Reformed Pastoral Ministry, Preaching, and Missions — Unit 3: Catechizing and Discipleship

Key Verse

"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:19-20, NKJV)

Learning Objectives

When you finish this unit, you should be able to:

1. Define catechizing and give its basis in Scripture.

2. Name the great Reformation catechisms and say something about the origin of the Heidelberg Catechism and the Westminster Shorter Catechism.

3. Describe how the Heidelberg Catechism is arranged and how the Reformed churches used it in the Lord's Day.

4. State the main objections to catechisms and the Reformed answers.

5. Plan a simple pathway of discipleship in a local church that joins teaching, practice and relationships.

The Voice of This Course

This course is written from inside the Reformed and Presbyterian tradition, for students who belong to it. It is conservative and holds Scripture to be the inspired and inerrant Word of God. When it says "we," it means the confessional Reformed churches. Where other Christians differ, we state their views fairly and then answer. The history of the Reformation is told in Course 1, and the confessions are studied in Course 3. Here we ask how the pastor teaches the faith to his people, from the youngest to the oldest.

What Is Catechizing?

The word "catechize" comes from a Greek word, katecheo, which means to instruct by word of mouth. The New Testament uses it several times. Luke writes to Theophilus "that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed" (Luke 1:4). Of Apollos Luke says, "This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord" (Acts 18:25). Paul would rather speak five words with understanding in the church, so that he may teach others, than ten thousand words in a tongue (1 Corinthians 14:19). In Galatians 6:6 the one who is taught the word shares good things with the one who teaches.

A catechism, in the Reformed use of the word, is a short summary of Christian teaching, set out in questions and answers, to be learned and understood. The teacher asks, the learner answers, and then the teacher explains. It is teaching by conversation.

The Bible shows the reason for this method. God commanded Israel to teach His words to their children: "You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up" (Deuteronomy 6:7). The proverb says, "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it" (Proverbs 22:6). The apostles taught in the same way. The first believers "continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers" (Acts 2:42). Paul told Timothy, "Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me" (2 Timothy 1:13), and he told him to pass these things on: "And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also" (2 Timothy 2:2). A catechism is a way of keeping "the pattern of sound words" in the minds of the people.

A Short History

Course 1 tells the story of the Reformation. Here we note only how the catechisms fit into it.

In the early centuries, those who wished to be baptized were taught first, and they were called catechumens. The church wished to be sure that new believers understood what they were professing. In the later Middle Ages, teaching of this kind was often weak. The Reformers found that many people could not say the Lord's Prayer, the Creed or the Ten Commandments with any understanding.

Martin Luther responded with his Small Catechism in 1529, written for fathers to teach their households. The Reformed churches followed. Calvin prepared a catechism for Geneva in the early 1540s, and the Ecclesiastical Ordinances of 1541 provided for children to be instructed in it. Catechisms soon appeared in many Reformed lands. Three became the best known.

The Heidelberg Catechism (1563)

Frederick III, the Elector of the Palatinate, asked for a catechism for the churches of his territory, and it appeared in Heidelberg in 1563. Tradition names two young theologians, Zacharias Ursinus and Caspar Olevianus, as its authors. Historians still discuss how large a share each had, and how much the work of a wider committee and the Elector himself shaped the result. We do not need to settle that question. What matters is that the church received it as a faithful summary of Scripture, and the Reformed churches of the Netherlands adopted it with the Belgic Confession and the Canons of Dort as one of the Three Forms of Unity. It has been translated into many languages, Spanish among them.

The catechism has 129 questions in the usual numbering. It begins with a famous question about our only comfort in life and death, and the answer is a personal one: I am not my own, but I belong, body and soul, to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ. The rest is arranged in three parts that are often summed up as guilt, grace and gratitude. The first part teaches our sin and misery, the second our deliverance in Christ (the Creed and the sacraments), and the third how we thank God in a life of obedience (the Ten Commandments and the Lord's Prayer). The whole book is also divided into 52 sections, called Lord's Days, so that it may be taught through the year, one section each Sunday.

The Westminster Catechisms (1647)

The Westminster Assembly produced a Larger Catechism with 196 questions and a Shorter Catechism with 107 questions. They are described in Course 3 under "The Westminster Standards." The Shorter Catechism was written for the instruction of children and new learners, and the Larger for use by ministers in their teaching. The first question and answer of the Shorter Catechism is known by heart in many churches: man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. In one sentence, this states the purpose of the Christian life.

How the Reformed Churches Used Catechisms

The Reformed churches did not leave the catechism to private study. They put it in the weekly life of the church.

In the pulpit. In many Dutch Reformed churches, the minister preached on the Heidelberg Catechism once on the Lord's Day, usually in the second service, following the 52 Lord's Days. The church order of the Synod of Dort (1618-19) asked ministers to teach the catechism in this way. Because the catechism is a summary of Scripture, this kind of sermon is still the explanation of Scripture. Each answer carries Bible references that the preacher opens.

In class. Children and young people were taught the answers and examined on them. Many churches asked those who wished to make public profession of faith to show that they knew the main truths.

In the home. Parents taught from the catechism at family worship, which is the subject of Unit 5. Richard Baxter, the Puritan pastor of Kidderminster, made catechizing of families a central part of his work, as Unit 4 shows.

For officers. Ministers and elders used the catechisms as a standard of what the church believes. Course 3 explains that confessions serve Scripture and are not a rival to it.

Objections and Our Answers

Objection 1: Catechisms are human words and put tradition above the Bible. Some Christians, especially in churches that say "no creed but the Bible," worry that learning a catechism will replace Scripture. We share the concern that nothing should stand above God's Word. But every church teaches in some form of words, and the question is only whether those words are chosen with care. A catechism is an effort to say what the Bible teaches in an orderly way, and it gives Scripture proofs so the learner can check each answer. Paul told Timothy to hold fast "the pattern of sound words." A catechism is a servant of Scripture, not its master. The rule is: the Bible judges the catechism, and not the reverse.

Objection 2: Memorizing answers produces dead formalism. Some historians have argued that in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, catechizing often gave people words in their heads without changing their hearts. They note that many people learned answers they did not understand. The criticism has truth in it, because any good method can be abused. Our answer is that the Reformed teachers asked for much more than memory. The Heidelberg Catechism is written in the first person, and it asks the learner to speak of his own comfort and his own faith. Baxter insisted that the pastor should explain each answer and ask the person what he thinks of it. The Spirit uses the truth to change hearts (John 17:17), and the pastor prays for that. A pupil who has the words but not yet the faith has been given something that the Spirit may later bring to life. A pupil who has neither the words nor the faith has nothing to remember in his trial.

Objection 3: Discipleship is about relationship, not information. Some Christians say that disciples are made by walking with Jesus, not by learning doctrine. They are right that discipleship includes life together. Paul shared with the Thessalonians "not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives" (1 Thessalonians 2:8). But Jesus also said that disciples are taught "to observe all things that I have commanded you." Paul labored so that he might "present every man perfect in Christ Jesus" by "warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom" (Colossians 1:28). Relationship without teaching leaves people uncertain what to believe. Teaching without relationship leaves them cold. We hold both together.

Objection 4: The Spirit teaches believers, so a catechism is not needed. Some quote 1 John 2:27, "the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you." We answer that John is writing about the Spirit's witness to the truth that believers already received in the apostles' message, against false teachers who denied it. The same Spirit gave the church teachers (Ephesians 4:11) and told the Hebrews that they were wrong to remain on milk when they ought to be teachers (Hebrews 5:12-14). The Spirit teaches through teachers, and a catechism is one of the tools He uses.

Discipleship Beyond the Classroom

The Great Commission in our key verse has three parts: make disciples, baptize them and teach them to obey. To make a disciple means to bring a person to Christ and to help him grow. A catechism class is a good part of this work, but it is not all of it. A Reformed church builds a path of discipleship with several parts.

1. Public worship. The Word preached, the sacraments, prayer and praise form the believer week by week. This is the main means of discipleship.

2. Teaching by age and stage. Children learn the Shorter Catechism or a simpler form. Young people study more deeply. New believers and new members take a class on the basic doctrines before they join, and this class serves also as an opportunity for the elders to know them.

3. Home and family. Parents are the first teachers. The church equips them (Unit 5).

4. Small groups and personal mentoring. Paul's charge to Timothy was to commit the teaching "to faithful men who will be able to teach others also." Older believers teach younger ones. In Titus 2:3-5 the older women are to teach the younger women, so that women are teachers of women in every church. Men do the same for men.

5. Service and mission. A disciple is trained to serve. People are placed in work according to their gifts, and they are sent out to witness (Units 6 and 7).

6. Pastoral care and discipline. The elders watch over each member, comfort the weak and correct the straying (Unit 4, and Course 4, "Church Discipline and Membership").

The goal is a church where every member knows what he believes, why he believes it and how to live by it, and can say a word to others.

Pastoral Application

Pastor Samuel serves a small Presbyterian church near Chapala. Nearly half the young people in his church were baptized as infants, but few of them can explain what the church believes. Their parents are busy with work, and some worship only at Christmas. Samuel decides to begin a catechism class for young people between twelve and sixteen.

He proceeds in this way. First, he asks the elders for their support and invites parents to a meeting, where he explains what the class will teach and how they can help at home. Second, he chooses a text that is available in Spanish and short enough to teach in one season. Third, he plans each meeting so that the first part is a question and answer, the second part is an explanation with Bible verses, and the third part is time for questions. Fourth, he asks a respected woman of the congregation, Señora Rosa, to help with the younger girls and with the refreshments, since her gifts of teaching and hospitality are valued. Fifth, he prays for the group by name each week. Sixth, near the end of the course he meets each young person to ask in simple words, "What does this mean to you?" By then the parents begin to ask for a similar class for themselves.

Summary

To catechize is to teach by questions and answers so that learners understand and remember the faith. Scripture shows the method in Deuteronomy 6, in the teaching of the apostles and in Paul's charge to Timothy. After the Reformation the Reformed churches produced catechisms such as the Heidelberg Catechism of 1563, with 129 questions in three parts and 52 Lord's Days, and the Westminster Larger and Shorter Catechisms of 1647. They taught from them in the pulpit, in classes and in homes. Objections say that catechisms replace Scripture, that they produce dead formalism, that discipleship is relationship only and that the Spirit makes teaching unnecessary. We answer from the Bible, and we hold that discipleship joins worship, teaching, family, mentoring, service and pastoral care.

Further Reading

• Heidelberg Catechism (1563).

• Westminster Shorter Catechism and Larger Catechism (1647).

• John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion (Beveridge translation, 1845), Book 4, chapters 1-3.

• Zacharias Ursinus, Commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism.

• Martin Luther, Small Catechism (1529).

• Richard Baxter, The Reformed Pastor (1656).

• Belgic Confession (1561).

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