K problematice recepce Československého katechismu v českém církevním milieu 20. let 20. století
The Reception of the Czechoslovak Catechism in the Czech Church Milieu of the 1920s

Summary/Abstract: The publication of the Czechoslovak Catechism by Karel Farský and František Kalous in the autumn of 1922 attracted considerable attention within the religious life of the Czechoslovak Republic. Formally, it was a relatively brief textbook of religion intended for secondary school students (but also for the wider church au¬dience regardless of age). In reality, however, the book represented the first relative¬ly systematic outline of the doctrine of the newly established Czechoslovak Church (Hussite), founded only two years earlier in 1920. Expectations among the faithful were high. Within the church itself – already divided into two currents over doctrinal issues – enthusiasts of theological modernism welcomed the catechism with excite¬ment and satisfaction, while a traditionalist faction advocating the adoption of East¬ern Orthodox teaching unequivocally rejected it. They concluded that the catechism contained numerous claims and principles incompatible with the theology of the Christian churches. Although the authors employed established Christian terminol¬ogy, they infused it with a new rationalist meaning by suppressing sacramentalism. The catechism also drew responses beyond the Orthodox camp: representatives of other major churches active in the Czech lands – Catholic, Protestant, and Old Catholic alike – reached conclusions similar to those of the Orthodox, namely that the work failed to remain within the boundaries of Christian doctrine, and they rejected it to varying degrees. By contrast, the catechism was warmly received and endorsed by the Free Thought movement (atheists). Its publication triggered a controversy that ultimately led to the termination of relations between the Czechoslovak Church and the Serbian Orthodox Church. The affair deepened and sharpened the internal doc¬trinal conflict, encouraged the organizational separation of traditionalists, and accel¬erated the processes that culminated in the establishment of an Orthodox Church in the Czech lands. The dispute over the catechism highlighted the necessity of engaging additional theologians to refine the church’s doctrine and to develop further creative efforts in this field.

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