Augustine the Catechist

Many people may know Augustine the theologian, or Augustine the philosopher, or Augustine the bishop. Augustine’s writings cast a large net, big enough for a wide range of readers and disciples.

But do we know Augustine the catechist? Do we know the Augustine who stooped down to make the faith intelligible to newcomers, placing their hands on the lower rungs of the ladder so they can start to make the ascent to divine heights?

Catechesis was central to the life of the early church, and Augustine was no exception. He built on a long tradition already in place by the late fourth century. In fact, we get a stunning first-hand view of Augustine’s own journey as a catechumen in his Confessions. For much of the book, Augustine the character is a catechumen seeking the truth and being surrounded by a company of those who guide his wandering ship to the shores of baptism.Catechesis was central to the life of the early church, and Augustine was no exception. He built on a long tradition already in place by the late fourth century. Share on X

We’re equally fortunate to have many examples of Augustine’s own practice of catechesis, both in how he taught catechumens and in his writings to others about the practice of catechesis. The essential content of patristic catechesis featured pre-baptismal teaching on the Creed and the Lord’s Prayer and post-baptismal teaching on the sacraments. The former is catechesis proper, while the latter is often referred to as “mystagogy,” meaning a “leading into the mysteries” (the mystery in the early church was a name for the sacraments).

Believe, Pray, Hope

Augustine saw the baptismal creed and the Lord’s Prayer as fitting together into a Pauline pattern of belief and prayer. He cites Romans 10:14–15 to this effect. If we cannot call upon him in whom we have not believed, then Christians need the creed (“belief”) to be accompanied by prayer (“calling upon”). In the creed, we learn who God is; in prayer, we address God personally. We go from third-person to second-person speech—from God the Father to God our Father.

The creed—also known as the rule of faith or the “symbol”—was not only important as a statement of what to believe. The rule of faith was about instilling in the Christian a new memory—the memory of Christ. “Let your memory be your books,” he would say (Sermon 398.1). Don’t write it down on paper but on your hearts. Say it every morning and evening. Let it seep into your bones and be a source of strength for each day.

Similarly, the Lord’s Prayer wasn’t just about learning a new prayer to say. The Lord’s Prayer was the fundamental pattern of Christian hope. All other prayers that Christians pray are encompassed in the prayer the Lord taught to the disciples. The Christian learns to pray because prayer is the primary vehicle of shaping Christian desire. He taught catechumens that the Lord’s Prayer is the “form of our desires” (Sermon 56.4). It serves as a guide for becoming one who longs for God’s name to be hallowed, his kingdom to come, and his will to be done.

Formed for Communion

Of course, catechesis was about much more than learning the creed and the Lord’s Prayer, important as those tenets are. For months or even years, catechumens learned to become Christian by hearing Scripture and by being gradually enfolded into the life of the church—all of which was aimed at one thing: fellowship with Christ in His body. Catechesis, for Augustine, aims for communion with God, first in the eucharist and ultimately in the beatific vision. In his treatise On Faith and Works, Augustine puts it beautifully:

“What’s all that time for, when they hold the status and title of catechumen, if not to hear what a Christian should believe and what kind of life a Christian should lead, so that when they have proved themselves they may eat from the Lord’s table and drink from his cup?” (On Faith and Works 6.9).

The catechumenate was a time when those first hearing the faith were most eager to learn and hungered for God. Augustine loved this stage of the Christian life because it so powerfully captured the deep desire for God that exemplified the Christian life writ large. The catechumenate, in this way, figured as a potent image for the whole Christian life this side of the resurrection.

The Heart of Catechesis

If creed, prayer, and communion are the most obvious features of Augustine’s catechesis, at its heart is a powerful focus on the all-encompassing love of God for humanity in Christ that we see in Scripture. In On Catechizing the Uninstructed, written in the year 400 to a young catechist named Deogratias, Augustine explains the why and how of his biblical approach to catechesis.If creed, prayer, and communion are the most obvious features of Augustine’s catechesis, at its heart is a powerful focus on the all-encompassing love of God for humanity in Christ that we see in Scripture. Share on X

He wanted to teach catechumens the whole story of Scripture—the narratio, he calls it—from Genesis up to the present day without getting bogged down in every detail. He wanted to keep catechumens focused on the overarching story of God’s love manifest in Christ.

Before all else, Christ came so that people might learn how much God loves them, and might learn this so that they would catch fire with love for Him who first loved them, and so that they would also love their neighbor as He commanded and showed by His example—He who made Himself their neighbor by loving them when they were not close to Him but were wandering far from Him. (On Catechizing 4.8)

For Augustine, catechesis is not just teaching about the Christian faith but drawing others into the all-encompassing story of God’s love for humanity in Christ. The form, as well as the content of catechesis, is to be shaped and molded in the image of the triune God who humbles Himself in Christ and raises us up by the inspiring flame of the Holy Spirit. Augustine knew that it is ultimately Christ who catechizes each of us—only the Spirit of Christ poured into our hearts that ignites the flame of belief, fans it into hope, and ultimately envelopes us with the all-powerful, radiant love of God.

Image credit: Retro atmospheres 15 | Kekeland | Melusina Parkin | Flickr.