The Critical Need for Catechical Instruction in the Church – David S. Huffman
Does your church catechize?
When I first became a pastor, I discovered that my congregation had never explored either the Westminster Shorter or LargerCatechisms. One member, in her 90’s, said that she learned the Shorter Catechism when she was a little girl. A younger lady, who grew up ARP, had learned it as a child as well. But the overwhelming majority of members, including officers, knew very little of the content of our doctrinal teaching as presented in these catechisms. As an Associate Reformed Presbyterian, this was a concern. The very basics of our doctrinal beliefs werehardly known among the members of our church. So, we set out on a journey to remedy the situation. We began an adult Sunday School class that studied the Shorter Catechism over a two-year period.
In this article I want to address the importance of catechisms and catechizing. If such an article has already appeared on this blog, my apologies. However, the importance of the subject is worthy of revisiting.
What is a Catechism?
The word “catechism” is derived from a Greek word (katecheo) which means “to sound down upon” (as in “to charm with resounding sound”), or “to inform by word of mouth,” or, as it is more commonly understood, “to teach orally” or “to instruct.” It’s used several times in the Greek New Testament, such as in Acts 18:25, where Apollos “was instructed in the way of the Lord.” Thus, such instruction was in obedience to the Lord Jesus’ command to “make disciples of all nations . . . teaching them to observe all that I have commanded” (Matt. 28:19, 20).
In the early church the noun form of the word, catechesis, came to be used for basic Christian instruction. Such instruction, as J. I. Packer wrote, was designed for “the growing of God’s people in the gospel and in its implications for doctrine, devotion, duty, and delight.”
A Brief History of Catechizing
We find the earliest evidence of formal catechizing in the 2nd century. Unlike the question-and-answer format of the catechisms most of us are familiar with today, these early catechisms were more like manuals on doctrine and simple creedal statements (though not as formal as The Apostles Creed, which developed later). It was common for a person seeking to be baptized as a believer in Christ to be first instructed in the basic principles of the Christian faith and doctrine before their baptism. A person receiving this instruction was called a catechumen and the person instructing them was called a catechist. This practice was designed to help the one seeking baptism understand what they were committing their life to. Being a Christian, a follower of Jesus Christ, involved believing certain things and living a certain way. Since many people who were becoming Christians came out of religions that were contrary to the teachings of Christ and his apostles, it was critical that these new converts understood the Christian faith.
The practice of this type of catechizing continued until about the 5th century when, as scholars have observed, there was a comingling of the church and the state and the church becomingmore hierarchical in its ecclesiastical structure. In some ways, if you were a citizen of a country whose leader subscribed to the Christian faith, then you would likely be, by virtue of your citizenship, a Christian, even if you did not truly understand what it meant to be a Christian. Rigorous instruction in the faith was not greatly emphasized. As the great Presbyterian theologian John Murray once explained, “as the Church grew in world prominence” it “lost in spiritual life.” The Church’s “teaching exercises were diminished” as “its ritual services were expanded.”
Sadly, there were few who clearly understood the Christian faith and gospel. The “ritual services” Murray spoke of were things like the Roman Catholic Mass. Over the next 1000 years, the leaders of the Roman Church would come to believe that it was unnecessary for those attending the Mass to understand what was said. Their presence at the Mass and obedience to the instruction of the priests was more important. Knowing basic biblical teaching was not regarded as essential to being a faithful Christian. Since the Mass was always given in Latin, only those who could read and understand Latin might have a sense of what was being said. Yet very few would have known Latin. However, as it was later to be revealed, much of what was taught by the church leadership and the priests was at odds with basic biblical doctrine.
The Reformation: A Revival of Catechizing
Beginning in the 16th century, things began to dramatically change when the fiery German Roman Catholic monk namedMartin Luther began to study his Bible carefully. Once he came to a true understanding of the Bible’s teaching on the gospel of Jesus Christ and was converted, he launched a concerted effort to bring reform to the Roman Church. His efforts were met with diabolical opposition from the Pope and other Roman Church leaders. While he would not succeed in bringing reform to the Roman Church, he managed to inspire reform at the grassroots level. His writings would sweep across the European continent and into the British Isles, influencing 10’s of 1000’s of people. He championed both translating the Bible and preaching in the spoken language of people so that they could hear and understand what the Bible was saying (others, such as the Englishman John Wycliffe and the Bohemian Jan Hus had pursued the same things a century earlier). Luther likewise encouraged people to learn to read the Bible for themselves. All of which, sadly, was greatly opposed by the Roman Catholic Church of his day.
Luther was also one of the first to revive the lost art of catechizing. He is, in fact, regarded as the “father” of modern catechesis, utilizing the question-and-answer format. He published both a Large (for adults) and Small (for children) Catechism, the latter of which is still widely used in Lutheran churches to this day.
The Reformer John Calvin, in Geneva, Switzerland, one of the finest expositors of Scripture the world has ever seen, also championed this form of catechizing. In 1548 he penned a letter to Edward Seymour, the Duke of Somerset and lord protector of England during the reign of Edward VI. In this letter he stressedthe importance of catechizing the young and the ignorant, saying, “Believe me, Monseigneur, the Church of God will never preserve itself without a catechism.” The centuries prior to the Reformation had proved what God said centuries earlier through the prophet Hosea, “My people perish for lack of knowledge.” It was this great concern for a clear understanding of the knowledge of God and the salvation of souls that propelled Calvin and other Reformers to craft catechisms and encourage this form of instruction. What could be more important than studying that which points us to the true and living God and leads us to eternal life!
In the following century, the Puritans would take up the task of writing catechisms as well. Alexander Mitchell in the 19th century wrote of the Puritans, “It may be said without exaggeration, of the catechisms framed on the system of the doctrinal Puritans, and published in England between the years 1600 and 1645, that their name is legion.” Joel Beeke wrote that “Nearly every Puritan pastor wrote a catechism or his own exposition [commentary] of a catechism.” Beeke also explains that “The people in the church used this tool to teach their children. Fathers were advised to catechize their children—whether together or individually—for forty-five to sixty minutes at least once a week.” There can be no question that this form of instruction was instrumental in enabling people to know the most important biblical doctrines.
Our Scottish Presbyterian forefathers shared this conviction as well. Their influence, along with the English Puritans, who attended the Westminster Assembly at Westminster Abbey in London from 1643-1647, would ultimately craft the three central confessional documents that we Associate Reformed Presbyterians subscribe to today: The Westminster Confession of Faith (WCF), The Larger Catechism (WLC), and The Shorter Catechism (WSC). Like Luther’s Larger and Shorter Catechisms, the WLC was originally intended for adults and the WSC for children. However, for the past 100 years or so, it is generally the Shorter Catechism, and a scaled-down Children’s Catechism, that are commonly used for catechizing in our churches.
Even among Baptists, catechizing was regarded as an essential part of Christian discipleship. Perhaps the most well-known Baptist preacher in history, Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892), when only 21 years old, produced a modified version of the Shorter Catechism and announced to his congregation the following instruction:
“I am persuaded that the use of a good Catechism in all our families will be a great safeguard against the increasing errors of the times, and therefore I have compiled this little manual from the Westminster Assembly’s and Baptist Catechisms, for the use of my own church and congregation.”
Engaging Your Catechism
I hope by now you can see the value of a catechism and catechizing in the church. It was profoundly important to our spiritual forefathers, and it should be to us as well.
Sinclair Ferguson has written of the Shorter Catechism, “Its 107 questions provide a pocket manual for the whole Christian life.” He further explains that it “teaches us how to ask the right questions” and to learn “how to think” about the spiritual truth that God has revealed in his Word. By “reading, studying, and learning the Shorter Catechism [it] helps us to think through biblical teaching in a way that builds Christian character.” Like “Velcro strips for our minds,” Ferguson explains, a Catechism enables “us to understand, organize, retain, and develop all we learn, biblically and otherwise. These “strips” enable us to grow exponentially in our understanding as the Word of God is read and expounded.”
There is yet another advantage to having a good grasp of the Shorter Catechism. It helps you explain the fundamentals of the Christian faith to others. It enables you to answer with much more clarity and precision the questions that are often raised in conversation about our beliefs.
Catechisms give us the answers to the most important questions regarding doctrine and practice-what we are to believe and how we are to live. The Westminster Shorter and Larger Catechisms are two of the best available to guide us in truth and to help us guard against error. It may not be everything we need to grow as believers, but it is certainly an essential component. The neglect of catechesis puts us in spiritual danger.
I did not grow up in the Reformed and Presbyterian tradition, so I was never catechized, nor did I even know what a catechismwas. As a student in seminary, I was required to learn the WSC, committing it to memory. It was also required of me when I was preparing to be examined by my Presbytery for licensure to preach the gospel. To be honest, it was hard in my 40’s to memorize those 107 questions. Now in my mid 50’s, I find I need to regularly review them. The point is, I wasn’t too old to learn them when I did, and whether we memorize them or not, it is beneficial to periodically read through them, even devotionally, looking up the Scripture references that support each question and answer and meditating upon them.
If this has been a neglected practice in your life, let me encourage you to renew your commitment to catechesis. Pastors and church officers are required to uphold our Catechisms. Surely the whole church benefits when those Christ calls to lead his people do so by both example and instruction. Let us not allow our churches to go decades without knowing what ourCatechisms teach us. Let us not perish for lack of knowledge.