A Catechism for Christian Growth is specifically designed to fit into a variety of settings in the Christian life. It helps parents shepherd their children, new converts understand the fundamentals of the faith, and entire congregations learn sound doctrine like catechisms have for centuries. It is a succinct yet systematic scaffolding upon which Christians can fortify their faith and defend against all sorts of heresy. But defense is hardly the only benefit of catechesis, for it will also engender a deep and abiding reverence for the Creator (Prov. 4:20–27) and a warmth of affection for God as Christians rest in his electing love (Deut. 6:5–9). 

There’s an enduring misconception about the essential tool of the Reformation. While it is widely assumed that “the Protestant reformers placed the Bible in the hands of laypeople, it is more accurate to say they were handed catechisms to learn as apt summaries of divine revelation.”[1] The practice of using catechisms to help train children, adults, and even ministers placed the focus of the church back on a biblical trajectory––to affirm and live out sound doctrine. Sadly, Protestants, and especially Baptists, moved away from catechisms around the end of the nineteenth century for a variety of reasons,[2] but thankfully, there seems to be a growing interest in catechisms today. This is encouraging, for every pastor––better yet, every father––should consider a good catechism to help shepherd his flock. In this article, I begin with the need of every Christian to affirm sound doctrine, then show how catechisms can meet that need, and conclude by explaining why I ventured to write an updated catechism for the church today.

We Need to Affirm Sound Doctrine

Everyone has a theology. Everyone has a worldview. But Christianity is designed to be a worldview based on sound doctrine. Without sound doctrine derived from the Word of God, there are no guard rails for morality, there are no lanes to stay in while reading and interpreting the Bible, and there is no accurate framework to buttress our life. For generations, sound doctrine has been minimized, so much so that evangelicals are as apt as liberal Christians to say, “Christianity is all about a relationship not a religion,” or “Doctrine divides,” or “We want good deeds, not good creeds.”^[3] When the church minimizes the importance of sound doctrine, there no longer remains an impetus to catechize. That which used to be very Protestant now seems foreign. The remedy? Rediscover that every Christian needs to affirm, cherish, and defend sound doctrine.

In Titus 1, God tells us that elders are to be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it (Titus 1:9). In 1 and 2 Timothy, Paul repeatedly made the connection from his faithful life to his sound doctrine (1 Tim. 6:3–5; 2 Tim. 1:13). The reason for God’s emphasis on sound doctrine? Sound doctrine nourishes the soul and promotes godly living. Therefore, the pursuit, knowledge, and protection of sound doctrine is essential to how God calls every Christian to live the Christian life. Perhaps we should counter modern evangelical clichés with, “Good creeds lead to good deeds.” The backbone for why the Scriptures support the use of a well-crafted catechism is simply that catechisms are excellent tools to communicate, learn, and study sound doctrine.

We Need Tools to Teach Sound Doctrine

I am not a handyman, nor the son of a handyman, and so it shouldn’t surprise that I often come at routine home projects with the wrong tools in hand. Like the time I tried to use a hammer drill to screw a broken chair-arm back together: it now sits with its arm split, hanging limply in my dining room, a constant reminder of my handyman inadequacies. For generations now, pastors have attempted to motivate fresh vigor for godly living with the power of positive thinking, emotional pleas to remember God’s love, calls to rededicate your life, or heaping guilt on their hearers over the urgent plights of a sin-cursed world. As many of these tools have failed, many are beginning to remember that catechisms were the tool churches used for centuries to equip the saints to know and to live out sound doctrine. After all, the goal of our churches isn’t to simply count decisions, but to make lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ. Catechisms, used well, help Christians ruminate on sound doctrine. They allow this truth to seep in, rather than bounce off. So, a good catechism can become a pastor’s best friend.

In our home, starting when my children were toddlers, we taught them simple questions and answers. Some of those questions and answers were indispensable to the discipline process: Did you disobey daddy? Yes. What does God call that? Sin. What does God tell daddy he has to do? Discipline me. Others included echoes from church history: Who made you? God made me. What is our only hope in life and death?

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