Catechism

Heard in the wild

The longer version

What it means

A catechism is the faith in questions and answers: "What is the chief end of man?" "Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever." Written to be memorized, catechisms teach the essentials — the Creed, the Ten Commandments, the Lord's Prayer, the sacraments — in a form that children and new believers can learn and carry for life. Every major tradition has one, and adults raised on a catechism can often recite its questions decades later.

A catechumen is someone in formal preparation for baptism, and the catechumenate is that preparation — in the Catholic Church, a months-long process (OCIA, formerly RCIA) ending in baptism or reception at the Easter Vigil; in Orthodox churches, a period of instruction and prayer before baptism. Catechumens are prayed for by name in the liturgy.

Why people say it

Christians catechize because faith has content and content has to be taught; a catechism makes sure the essentials get learned in order and in words that stick. The Q&A form is ancient teaching technology, and its best examples are also devotional literature — the Heidelberg's first answer has comforted people at deathbeds for four centuries. The catechumenate exists because the early church took baptism seriously enough to prepare for it, and modern churches have found that preparation still forms people.

How to respond

If a friend's children are learning a catechism, they're being taught the faith systematically; ask which one, and you'll learn the family's tradition. If someone is a catechumen, they've decided to become Christian (or Catholic, or Orthodox) and are in the preparation process — a good time to ask what drew them. If you're curious about what a tradition believes, its catechism is the most efficient summary you'll find; the Heidelberg is short and warm, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church is comprehensive.

If you hear it in different churches

Catholics: the Catechism of the Catholic Church, parish "faith formation" for children, and OCIA for adults becoming Catholic. Orthodox: the catechumenate before baptism, and catechesis through the liturgy and the fathers. Lutherans: Luther's Small Catechism, memorized for confirmation. Reformed and Presbyterians: Heidelberg and Westminster. Anglicans: the Prayer Book catechism. Baptists and evangelicals historically used catechisms (Spurgeon wrote one) and some are reviving them (the New City Catechism, 2012). Non-denominational churches mostly don't.

Where does “Catechism” come from?

The Greek katecheo, "to instruct orally," is Luke's word for Theophilus having been "taught" (Luke 1:4). The early church's catechumenate — years of instruction before baptism, with Cyril of Jerusalem's lectures (350s) as the classic example — faded as infant baptism became universal. Luther's Small Catechism (1529) invented the Reformation Q&A form; Calvin's (1542), the Heidelberg (1563), and Westminster (1647) followed; Trent's Roman Catechism (1566) answered for Catholics. The Baltimore Catechism (1885) formed American Catholics until Vatican II; RCIA restored the adult catechumenate (1972), and the Catechism of the Catholic Church appeared in 1992.

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Go deeper on the network

• The Heidelberg Catechism — full text, history, and the famous first question ↗
• The Westminster Confession — with the Shorter and Larger Catechisms ↗

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