The Catechism Yesterday and Today: The Evolution of a Genre

The publication of the Catechism of the Catholic Church has generated new interest in catechisms. Berard Marthaler's The Catechism Yesterday and Today presents it as the latest version in a genre of works that, over time, have served the cause of religious instruction, Church reform, safeguarding orthodoxy, inculturation, apologetics, and, even, political agendas. In tracing the evolution of the catechism-genre, The Catechism Yesterday and Today presents a survey of Catholic history that recalls individuals and incidents, some little known, some forgotten, that shaped the Church's catechetical ministry. It is a study of faith and culture addressed to the general reader as well as to historians, religious educators, and theologians. Marthaler begins with a look at the development of this tool for lay instruction and its evolution from the Council of Trent through the Counter-Reformation. The effects of world mission on catechism development and a special look at early English and Irish Catechisms precede an exploration of the American Baltimore catechism. The work concludes with a look at the Dutch catechism that forged the way for the Catechism of the Catholic Church before finishing with a discussion of that catechism as it now appears in English.