[1] Cranmer bad published a separate and larger catechism on the
basis of the work of Justus Jonas in 1548; note also _Allen's
Catechisme, A Christen Instruccion of the Principall Pointes of
Christes Religion_ (1551).
[2] A Latin edition in 1609 was dedicated to James I. of England. The
British Houses of Parliament passed a resolution ordering all copies
of it to be publicly burned, and again in 1652 when another edition
appeared. An English translation, probably by John Bidle, was printed
in Amsterdam and widely circulated.
CATECHU, or CUTCH (Malay, _kachu_), an extract obtained from several
plants, its chief sources being the wood of two species of acacia (_A.
catechu_ and _A. suma_), both natives of India. This extract is known as
black catechu. A similar extract, known in pharmacy as pale catechu
(_Catechu pallidum_), and in general commerce as gambir, or _terra
japonica_, is produced from the leaves of _Uncaria gambir_ and _U.
acida_, cinchonaceous plants growing in the East Indian Archipelago. A
third product to which the name catechu is also applied, is obtained
from the fruits of the areca or betel palm, _Areca catechu_.
Ordinary black catechu is usually imported in three different forms. The
first and best quality, known as Pegu catechu, is obtained in blocks
externally covered with large leaves; the second and less pure variety
is in masses, which have been moulded in sand; and the third consists of
large cubes packed in coarse bags. The wood of the two species of
_Acacia_ yielding catechu is taken for the manufacture when the trees
have attained a diameter of about 1 ft. The bark is stripped off and
used for tanning, and the trunk is split up into small fragments, which
are covered with water and boiled. When the extract has become
sufficiently thick it is cast into the forms in which the catechu is
found in commerce. Catechu so prepared is a dark brown, or, in mass,
almost black, substance, brittle, and having generally a shining lustre.
It is astringent, with a sweetish taste. In cold water it disintegrates,
and in boiling water, alcohol, acetic acid and strong caustic alkali it
is completely dissolved. Chemically it consists of a mixture of a
peculiar variety of tannin termed catechu-tannic acid with catechin or
catechuic acid, and a brown substance due to the alteration of both
these principles. Catechu-tannic acid is an amorphous body soluble in
cold water, while catechin occurs in minute, white, silky, needle-shaped
crystals, which do not dissolve in cold water. A very minute proportion
of quercetin, a principle yielded by quercitron bark, has been obtained
from catechu.
Gambir, which is similar in chemical composition to ordinary catechu,
occurs in commerce in the form of cubes of about an inch in size, with a
pale brown or yellow colour, and an even earthy fracture. For the
preparation of this extract the plants above mentioned are stripped of
their leaves and young twigs, and these are boiled down in shallow pans.
The juice is strained off, evaporated, and when sufficiently
concentrated is cast into shallow boxes, where, as it hardens and dries,
it is cut into small cubes.
Gambir and catechu are extensively employed in dyeing and tanning. For
dyeing they have been in use in India from the most remote period, but
it was only during the 19th century that they were placed on the list of
European dyeing substances. Catechu is fixed by oxidation of the
colouring principle, catechin, on the cloth after dyeing or printing;
and treated thus it yields a variety of durable tints of drabs, browns
and olives with different mordants (see DYEING). The principal
consumption of catechu occurs in the preparation of fibrous substances
exposed to water, such as fishing-lines and nets, and for colouring
stout canvas used for covering boxes and portmanteaus under the name of
tanned canvas. Black catechu is official in most pharmacopoeias except
that of Great Britain, in which pale catechu is the official drug. The
actions and uses of the two are similar, but black catechu is the more
powerful. The dose is from five to twenty grains. The _pulvis catechu
compositus_ contains catechu and kino, and may be given in doses twice
as large as those named. The drug has the actions and uses of tannic
acid, but owing to the relative insolubility of catechu-tannic acid, it
is more valuable than ordinary tannic acid in diarrhoea, dysentery and
intestinal haemorrhage.
CATECHUMEN (Lat. _catechumenus_, Gr. [Greek: katechoumenos], instructed,
from [Greek: katechein], to teach orally), an ecclesiastical term
applied to those receiving instruction in the principles of the
Christian religion with a view to baptism. As soon as Christianity
became a missionary religion, it was found necessary to make
arrangements for giving instruction to new converts. At the beginning
the Apostles themselves seem to have undertaken this duty, and the
instruction was apparently given after baptism, for in Acts ii. 41, 42,
we are told that "they that gladly received the word were baptized ...
and they continued stedfastly in the Apostles' teaching." There are two
instances in the New Testament where reference is made to individual
instruction in this technical sense. Luke (i. 4) in dedicating the third
Gospel to Theophilus tells him that his aim in writing the book was
"that thou mightest have certainty in the things in which thou has been
instructed" ([Greek: katechethes]) and we are told that Apollos was
instructed ([Greek: katechemenos]) "in the way of the Lord" (Acts xviii.
25).
With the development of Christianity the instruction became more
definite and formal. It is probable that the duty of instructing
converts was assigned to "the teachers," who are ranked by Paul
immediately after the Apostles and prophets (1 Cor. xii. 28), and
occupied an important position in the Christian ministry. In the
_Didache_, or Teaching of the Apostles, we have an excellent
illustration of the teaching which was given to candidates for baptism
in early times. There can be little doubt that the _Didache_ was used as
a manual for catechumens for several centuries. Athanasius (_Festal
Epistles_, 39), for instance, says that "it was appointed by the Fathers
to be read by those who are just recently coming to us, and wish to be
instructed in the word of godliness" ([Greek: katecheisthai ton tes
eusebeias logon]). The instruction prescribed by the _Didache_ is very
largely ethical, and stands in striking contrast to the more elaborate
doctrinal teaching which came into vogue in later days. The _Shepherd of
Hermas_ too is another book which seems to have been used for the
purpose of catechesis, for Eusebius says that it "was deemed most
necessary for those who have need of elementary instruction" (_Eccles.
Hist._ iii. 3-6).
With the rise of theological controversy and the growth of heresy
catechetical instruction became of vital importance to the Church, and
much greater importance was attached to it. After the middle of the 4th
century it was regarded as essential that the candidate for baptism
should not only be acquainted with the spiritual truths and ethical
demands which form the basis of practical Christianity, but should also
be trained in theology and the interpretation of the creeds. Two books
have been preserved which throw a striking light upon the transformation
which had taken place in the conception of catechesis; (1) the
Catechetical Lectures of Cyril of Jerusalem; (2) the _De rudibus
Catechizandis_ of Augustine. Cyril's Lectures may be termed the _Pearson
on the Creed_ of the 4th century. He takes each article separately,
discusses it clause by clause, explains the meaning of each word, and
justifies each statement from Scripture. Augustine's treatise was
written at the request of a catechist, named Deogratias, who had asked
him for advice. After replying to the question of Deogratias, and giving
sundry counsels as to the best method of interesting catechumens,
Augustine concludes by giving a model catechetical lecture, in which he
covers the whole of biblical history, beginning from the opening
chapters of Genesis, and laying particular stress on the doctrinal parts
of Scripture. Cyril and Augustine differ, as we should expect, in the
doctrines which they select for emphasis, but they both agree in
requiring a knowledge of sound doctrine on the part of the candidates.
In spite of the numerous references to catechumens in Patristic
literature, our knowledge of the details of the system is often very
deficient, and upon some points there is considerable diversity of
opinion amongst experts. The following are the most important questions
which come under consideration.
1. _The Classification of Catechumens_.--Bingham and many of the older
writers held that there were four classes of catechumens, representing
different stages in the process of instruction: (a) "The inquirers"
whose interest in Christianity had been sufficiently aroused to make
them desire further information, and who received private and
individual instruction from the teachers before they were admitted
into the second class, (b) "The hearers" (_audientes_), who were
admitted into the Church for the purpose of listening to sermons and
exhortations, (c) The _prostrati_ or _genu flectentes_, who were
allowed also to take part in the prayers, (d) The _electi_ or
_competentes_, who had completed the period of probation and were
deemed ready to receive baptism. Modern scholars, however, for the
most part, deny that there is sufficient basis to justify this
elaborate classification, and think that its advocates have confused
the catechumenate with the system of penance. The evidence does not
seem to warrant more than two classes, (a) the _audientes_, who were
in the initial stages of their training, (b) the _competentes_, who
were qualified for baptism.
2. _The Relation of Catechumens to the Church_.--Catechumens were
allowed of course to attend church services, but at a certain point
were dismissed with the words "Ite catechumeni, missa est." The moment
at which the dismissal took place cannot be exactly determined, and it
is not clear whether the catechumens were allowed to remain for a
portion of the Communion service, and if so, whether as spectators or
as partial participants. A passage in Augustine seems to imply that in
some way they shared in the Sacrament, "that which they (the
catechumens) receive, though it be not the Body of Christ, is yet an
holy thing and more holy than the common food which sustains us,
because it is a Sacrament" (_De peccatorum meritis_, ii. 42). The
explanation of these words has occasioned considerable controversy.
Many scholars hold (and this certainly seems the most natural
interpretation) that consecrated bread was taken from the Eucharist
and given to the catechumens. Bingham, however, maintains that the
reference is not to the consecrated bread, but to salt, which was
given to them as a symbol "that they might learn to purge and cleanse
their souls from sin."
3. _The Duration of the Training_.--Various statements with regard to
the duration of the catechumenical training are found in
ecclesiastical authorities. The Apostolical Constitutions, for
instance, fix it at three years;[1] the synod of Elvira at two.[2] The
references in the Fathers, however, imply that for practical purposes
it was limited to the forty days of Lent. Very probably, however, the
forty days of actual instruction were preceded by a period of
probation.
4. _The Relation between the Catechumenate and Baptism_.--Catechetical
instruction was designed as a preliminary to baptism. There were two
directions, however, in which this purpose was enlarged: (a) We have
no reason to suppose that when infant baptism was introduced, those
who had been baptized in infancy were excluded from the catechetical
training, or that instruction was deemed unnecessary in their case,
though as a matter of fact we have no definite reference to their
admission. The custom of postponing baptism, which was very general in
the 4th and 5th centuries, probably made such cases more rare than is
generally supposed, and so accounts for the absence of any allusion to
them in connexion with the catechumenate. (b) We have no reason to
suppose that the instruction given in the famous catechetical schools
of Alexandria and Carthage was restricted to candidates for baptism.
There is no doubt that "catechetical" is used in a much wider sense
when applied to the lectures of Origen than when used of the addresses
of Cyril of Jerusalem. The "instruction" of Origen was given to all
classes of Christians, and not merely to those who were in the initial
stages.
5. _Characteristics of the Catechumenical Training_.--Besides
instruction there were some other important features connected with
the catechumenate. (a) The duty of _confession_ was impressed on the
candidates. (b) The ceremony of _exorcism_ was often performed in
order to free the catechumen from evil spirits. (c) At a certain point
in the training the creed and the doctrine of the Sacraments were
delivered to the candidates by the bishop with much impressive
ceremonial. This teaching constituted the "holy secret" or "mystery"
(_disciplina arcani_) of Christianity, and could only be imparted to
those who were qualified to receive it. The acquisition of this
arcanum was regarded as the most essential element in the catechetical
discipline, and marked off its possessors from the rest of the world.
There can be little doubt that this conception of the "Holy Secret"
came into the Church originally from the Greek mysteries, and that
much of the ceremonial connected with the catechumenate and baptism
was derived from the same source.
AUTHORITIES.--Cyril, _Catecheses_; Gregory of Nyssa, _Oratio
Catechetica_; Chrysostom, _Catecheses ad illuminandos_; Augustine, _De
rudibus Catechizandis_; Mayer, _Geschichte des Katechumenats ... in
den ersten sechs Jahrhunderten_ (1868); S. Cheetham, _The Mysteries,
Pagan and Christian_. (H. T. A.)