Catechized for Beatitude: Theology as Initiation and Apprenticeship

Catechist Handbooks

by Hans Boersma, Alex Fogleman

In this thought-provoking new book in the Catechist Handbooks series, leading theologian and Anglican priest Hans Boersma tackles the most important question for recovering a robust practice of church-based catechesis: What is it ultimately for?

Beginning with an account of the loss of a sacramental teleology in modernity, Boersma charts a constructive account of what it might mean for catechesis to be not just teaching “stuff” about God but about initiating new believers into God’s very own life. Catechesis, Boersma argues, should be understood as a form of mystagogy. It is an apprenticeship in which the Divine Master leads us by the hand and draws us into fellowship with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Catechesis is aimed at nothing less than seeing God face to face.

Paperback

First published March 17, 2023

About the author

I serve in the Saint Benedict Servants of Christ Chair in Ascetical Theology at Nashotah House in Wisconsin—a community of formation marked by the fullness of Anglican faith and practice, Benedictine spirituality, and classical Christian thought and teaching. (If you’re interested in studying at Nashotah House, contact me: hboersma@nashotah.edu). I am a Priest in the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA).

Before coming to Nashotah House in 2019, I taught for fourteen years at Regent College in Vancouver, BC and for six years at Trinity Western University in Langley, BC. I also served several years as a pastor in a Reformed church. I grew up in the Netherlands and have been in Canada since 1983.

My interests range across a variety of areas: patristic theology, twentieth-century Catholic thought, and spiritual interpretation of Scripture. In each of these areas, I am driven by a desire to retrieve the ‘sacramental ontology’ of the pre-modern tradition. So, much of my work looks to the past in hopes of recovering a sacramental mindset. I suppose this makes me a ressourcement (retrieval) theologian of sorts. Retrieval of the Great Tradition’s sacramental ontology has been at the heart of almost all my publications over the past twenty years or so.

Reviews

[Ryan Barkley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good short read on the purpose of catechism, the beatific vision. Boersma lays out the modern problem of atomizing everything, where even our catechism becomes a bundling of information that is merely a bunch of separate parts about God. Boersma discusses the need to understand theology as a "science" whereby we know God as God knows Himself. The catechism ought to reorient the catechized to understand our end/goal is the beatific vision and to participate in God's own nature. The problem lies within secular modernity's plausibility structure where such a goal/end is wishful thinking and not even attractive. 5 stars for this one, simply based off what Boersma intends to do here.

A power quote from Boersma reflecting on faith seeking understanding: "If we’re not interested in learning about God, we should perhaps question how much faith we actually have."

[J. Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some minor quibbles here and there but I strongly recommend this short read to all. Thought provoking work on the ultimate telos of catechizing those in Christ. Though due to its length it does leave some open ends, those are ends worth thinking through on your own time.