CHAPTER X

THE CATECHISM

BEFORE the last revision of the Prayer Book, A.D. 1661, the Catechism was included in the Order of Confirmation. In the Books of Edward VI. and Elizabeth the title was, Confirmation, wherein is contained a Catechism for Children. In 1604 this was altered to The Order of Confirmation, or laying on of hands upon children baptized, and able to render an account of their faith, according to the Catechism following; with a further title to the Catechism itself, that is to say, An Instruction to be learned of every Child, before he be brought to be confirmed of the Bishop. The word 'catechism' is derived from KarηXÉW and denotes viva voce instruction. In the chapter dealing with Baptism we have noticed how the converts were catechised in the primitive Church. The Sarum use contains no catechism, but requires children to be taught the Apostles' Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Hail Mary; and in A.D. 1281 it was ordered that parish priests should expound once a year the Ten Commandments in English. As there was a tendency to increase the interval between Baptism and Confirmation, it became more necessary that children who came to be confirmed should have received definite instruction. The authorship of the first part of the Catechism is uncertain. It has been attributed to Alexander Nowell, second master of Westminster School in 1549,

and Dean of S. Paul's from 1560 to 1602; to Poynet, Bishop of Rochester (1550-1); and to Goodrich, Bishop of Ely (1534-54). The latter part of the Catechism was added after the Hampton Court Conference in 1604. It was composed by Overall, then Dean of S. Paul's, and afterwards Bishop of Norwich.

The Catechism contains three main divisions(1). The blessings of Baptism; and the nature of our baptismal vows, which are:

The vow of Renunciation of the devil, the world, and the flesh.

The vow of Faith: the Apostles' Creed and its explanation.

The vow of Obedience to God's will: the Ten Commandments and their explanation in our duty towards God and our neighbours. (2). The practice of Prayer: the Lord's Prayer and its explanation.

(3). The use of the Sacraments generally (i.e. universally) necessary to salvation.

The 'N. or M.' at the beginning of the Catechism has puzzled multitudes of children. The initials are probably mere contractions of Nomen and Nomina, 'Name' andNames,' M. being an error for NN.

CHAPTER XI

THE ORDER OF CONFIRMATION

This belongs to the use and custom of the Anglican Church, according to the most ancient traditions founded upon the revealed word; inasmuch as of old times among our forefathers, and in our days among our own selves it is a frequent practice to make the sign of the cross in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ; both publicly in Baptism as we are commanded to do, and in the Confirmation of those who have been catechised, and in all the other Sacraments of the Church; and also in our ordinary life and conversation. RICHARD MONTAGUE, Bishop of Chichester, Origines Ecclesiasticae, Tome i. Part 2, p. 79, a.d. 1636.

CONFIRMATION is, in accordance with the language of ancient Christendom, a sacred mystery' or 'sacrament,' ordained for the strengthening of the spiritual life.

The Roman Catholic Council of Trent asserts it to have been ordained by Jesus Christ,' and apparently alleges this as a reason why it should be reckoned as a Sacrament. Our English Catechism adopts a similar view of the nature of a Sacrament, defining it' ordained by Christ Himself,' but our 25th Article denies that Confirmation is one of the 'Sacraments of the Gospel,' because it has no visible sign ordained of God.' The difference between the Churches of England and of Rome on this point is little more than verbal. Both hold the same doctrine with regard to the nature of Confirmation, and both believe that it is based on the inspired authority of the New Testament. The question, therefore, as to whether we ought to draw a

distinction between a rite mentioned in the Gospel and one mentioned elsewhere in the New Testament, and between a rite which Christ personally ordained and one which He ordained through the instrumentality of His apostles, is a comparatively trivial question. The word 'sacrament' was in primitive times vaguely applied to other mysteries besides those seven to which it became restricted in the language of twelfth century. It was also used, in early times, as by our Articles, of the two eminent Sacraments of the Eucharist and Baptism. And Confirmation was so closely allied with Baptism that it was called a Sacrament when the vaguer use of the word was becoming extinct, and when it had not yet become the custom to restrict the word to seven rites only.

It is greatly to be regretted that the 25th Article is worded so carelessly. The Article suggests that Confirmation, Penance, Orders, Matrimony, and Extreme Unction are all either the results of a corrupt following of the apostles, or are states of life allowed in the Scriptures. But it is quite obvious that Confirmation is not a 'state of life' or caused by a corrupt following of the apostles. It is true that in the Middle Ages certain innovations and corruptions were connected with the administration of Confirmation, Penance, Orders, and Extreme Unction, but the rites themselves are all of scriptural origin. In this volume these corruptions are pointed out and distinguished from the pure and ancient ceremonies.

Confirmation has the most express warrant of Holy Scripture. The apostles laid their hands upon the baptized in order that they might receive the Holy Ghost, and thereby become admitted to full communion with the Church created by the Holy Ghost upon the day of Pentecost. It appears that the Holy Ghost was imparted in different manners in the miraculous beginning of Christianity. The apostles

received the Holy Ghost from our Lord for their ministerial work of absolving the penitent when He appeared to them on the evening after His resurrection. Yet it was not until the day of Pentecost that the Holy Ghost descended to give them full power to witness to Christ. Similarly we find that the Holy Ghost is said in one instance to have been granted to the unbaptized1; but the whole tenor of the Acts of the Apostles suggests to us that the Holy Ghost was normally imparted by the laying on of the apostles' hands. His divine presence manifested itself in a rich variety of gifts, of which an account is given in 1 Corinthians. These new powers and joys are shown to be attended by the most serious responsibilities inasmuch as the Christian has become a temple of the Holy Ghost. Modern paganism is in the habit of asserting that Christianity depreciated the human body and its faculties. As a matter of fact, it exalted the human body to a position which it had never held before, by teaching men that it had been taken, limb for limb, by the Eternal God, and become the dwelling-place of the Lord and Giver of life.

Inasmuch as the first converts to the faith were generally adults, who, if they had been previously heathens, were carefully instructed in the truths of religion before their Baptism, Confirmation was administered immediately after Baptism. In describing the ancient baptismal service we have already described the ancient rite of Confirmation. The Eastern Church still administers Confirmation in this way both in the case of adults and of infants.

The age of candidates for Confirmation has varied greatly in the West. The ordinary medieval English rule was that it should be received as soon as possible after Baptism. The difficulty of travelling to meet a bishop often caused an interval of some years to

1 Acts x. 47.