Knowledge, Faith, and Early Christian Initiation: Featuring Alex Fogleman, with David Lyle Jeffrey

Link to Podcast Summary

For St. Augustine, Christ was not only the goal of learning but also the way there: “See how Christ crucified is taught and learned,” he wrote, “and know that it relates to his cross that in his body we too are crucified to the world.”

In this evening lecture and conversation, Catechesis Institute director Alex Fogleman presents material from his new book, Knowledge, Faith, and Early Christian Initiation (Cambridge University Press, 2023), which explores the history and theology of catechesis in the early church. What was the central focus of teaching new believers? And how did catechesis train Christians to know God?

As a prelude to the discussion, Dr. David Lyle Jeffrey, distinguished senior fellow and Professor Emeritus of Literature and Humanities at Baylor University, spoke about the urgent need for catechesis in the church today, brought to light comparisons with other movements of catechesis in the medieval and modern eras.

EVENT DETAILS

This event was hosted at Christ Church Waco on Thursday, January 18, and was co-sponsored by Brazos Fellows.

For more about the book, you can download a sample chapter or read about it on our blog.

Photos by Eric Guel Photography.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Alex Fogleman is the Director of the Catechesis Institute, as well as an Assistant Research Professor of Theology at Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion. He holds a PhD in Patristics and Historical Theology from Baylor University and an MDiv from Regent College. He studies Latin and Greek patristics, the history of catechesis, and theological accounts of human flourishing. He is the author of Knowledge, Faith, and Early Christian Initiation (Cambridge University Press, 2023), and several articles appearing in such journals  International Journal of Systematic Theology, Scottish Journal of Theology, Church History, Journal of Early Christian Studies, Pro Ecclesia, and Augustinian Studies, among others. He is currently writing a book on the history, theology, and practice of catechesis (Eerdmans Press, 2025). He is married to Molly, and they live with their four sons in Waco, TX, where they attend Christ Church Waco.

David Lyle Jeffrey is Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Institute for Studies of Religion at Baylor University. He was a Distinguished Professor of Literature and Humanities at Baylor University from 2000 until 2019, Professor Emeritus of English Literature at the University of Ottawa, and Guest Professor at Peking University (Beijing) and Honorary Professor at the University of International Business and Economics (Beijing). He has taught for many Universities in the US, Canada, and China. Among his many books include A Dictionary of Biblical Tradition in English Literature (1992), The Early English Lyric and Franciscan Spirituality (1975); Chaucer and Scriptural Tradition (1984); English Spirituality in the Age of Wesley (1987; 1994; 2000); The Law of Love: English Spirituality in the Age of Wyclif (1988; 2001); People of the Book: Christian Identity and Literary Culture (1996); Houses of the Interpreter: Reading Scripture, Reading Culture (2003); In the Beauty of Holiness: Art and the Bible in Western Culture (2017); Scripture and the English Poetic Imagination (2019).