Text in Afrikaans / Geloof wat in die kategese as deel van 'n to tale geloofsvormingsproses op die tafel kom, moet holisties-ekosistemies verstaan word met die 'hic et nunc'- relevansie daarvan as 'n kwalifiserende maatstaf. Geloof so gesien, behoort in die kategesemateriaal van die Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk na vore te kom. Die grootste deel van die studie is gewy aan die bree teoretisering in holisties-ekosistemiese perspektief. Vanuit 'n wetenskapsteoretiese vertrekpunt is 'n eie prakties-teologiese teorie oor geloof ontwerp wat geloof enersyds sien as die dinamiese interaksie van gawe, inhoud en respons, en andersyds as 'n aantal perspektiewe daarop. Hierdie teorie het as vertrekpunt gedien om sekere van die kontekste waarbinne geloof funksioneer, te beskryf, naamlik die koninkryk van God, die samelewing, die gemeente, die kategese, die adolessent, die jeugsubkultuur en die skool. In hierdie beskrywing is 'n omvattende teorie oor die kategese daargestel wat dit holisties-ekosistemies sien. Deur middel van inhoudsanalise is fasette van die teoriee getoets aan die lesse in die handboeke van die kategete wat met die adolessente in standerd 5 tot 8 werk. Daar is bevind dat die geloofsbeeld wat na vore kom steriel kognitief-vertikaal is. Oor 'n tydperk van meer as twintig jaar is weinig samelewingsrelevante kwessies aangeraak. Die belangwekkende dokumente Ras, Volk en Nasie en Kerk en Samelewing het nie gefunksioneer nie. In terme van die teorie oor geloof fasiliteer die kategesemateriaal nie relevante geloof midde-in die wereld waarin die adolessente moet glo nie. Dit het ook geblyk dat die inhoudsanalise as werkwyse en die meetinstrument wat ontwerp is, bruikbaar was. Die studie formuleer vanuit die teoriee en die empiriese ondersoek 'n aantal perspektiewe van waaruit die kategese en die lesmateriaal daarvan die kritiese hantering van die verhouding kognitief-affektief-konatief en die gerigtheid individueel-vertikaal, horisontaal-ekklesiaal en horisontaal-sosiaal kan hanteer met die oog daarop dat die kerk sigself en die adolessente as deel daarvan, nie in 'n dogmatistiese ghetto in perk nie, maar vorm met die oog op 'n selfstandige en relevante geloofsfunksionering op die geloof stog in die woestyn van die wereld met die oog op die realisering van die Ryk van God. / Faith which is handled in catechesis as part of the total process of the formation of faith should be understood in a holistic-ecosystemic way with its 'hic et nunc' relevance as a qualifying criterion. It should also appear in this form in the material for catechesis in the Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk. The greater part of the study focuses on broad theorising from a holistic-ecosystemic perspective. An independent practical-theological theory on faith is developed from a scientific-theoretical basis. This theory sees faith as a dynamic interaction of gift, content and response on the one hand and a number of different perspectives on the other. It serves as the point of departure for describing some of the contexts in which faith functions, namely the kingdom of God, society, the community, catechesis, the adolescent, the youth subculture and the school. In the process a comprehensive theory about catechesis is developed which sees it holistically ecosystemically. Content analysis is used to test aspects of the theories against the lessons in the manuals for catechists working with adolescents in standards 5 to 8. The resultant image of faith is found to be cognitively-vertically sterile. Over a period of more than twenty years few socially relevant issues were touched on. The important documents Ras, Volk en Nasie and Kerk en Samelewing did not function. In terms of the theory of faith this material for catechesis does not facilitate relevant faith in the world in which the adolescent has to have faith. It is also apparent that content analysis as a method and the measuring instrument used were suitable. Using the theories and the empirical investigation the study formulates a number of perspectives from which catechesis and the lesson material can deal with the critical handling of the relationship cognitively-affectively-conatively and the directedness individually-vertically, horizontally-ecclesially and horizontally-socially so that the church does not imprison itself and its adolescent members in a dogmatistic ghetto, but shapes them so that their faith can function independently and relevantly on the way of faith through the desert of the world with a view to realise the kingdom of God. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / Th. D. (Praktiese Teologie)

This study represents a work of practical narrative theology which originates in the notable prominence of an ancient form of catechesis in a modern document, the General Directory for Catechesis (GDC), issued in 1997 by the Sacred Congregation for the Clergy in the Vatican. The GDC first mentions narratio explicitly in number 39 in the form of an imperative: "Catechesis, for its part, transmits the words and deeds of Revelation; it is obliged to proclaim and narrate them and, at the same time, to make clear the profound mysteries that they contain." It is under the weight of that obligation that this study came to be. Narratio, or the narration of salvation history, which was a standard part of the catechesis of the Church of the fourth and fifth centuries gave way to the exigencies of a changing Church in which the catechetical focus turned from adults, who needed a Judeo-Christian worldview to replace a Greco-Roman one, to children who had grown up in communities shaped by a Christian vision. This doctoral thesis proceeds by, first, surveying Roman Catholic magisterial teaching immediately preceding the issuance of the GDC to trace the roots of this apparent innovation within an institution which is otherwise noted for its conservatism. After establishing the context and character of the GDCs call for revival of narratio, this thesis examines the historical setting, rhetorical structure, and function of narratio in Augustine of Hippo's De catechizandis rudibus, and then its scriptural precursors in the two Testaments in order to discover how this narration functioned in the Jewish and Christian communities which practiced haggadic and anamnetic recitals of God's saving works as a means to the formation and maintenance of communal identity. This study seeks to establish that a positive response to the GDC's call is as much warranted by the evidence provided in the biblical and post-biblical Jewish and Christian practice of ritual/covenantal remembrance as by the Catholic magisterial imperative in the GDC. In this, it may aid to inform and direct such a positive response to the GDC for the revival of the catechetical narratio. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D. Th. (Church History)

This study represents a work of practical narrative theology which originates in the notable prominence of an ancient form of catechesis in a modern document, the General Directory for Catechesis (GDC), issued in 1997 by the Sacred Congregation for the Clergy in the Vatican. The GDC first mentions narratio explicitly in number 39 in the form of an imperative: "Catechesis, for its part, transmits the words and deeds of Revelation; it is obliged to proclaim and narrate them and, at the same time, to make clear the profound mysteries that they contain." It is under the weight of that obligation that this study came to be. Narratio, or the narration of salvation history, which was a standard part of the catechesis of the Church of the fourth and fifth centuries gave way to the exigencies of a changing Church in which the catechetical focus turned from adults, who needed a Judeo-Christian worldview to replace a Greco-Roman one, to children who had grown up in communities shaped by a Christian vision. This doctoral thesis proceeds by, first, surveying Roman Catholic magisterial teaching immediately preceding the issuance of the GDC to trace the roots of this apparent innovation within an institution which is otherwise noted for its conservatism. After establishing the context and character of the GDCs call for revival of narratio, this thesis examines the historical setting, rhetorical structure, and function of narratio in Augustine of Hippo's De catechizandis rudibus, and then its scriptural precursors in the two Testaments in order to discover how this narration functioned in the Jewish and Christian communities which practiced haggadic and anamnetic recitals of God's saving works as a means to the formation and maintenance of communal identity. This study seeks to establish that a positive response to the GDC's call is as much warranted by the evidence provided in the biblical and post-biblical Jewish and Christian practice of ritual/covenantal remembrance as by the Catholic magisterial imperative in the GDC. In this, it may aid to inform and direct such a positive response to the GDC for the revival of the catechetical narratio. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D. Th. (Church History)