Dutch catechism

The Dutch Catechism (actually De nieuwe katechismus , 1966) was drawn up on behalf of the Roman Catholic Bishops of the Netherlands by the Higher Catechetic Institute Nijmegen with many other collaborators and received ecclesiastical printing permission ( imprimatur ) by Bernardus Cardinal Alfrink on March 1, 1966.

The catechism conceived by Dutch theologians and published in German in 1968 with the title Preaching of Faith for Adults , based on an analysis of the human situation, wanted to express the traditional faith in a new language. It marked the beginning of the so-called "post-conciliar crisis" of the Roman Catholic Church , which manifested itself primarily in the strong polarization in the controversial discussion that followed the publication.

However, according to a specially compiled cardinals commission, the new catechism contained serious errors, especially in Christology , ecclesiology and eschatology .

For this reason, amendments based on the declaration of the Cardinals Commission on the New Catechism have been added to the German edition as “supplements” .

The liberal direction has long since developed completely alternative theologies, while the Roman Curia has had the world catechism worked out since 1985 (published 1992, compendium 2005). Originally intended primarily as a model for regional catechisms, the various translations became a long-term journalistic success.

Not least alarmed by the Dutch Catechism, Pope Paul VI called. in 1967 a “year of faith” (in memory of the 1900th return of the martyrdoms of Peter and Paul), which he concluded on June 30, 1968 with a solemn creed of the People of God , whose commitment to the Church results from the fact that this creed was also published as motu proprio in the files of the Apostolic See. Not only the French journalist Jean d'Hospital rated this creed as the real, magisterial answer to the “New Catechism”.

structure

The Dutch Catechism is divided into five parts.

Existence - a secret

As an anthropological foundation, the contingency ("dash through the bill") of human life and thus the longing for God and his word is presented based on human questions. This part forms the basis from which the following parts are presented.

The way to Christ

In the first chapter (“The Way of the Nations”) different religions and world views are honored in their endeavors to deal with the basic questions of human existence. In the second chapter (“Israel's Way”) the historical experiences of the people of Israel with their God (sections “The Miracles of God” and “The Word of God ”) are explained as a prerequisite for the creation of the Old Testament (section “The Holy Scriptures”) and an outline of understanding and classifying the Bible for faith.

The Son of Man

The part about Jesus Christ largely follows the life story of Jesus , but always refers to basic theological statements. After the chapters on John the Baptist (“The man who gave testimony of the light”), the childhood stories (“The origin of Jesus”) and “ Baptism and temptation ” follow the chapters with the central themes of Jesus' work and preaching: “ The kingdom of God ”,“ The signs ”,“ The Lord teaches us to pray ”,“ The obedient shows us the will of the Father ”,“ The anointed one gathers his church ”. The chapter “Who is this?” Reflects on the connection between Jesus and Christology. The final chapters ("On the Way to Easter", "The Last Supper", "The Death of the Righteous", "Descended into the Realm of the Dead", "Risen and Still With You", "The Easter Celebration", "Sit at the Right Hand of the Father" , “I will send the helper”) are more strongly oriented towards Christological statements than the previous ones.

The way of Christ

The chapters “Young Church” and “The History of the Church” form the introduction to the chapters on the life of faith, which are based on the individual sacraments and the ten commandments .

The way to completion

The chapter “The Last Things” deals with eschatological issues. The chapter “God” primarily reflects on fundamental statements about the distance and nearness of God and ends in the chapter “God is love”.

Appreciation

The problem with the concept may already be rooted in the fact that the experience of contingency as the starting point of the thought process is already an abstract concept that does not adequately correspond to modern living conditions. The everyday demands of a highly complex, labor-sharing industrial, information and consumer society is anything but contingent for the average consciousness, but rather qualifies as self- sufficient. Obviously, other "institutions" create meaning much more directly than a religion can compete with.

On the other hand, systems theory according to Niklas Luhmann sees an increase in the complexity of the social in the course of the functional differentiation of modern societies. Options for action have increased and increasingly must be justified individually. Thus, from a system-theoretical point of view, contingency experiences have become more probable.

Starting point for the above World catechism, however, traditionally remained the question of the truth of belief. This indirectly also gives an answer to the question about the meaning of life , which is often only aroused by the proclamation of faith.

expenditure

De nieuwe Katechismus: geloofsverkondiging voor volwassenen ; Hilversum-Antwerp u. a .: Brand u. a. 1966
Proclamation of Faith for Adults. German edition of the Dutch Catechism ; Nijmegen - Utrecht: Dekker & Van de Legt NV 1968.
Proclamation of the Faith for Adults: German Edition of the Dutch Catechism ; Freiburg im Breisgau: Herder 1969 (as p .: 1983 ¹² ; ISBN 3-451-01882-9 )

literature

Benkt-Erik Benktson: Dogma as Drama: the Dutch catechism read by a Swedish theologian ; Stuttgart: Calwer 1976 ISBN 3-7668-0526-6
Josef Dreißen: Diagnosis of the Dutch Catechism: On the structure and method of a revolutionary book ; Freiburg i. Br .; Basel; Vienna: Herder 1968
Ulrich Werbs: The importance of the listener for the preaching: pastoral theological considerations on the anthropological approach to the preaching in the Dutch catechism for adults ; Leipzig: St. Benno 1978
Do you want to go away? In: Der Spiegel . No. 50 , 1968, p. 178 ( online - December 9, 1968 ).

Remarks

↑ Members of the Cardinals' Commission were: Joseph Frings , Joseph Lefèbvre , Lorenz Jaeger , Ermenegildo Florit , Michael Browne , Charles Journet .
↑ Latin in: AAS 60 (1968), pp. 685-691; German: Rome: Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis 1968; also in the German edition of the Dutch Catechism in the appendix with its own page number, pp. 1–14. Edouard Danis SJ, Joannes Visser CssR and HJ Fortmann were responsible for editing the “supplement” (appendix, pp. 15–94) (originally Dutch: Aanvulling bij De Nieuwe Katechismus. Hilversum: Brand 1969); the latter, however, had already died when it was finally formulated.
↑ J. d'Hospital, Drei Päpste , German 1971, p. 213 ff.

[1] Members of the Cardinals' Commission were: Joseph Frings , Joseph Lefèbvre , Lorenz Jaeger , Ermenegildo Florit , Michael Browne , Charles Journet .

[2] Latin in: AAS 60 (1968), pp. 685-691; German: Rome: Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis 1968; also in the German edition of the Dutch Catechism in the appendix with its own page number, pp. 1–14. Edouard Danis SJ, Joannes Visser CssR and HJ Fortmann were responsible for editing the “supplement” (appendix, pp. 15–94) (originally Dutch: Aanvulling bij De Nieuwe Katechismus. Hilversum: Brand 1969); the latter, however, had already died when it was finally formulated.

[3] J. d'Hospital, Drei Päpste , German 1971, p. 213 ff.