DOCTRINE
84
DOCTRINE
whether they regard the knowledge of God, or the
creation and government of the world, or the redemp-
tion of the human race, or the rewards of the good and
the punishments of the wicked. The doctrine of the
Seven Sacraments comprehends the signs and as it
were the instruments for obtaining di%"ine grace. In
the Decalogue is laid down whatever has reference
to the Law, 'the end' whereof 'is charity'. Finally,
in the Lord's Prayer is contained whatever can be de-
sired, hoped, or salutarily prayed for by men. It fol-
lows that these four commonplaces, as it were, of
Sacred Scripture being explained, there can scarcely
be wanting anj-thing to be learned by a Christian
man" (ib., xii). It must be borne in mind that cate-
chetical instruction should be elementarj-; but this
of course is a relative term, according as the pupil is
an adult or a child. This difference has been dealt with
above in speaking of the persons concerned in cate-
chizing. It may be pointed out here, however, that
elementary knowledge is not the same as partial
knowledge. Even young children should be taught
something of each of the four divisions mentioned
above, viz., that they have to beheve in God and
to do God's will, and to obtain His grace by means
of prayer and the sacraments. Further instruction
will consist in developing each of these heads. Be-
sides what is ordinarily understood by Christian
doctrine, catechizing should treat of Christian his-
ton,' and Christian worship. Christian historj- will
include the storj' of the Old Testament, the New
Testament, and the Church. Christian worship will
include the Church's calendar (the feasts and fasts)
and her services and devotions. These three —
doctrine, historj', and worship — are not altogether
distinct, and may often be best taught together. For
example, the second article of the Creed should be
taught in such a way as to bring out the doctrine of
the Incarnation, the beautiful story of Christ's birth
and childhood, and the meaning and the services of
Advent and Christmas. The Bible history and the
history of the Church will afford countless instances
bearing on the various doctrines and heresies of the
doctrinal part of the catechism, and the virtues and
contrarj- vices of the practical part.
The question of catechetical methods is difficult and has given rise to much controversj'. Father Furniss long ago. in his "Sunday School or Catechism?" and Bishop Bellord later on, in his " Religious Education and its Failures", passed a wholesale condemnation on our present method, and attributed to it the falling away of so many Cathohcs from the Faith. "The chief cause of the 'leakage' is the imperfection of our sj'stems of religious instruction. Those methods seem to be antiquated, injudicious, wasteful, sometimes positively injurious to the cause" (Bp. Bellord, op. cit.. p. 7). Part of the blame is laid upon catechizing. and part upon the catechisms. Of the latter we shall speak presently. Again, the blame is twofold and is not altogether consistent. The children are declared not to know their religion, or, knowing it quite well, not to put it into practice. In either case they are of course lost to the Chiu-ch when they grow up. Both the bishop and the Redemptorist complain that relig- ious instruction is made a task, and so fails either to be learnt at all, or, if it is learnt . it is learnt in such a way as to become hateful to the child and to have no bear- ing on his conduct in after-life. Both are especially severe on the attempt to make the children learn by heart. The bishop quotes a number of experienced missionarj' priests who share his \'iews. It seems to us that, in considering the methods of catechizing, we have to bear in mind two verj' different sets of condi- tions. In some countries religious instruction forms part of the daily curriculum, and is mainly given on weekdays by trained teachers, 'tt'here this is the case it is not difficult to secure that the children shall learn by heart some official textbook. With this as a foun-
dation the priest (who will by no means restrict his
labours to Sunday work) will be able to explain and
illustrate and enforce what they have learnt by heart.
The teachers' business will be chiefly to put the cate-
chism into the child's head; the priest must get it into
his heart. Verj' different are the conditions which
Father Furniss and Bishop Bellord are dealing with.
Where the priest has to get together on a Sunday, or
one day in the week, a number of children of all ages,
who are not obliged to be present ; and when he has to
depend upon the assistance of lay persons who have
no training in teaching; it is obvious that he should do
his best to make the instruction as simple, as interest-
ing, and asdevotional as possible. As in other branches
of instruction we may follow either the analytical or
the sj-nthetical method. In the former we take a text-
book, a catechism, and explain it word for word to the
scholar and make him commit it to memorj'. The book
is of prime importance; the teacher occupies quite a
secondarj' place. Though it might convey a wrong
impression to call this the Protestant method, yet it is
exactly in accordance with the Protestant system of
religious teaching generally. The written, printed
word (Bible or Catechism) is to them all in all. The
synthetical method, on the other hand, puts the
teacher in the forefront. The scholars are bidden to
look up to him and listen to his voice, and receive his
words on his authority. "Faith coraeth by hearing."
After they have thoroughly learnt their lesson in this
way, a book may be then set before them, and be ex-
plained to them and conmiitted to memorj', as con-
taining in a fixed form the substance of what they have
received bj' word of mouth. Whatever maj- be said of
the relative advantages of the two methods in the
teaching of secular subjects, there can be no doubt
that thesjTithetical method is the proper one for cate-
chetical instruction. The office of catechizing belongs
to the Church's magisterium (teaching authoritj'), and
so is best exercised bj- the living voice. " The lips of
the priest shall keep knowledge, and thej' shall seek
the law at his mouth" (Mai., ii, 7).
(a) The SuJpician Method of catechizing is cele- brated throughout the world, and has produced won- derful fruits wherever it has been emploj'ed. Vte can- not, therefore, do better than give a short accotmt of it here.
The whole catechism consists of three principal exercises and three secondarj' ones. The principal are: (1) the recitation of the letter of the catechism, with an easj' explanation of it bj' waj' of question and answer; (2) the instruction; (3) the reading of the Gospel and the homilj". The secondarj- exercises are: (1) the admonitions from the head catechist; (2) the hj-mns; (3) praj-ers. These should be interspersed with the former. The duration fixed bj' St. Francis de Sales for a complete catechism is two hours. The place should be the church, but in a separate chapel rather than in the bodj- of the church. Great importance is attached to the "game of the good mark" {le jeu du bo?i point) and the analyses. The former consists in selecting the child who has answered best in the first part (the questioning on the catechism), and putting to him a series of short, clear, and definite questions upon the matter in hand, and doing this as a sort of challenge to the child. The other children are roused to interest at the notion of a contest between the cate- chist and one of themselves, and this gives occasion for a better understanding of the subject under treat- ment. If the child is considered to have won, he re- ceives a small card of reward (le bon point). "For the success of the game of the bon jmint it is important to prepare beforehand and to write do^^-n the questions which are to be put to the children, even the common- est ones." The children should be made to write out a short account of the instruction given after the ques- tioning. These analy.tes should be corrected by the teacher, and a mark ("fair", "good", "very gqod")
