Augustine and Luther as catechists

That I May Be His Own by Charles Arand

Augustine And The Catechumenate by William Harmless

"Reform" and "renewal" can be applied both to Luther's quest for the true confession of faith and to Augustine's endeavor to aid the Church out of dead ritualistic existence. Education of the people was viewed by both of them as the key task of the Church. Therefore, it was essential for them to develop catechesis that would provide a clear guide or curriculum to support and deepen the conversation between the Church and the convert. Neither Luther nor Augustine approached this task as if they had to make up something supplemental, just for the sake of some kind of exposure to generic Christian beliefs in its author's own prospective. Instead, both authors come to the eternal teaching of Christ revealed to the Church by means of the external Word - the liturgy.

The idea of liturgy as the focal point of catechesis can be found in Luther's ministry as well as Augustine's. It cannot be otherwise, as the Church always viewed liturgy as an act of confession of faith, which also has an educational aspect. Augustine deepens this aspect by systematizing the confession. This task is to foste

Conversely, Luther's confessional, sacramental and liturgical work gives to the adherent of this heritage the Gospel of Christ in its brightest expression. Luther did not make up the catechism to fit certain requirements of the hierarchy of the Church. While his proclamation of the Truth is bold, Luther does not attempt to find something in the Scripture that he, as a mere human, might judge to be relevant or meaningful. The essence of Luther's teaching and the heritage of his catechesis will take the Church into tomorrow.

That is why both Arand and Harmless emphasize the importance of catechesis as it reaches out to the hearer. Comprehensive teaching is not just a nice feature in order to make the instruction more attractive, but a very important characteristic of a classical catechetical interaction. The audience of Gospel proclaiming catechesis is potentially all humanity. Accordingly, catechesis should be approachable and comprehensive by both student and teacher. Augustine always adapts his sermons to the audience, as well as to the major theological issues of that time. He is ingenious in his use of rhetoric and rules of public speech of his time. One of the important rules of Augustine's catechesis is not to overwhelm listeners with dry theology, but, rather, use genuine scriptural exegesis and apply it to the everyday edification of the people.

According to Luther, the use of the catechism should be familiar to every Christian in the fellowship. Personal advancement in applied rhetoric and teaching skills is not crucial to Luther at all. He views his catechesis as a device to learn theology for both clergy and laity alike. The catechism becomes a real Church' book, which provides instructions for pastoral care in everyday life. Thus, the gap between Augustine's approach and Luther's is quite significant.

The example of Augustine's catechesis vividly illustrates what happens to a theological stand or methodology that is based on spontaneous and shallow requests for something "new and exciting". Surely Augustine stands out as the greatest catechist in the history of Christendom, but the value of his work belongs to the past. Reference to Augustine's endeavor is taken by the Roman Church today insofar as it helps to build another brilliant, yet human, catechetical system to reach to the heights of God. On the contrary, Luther's concern in teaching catechesis never exceeds the claim to

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