The idea of catechism is an ancient one, going back to the days of the early church. Up until the 1500s, when Gutenberg produced his movable type press, there were very few Bibles in the world. Most churches didn’t have a whole Bible and if they did, it was hand-copied. This didn’t stop the preaching of the Gospel though, it just placed challenges in the path of the ministers who led the church during those centuries. They needed to employ methods other than Bible reading to make sure their congregations knew the basic tenants of the faith.
The catechism was one of those methods. By definition, a catechism is a summary of the Christian faith, with its principles presented through a series of questions and answers. The Roman Catholic church’s current catechism dates back to 1992, but they used the concept for centuries before that. The use of catechisms wasn’t just limited to the Catholic church though, it is common for Orthodox churches to use it and The Common Catechism, the first such work as a combined Catholic and Protestant effort, was published in 1973.
It’s hard to say just where the concepts of catechisms began. Some say that the Roman empire used it, long before the church did. For the Romans, it was a means of teaching the inhabitants of lands they conquered about Roman culture, to include their government, laws and cultural norms. Learning a catechism was done by rote and repetition, as the ability to print it for wide distribution did not yet exist. If the Roman use of catechism is true, the catechisms used by the church were merely an adoption of a known, effective means of teaching, converted to the use of the Gospel.
Another, similar methodology was used by the pre-Catholic and early Catholic church; that of using creeds. The best known of these today is the Apostolic Creed, but there was also the Nicaean Creed, which was adopted at the First Eccumenical Counsil, in 325 AD. Both creeds attempt to codify the most basic tenets of the Christian faith, into a concise form that people could easily memorize; thereby teaching them basic Christian doctrine.
Regardless of whether we’re talking about a catechism or a creed, the same four basic elements are almost universally included. These are:
- Faith
- Liturgy and sacraments
- Life in Christ
- Prayer
The Didaché is believed to be the oldest Christian catechism. Written by an unknown author, it dates back to sometime between 65 and 80 AD, the same time period in which many of the epistles found in the New Testament were written. It is also known by the name “The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles” and has been preserved and revered throughout church history. The English translation of this document is roughly 3,000 words long and covers 16 topic areas, ranging from basic Christian faith, to watching for the return of the Lord.
The Baptist Catechism
While it is not common for Christian denominations other than the Catholics and Orthodox churches to develop their own catechism, the Baptist Church, the largest non-Catholic Christian denomination in the United States, uses one. This is the Keach’s Catechism, also known as the 1677 Baptist Catechism or 1693 Baptist Catechism. It is a list of 118 questions and answers, covering a wide range of topics, which together define the Christian faith, as understood by the Baptist denomination.
It should be understood that the Baptist catechism is heavily Calvinistic in its understanding of the Gospel, as is the denomination. The main difference between this and Arminianism is in the areas of God’s sovereignty and predestination. Calvinism states that God is 100% sovereign, knowing everything that will happen, because He has planned and ordained it. Some people are predestined for salvation, while others are predestined for destruction. This is called “election” in Calvinism. Arminianism differs from this in that the human will is taken into account, with people deciding for themselves whether they will accept the salvation that God offers, through the saving work of the cross. While this seems to limit God’s sovereignty, it is a limit that God places on Himself, not one that the believer places on God.
If there is any one document that would define what Baptists believe, this document is it. Even so, we need to take into account that Baptist churches are governed locally. Other than a few basic doctrinal points of agreement, there is no dogma that is imposed upon churches from above. So, to say that the Baptist Catechism defines the Baptist faith, as a hard and fast rule, would be inaccurate. There are some points of doctrine which some Baptist churches may take exception to or may want expressed differently.
Learning the catechism doesn’t teach one everything that’s in the Bible; but it does cover the major points to know, in order to have a basic understanding of the Christian faith. As such, the Baptist Catechism is a great teaching tool for use with new believers, as well as a good way for more mature believers to review their faith, reminding themselves of things they may have become old, dusty memories.
However, one should not consider the Baptist Catechism as the fullness of their Biblical study, as it doesn’t teach everything. The Bible is simple enough that a babe in Christ might understand it; but at the same time, it is profound enough that scholars can spend their lives studying it, without ever reaching an end. We should all endeavor to study the Scriptures to the fullness of our capacity, so as to learn all that we can about God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the salvation that they have given us.
One of the areas which is seriously lacking in the catechism, is how the believer is to live their life. While it does cover the Ten Commandments, it misses a lot of the other instructions given in the Bible about how we should live for Christ, especially that which is discussed in the book of Proverbs. A fuller study of the Bible is necessary to fulfill all that God would have us do.