On the Catechising of the Uninstructed
Augustine of Hippo (354–430)
First published 405
Augustine's De catechizandis rudibus, staged here in the public-domain NPNF English translation by S. D. F. Salmond.
Caput I: How Augustin Writes in Answer to a Favor Asked by a Deacon of Carthage.
Caput II: How It Often Happens that a Discourse Which Gives Pleasure to the Hearer is Distasteful to the Speaker; And What Explanation is to Be Offered of that Fact.
Caput III: Of the Full Narration to Be Employed in Catechising.
Caput IV: That the Great Reason for the Advent of Christ Was the Commendation of Love.
Caput V: That the Person Who Comes for Catechetical Instruction is to Be Examined with Respect to His Views, on Desiring to Become a Christian.
Caput VI: Of the Way to Commence the Catechetical Instruction, and of the Narration of Facts from the History of the World’s Creation on to the Present Times of the Church.
Caput VII: Of the Exposition of the Resurrection, the Judgment, and Other Subjects, Which Should Follow This Narration.
Caput VIII: Of the Method to Be Pursued in Catechising Those Who Have Had a Liberal Education.
Caput IX: Of the Method in Which Grammarians and Professional Speakers are to Be Dealt with.
Caput X: Of the Attainment of Cheerfulness in the Duty of Catechising, and of Various Causes Producing Weariness in the Catechumen.
Caput XI: Of the Remedy for the Second Source of Weariness.
Caput XII: Of the Remedy for the Third Source of Weariness.
Caput XIII: Of the Remedy for the Fourth Source of Weariness.
Caput XIV: Of the Remedy Against the Fifth and Sixth Sources of Weariness.
Caput XV: Of the Method in Which Our Address Should Be Adapted to Different Classes of Hearers.
Caput XVI: A Specimen of a Catechetical Address; And First, the Case of a Catechumen with Worthy Views.
Caput XVII: The Specimen of Catechetical Discourse Continued, in Reference Specially to the Reproval of False Aims on the Catechumen’s Part.
Caput XVIII: Of What is to Be Believed on the Subject of the Creation of Man and Other Objects.
Caput XIX: Of the Co-Existence of Good and Evil in the Church, and Their Final Separation.
Caput XX: Of Israel’s Bondage in Egypt, Their Deliverance, and Their Passage Through the Red Sea.
Caput XXI: Of the Babylonish Captivity, and the Things Signified Thereby.
- Captivitas Babylonica et in ea gesta quid significent. Post captivitatem Babylonicam libertas qualis reddita. Post aliquot tamen generationes ostendit alium typum ad rem maxime pertinentem. Nam captivata est illa civitas, et multa pars ejus educta in Babyloniam. Sicut autem Jerusalem significat civitatem societatemque sanctorum; sic Babylonia significat civitatem societatemque iniquorum, quoniam dicitur interpretari Confusio. De quibus duabus civitatibus, ab exordio generis humani usque in finem saeculi permixte temporum varietate currentibus, et ultimo judicio separandis, paulo ante jam diximus (Cap. 19). Illa ergo captivitas Jerusalem civitatis, et ille populus in Babyloniam ductus ad servitutem ire jubetur a Domino per Jeremiam illius temporis prophetam. Et exstiterunt reges Babyloniae, sub quibus illi serviebant, qui ex eorum occasione commoti quibusdam miraculis cognoscerent et colerent et coli juberent unum verum Deum, qui condidit universam creaturam (Dan. II-VI, XIV). Jussi sunt autem et orare pro eis a quibus captivi tenebantur, et in eorum pace pacem sperare, ad gignendos filios, et domos aedificandas, et plantandos hortos et vineas. Post septuaginta autem annos promittitur eis ab illa captivitate liberatio (Jerem. XXV, XXIX). Hoc autem totum figurate significabat Ecclesiam Christi in omnibus sanctis ejus, qui sunt cives Jerusalem coelestis, servituram fuisse sub regibus hujus saeculi. Dicit enim et apostolica doctrina, ut omnis anima sublimioribus potestatibus subdita sit; et ut reddantur omnibus omnia; cui tributum, tributum; cui vectigal, vectigal (Rom. XIII, 1, 7); et caetera quae salvo Dei nostri cultu, constitutionis humanae principibus reddimus; quando et ipse Dominus, ut nobis hujus sanae doctrinae praeberet exemplum, pro capite hominis quo erat indutus, tributum solvere non dedignatus est (Matth. XVII, 26). Jubentur autem etiam servi christiani et boni fideles dominis suis temporalibus aequanimiter fideliterque servire (Ephes. VI, 5): quos judicaturi sunt, si usque in finem iniquos invenerint; aut cum quibus aequaliter regnaturi sunt, si et illi ad verum Deum conversi fuerint. Omnibus tamen praecipitur servire humanis potestatibus atque terrenis, quousque post tempus praefinitum, quod significant septuaginta anni, ab istius saeculi confusione tanquam de captivitate Babyloniae, sicut Jerusalem liberetur Ecclesia. Ex cujus captivitatis occasione ipsi etiam terreni reges desertis idolis, pro quibus persequebantur Christianos, unum verum Deum et Christum Dominum cognoverunt et colunt, pro quibus apostolus Paulus jubet orari, etiam cum persequerentur Ecclesiam. Sic enim dicit: Obsecro itaque primum fieri deprecationes, adorationes, interpellationes, gratiarum actiones, pro regibus, pro omnibus hominibus, et omnibus qui in sublimitate sunt, ut securam et tranquillam vitam agamus cum omni pietate et charitate (I Tim. II, 1, 2). Itaque per ipsos data pax est Ecclesiae, quamvis temporalis, tranquillitas temporalis ad aedificandas spiritualiter domos et plantandos hortos et vineas. Nam et ecce te modo per istum sermonem aedificamus atque plantamus. Et hoc fit per totum orbem terrarum cum pace regum christianorum, sicut idem dicit apostolus: Dei agricultura, Dei aedificatio estis (I Cor. III, 9). 38. Et post annos quidem septuaginta, quos mystice prophetaverat Jeremias, ut finem temporum praefiguraret, tamen ut ipsa figura integraretur, facta est in Jerusalem restitutio aedificationis templi Dei: sed quia totum figurate agebatur, non erat firma pax ac libertas reddita Judaeis. Itaque postea a Romanis victi sunt, et tributarii facti. Ex illo sane tempore ex quo terram promissionis acceperunt, et reges habere coeperunt, ne in aliquo regum suorum completum esse arbitrarentur quod eis liberator Christus promittebatur, apertius per multas prophetias prophetatus est Christus; non solum ab ipso David in libro Psalmorum, sed etiam a caeteris et magnis et sanctis prophetis, usque ad tempus captivitatis in Babyloniam: et in ipsa captivitate fuerunt prophetae, qui venturum Dominum Jesum Christum liberatorem omnium prophetarent. Et posteaquam templum transactis septuaginta annis restitutum est, tantas pressuras et calamitates a regibus Gentium Judaei perpessi sunt, ut intelligerent nondum venisse liberatorem, quem non spiritualiter liberaturum intelligebant, sed pro liberatione carnali desiderabant.