terrores insultationum et dolorum et ipsius mortis. "Quidquid autem homo passus fuerit pro nomine Christi, et pro spe vitae aeternae, et permanens toleraverit, maior ei merces "dabitur; 45quod si cesserit diabolo cum illo damnabitur. Sed "opera misericordiae cum pia humilitate impetrant a domino, "ut non permittat servos suos tentari plus quam possunt sustinere.

not only through inordinate desires does the devil tempt us, but also through dread of insults and sufferings and of death itself. Now, if a man suffers anything for the name of Christ and for the hope of eternal life, and endures it steadfastly, a greater reward shall be given him; but if he yields to the devil, with him shall he be condemned. But works of mercy together with godly humility obtain this from the Lord, that He suffers not His servants to be tempted above that which they are able to bear.

CHAPTERS 1-15. THE THEORY OF CATECHESIS

CHAPTER 1

Sections (1), (2). St. Augustine writes in answer to Deogratias, a deacon of Carthage, who has asked what should be the subject-matter and what the method in catechizing candidates.

1. petisti me: the Confessiones and the De Civitate Dei of Augustine were likewise written at the suggestion of friends. Cf. Aug. Conf. 10, 4, 3, multi hoc nosse cupiunt; also the letter of Marcellinus to Augustine (Ep. 136) and the latter's reply (Ep. 138, 4, 18). In fact, most of Augustine's works were occasional, arising in response to some specific need. For a very interesting account of the psychological starting-points of his principal works, cf. Bernard Legewie, Augustinus, eine Psycographie (Bonn, 1925). For the form of introduction, cf. Tac. Dial. 1, 1, Saepe ex me requiris, Iuste Fabi. . . . In his notice of this book in the Retractationes 2, 14, he gives its full title and quotes the opening words: Est etiam liber unus de catechizandis rudibus hoc ipso titulo praenotatus... Hic liber sic incipit: Petisti me, frater Deogratias.

2. frater: a term of affection in classical Latin which was applied by the early Christians to fellow-believers who were united to one another by the bonds of affection, all Christians being brothers in the new life. Cf. 1 Cor. 16, 20, salutant vos omnes fratres; 1 Ioan. 2, 9, qui dicit se in luce esse, et fratrem suum odit, in tenebris est usque adhuc; cf. Tert. Apol. 39, at quanto dignius fratres et dicuntur et habentur qui unum patrem deum agnoverunt, qui unum spiritum biberint sanctitatis, qui de uno utero ignorantiae eiusdem ad unam lucem expaverint veritatis; Clem. Alex. Strom. II, c. 9, 41, ᾗ καὶ ἀδελφοὺς τοὺς τῷ αὐτῷ λόγῳ ἀναγεννηθέντας προσαγορεύομεν peroμev; Min. Fel.Oct. 9, passim etiam inter eos quaedam libidinum religio miscetur ac se promisce appellant fratres et sorores; Hier. Adv. Helvid. 15, affectu fratres dici, qui in duo scinditur, in spiritale et in commune; in spiritale, quia omnes Christiani fratres vocamur; Aug. De Serm. Domini in Monte 1, 73, fratres Christianos significare, multis divinarum scripturarum documentis pro

bari potest. For exhaustive citations, cf. Mayor's note on Tert. Apol. 39, fratres; Harnack, Die Mission und Ausbreitung des Christentums (Leipzig, 1906), 2, 1, 405. It may be noted here that both St. Augustine and St. Optatus insisted on calling the Donatists fratres, though sinners and schismatics. The Donatists, however, refused to reciprocate. Cf. Aug. Gesta Collationis Carthag. diei III, 243, quotidie enim quibusdam non nobiscum in una ecclesia, nec in iisdem sacramentis constitutis, dicimus, Frater. Sodomitis etiam dixit Loth, Fratres, non ad cognitam fraternitatem, quasi unius haereditate consortium; cf. Aug. Cont. Gaudent. 3; Cont. Parm. 3, 2; cf. S. Optat. Milev. Lib. 7, 2, 3, sed ne quis dicat inconsiderate me eos fratres appellare quamvis et illi non negent et omnibus notum sit, quod nos odio habeant et execrentur et nolint se dici fratres nostros, tamen nos recedere a timore dei non possumus; ibid. 4, 1; 4, 2.

3. Deogratias: the Benedictine editors suggest that this deacon may be identical with the priest Deogratias, to whom Augustine wrote in 406 A. D. (cf. Ep. 102) in answer to questions sent him from pagans in Carthage. Such compound names as Deogratias, Adeodatus, Deusdedit, Quodvultdeus, were common in Africa. Glover, 199, observes that such names were apparently translations of Semitic names like Mattathiah (='gift of Jehovah'); Nathanael (='God gave'). A parallel in English is offered by such names as Praise-God Barebones, used by the Puritans in the seventeenth century.

4. ut aliquid ad te. . . scriberem: in classical Latin ad aliquem scribere meant to write a work dedicated to some one.' Cf. Reid's note on De Sen. 1, aliquid ad te. The deacon's request here was of course much more modest; he simply wanted Augustine to set down in writing and send him something on the method of catechizing. It was fortunate that Deogratias applied to Augustine, for quite apart from the latter's reputation as a theologian and writer, no ecclesiastic in Africa had had his experience with the various methods of catechizing. Augustine was familiar not only with the methods employed in Africa; he had likewise attended catechetical lectures both at Rome and at Milan. It may be observed here that there is a tendency among early Christian writers to omit the accusative after scribere, though the missing word (volumen, librum, or epistulam) has not infrequently been inter

polated later. Cf. Hier. De Viris ilustr. 66, scripsit ad Fabianum =scripsit epistulam ad Fabianum. Cf. Dom John Chapman, St. Jerome and the Vulgate New Testament, in J. Th. S. 24 (1923), 288.

5. catechizandis: the verb catechizare is derived from κarxeiv 'to teach,'' to inform by word of mouth.' The simple verb xeiv = 'to sound' (trans. and intrans.), to ring out,' is found in Hesiod, Herodotus, and Euripides. The compound verb xamxeiv, which is composed of kará intensive and xiv, retained its root meaning 'to sound down,' but was applied to the act of informing and instructing by oral repetition; the idea being that children in school were instructed by making them sing out' in chorus the answers to the questions asked by the teacher. kareiv in this meaning of 'to instruct,' 'to inform by word of mouth,' occurs first in Philo, Leg. ad Gaium 198 (30). In the New Testament it is found in this meaning, for example, in Luc. 1, 4; Act. 18, 25; Gal. 6, 6; among later writers, in Diogenes Laertius, Porphyrio, etc. The first Latin writer to use catechizare in the meaning of 'to instruct orally' in the Christian faith, was Tertullian. Tert. De Cor. Mil. 9, quem Petrus catechizat. The word catechismus is first found in Augustine, De Fide et Operibus, 13.

6. rudibus: ecclesiastical writers apply the term rudis to candidates for admission to the catechumenate. It has no reference to the intellectual attainments and qualifications of the candidate. The rudis may be a rustic or he may be an educated man (cf. Ch. 8, S. 13 where, for example, Augustine speaks of educated men who are well up on the doctrines of faith, but who have not yet been admitted to the catechumenate). Eggersdorfer, 175, writes, Unter "rudis" verstand das kirchliche Altertum nicht den Ungebildeten, auch nicht gerade "den Unwissenden in der Religion," wie Erzbischof Gruber (Katechetische Vorlesungen über des hl. Augustin Buch: Von der Unterweisung der Unwissenden in der Religion, Salzburg, 1828, 1829) übersetzte, sondern den Anfänger im Katechumenate. Der Stand der Kenntnisse kam also für das Wesen der Katechese nicht in Betracht, für die Methode wohl. Eberhard in Augustins Schrift De Catechizandis Rudibus in Neue kirchliche Zeitschrift 17 (1906), 240, writes, "Augustin aber hat nach dem Titel seiner Schrift solche im Auge, die noch keiner dieser Hauptklassen angehörten, die erst der Erlangung der ersten

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