In my last blog post we talked about a near-extinct practice that is wildly beneficial for the Christian family: family worship.
Today, I'd like explore another nearly forgotten practice that has truly blessed my family, and serves as a powerful aid for my children (and me!) to understanding life in Christ: catechism.
If you are like me, you may be completely unfamiliar with catechism. Many evangelical Protestant churches have dropped the practice, and many other Protestant and Catholic believers only do it through a structured program at church, not at home. So, allow me to briefly tell you what catechism is, why it is important, and introduce you to some invaluable resources so that you, too, can practice this with your children in a way that is natural and enjoyable for all.
Quite simply, catechizing is a particular method of instruction historically used by the Church using questions and answers. It comes from the combination of two Greek words: "kata" meaning "down toward" and "echeo" meaning "to sound." The idea of "katecheo" is simple: like sonar, the instructor sends out questions and listens for the echo, the answers that reveal the depth of knowledge and understanding of the student.
Catechism's aim is to give the student a rich, biblically-based theological framework from which to understand God, the Bible, and themselves. While there are many different catechisms in existance (Heidelberg, Westminster, Luther's, Catholic, New City, Baptist, just to name a few) most of them teach basic doctrines on the topics of God, sin, Christ, salvation, the law, prayer, and the sacraments, among others. Here is just a sample of questions from the catechism we use:
- "Who made you?"
- "How can you glorify God?"
- "Where is Christ now?"
- "What is prayer?"
- "Who wrote the Bible?"
- "What must you do to be saved?"
- "What is sin?"
- "What is meant by the atonement?"
We see the practice of catechism throughout biblical history, beginning at the time of Moses and continuing throughout the Scriptures with the Jews in their synagogues, Christ with His disciples, then into the Church age: the early and medieval church, as well as through the Reformation. Since it grew out of the oral tradition of Moses, catechism emphasizes "hearing and speaking." This is in sharp contrast to the modern Sunday school movement of the 19th century and beyond, which emphasizes "doing and seeing," such as learning through flannel-graph scenes, playing games, and coloring pictures. The other striking feature of catechism is that it is relationship-oriented. Moses spoke of parents teaching the Scriptures to their children through all the daily activities of life (see Deuteronomy 6:6-9). Likewise, catechism is best done in the home, between parent and child, and not out-sourced to other Bible teachers and preachers.
Now, just like family worship, catechism suffers from a host of misconceptions that I'd like to touch on in today's post. First, as Christians in the digital age, we often mistakenly believe that there is no real value in memorization--can't we just access information quickly, at the click of a button, when we want it? But memorization is remembering--it is crucial to understand that--which was one of God's repeated rebukes to His people throughout the Scriptures, who were so quick to forget the works and wonders He had shown them (see Psalm 78:11).
Secondly, we often associate catechism with mere rote-work that bypasses the heart and mind. But quite honestly, catechizing is truly an art form. When a parent asks their child a catechism question, the discussion has only just begun after they answer back. This speaks to what I said before about catechism being relationship-oriented, and why it works best at home. In this context, a child can see that catechism is so much more than merely parroting back theological answers, but instead it gives the framework for passionate, all-encompassing Christian living, seen and experienced on a daily basis.
Lastly, we all know we have limited time and mental bandwidth--ought we not be memorizing Scripture, and only Scripture, with our limited time and resources? we might wonder. I was personally in this camp for a long time. But unlike Scripture memory work, catechizing provides a child with a rich, biblically-based theological framework from which to understand and relate to the Scriptures. For example, there is not one verse you could memorize that can explain an entire theological concept like "Why did God make me?" or "Who wrote the Bible?". This is where catechism can lay the foundation for deeper biblical understanding for a child (and adult!) as they go on to memorize the Scriptures.
Now, you might be wondering what catechism looks like in my household. We have been doing this practice for about seven years, starting when my oldest child was around four-years-old. Like I mentioned before, there are many different catechisms from which to choose--some being current adaptations using modern English, others being simplified for children. The one I have chosen to use for my family is the First Catechism, also known as the Catechism for Young Children: An Introduction to the Shorter Catechism, put out by the folks at Great Commission Publications. I didn't think too long and hard about it--I honestly just used the one that was readily available (and only $1) at my church!
After we pray, read a Bible passage (or devotional), and discuss it during our morning Bible time, I simply pull out the catechism and we go over one new question and answer (or, if reviewing, we go over three or four questions and answers). When we first started, we began with question #1 "Who made you?," and worked our way into the book until we hit question 16, which started to talk about Adam and Eve and original sin. I then jumped over to the section about the Lord's Prayer, its six petitions, and what they mean. We've done this in the past with the Ten Commandments, too. Why skip around? Well, it is simply because I want to dove-tail our catechism with what we are learning and discussing at the time. We just happen to be memorizing the Lord's Prayer right now as a family, and I thought it was be great to catechize on this subject, too. To be sure, we will go back and discuss original sin, atonement, and sacraments at a later time (remember, this is a marathon, not a sprint!)
One thing that has really brightened our catechism experience is listening to the songs from the Ask Me Whoooo CD series. This series places the First Catechism to music, word-for-word, helping the children (and me!) remember the questions and answers more easily. We use all three discs because, like I mentioned before, we skip around to various topics. I'd highly recommend buying a complete set at this site, as you are able. This works well for when we are riding around in the car, both to introduce new questions and to review old ones.
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| Ask Me Whoooo CD: Volume 1 |
"What was looked on as a necessary and beneficial practice by the early church and by the reformers has now fallen into such disuse among Christian people that very few seem to have any understanding or appreciation of the subject. We believe it is to the discontinuance of this practice [catechizing] that we can trace much of the doctrinal ignorance, confusing and instability so characteristic of modern Christianity."May you and your family be blessed as you take the step of faith to make catechism a regular practice in your home!
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