Why Do We Have the Catechism? And What Is It?
Martin Luther wrote the Large Catechism before the Small Catechism—within a month of each other—in 1529. The Large Catechism came as a result of pastoral visitations Luther made where he discovered that the clergy were not properly instructed in the basics of the faith. They didn’t know the Commandments, the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, or even what they should believe about Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, among other things. “They approach the task as if they were pastors and preachers for their stomachs’ sake and had nothing to do but live off the fat of the land, as they were used to doing under the papacy… Oh, these shameful gluttons and servants of their bellies are better suited to be swineherds and keepers of dogs than guardians of souls and pastors” (LC, Longer Preface, 1, 2)!
Hence the need for catechesis, or instruction. The Greek noun for catechism, katechismos, derives from the verb katechein, which means “to sound again,” or “instruct.” Instruction—what one is taught—is repeated. Think of when you’ve studied for a test or an exam, you repeat what you need to know until you know it from memory. Then we forget afterwards because we stop repeating it—we stop instructing ourselves in it.
To use another analogy, the professional musician never moves beyond the basics of her major and minor scales. She practices them—repeats them—daily to remain an expert in her field. She might feel like a beginner musician again, but she will not remain an expert if she thinks she’s too good for the basics. The same is true of the Christian. He never moves beyond the catechism. Like the musician who daily returns to her scales like a beginner, Christians return to the catechism and “become children and begin to learn the ABCs, which they think they have long since outgrown” (Longer Preface, 8).
The Problem of Laziness
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve asked my parishioners what such-and-such a commandment is, or which article of the Creed covers which Person of the Trinity, and they look at me like they’ve never heard of it before. It’s worrisome for a pastor.
Recently, at a parents’ meeting after our first night of Confirmation class for the year, we were going over the guidelines and expectations for the Confirmation students. When I said the students are expected to be on good behaviour, and disrespect toward the pastors and teachers will not be tolerated, I asked the parents, “This is the 4th Commandment. And parents, what is the 4th Commandment?”
Silence.
But immediately one of the student’s arms shot up in the air, and I called on her and she said, “Honour your father and mother!” It’s been a year since we’ve covered the Commandments, yet this child knew it when none of the parents did, who’ve been catechised now for years, if not decades. There’s no excuse for it except laziness or apathy.
So, I agree with Luther that there’s no excuse for pastors and even laymen not to know the catechism. “Many regard the catechism as a simple, trifling teaching, which they can absorb and master at one reading and then toss the book into a corner as if they are ashamed to read it again. Indeed, among the nobility there are also some louts and skinflints who declare that they can do without pastors and preachers now because we now have everything in books and can learn it all by ourselves” (Longer Preface, 5-6).
Not only is there no excuse not to know the catechism, but many will even read it once—such as during their Confirmation process—and never return to it, “as if they are ashamed to read it again.” Some will even go so far as to believe they no longer need a pastor, or the Church. “All I need is my Bible and Jesus,” they say. “I also have all these theology books and I can just watch so-and-so on YouTube.” So, they sever themselves from Christ’s Body—the Church—like a foolish gazelle that separates itself from its herd only to be chased down and devoured by a lion (cf. 1 Peter 5:8).
Luther continues to describe such people. “These fussy, fastidious fellows would like quickly, with one reading, to be doctors above all doctors, to know it all and to need nothing more. Well this, too, is a sure sign that they despise both their office and the people’s souls, yes, even God and His Word” (Longer Preface, 8). To continue using Luther’s analogy, would you go to a doctor or surgeon who read through a medical textbook only once? Or would you go to a doctor who doesn’t stay up to date with current medical research? Of course not! That’s absurd. So, what sense does it make to consider yourself an “expert” of Scripture when you’ve only read the catechism once, or the Bible once? Furthermore, would you trust a pastor who’s only read the catechism once and doesn’t remind himself of what we believe, teach, and confess about Christ and His Word?
“Therefore,” Luther continues, “I beg such lazy bellies and presumptuous saints, for God’s sake, to let themselves be convinced and believe that they are not really and truly such learned and exalted doctors as they think. I implore them not ever to imagine that they have learned these parts of the catechism perfectly, or that they know them sufficiently, even though they think they know them ever so well. Even if their knowledge of the catechism were perfect (although that is impossible in this life), yet it is highly profitable and fruitful to read it daily and to make it the subject of meditation and conversation. In such reading, conversation, and meditation the Holy Spirit is present and bestows ever new and greater light and devotion, so that it tastes better and better and is digested…” (Longer Preface, 9; emphasis mine).
As you just read, it is actually Luther who not only suggests but implores Christians to read the catechism daily. It’s not some new idea I just came up with. So, if you’re offended by something I’ve said so far, take it up with Luther. And he’s dead, so you’ll just be talking to dirt anyway.
How to Read the Catechism Devotionally
It is here that I’d like to recommend a possible devotional strategy of reading the catechism daily. When I first suggested reading the catechism everyday to my parishioners, one of them came up to me and asked, “One [chief] part of the catechism is twenty pages! Do you really expect me to read that much every day?” It is then that I realised she didn’t know that the actual Small Catechism is just from the Ten Commandments to the Table of Duties. (Some omit the Table of Duties, but in my opinion, catechesis remains incomplete if you don’t discuss vocation.) She was reading the back parts with the dozens of questions about their respective chief parts. That’s why I like to call the Small Catechism we typically use like this one the Chunky Catechism. The actual Small Catechism is just the chief parts, which is incredibly short. You can read it in under 20 minutes.
The Small Catechism in the aforementioned hyperlink is relatively easy to carry around, but I like to carry this one around. It includes the Small and Large Catechisms, it’s a lot thinner, and you can expand your devotional reading if you’d like by reading sections of the Large Catechism as well. (The Large Catechism as well should be read more than once in one’s life since it expands on the basics. It’s like moving from the major to the minor scales, or from a children’s book to a novel.)
You can read a chief part once a day if you’d like—the Ten Commandments, the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, Holy Baptism, Confession, the Sacrament of the Altar, and the Table of Duties. This would make it six days of meditation (Monday-Saturday) with rest on Sunday—your Sabbath rest in the Lord as you hear the Word preached to you in the liturgy and the sermon, as well as receiving the Sacrament.
After posting this article on Twitter, @TheologyShow posted this helpful graphic for a weekly reading plan you can use as well:
But here’s what I recommend:
- Begin with Luther’s morning prayer (his daily prayers are found in section 2 of the Small Catechism).
- On day 1, begin with the First Commandment as your meditation for the day. This will be what you think on for the whole day, which could become part of a conversation with someone during the day. You might think, “How might I fear, love, and trust in God today?” (We should really do this every day, but on this specific day it is heightened in our mind’s eye.) Feel free to journal your thoughts throughout the day as well (this is purely optional).
- At close of day, pray Luther’s evening prayer and/or the Lord’s Prayer.
- Then repeat on day 2, your meditation for the day being the Second Commandment, and so on.
Basically, for each day your meditation will be a small section depending on which chief part you’re on. For example, once you’re on the Creed, the 1st Article will be your meditation for one day, then the 2nd Article, and so on. For the Lord’s Prayer, the intro will be your meditation for the day, then the 1st petition, etc. For Baptism, “What is Baptism?” will be one day, then “Which is that word of God?,” and so on.
That’s my recommendation so that you can savour each “taste” and “digest” it slowly. If you’re feeling overzealous, feel free to read one chief part a day so that you meditate on the whole catechism in a week. It’s entirely up to you.
Why Should I?
People don’t like being told what to do. Being told what to do is often accusatory, but if we’re being totally honest with ourselves, it’s because we think we’re fine just the way we are. This is the frame of mind of someone, in Luther’s words, who regards “the catechism as a simple, trifling teaching” (Longer Preface, 5). “I know all I need to know,” we might think. That’s evidence that you don’t really know much at all!
It’s also why we don’t find the Commandments very enlightening, because it tells us what to do and what we ought not to do. But if we’re going to take the 3rd Commandment seriously—that we “fear and love God so that we do not despise preaching and His Word but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it”—then we will read the catechism daily (in addition to Bible reading) because it is of great benefit to us. But what is that benefit?
“Nothing is so powerfully effective against the devil, the world, the flesh, and all evil thoughts as to occupy one’s self with God’s Word, to speak about it and meditate upon it, in the way that Psalm 1[:2] calls those blessed who ‘meditate on God’s law day and night.’ Without doubt, you will offer up no more powerful incense or savor against the devil than to occupy yourself with God’s commandments and words and to speak, sing, or think about them. Indeed, this is the true holy water and sign that drives away the devil and puts him to flight” (Longer Preface, 10).
The catechism equips us with God’s Word in such a brief, easy to comprehend way that even a child can understand it, literally. The devil is the accuser, not the condemner. At times, he can be an ignorant assistant of Law & Gospel. When the devil accuses you of sin, you can say, “Ah, yes. You’re right. I did do that thing. I did think that dirty thought. I did break that commandment. Thanks for telling me. Now I can remember my Baptism. Now I can go to private Confession & Absolution. Now I can go to the Lord’s Table, trusting in His mercy.”
And once you’ve received the Gospel from Christ, you can turn your back toward the devil and say, “Begone, Satan, you lying scoundrel! For Christ has had mercy on me. I have been baptised into Christ, which means He has rescued me from death and you, you worthless devil! He has given me His body and blood in the Supper—He has taken away my sins! I have heard His Word of Absolution—He has dealt with my sins on the cross!” The catechism gives us God’s Word in a simple way so that we can withstand the evil one.
“For this reason alone,” continues Luther, “you should gladly read, recite, ponder, and practice the catechism, even if the only advantage and benefit you obtain from it is to drive away the devil and evil thoughts. For he cannot bear to hear God’s Word. And God’s Word is not like some idle tale… but, as St. Paul says in Romans 1[:16], it is ‘the power of God,’ indeed, the power of God that burns the devil’s house down and gives us immeasurable strength, comfort, and help” (Longer Preface, 11).
The devil assaults us daily, so why would we keep ourselves from God’s Word daily, especially when it’s been given to us in such a simple way as the catechism? “For not only do we daily need God’s Word just as we do our daily bread; we also must have it every day in order to stand against the daily and incessant attacks and ambushes of the devil with his thousand arts” (Longer Preface, 13).
Earlier, I said this is not my own suggestion but Luther’s. We can go even further. Luther appeals to Scripture—to God’s command:
If this [what Luther has argued up till now] were not enough to admonish us to read the catechism daily, God’s command should suffice to compel us. For God solemnly enjoins us in Deuteronomy 6[:7-8] that we should meditate on His precepts while sitting, walking, standing, lying down, and rising, and should keep them as an ever-present emblem and sign before our eyes and on our hands. [Hence Luther’s saying that we should daily make it the subject of our meditation and conversation throughout the day in para. 9.] God certainly does not require and command this so solemnly without reason. He knows our danger and need; he knows the constant and furious attacks and assaults of the devil. Therefore, He wishes to warn, equip, and protect us against them with good “armor” against their “flaming arrows” [Ephesians 6:11, 16], and with a good antidote against their evil infection and poison. Oh, what mad, senseless fools we are! We must ever live and dwell in the midst of such mighty enemies like the devils, and yet we would despise our weapons and armor, too lazy to examine them or give them a thought!
And what else are these bored, presumptuous saints doing—people who will not read and study the catechism daily and have no desire to—except thinking that they are more learned that God Himself and all His holy angels, prophets, apostles, and all Christians? God Himself is not ashamed to teach it daily, for He knows of nothing better to teach, and He always keeps on teaching this one thing without proposing anything new or different… We think we can learn in an hour what God Himself cannot finish teaching, though He were to teach it from the beginning of the world until the end! All the prophets and all the saints have had to learn it, but they have always remained its pupils, and they must continue to be so.
Longer Preface, 14-16
Thus, catechesis is from the womb to the tomb. Just as the musician ever remains a pupil of the scales, so a Christian ever remains a pupil of the catechism—of the Commandments, of the Creed, of the Lord’s Prayer (and therefore prayer in and of itself), of Baptism, of the Lord’s Supper, and of vocation.
The catechism “contains what every Christian should know” (Shorter Preface, 2). What is God’s will for my life? Read the Commandments and the Table of Duties. Who is God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit? Read the Creed. How do I pray? Read the Lord’s Prayer. What does it mean again that I’ve been baptised? Read about Holy Baptism. How do I confess? Read about repentance. What is the Lord’s Supper? Read about the Eucharist. What are the benefits of these Sacraments to me? Why are they important again? Read about them.
The Duty of Fathers
You’ll notice that the beginning of each chief part begins, “As the head of the family should teach them in a simple way to his household.” This is the father’s duty. (If the father is absent, obviously the mother takes on this role.) Luther accentuates this, “Therefore, it is the duty of every head of a household at least once a week to examine the children and servants one after the other and ascertain what they know or have learned of it, and, if they do not know it, to keep them faithfully at it” (Shorter Preface, 4).
Sadly, however, our days are similar to Luther’s. Many fathers do not know the catechism—indeed, the Scriptures. So, oftentimes it is left up to the mothers to take up the mantle, whether due to the father’s absence or his laziness. It has also been left up to the pastor to catechise their children. So, many fathers (and mothers) have lazily abdicated their duty as head of the household to catechise their children. “Pastor is already teaching them, so why should I have to?” they think. Others are even lazier and don’t bring their children to Confirmation class or Divine Service at all, leaving their children to be catechised by the world about who Jesus is, and then they wonder why their child follows the path of destruction.
It is not just for our own benefit, then, but also for our children and grandchildren, just as God commanded, “You shall teach them diligently to your children…” (Deuteronomy 6:7). If we want our children to remain in the Church—and if we want to see our children in the new creation—fathers will act like men and catechise their children weekly. They will assist the pastor in teaching their children the catechism. Then, post-confirmation, they will take that whole duty upon themselves, just as they were supposed to do in the first place. They will teach their sons and daughters the martial art of resisting the devil with the sword of the Word of God. Otherwise, their children will be filled with holes from the flaming arrows of the evil one, and any attempt at catechesis will be an arduous, uphill battle.
Conclusion
All that being said, don’t beat yourself up if you haven’t been reading your catechism daily, or catechising your children. Now is a good time to start! Also, don’t beat yourself up when you miss a day, or even if you become lazy again. It happens. Just pick it up again. The point is not to become a slave to daily reading but to gladly hear and learn the Word for our own nourishment and strengthening of the soul as well as that of our children.
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