  The onset of a solar eruption is formulated here as either a magnetic
catastrophe or as an instability. Both start with the same equation of force
balance governing the underlying equilibria. Using a toroidal flux rope in an
external bipolar or quadrupolar field as a model for the current-carrying flux,
we demonstrate the occurrence of a fold catastrophe by loss of equilibrium for
several representative evolutionary sequences in the stable domain of parameter
space. We verify that this catastrophe and the torus instability occur at the
same point; they are thus equivalent descriptions for the onset condition of
solar eruptions.
