THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
As religious education addresses itself to the heart as well as to the mind, the cultivation of the former is not less the duty of the catechist. Common devotional exercises are held, consisting of the singing of hymns, reading of Scripture, and an extempore prayer by the teacher. Moreover, observance of Sunday and regular attend-
5. Practical ance on the Church services should Application be required of the children. As the
of sermons at those services can not be
Catechesis. sufficiently grasped by younger children, special services are to be arranged for them. "With the religious practise moral practise must go hand in hand. Order, diligence, modesty obedience, truth, and other virtues must be inculcated.
While the pupil must be taught obedience and respect, the teacher should not be immoderate and unjust in his demands or irascible. If he shows the least partiality or injustice, he weakens his authority. Reproof should come before punishment, and should be made to suffice as long as possible, so that the teacher shall not come too soon to the end of his resources. Older scholars should be won by private exhortation where necessary, and led to self-examination and self-judg- ■ment, so that they may find the path of goodness for themselves.
Christianity as a spiritual religion demands a definite religious conviction and moral sentiment. The Christian Church, therefore, receives as memoers only those who make their confession of faith and promise Christian conduct. In the early Church a profession of faith and a vow were made before baptism, and the first communion followed after it. When infant baptism became general, the need was felt of bringing in this profession and vow later as a preliminary to the first communion. in this way originated the rite of confirmation (q.v.) in the Protestant churches. Confirmation is not a declaration of maturity. The faith of a child may be of such a kind as to
6. Relation admit him or her to the Lord's Sup-
of per, but not yet to a life that may
Catechesis dispense with all further religious to Confir- aid. The profession and the vow mation. must be spontaneous, they must proceed from the candidate's own moral decision; therefore, the child should not be forced to confirmation at a fixed age. The custom of con-
firming children as a matter of course at the age of fourteen has led to insincerity and hypocrisy, and it is the duty of the Church to cheek it as much as possible, which can to a certain extent be accomplished by emphasizing the purely voluntary character of the act, and by having an intervening time between the examination in religious knowledge and the profession of faith.
If the confirmed are still immature in the religious sense, their education must be continued. The influence of the Christian home and of church fellowship are hardly sufficient for this. Our ancestors in both the Lutheran and the Reformed churches demanded that the children should continue to participate, even after their first communion, in the regular catechetical instruction of the Church until their eighteenth year or until their marriage. These customs have disappeared in the last century because confirmed children have been considered mature, but this is a grave mistake, in view of the diminution of wholesome family influence and the observance of Sunday, and the reform of these conditions is an urgent necessity of our modern Church. (E. Sachsse.)
The preceding article is written from the standpoint of a subject of Germany, where Church and State are united and religious instruction is consequently a part of the curriculum of the schools. A treatment of catechetics from a more general point of view is given by implication in Catechisms (q-v.).
Bibliography: The bibliographies under Catechisms and Catechumenate should be consulted; C. I. Nitzsch, Praktische Theologie, ii. 133-235, Bonn, 1860; C. Palmer, Evangelische Katechetik, Stuttgart, 1875; R. Kubel, Katechetik. Barmen, 1877; J. G. Wenham, The Catechumen, London, 1881; E. Daniel, How to Teach the Church Catechism, ib. 1882; T. Harnack, Katechetik, Erlangen, 1882; S. J. Hulme, Principles of the Catechism of the Church of England, SuOw-on-the-Wold, 1SS2; N. Haas, Wie soil der Religionslehrer offentlich katechisieren? Regensburg, 1885; E. Bather, Hints on the Art of Catechising, London, 1888; K. Buchrucker, Grundlinien des kirchlichen Katechismus, •Berlin, 1889; J. E. Denison, Catechising on the Catechism, London, 1889; F. A. P. Dupanloup, The Ministry of Catechising, ib. 1891; P. Schaff, Theological Propaedeutic, part ii., pp. 500-504, New York, 1893; K. Schultze, Evangelische Volksschulkunde, Gotha, 1893; G. R. Crooks and J. F. Hurst, Theological Encyclopaedia, pp. 514-526, New York, 1894; E. Sachsse, Die Lehre von der kirchlichen Erziehung, Rerlin, 1S97; E. C. Achelis, Praktische Theologie, ii. 1-176, Leipsic, 1898; J. Liitkemann, Anleitung zur Katechismuslehre, Hermannsburg, 1898; R. Staude, Der Katechismusunterricht, Praparationen, 3 vols Dresden, 1900-01.
1. The Middle Ages.
Need of Catechetical Instruction
(§1). influence of Confession (§ 2). Pre-Reformation Catechisms (§3). j! The Post-Reformation Period.
Early Lutheran Catechisms (§ 1). Gradual Supremacy of Luther's
Smaller Catechism (§ 2). Early Catechisms Based on Luther's
Work (§3). Orthodox and Pietistic Catechisms England (§ 13).
(§ 4). France (§ 14).
Catechisms are written or printed summaries of the principal doctrines of the Christian faith, intended for the instruction of the unlearnei 1 and the