In my last entry, I attempted to answer the question: why should the catechism continued to be used as theological education? I advocated for its continued use because it is an extremely valuable piece of curriculum, which instills a basic theological framework for understanding biblical teaching and practice. In this entry, I would like to provide some basic guidelines and how to learn the catechism for yourself so that you can be in a position to use it as a teaching tool for others.
The Problem of Learning the Catechism
Before one can ever teach the catechism, one must first have it memorized but more fundamentally one must understand what is to be learned in the catechism. Memorization, without a doubt, is a difficult task in itself. (Believe me I am still in the process of memorizing the catechism myself). Indeed, there are many obstacles that stand in the wake of memorizing the catechism: word choice, syntax, the sheer number of questions, as well as a subtle variation in the wording of each question that can make several questions appear virtually indistinguishable. However, the difficulty in memorization can be greatly lessened if one understands the catechism before he begins to memorize it. The fundamental problem of learning the catechism is how one understands the catechism itself.
The Aspects Required to Understand the Catechism
So what does one need to understand? If one desires to have a basic understanding of the catechism, then one needs to understand: the subject, the genre, the form, and the structure. If one has a great basic grasp on these four aspects of the catechism, and the task of memorization is greatly lessened. In fact the act of memorization becomes quite enjoyable, and even rewarding. I will further all every of this at the end.
The Subject of the Catechism
The subject of the catechism is quite simple. The catechism basically teaches the student to things: (1) about God and (2) about how we are to respond to him. The catechism itself announces this topic in question 3, which asks: what descriptors principally teach? Answer: the Scriptures principally teach, what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man.
What is man to believe concerning God? First, that God is the only true and living God who created all things from nothing. Second, that God in Jesus Christ is the only Redeemer of God's people.
What duty does God require a man? He requires absolute perfection. In fact, he requires absolute perfection without any room for error. Specifically, he requires perfection in the areas of knowledge, righteousness, and holiness. This means that he requires men to know is holy Word, make supplication to him, and practice every righteous act which is spelled out in the law. This entire relationship between God and man is referred to as the "covenant of life."
Now, obviously, the catechism has much more to teach about these subjects, and even has some qualifications regarding the subjects, however this is basically what the catechism teaches about the nature of God (creator, sovereign, and Redeemer) and about the various duties required of man (external ordinances, ethics, and sacraments).
Genre Classification the Catechism
Genre classification has to do with how any given text relates to reality. Specifically, what is the function of the text in relation to its audience. How is the text supposed to affect the mind of its readers? Overall, the catechism aims at providing religious instruction. Specifically, it aims at providing theological instruction from the reformed perspective as it is grounded in the Christian Bible (old and New Testaments).
However, there are two different types of knowledge that it seeks to convey: theoretical and practical knowledge. Theoretical knowledge teams at providing a picture of the world as it is (where the word "world" stands as a universal set or arena for a more specific subject). In this regard, the catechism teams at teaching the student about who God is. The catechism further elaborates that God is the creator and Redeemer of all creation. Practical knowledge aims at providing knowledge about the world as it should be. In this regard, the catechism aims at teaching the student how he should respond to God.
In summation, the student will be required to learn something about God as he is (theoretically) and how he should respond to God (practically). This means the test of a student competency should reveal what he's able to sing about God as creator and Redeemer and have his people to respond to God in his actual life.
Form of the Catechism
The catechism is put in a question-and-answer format. Now, the question-and-answer format is not to be read as a real-world script. My wife remarked the other day as we were going through the catechism that it seems very unlikely that anyone would ever ask her these questions on the street. In this regard, the catechism reads much like the writings of Plato. It's somewhat depicts a rather dry dramatic dialogue between student and teacher, where the student somehow is able to answer all of the teachers questioned with complete consistency and clarity. However, the purpose of the form is not necessarily to be likened to a script to be performed, rather it is to be likened to a guidebook with more general principles. It is true that the catechism does enable the student to provide a ready answer for his faith, however the question-and-answer format demonstrates the relationship between thought and theological formulation. In other words, the question shows the student what specific theological problem is being addressed so that he is able to understand the answer that he is memorizing. This enables the student to make use of the answer in a wide variety of thought and real-world circumstances. In other words, but one person in the real world may bombard with the questions as they are formulated within the catechism, however you may encounter the theological problem, which the question addresses in a wide variety of real world and thought world circumstances.
In addition, the form of the question is by its very nature and unsubstantiated claim. That is, nearly every answer contained in the catechism is a thesis claim that unapologetically fails to provide scriptural evidence for itself. This is intentionally built into the catechism. The catechism is an interpretive tool, which encourages the student to investigate its basic claims within the Scriptures themselves. The catechism by design encourages the student to enter into a dialogue with its own claims. The catechism itself is not the final word, rather the scripture is. It is the responsibility of the student to test the claims of the catechism in relation to the claims of Scripture.
In summation, the student should recognize that the question-and-answer format does not represent a real world drama, rather it is a representation of the relationship between theological problem and theological answer. This will enable the student to recognize the versatility of any given theological answer within the catechism to be used in a wide variety of circumstances (both real-world and thought world). Second, the form of the catechism is unsubstantiated by intentional design. Each answer is only a theological claim, which is in need of further scriptural evidence. If the student correctly understands this design of the catechism, he will demonstrate its understanding by his desire to test the claims of the catechism against the claims of Scripture to see if the two properly correspond.
The structure of the catechism
The catechism can be roughly outlined as such:
I. Introduction (Q. 1--3)
Theoretical knowledge -- teaching about God as he is
II. what man is to believe concerning God (4 -- 38)
a. Creator (4 --19)
b. Redeemer (20 -- 38)
Practical knowledge -- teaching about how we respond to God
III. duties that requires a man (39 -- 107)
a. Ethical Practice -- 10 Commandments (39 -- 87)
b. external ordinances and sacraments (88 -- 107)
i. Scripture reading (89 -- 90)
ii. baptism and Lord's supper (91 -- 97)
iii. prayer-Lord's prayer (98 -- 107)
Conclusion
So how does one begin to teach the catechism? One must both memorize the catechism and understand. The process of memorization can be extremely difficult for a wide variety of reasons, however if one has a basic understanding of the catechism in terms of its subject (doctrinal content), genre (how it is to affect the mind of the student), form (why it is written in a question-and-answer format and why the catechism by design fails to substantiate claims), as well as its basic structure; then one will be in a position to memorize it with greater ease.
Learning the subject of the catechism enables one to know what to expect to encounter as he/she moves through the catechism questioned by question.
Knowing the genres of the catechism enables one to know how to assimilate the kinds of knowledge one encounters within the catechism. The student can keep this question in his mind: if the catechism teaching me something about God or if it's teaching me how to respond to God?
Having a grasp on the why of the question-and-answer format enables the student to appreciate the relationship between the theological problem in the theological answer (whether that problem be practical for theoretical).
Knowing the fact that its claim in catechism is unsubstantiated should encourage the student to investigate the catechism and to enter into a dialogue with its relationship to Scripture. The catechism itself does not provide the final word, the student is the one who needs to make a judgment about the validity of each claim. Finally, knowing how the catechism is divided enables the student to know where to find the various doctrines taught within the catechism. It also allows the students to know how to access the catechism for further reference.
In the end, no understanding can completely overcome this difficulty in time that it will take for any student to learn how to master the catechism. However, every student should know that what he's learning is worthy to be learned for the glory of God. Ultimately, the student will learn to glorify God with his mind and actions. Not only their moral actions, but also their skills as a reader, Speaker, and listener because let's face it the catechism can be a tough read and a rough ride to recite but these actions increase the overall competency of the student that stretch will be on the areas of churchly knowledge and skill.
No comments:
Post a Comment