The great catechist of the Early Church, St. Augustine, knew better. L. Gregory Jones, in his valuable essay on baptism and catechesis in the patristic era[1], pointed out that for Augustine instruction of the mind and the conversion of the heart were not alternatives, but two sides of the same coin, as the human person is drawn by grace through an extended period of catechetical instruction to exchange error and sin for the knowledge and love of the true God.<\/p>\n
This \u201cinstruction,\u201d\u009d Jones writes, should be conceived of broadly; in the patristic era, it included \u201clearning Scripture through study and hearing homilies \u201d\u00a6 and the shaping of their affections \u201d\u00a6 and being mentored in actual Christian living.\u201d\u009d Augustine\u2019s teaching immersed catechumens in the biblical narrative, not simply as \u201cour story\u201d\u009d to be expressed in this way or that, but in the intellectually rich mode of faith seeking understanding of the true God.<\/p>\n
As a trained rhetor, Augustine was no dry pedant, but sought to \u201cstir genuine delight in his listeners\u201d\u009d so that they would come to love that which their minds were beginning to understand. Catechumens were assigned mentors to guide them relationally through the journey of conversion, for Augustine knew that \u201cChrist is announced through Christian friends.\u201d\u009d These sponsors were charged with keeping watch over the moral and spiritual formation of new believers, and in Lent would be asked whether their charges had kept from grievous sin and stuck to their Lenten disciplines.<\/p>\n