the answer: "Christian teaching." From a formal point of view, the reviewer implies that, in addition to the "best", there can be simply "good" teachings about piety, whether it be Buddhism or Islam.

Prohibitions

Thanks to such a strong campaign launched against the appearance of a religious document, at the end of November 1824, the Decree of the Holy Synod came into force. He banned the printing and distribution of Filaret's catechisms until further notice. The reason for the ban was declared the inadmissibility of translating the Lord's Prayer, the Creed and the 10 Commandments into Russian, called "the common language." In 1825, the catechism of Metropolitan Platon was reissued. It must be said that this work was first published in 1786 and went through seven editions. The last of them was positioned as a counterweight to the work of Filaret. In the Platonic manual, quotations from the Bible in Church Slavonic were observed.

Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language, Vladimir Dal

catechism

m. initial, basic teaching about the Christian faith; book containing this teaching.

The primary and basic teaching of any science. catechetical, catechetical, pertaining to the catechism.

Explanatory dictionary of the Russian language. D.N. Ushakov

catechism

(or catechism), catechism, m. (Greek katechesis).

An introductory course in Christian theology, presented in the form of questions and answers (church.). The Catechism fell into my hands after Walther. Herzen.

The name of popular manuals that summarize the basics of a certain. sciences, crafts, arts (book). Catechism of ethnology. Musical catechism.

The main theses of some beliefs (bookish, obsolete). Catechism of the Decembrists.

Explanatory dictionary of the Russian language. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova.

catechism

A, m. A summary of Christian doctrine in the form of questions and answers.

adj. catechetical, th, th.

New explanatory and derivational dictionary of the Russian language, T. F. Efremova.

catechism

1. A summary of the tenets of the Christian faith in the form of questions and answers.

trans. Basic provisions, the essence of smth.

Encyclopedic Dictionary, 1998

catechism

CATECHISIS (from Greek katechesis - teaching)

religious book; presentation of Christian doctrine in the form of questions and answers.

A statement of the foundations of any doctrine in the form of questions and answers.

Catechism

catechism (from the Greek. katechesis ≈ teaching, instruction),

manual containing the main provisions of the Christian faith. In the first centuries of Christianity, K. was the oral instruction of those who converted to the Christian faith, which preceded baptism. From the 16th century K. ≈ a book, a manual, popularly expounding (usually in the form of questions and answers) the teachings of the Christian church. The Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant churches have their own K.

In a figurative sense, a work written in the form of questions and answers.

Wikipedia

Catechism

Catechism- official religious a document of a denomination, a categorical instruction, a book containing the main provisions of the dogma, often set out in the form of questions and answers.

The Catechism contains answers to the most typical theological questions and an initial theological education before baptism. Catechisms Catholics and Protestants differ because of differences in their presentation and interpretation of Holy Scripture. Catechisms are not organic for Orthodoxy, books with the name "Catechism", published by Orthodox book publishers, are not symbolic books in Orthodoxy, like the catechisms of Catholics and some Protestant churches. Even the “Large Christian Catechism of the Orthodox Catholic Eastern Church” by St. Philaret was at one time recognized by the Holy Synod as only a guide for believers. There are special children's catechisms - simplified ones. Anabaptist denominations do not like to use catechisms. In a figurative sense, the word "catechism" is sometimes used to refer to a work written in the form of questions and answers, or a creed, a collection of certain unshakable principles.

Teaching the basics of the faith (for example, during the period of pronouncement) is called catechesis. Orthodox understand by catechisms only the catechetical instruction used in catechism, often in the form of questions and answers. Their modern catechisms are not symbolic books, the main religious documents of the confession, outlining the main provisions of the doctrine of Orthodoxy. At the same time, in the Holy Tradition of the Orthodox there is, for example, the "Great catechetical sermon" of St. Gregory of Nyssa.

Examples of the use of the word catechism in the literature.

All this is now replaced by learning by heart catechism, the trinity of God, prayers before the teaching and for the mentor and for the king, etc.

But the teacher of the law was convinced that the child would learn catechism best of all according to the rose system.

After catechism a long final word follows, there are no questions in it, and therefore it does not require the slightest attention: now grandmother will begin to talk about duties, about money, about aromatic jams, about grandfather, about father’s poems, will start reading newspaper clippings, which she carefully ordered to stick on thick red paper, will begin to circle around the sixth commandment in cryptic terms.

Although he himself did not miss a single prayer, we catechism did not torment, favored our curiosity.

This new list does not include the many books that were unfairly condemned by Chief Inquisitor Valdez, and catechism Carranza was declared good at a meeting of theologians, who were instructed by the cathedral to make a review of it.

It was a paraphrase of the answer to the first question of the old Baltimore catechism Q: Why did God create man?

But first, let's get down to a very prosaic matter - the so-called recapitulation, or, simply put, repetition, which we will try to organize as, perhaps, catechism.

The pious Ustin and all the messages made on his behalf by the contemptible Rebecca Sharp, and the most sad thing is that this discovery was signed by an authoritative spirit, whose name, according to the spiritualist catechism, do not dare to abuse spirits petty and playful.

On January 7th, Bernadette turned fourteen, and her parents Soubirous, seeing that she would not learn anything at Bartres, finally decided to take her home to Lourdes to study catechism and seriously prepared for communion.

According to some single information that he was able to receive, he, however, realized that he was attacked not only for catechism, but that they heard evidence regarding his personal beliefs, that the reviews received on his work qualified him as containing heresy and theses, inciting heresy, tending to heresy and capable of giving rise to it.

He said that catechism Carranza was banned by the Spanish Inquisition as containing heretical theses and that to dare to declare his teaching true and orthodox would be to laugh at the authority of his sovereign and supreme council.

Dom Pedro Guerrero, born in Lesa de Rio Lesa in Rioja, Archbishop of Granada, one of the prelates who enjoyed the greatest confidence and influence at the Council of Trent, thanks to knowledge, virtue, diligence and honesty, was put on trial by the Valladolid Inquisition for an opinion that he spoke in the year 1558 in favor of catechism the house of Bartolomeo de Carranza, and for the letters he wrote to him, namely, for the letters of February 1 and August 1, 1559.

In the same old, modest church, fanned by ardent faith, Bernadette began to study catechism.

The specifics of an episode written in technology catechism- in the form of questions and answers, - the flow of information, the encyclopedia of life and life, annals, tablets, sums.