Thursday, December 15, 2011
I survived!!!
The exams are finished, the grades are submitted, and I have SURVIVED my first semester teaching college! Not only that, if my student thank you notes indicate anything, I actually succeeded. I can't believe how much I've learned this semester, or how much I still have to learn, but that is all on hold right now while I go enjoy my family & friends.
Monday, December 5, 2011
Catechetics & Theology
Many people have never heard of catechetics, the subject I teach, and have asked me to explain exactly what it is. It's easily confused with theology (and sometimes it's just easier to tell people that I teach theology), so let me differentiate between the two.
"Catechesis" comes from the Greek word which translates "to echo down." Specifically, to catechize is to echo down or hand down the Faith to others. (I love the translation "echo" because it presumes faithfulness to the original teaching of Christ down through the ages.) "Catechetics" is the science of how to catechize, how to echo down the Faith. It prepares those who want to hand on the Faith to do so effectively. So the program has two key goals: ensure that students know the Faith, and prepare those students to become professionals in the field.
"Theology" is the "study of God." Theology takes the doctrine, the truths of the Faith that have been handed on by the Church, and then reasons what else could be deduced from that body of knowledge. Theology is more speculative, beginning with what is known and progressing to the unknown. Catechesis does not go beyond what is known, but only deals with what is held by the Church. Pope John Paul's Theology of the Body illustrates theology very well: he took what we know about Creation, the Fall, and Redemption, and speculated (beautifully) about what else might be deduced from that knowledge. Of course, he did so in a catechetical setting, and in his position as the chief catechist of the Church, so it's also very catechetical...obviously, the two dovetail quite a bit.
A couple of weeks ago, one of my theology colleagues told me he was surprised to see me at Sunday Mass at Parish A. I thought to myself, "I'm a Catholic teaching Catholicism at a Catholic University...why would he be surprised to see me at Sunday Mass?" Evidently my puzzlement showed, because one of my catechetics colleagues chimed in, "What's the difference between a theology professor and a catechetics professor? Theology professors attend Parish A; catechetics professors attend Parish B. Theology professors homeschool their children; catechetics professors send their children to school." I laughed, because while exceptions to the rule do exist, the idea has roots in reality.
When I returned to town after Thanksgiving, I noticed that many people had already decorated for Christmas. Indeed, most of my neighborhood has suddenly become very festive in these dark days of December. And some of my catechetics colleagues are right up there with the most festive of them. The theology professors, on the other hand, are not putting up their decorations during Advent (since it's a penitential season), but wait until Christmas Eve or so to decorate. So we can extend our distinction: "Theology professors don't decorate until Christmas; catechetics professors decorate the weekend after Thanksgiving."
Now that I know about the game, I'm on the lookout for other fun distinctions between theology and catechetics...
"Catechesis" comes from the Greek word which translates "to echo down." Specifically, to catechize is to echo down or hand down the Faith to others. (I love the translation "echo" because it presumes faithfulness to the original teaching of Christ down through the ages.) "Catechetics" is the science of how to catechize, how to echo down the Faith. It prepares those who want to hand on the Faith to do so effectively. So the program has two key goals: ensure that students know the Faith, and prepare those students to become professionals in the field.
"Theology" is the "study of God." Theology takes the doctrine, the truths of the Faith that have been handed on by the Church, and then reasons what else could be deduced from that body of knowledge. Theology is more speculative, beginning with what is known and progressing to the unknown. Catechesis does not go beyond what is known, but only deals with what is held by the Church. Pope John Paul's Theology of the Body illustrates theology very well: he took what we know about Creation, the Fall, and Redemption, and speculated (beautifully) about what else might be deduced from that knowledge. Of course, he did so in a catechetical setting, and in his position as the chief catechist of the Church, so it's also very catechetical...obviously, the two dovetail quite a bit.
A couple of weeks ago, one of my theology colleagues told me he was surprised to see me at Sunday Mass at Parish A. I thought to myself, "I'm a Catholic teaching Catholicism at a Catholic University...why would he be surprised to see me at Sunday Mass?" Evidently my puzzlement showed, because one of my catechetics colleagues chimed in, "What's the difference between a theology professor and a catechetics professor? Theology professors attend Parish A; catechetics professors attend Parish B. Theology professors homeschool their children; catechetics professors send their children to school." I laughed, because while exceptions to the rule do exist, the idea has roots in reality.
When I returned to town after Thanksgiving, I noticed that many people had already decorated for Christmas. Indeed, most of my neighborhood has suddenly become very festive in these dark days of December. And some of my catechetics colleagues are right up there with the most festive of them. The theology professors, on the other hand, are not putting up their decorations during Advent (since it's a penitential season), but wait until Christmas Eve or so to decorate. So we can extend our distinction: "Theology professors don't decorate until Christmas; catechetics professors decorate the weekend after Thanksgiving."
Now that I know about the game, I'm on the lookout for other fun distinctions between theology and catechetics...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)