A proposta de ensino do catecismo menor nas Escolas Paroquiais do Sínodo de Missouri no Brasil a partir da Revista Igreja Luterana (1940-1954)

Abstract

This work problematizes the teaching proposal of the Minor Catechism, written by Martin Luther, in the parish schools of the Missouri Synod from the analysis of the Lutheran Church Magazine. The Missouri Synod is a Lutheran institution, originally from the United States, which settled in the Rio Grande do Sul in 1900. Its fundamental pedagogical principle was the strengthening of parish schools and the promotion of publications. In the publications of the Synod, it is noticeable the intention to direct the teaching of the Minor Catechism, especially in parish schools. One of the journals was directed to the pedagogical and theological formation of pastors and teachers. To this end, this periodical, called the Lutheran Church, produced by this Synod, is analyzed for pastors and teachers of parish schools between 1940 and 1954. As a theoretical assumption, the perspective of the New History is adopted (BURKE, 1992) and the methodology uses documentary analysis (BACELLAR, 2010, CELLARD, 2012, SAMARA and TUPY, 2010). The concepts of habitus, field, and symbolic capital (BOURDIEU, 1989, 1996, 2003, 2005, and 2008) are used for the theoretical analysis of the sources. The study shows the synod's concern in the formation of its teachers, especially in the theological sense, so that based on the doctrine proposed by the Synod, through the teaching of the Minor Catechism of Luther, they could teach students within a habitus proper to Lutheranism. The compulsory nationalization of teaching and the abandonment of teaching practice by many teachers directly impacted parish schools and the training of new teachers. The Lutheran Church magazine was the means found to provide this pedagogical and for theological support in the formation of teachers, mainly guiding those who did not have pedagogical training. This form had articles with guidelines for teaching the various disciplines, but there is a strong emphasis on Lutheran religious teaching, showing the preponderance of the religious field within the school. This field should be reinforced through systematized teaching and the practice of memorizing the Minor Catechism. Teachers were instructed to remain faithful to the doctrinal teaching of the Catechism and its teaching practice, rejecting divergent teachings to Lutheran teaching. Thus, teachers were encouraged to keep students in parish schools, noting that having true Bible teaching through the Catechism could be certain of their eternal salvation. Therefore, the teaching recommendations of the Catechism present in the Lutheran Church magazine aim at the foundation and support of a religious habitus of its own, forming a religious field in confrontation with divergent thoughts of this.