Catechism - what is it? Orthodox Catechism. Catholic Catechism

In any religion there is a publication in which parishioners can find answers to common theological questions. It also contains provisions on primary education before baptism. This publication is called "catechism". What it is? How did this publication come about? Who was the originator? Is the Catholic catechism different from the Christian? About this later in the article.

Terminology

So, the catechism - what is it? The definition itself has ancient Greek roots. Then the word passed into Latin. Literally, the definition means "instruction," "teaching." In other words, the catechism is a religious document. He is also called the "catechum", which contains the foundations of the doctrine. Such a publication exists within the confines of different faiths. For example, there is a catechism of the Catholic Church. As a rule, the information is contained in the publication in the form of a question-answer. In general, the term "catechism" was used not only in religion. This definition can be called any deep guidance, drawn up according to the example of the religious document. For example, in 1869 Nechaev's catechism was created. In this work, as opposed to the religious document, the program on large-scale terror, which assumed a huge number of victims, was propagandized against the "vile tyrants of the people".

General information

The main provisions, which contained the original Orthodox catechism, were developed in the period from 1822 to 1823. The author was the saint Philaret (Drozdov). The publication was approved by the Synod and published in 1823. This catechism of Filaret was first approved as a guide. Subsequently, the work was subjected to considerable processing. Corrections and corrections were made by the author, the chief prosecutor and other members of the Synod. This work has been constantly updated and has sustained many reprints. Some of the theologians, among whom such personalities as Metropolitan Bulgakov Makarii, position the Philaret's catechism as one of the "symbolic books". According to many, the work of the saint is one of the most authoritative sources of dogmatic teaching. It is in him that the most basic of her postulates are set out on behalf of the church most fully.

Controversial issues

However, some Orthodox theologians dispute the authorship of Metropolitan Philaret. But, despite this, they also recognize the importance that the catechism has (what is it, it is said above) in the history of the ROC. This statement is based on the fact that, according to Bishop Basil Krivoshein, the main religious document underwent radical editing. Due to the intervention of the Chief Procurator of the Holy Synod - a secular person - the status of the book as an unshakable dogmatic monument of the Universal Orthodoxy can also be questioned, since the catechism of Philaret of Moscow does not contain all the symbols of faith and describes the influence of heterodoxy theology.

The problem of the role of the religious document in the modern ROC

As of the beginning of 2014, not a single "manual" was issued, approved under the direction of one of the supreme governing bodies of the Russian Orthodox Church, be it the Bishops' Council or the Holy Synod. The release of the catechism is scheduled for 2015. For Protestants and Miafisites, in the absence of an official religious document, the ROC makes it possible to consider an existing publication approved by the Synod as a guide only. They believe, structurally considering the catechism, that this is not a dogmatic source, which must be work that sets forth the dogma. It is interesting that the publication is usually called Christian, and not Orthodox. This is due to the fact that it sets out the general Christian postulates for the inhabitants of the Russian Empire. It specifies the status of the authorities. For example, Nicholas I was not only the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, but also the patron and superintendent of his Lutheran subjects and participated in the election of the Armenian patriarchs. And, despite the disapproval of the ROC catechisms as official and dogmatic sources, it was decided to develop their own leadership, which would set forth the basic truths of Orthodoxy.

The structure of the religious document

The section, which opens the Orthodox catechism, informs the reader about the basic preliminary concepts of the Christian dogma. Here is a look at the concept of Divine Revelation from the ROC, tells about the Bible. The next section is three large parts. They are based on the enumeration of the main Christian virtues: "On Love," "On Faith," and "On Hope." In the part devoted to the Faith, a detailed review of the Nicene-Tsaregrad symbol is given in the Orthodox sense, without filioque. It is divided into 12 elements (members) for more detailed consideration. Behind them follows the narrative of the seven sacraments of Christianity. In the section "About Hope" the relevant concept in Christian specificity is considered and the role of prayer in the life of a believer is told. The structure of the libation "Our Father" is described in detail. For clarity, prayer is divided into summoning, 7 petitions and praise in prison. The section "About Hope" also explains the 10 commandments of bliss. The part "About love" is dedicated to the ten commandments of God. Four of them are carved on the first tablet. They are the precepts of love for the Creator. The other six are the laws of love for one's neighbor. The description of each commandment is accompanied by the necessary for observance of the prescriptions and the description of sins that can contribute to its violation. At the end of the religious document, "The teaching of faith and godliness" is indicated. It should be noted, having examined the structural catechism, that this manual is compiled very conveniently for study and understanding. The text is formed in the form of questions and answers. So, at first the sufferer is interested in the very faith, content and main goal of Orthodoxy. Religious document answers the question posed. The text of the manual was deliberately archaized. The book contains a large number of church Slavs. For example, the phrase "in what sense" sounds in the catechism as "in what power / mind". This archaic nature became visible already in the first half of the nineteenth century.

Briefly about creating a unified leadership

The first quarter of the nineteenth century was marked by the use of a sufficiently large number of catechisms. The most common in the Orthodox environment were the authorship of the authorship of Metropolitans Peter Mogila and Plato. Created under the influence of these works, new publications, like their original sources, were repeatedly criticized by the church. In the first case, a "Catholic" bias was perceived. In the second, they criticized the presence of Protestant elements. The solution to this situation was the creation of a new catechism. In addition, because of the new translation of biblical books in Russian in 1816 into Russian, it was decided to transfer the relevant citations from the old editions of the manual to the new one. At the same time, the correspondence with the edited version of the translation was kept. The development of a new single catechism was initiated in 1822.

Authorship

The task of drawing up the catechism was posed to one of the most educated and professional Russian theologians - Metropolitan Filaret of Moscow and Kolomna. The first edition was published in 1823. The catechism was compiled according to the structure, which was later preserved in all editions and editions. There were compulsory three sections on Faith, Hope and Love. The author preserved and presented the material in the form of a "question-answer". The quotations quoted from the Holy Scriptures were given in accordance with the translation of 1816, some of the phrases were translated personally by Philaret. Most important from the point of view of the compiler, the provisions of the manual were printed in large print.

new document

The year 1823 was marked by the reissue of the catechism. Work was spared from the mistakes seen in the first edition. Later, in 1824, four more editions were issued, typed Church Slavonic and civil script (two editions for each type of inscription). The abridged version of the religious document was issued after the middle of 1824 and was called the "Short Catechism". What kind of edition was it? It was intended primarily for illiterate people and children. The manual included the text, allocated in the main edition with the help of a large font. Gryphus "Published on the Highest Command" in the Short Catechism was not. The original Catechism began to be called "Extensive".

Criticism of the Religious Document and its Results

The appearance of catechisms fell in the same time period when the translations of books of the Holy Scripture, carried out by the Russian Biblical Society, were actively criticized. A number of conservative state and high-ranking clergy sharply criticized the activity of the RBO. Supported by A.A. Arakcheyev Minister of Public Education A.S. Shishkov and Archimandrite Photius actively stated that the Russian language is inadmissible in prayer and the Holy texts. Moreover, its use can give rise to a variety of heresies. A.S. Shishkov, being a supporter of the idea of the identity of the Church Slavonic and Russian languages, spoke in defense of his opinion before Metropolitan Seraphim. According to Photius, the catechism of Drozdov and the leadership of Peter Mohyla are comparable to each other in the same way as "canal water" is comparable to "... the good water of the Neva".

Discrepancies with the original source

With the initiative of A.S. Shishkov began to study the catechisms of Metropolitan Philaret. The purpose of this activity was to reveal the degree of deviation from the primary source, which was the Orthodox dogma. The main emphasis is made by the reviewer on the advisability of using biblical quotations in Russian in a religious document. In this question, his opinion coincided with Photius and A.S. Shishkov. On the other hand, the remarks concerning the purely theological content of the catechism do not have sufficient strength of argument. The reviewer backs up the essential shortcomings of the leadership with a form containing the question: "What is the best teaching about piety?" It also follows the answer: "Christian Teaching." From a formal point of view, the reviewer implies that, in addition to the "best", there may simply be "good" doctrines of piety, be it Buddhism or Islam.

Prohibitions

Thanks to such a strong campaign against the appearance of the religious document of the campaign in late November 1824, the Decree of the Holy Synod came into force . He forbade the printing and distribution of Filaret's catechisms until a special order was issued. The reason for the ban was declared inadmissibility of the conversion of the Lord's Prayer, the Creed and the 10 Commandments into Russian, called "common folk adverb". In 1825 the catechism of Metropolitan Plato was re-issued. It must be said that this work was first published in 1786 and survived seven editions. The last of these was also positioned as a counterbalance to the work of Filaret. In the Platonic leadership, the quotation from the Bible in Church Slavonic was observed.