The Historical Turn in Patristic Catechesis
By Alex Fogleman
The patristic catechumenate has been the subject of several monographs over the past few years—and mostly, it seems, not for any interest in renewing contemporary catechesis but as an interesting historical subject in its own right. New Testament and Early Christian scholars are realizing, even apart from any significance for the church today, that catechesis was central to early Christianity.
Here, I just want to mention five examples of this trend. I’m sure there are others, or others that have substantial sections on catechesis, but these four I think give a good sense of where scholarship has turned recently. I won’t so much as review them as give a brief summary of each. Besides the first book listed here (published in 2013), these books were all published in 2019 or 2020.
1. Daniel Schwartz. Paideia and Cult: Christian Initiation in Theodore of Mopsuestia (Harvard University Press, 2013.
Daniel Schwartz is a historian and professor at Texas A&M, who studies Syriac Christianity in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. This book originated as a Princeton dissertation supervised by the great scholar of Late Antiquity, Peter Brown, and focuses on the role of the catechumenate in the process of Christianization. His particular subject is the writings of Theodore of Mopsuestia, the late fourth-century bishop who left behind one of the only complete series of catechetical homilies that we have from this period. (You can find access to his sermons on the Creed here and on the Lord’s Prayer here.)
Schwartz has a solid grasp of the Syriac language in which these texts were written, and for those who have this language, he’s got it there for you in the footnotes. As a social historian, his primary interest is in seeing how these sermons “close the gap” between what a prominent church leader wanted his hearers to experience and what they might in fact have actually experienced. For the historian of early Christianity, where there is so little access to “what the ordinary lay person experienced,” this is a difficult task, but Schwartz reads these texts with that purpose.
Along the way, he has a good discussion of Christianization and how the catechumenate helps us understand the process of conversion. He’s got a good chapter catechesis in late antiquity in general—stressing together the social, theological, and ritual elements of catechesis. He also has helpful discussions of the famous “discipline of secrecy” (disciplini arcani), asking just how secret were these mysteries in the late fourth century.
The twin emphasis on “paidea” and “cult” in the title signals, I think, a really interesting point about how the catechumenate entailed a Christianized version of the Graeco-Roman education system. Here’s a snippet from the Introduction:
The preachers used instruction and ritual, embedded in community, to create a Christianized culture. In doing so, these preachers produced something reminiscent of classical paideia (παιδεία). The term paideia means both “education” and “culture.” In the classical Greco-Roman context, it refers to a form of highly literate education designed to create a ruling elite well versed in a canon of authoritative texts and capable of using that knowledge to wield influence through the delivery of public speeches. The use of paideia in the context of catechesis should not, however, be taken as an indication that Christians proposed catechesis as an alternative to classical Greco-Roman education or culture. Nor does it suggest a democratization of education in Late Antiquity. Many Christian preachers came from among the elite levels of their society and rarely expressed interest in spreading that elite culture among the lower classes. Rather, the use of paideia in this context seeks to capture the idea of the formation of a culture through a system of education. Just as classical paideia served to differentiate elites from the rest of society, so the distinctly Christian culture promoted through catechesis sought to create a group set apart from the rest of society and embedded within a community that shared unique beliefs and rituals.
Lots of interesting material here for understanding Theodore’s approach to catechesis—his goals as both a teacher and bishop—and how the catechumenate was instrumental in forging a Christian culture. Here’s the publisher’s summary:
Paideia and Cult explores the role of Christian education and worship in the complex process of conversion and Christianization. It analyzes the Catechetical Homilies of Theodore of Mopsuestia as a curriculum designed to train those seeking initiation into the Christian mysteries. Although Theodore gave considerable attention to teaching creedal theology, he sought to go beyond simply communicating information. His catechetical preaching set the teaching of Christian ideas within the context of religious community and ritual participation. In doing so he sought to produce a Christianized view of the world and of the convert’s place in a community of worship. Theodore’s attention to the communal, cognitive, and ritual components of initiation suggest a substantive understanding of religious conversion, yet one that avoids an overemphasis on intellectual and psychological transformation. Throughout this study catechesis emerges as invaluable for comprehending the ability of clergy to initiate new members as Christianity gained increasing prominence within the late Roman world. (from HUP website)
The best thing is: you can read this book online for free!
2. Benjamin Edsall, The Reception of Paul and Early Christian Initiation: History and Hermeneutics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019).
Benjamin Edsall is a New Testament scholar and now a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Religion and Critical Inquiry at Australian Catholic University. Edsall did a Masters Degree at Regent College in Vancouver (my alma mater), and then a D.Phil at Oxford, where he wrote a dissertation that was later published as Paul’s Witness to Formative Early Christian Education, published in 2014. Having studied the theme of education in Paul’s writings, his follow-up book looks at the reception history of Paul’s writing in the early Christian catechumenate. He makes a really sharp argument about how a certain “image” of Paul as the apostle of catechesis emerged in the in the first four centuries. The catechumenate, in other words, provided a key institutional context in which early Christians viewed Pauline authority.
Edsall provides a really nice one-chapter summary of the patristic catechumenate, from its fuzzy beginnings in the second century to its fourth-century “flowering.” It’s actually one of the best, most up-to-date summaries of the institution of the catechumenate, especially on the key figures and texts that led to the formation of the catechumenate in the second and third century, including Valentinian and other figures from outside of mainstream Christianity.
He then has four chapters that look at different images of the “catechetical Paul” in early Christian catechesis: the Acts of Paul , which includes the famous account of Thecla; Clement of Alexandria; Origen of Alexandria, and John Chrysostom. In each of these chapters, he has more detailed analyses of what we can surmise about catechetical institutions in these authors and what images they reveal of Paul the catechist. In the Acts of Thecla, Paul is the persuasive preacher, concerned for the self-control and sexual morality of his hearers. In Clement, Paul is the true Gnostic who imitates the the master pedagogue of the Logos, providing spiritual meat for the advanced while condescending to provide the “milk” (which is the same in essence though different in form) for those newly starting out. With Origen, we find also a two-fold model—Paul as the catechist of spiritual interpretation for the advanced and a teacher of Christ crucified and basic moral formation the simpliciores. With Chrysostom, Paul is simply assumed to be the catechetical exemplar, which Chrysostom then deploys in pastoral and exegetical contexts.
He follows these chapters with two chapters on how this early reception of Paul converses with interpretations of Paul in contemporary scholarship. Different interpretations of Paul in the ancient and contemporary contexts, Edsall argues (using 1 Cor. 1-3 as a test case), are in turn dependent on different underlying images of Paul. Whereas the early church viewed Paul primarily as a catechist in harmony with the broader church, contemporary New Testament scholarship has often operated with an image of Paul as an independent, pugnacious, and controversial figure. Next, Edsall considers a way of thinking the interpretation of Paul using the framework of “iterations.” By highlighting the institutional contexts within which Paul is interpreted, we are less likely to go hunting for “the real Paul” behind the text and can instead locate how different contexts throughout history have generated different “iterations” of Paul, allowing the ancient pedagogical interpretation of Paul to be placed on equal footing with interpretations of Paul in contemporary (or Reformation) settings.
Overall, a really sharp book, thoughtful engagement, and again, shows the extent to which research on the catechumenate can engage with other sub-disciplines in early Christian studies.
Here’s the publisher’s summary:
This book breaks new ground in New Testament reception history by bringing together early Pauline interpretation and the study of early Christian institutions. Benjamin Edsall traces the close association between Paul and the catechumenate through important texts and readers from the late second century to the fourth century to show how the early Church arrived at a wide-spread image of Paul as the apostle of Christian initiation. While exploring what this image of Paul means for understanding early Christian interpretation, Edsall also examines the significance of this aspect of Pauline reception in relation to interpretive possibilities of Paul's letters. Building on the analysis of early interpretations and rhetorical images of the Apostle, Edsall brings these together with contemporary scholarly discourse. The juxtaposition highlights longstanding continuity and conflict in exegetical discussions and dominant Pauline images. Edsall concludes with broader hermeneutical reflections on the value of historical reception for New Testament Studies.
3. David Vopřada, Quodvultdeus: a Bishop Forming Christians in Vandal Africa: A Contextual Analysis of the Pre-baptismal Sermons attributed to Quodvultdeus of Carthage. Vigiliae Christianae, Supplements 154 (Leiden: Brill, 2019).
This is a lengthy and weighty book that looks at the catechetical writings attributed to Quodvultdeus of Carthage, a fifth-century bishop writing primarily after Augustine’s death (and also the holder of one of the greatest names in early Christianity). When Augustine died in 430, the Vandal invasion of North Africa was all but settled. What happened to catechesis during this embattled period? Vopřada’s work is, like other new works on catechesis, not strictly concerned with catechesis as a pedagogical or ritual institution but also more generally with what catechetical evidences reveals about the process of becoming Christian in Late Antiquity.
The book is broken down into three parts. The first part has three chapters on Quodvultdeus himself and the African background of catechetical formation. The second part includes three chapters on Quodvultdeus’s catechesis in particular (the giving of the name, the renunciation of the devil, and Q’s baptismal theology). The final part has two chapters on “Quodvultdeus’s Catechetical Ministry in the Unpleasant Times”—one on community building and another on defending the church.
This is a helpful book not only for Quodvultdeus but also for the African background more generally. I think, too, that it provides evidence for a closer look at the way the catechumenate transitioned during these pivotal years. Most surveys don’t look at catechesis beyond Augustine, and focus on the pre- and post-Constantinian circumstances that drove catechesis. Many scholars still assume that catechesis “disappeared” after Augustine, either because infant baptism took over (and thus reduced the need for a multi-year adult catechesis) or because the Constantinian settlement was so instantiated that “everyone” was simply a Christian by being born into a Christian society and so there was little need to educate new Christians about the distinctive meaning of being Christian. Hopefully, this kind of book will help narrate that story a bit differently.
Publisher’s Summary:
In Quodvultdeus: a Bishop Forming Christians in Vandal Africa, David Vopřada presents the pre-baptismal catecheses of the fifth-century bishop of Carthage, delivered to the new believers in extremely difficult period of barbaric incursions. Quodvultdeus is generally not appraised as an original philosopher or theologian as his master Augustine was, in this book his qualities of a bishop who was entrusted with the care of his flock come forward. Making interdisciplinary use of the ancient and ecclesiastical history, philosophy, theology, archaeology, exegesis, liturgy science, homiletics, and rhetorics, the book offers a new and most innovative contribution to the life, work, and theology of Quodvultdeus.
Pignot’s book is published in the same series by Brill as Voprada’s book. It is thoroughly revised version of an Oxford D.Phil. finished in 2016. While it might seem that “the book” on Augustine and catechesis has already been written (by William Harmless), Pignot presents his work as a purely historical study of the catechumenate, with special attention to its role in the process of conversion. As a result, he is less interested in the theological or pedagogical components of catechesis as with the social role of the catechumenate. Instead, he argues that, “at the crossroads between potential converts and baptized Christians,” catechumens “provide a key to understanding concretely how Christian membership was gradually acquired by individuals and experienced at the communal level” (5). In line with recent scholarship that highlights the complex process of social integration and identity formation, Pignot picks up on the catechumenate as a critical institution for understanding this process. He continues:
In a context of divisions within Christianity, particularly in Africa, this slow integration offered a way for churches to monitor the process of acquiring membership and for converts to familiarise themselves with Christianity and develop a sense of belonging. As a result, however, the community was divided into two main groups based on ritual progression. This left catechumens at the threshold of Christianity, both in terms of ritual practices and of their commitment to shared rules of conduct. For Christian communities, bringing new recruits to closer integration was a decisive opportunity for self-fashioning but also a significant challenge. Nuancing the notion of a unified or static Christian identity, the study of the catechumenate sheds light on the complex nature of religious belonging. This book therefore contends that the catechumenate has a substantial contribution to make to the broader study of conversion and Christianisation in the Roman and post-Roman world. (5-6)
Another new feature of this study is that Pignot incorporates many anonymous catechetical sermons in the centuries after Augustine, such as those attributed to Quodvultdeus and a really interesting sermon attributed to Augustine (listed as Sermon 366 published in the Works of Saint Augustine series) that suggests Psalm 23 was a text that received the same kind of traditio-redditio as the creed and the Lord’s Prayer.
In addition to this book, Pignot also written several articles on particular aspects of the catechumenate, such as the signing of foreheads as a marker of entrance and the disputations over the process of catechizing in polemical contexts (Augustine’s On Faith and Works) and in Augustine’s correspondence. (You can read more about his work here.) Pignot is a very thorough historian, as his extensive footnotes suggest.
Here again is Publisher’s Summary:
In The Catechumenate in Late Antique Africa (4th-6th centuries) Matthieu Pignot explores how individuals became Christian in ancient North Africa. Before baptism, converts first became catechumens and spent a significant time of gradual integration into the community through rituals and teaching. This book provides the first historical study of this process in African sources, from Augustine of Hippo, to canon of councils, anonymous sermons and 6th-century letters. Pignot shows that practices varied more than is generally assumed and that catechumens, because of their liminal position, were a disputed and essential group in the development of Christian communities until the 6th century at least. This book demonstrates that the catechumenate is key to understanding the processes of Christianisation and conversion in the West.
5. Donna Hawk-Reinhard, Christian Identity Formation according to Cyril of Jerusalem: Sacramental Theosis as a Means of Constructing Relational Identity (Leuven: Peeters, 2020).
Donna Hawk-Reinhard’s contribution to patristic catechesis is an interconnected historical and theological achievement. Historically, she aims to solve some of the thorny issues of authorship in the three catechetical works typically associated with Cyril of Jerusalem: the single-lecture Protcatechesis, the 18 Catechetical Lectures, and the 5 Mystagogic Catecheses. Several scholars have argued that the Procatechesis and the Mystagogic Catecheses were written either several decades after the Catecheses by Cyril’s episcopal successor, John of Jerusalem, one of the main reasons being a difference between the baptismal and eucharistic theology. Hawk-Reinhard argues, among other things, that when one locates the centrality of theosis as the organizing principle of his catechetical theology, these differing logics begin to make more sense.
The theological focus of her work entails thus entails articulating the central function of theosis in Cyril’s catechesis. This concept supplies the hermeneutical key that unlocks the door of coherence. She focuses especially on the use communio and theopoien language to explain Cyril’s theology of “sacramental theosis” and maps these on to the different language Cyrils employs to speak of Christians increasingly inclusive status within the church. Through baptism Christians come to share in the human nature of Christ, while through the Eucharist they share, through the human nature, Christ’s divine nature. The graded nature of catechesis is thus critical to the narrative structure of divine theosis.
Here’s the publisher’s blurb:
This study is an exploration of how Cyril of Jerusalem constructed Christian identity for those who were preparing to enter into full communion with the church at Easter. In order to include the full catechetical teachings of the fourth-century hagiopolite tradition, the study examined the history of liturgy arguments against Cyrillian authorship of the Mystagogic Catecheses and has found, based upon the most recent scholarship, no reason to date the text to after Cyril's bishopric. Having also used codicological and textual critical analysis to support the claim of Cyrillian authorship, the study argues for a different preferred manuscript tradition than what is presented in the critical edition.
Since Cyril provided an identity-clarifying attribute for the new Christians to associate with each of the rites of initiation, the study looks at the scholarly literature regarding Cyril's sacramental theology. Taking the Jerusalem catechetical writings as a pedagogical unit and examining it through word studies and flow-of-thought analysis, this study constructs a new model for Cyril's sacramental theology based upon his doctrine of theosis, which has not been examined with sufficient academic rigor to date. It demonstrates that not only does Cyril have a fully-developed doctrine of theosis, but his expression of theosis is Trinitarian, sacramental, and inseparable from his ethical and identity forming teachings.