2. Catechesis Is A (Very!) Biblical Idea
2
Catechesis Is a (Very!) Biblical Idea
One who is catechized must share all good things with the one who catechizes.
Galatians 6:6 (a literal rendering)
It will doubtless surprise a good number of evangelical Protestants to hear that catechesis is not only a biblical idea, but a very biblical idea. Many of us—especially those of us who grew up in North American evangelical cultures in recent times—rarely if ever heard the words catechesis or catechism. If we did hear them, it was likely to be from a Catholic school friend who had to decline an invitation to play on a Saturday morning because, “I have to go to catechism.”
Beyond this association with Roman Catholicism, we may have found the word in use among Lutherans or Episcopalians—groups often seen as outside mainstream American evangelicalism. Within evangelical circles, conservative Presbyterians and other Reformed believers probably represent the only major groups that have regular acquaintance with the notion of catechesis, primarily in the form of the Westminster Shorter and Heidelberg Catechisms. For most of what we might call “garden variety” evangelicals, however, catechesis has, up to now, been a largely foreign concept.
The fact is, however, that catechesis is an exceedingly biblical notion. We will attempt to demonstrate this in the present chapter by means of several lines of argument. First, we will look at Old Testament precursors to the sort of faith training that a rigorous catechesis envisions. Next, we will turn to several terms in the New Testament that point us toward catechesis. We will then survey possible New Testament examples of early catechetical ministry. Then we will consider the fact that some of the New Testament documents themselves appear to be examples of early catechetical writings. Finally, we will observe several passages that have the force of catechetical imperatives.
Old Testament Precursors to Catechesis
Catechesis, as we saw in chapter 1, should be understood as a ministry of rigorously grounding and growing believers in the Christian faith. This includes a comprehensive concern for our beliefs about God, our communion with God, and our obedience to God. We will be unpacking all of this further throughout the course of this book. For now, we simply assert that such determined attention to faith formation is a biblical constant that was established early on in the Old Testament. The New Testament takes this idea further and centers it on the person and work of Jesus Christ. But the concept of diligent teaching about our beliefs, our obedience, and our relationship with God was already in place many centuries before the time of Christ.
There are numerous Old Testament terms and passages that make all this very clear. In chapters 6 and 11 of Deuteronomy, the Israelites are commanded to instruct their children about God’s redemptive deeds and holy commands. This instruction was declared to be especially important for the sake of younger generations who had not personally witnessed what God had done for Israel (e.g., Deut. 6:20; 11:2). God’s ways were to be wholly embraced and his laws obeyed by the older generation, and then all of this was to be diligently passed on to the younger generations (Deut. 6:6–7; 11:18–19). The word rendered as “teach . . . diligently” in Deuteronomy 6:7 is the Hebrew verb shanan, of which the dictionary definition is “whet or sharpen,” and which here suggests teaching in such a way as to make a deep impression upon the learner. Some versions (e.g., the NIV) begin verse 7 thus: “Impress [these commands] upon your children.” How was such deeply impressive teaching to be done? It would need to be intentional, multisensory, and constant. The passage continues:
You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk about them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. (Deut. 6:7–9)
The heart of the curriculum for the faith training of children, and indeed of all the Israelites, was the torah. This beautiful Hebrew term has typically been rendered into English as “law,” but this is really an inadequate translation. While “law” captures the authority aspects of the term and concept, torah has broader connotations than our English “law.” Torah comes from a Hebrew root that signifies “shooting” (as in shooting an arrow) or “casting” (as in casting lots). The true connotation of torah is more “direction” or “guidance” or “instruction” than mere legislation. In many Jewish translations of the Bible and in biblical commentaries, therefore, it is more typical to see the word rendered “instruction” or “guidance” rather than “law,” and it is more common still to see the word simply left untranslated—as “the Torah of the Lord.”
Torah certainly includes the commands of the Lord, but whereas the modern English speaker thinks of law as a binding and restrictive thing, the Hebrew Scriptures portray the torah as a divine gift that illumines God’s path or way (derek in Hebrew). There is a path of the wicked that leads to destruction. But the way of the Lord leads to life and blessing. This is the path men and women and communities and nations have been created to walk in. How do we discern that path from among the manifold options presenting themselves to us? We discern God’s derek by rejecting the counsel of the godless and, instead, by carefully and diligently meditating upon the Lord’s torah. The first Psalm clearly makes the case:
Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the torah of the LORD,
and on his torah he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
for the LORD knows the derek of the righteous,
but the derek of the wicked will perish.
Psalm 11
Far from proving restrictive in a negative or oppressive manner, God’s gift of torah illumines the path upon which we must walk (Ps. 119:105; the more general term for “word”—dabar—is used in this instance—“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path”—but the entire psalm is plainly a celebration of God’s torah). Secure in the knowledge of being on God’s path, our hearts are set free to run in the way of his commands (Ps. 119:32). The torah, which we have called the curriculum for Israel’s religious instruction, is not any kind of abstract notion. It is, notably and critically, a behavior pattern, to be embodied in the lives of teacher and parent as an illustrative model for the young. Indeed, from the same Hebrew root that gives rise to torah come words for teacher, moreh, and for parent, horeh. These persons are to be living guides in the way of the Lord. A key Hebrew verb for teaching—yarah—also arises from the same root. To teach, then, involves pointing others to, and leading others in, the way.2
Aside from these principal comments about torah, we should also note that the term is most commonly used to refer to the entirety of the “five books of Moses”: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. In those books, we certainly find God’s holy commands—the Decalogue, for example, is recorded twice, in Exodus 20 and in Deuteronomy 5—but these are set within the larger context of the narrative of God’s redemptive work on behalf of Israel. The Torah, in other words, embraces both God’s mighty deeds and his holy commands. In fact, even the Decalogue has both of these features in view. While many Christians refer to the “Ten Commandments,” many Jews call this passage the “Ten Words.” Indeed, the Bible itself refers to these as the “Ten Words” (debarim in Hebrew; see Deut. 4:13; 10:4). And the first of the ten words is not a command but rather God’s statement about his divine, covenant identity and redemptive deeds: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” Obedience to the commands is thus set forth as a response, the only fitting response, to who God is and to what he has done.
This pairing of mighty redemptive deeds and holy commands is also in view in another important passage in the Old Testament. In Psalm 78 the psalmist pleads with his people to faithfully pass on to future generations the record of God’s mighty deeds and holy commands (Ps. 78:4–5). He is persuaded that diligent attention to impressing this twofold message upon children and grandchildren would help those future generations to “set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments” (Ps. 78:7). Thus they would not become “like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God” (Ps. 78:8).
The message of such a psalm is fitly juxtaposed against the backdrop of passages like Judges 2. There we read—in some of the most tragic language to be found in the Bible—of the generation that arose after Joshua and his contemporaries: “And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel. And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals. And they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt” (Judg. 2:10–12). The text does not only say that this new generation did not know the Lord. It says, further, that they did not know “the work that he had done for Israel.” Moses had instructed the Israelites to teach their children diligently, specifically noting that “your children . . . have not known or seen” these things (Deut. 11:2). But those in Joshua’s generation had apparently failed in their task. It is this sort of failure that the psalmist warns against in Psalm 78. Even with our best efforts to teach our children God’s mighty deeds and righteous commands, we have no guarantee that they will grow up to truly know the Lord. But if we fail to teach what we have known and seen of God’s ways, we will be without excuse when God calls us to account for how we raised our children.
For the present, we will add just one final thought about Old Testament precursors to the concept of catechesis. On a broad scale, one might argue that there were three major types of teaching in the Old Testament that are reflected in the three divisions of the Hebrew Bible.3 Jews refer to their collected Scriptures as the Tanakh. This word is an acronym built upon the following threefold division:
Torah—the books of Moses
Nevi’im—the Prophets
Kethuvim—the Writings
The threefold division is acknowledged in the New Testament. The risen Jesus said the following to his disciples: “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled” (Luke 24:44). (The Psalms are the first and largest book in the third section of the Tanakh—the Writings.) Corresponding to this threefold instruction were three types of teachers in ancient Israel—priests, prophets, and sages. And, further, there is a correspondence here to three dimensions of faith within Judaism—learning, worship, and action. The goal of all Jewish education, wrote Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, is reverent obedience to the Lord.4 It is not knowledge as abstraction that is sought through faith training. It is, rather, that God’s people will actually walk in the way of the Lord.
We will later be considering some implications of the above threefold pattern for discipleship today. For now, we note only that the faith training envisioned in the Hebrew Bible is comprehensive in its concern and range, dealing with all dimensions of human life and experience. We shall see that catechesis has historically shared this concern. Indeed, we will argue that there can be no faithful catechesis apart from such a commitment to the formation of whole persons and whole communities. Further, we will discover that in early Christian catechesis, in the New Testament and beyond, the same concern for conforming to God’s way that we find in the Old Testament is still very much present.
The Term 
in the New Testament
In the New Testament, the notion of catechesis becomes sharper still, particularly in terms of its focus on the person and work of Jesus Christ. In the first place, we begin with some biblical terms that emerge related to catechesis. The term catechesis itself, as we said earlier, comes from the Greek verb 
. At first glance, this is simply one of numerous New Testament words for “teaching” or “instruction.” It appears numerous times in various forms in the New Testament and has been rendered in English versions of the Bible by a variety of terms. We have placed the appropriate translated word in italics in each of the citations that follow. In many of these cases, the term seems simply to mean “to impart information,” or “to teach” in a general sense. It is used in Acts 21:21 with reference to false rumors being spread about the apostle Paul. Paul himself, however, always uses the term to refer to giving instruction about the content of the faith. In 1 Corinthians 14:19, for example, he writes that although he spoke in tongues more than all the Corinthians, “in church I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue.”
In some of the New Testament instances of the term, we may already have evidence of an emerging use of as a standard (we would say technical) term for imparting basic Christian knowledge. While none of these are definitive, we find the three following examples to be at least suggestive of what would become known as catechesis in the centuries immediately succeeding the New Testament era.
The first instance is in Luke 1:3–4, part of the author’s preface to the third Gospel. Luke, writing to “most excellent Theophilus,” explains that he offers here a well-researched, orderly account, “that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.” There are important interpretive questions about the verse. First of all, is Theophilus an actual individual, or is this a symbolic name for all believers who are the intended readers (Theophilus means “lover of God”)? This is disputed, but many contemporary scholars take the former view and suggest that Theophilus was also likely the patron for Luke’s work. Secondly, is Theophilus already a faithful believer and follower of Jesus, or is he an inquirer or an early-stage catechumen? Our answer to this question may help us understand the catechetical implications of Luke’s account. If Theophilus was not yet fully a believer, then we may understand whatever earlier instruction he had received as a sort of procatechesis, which Luke now supplements with a narrative of Christ conceived and composed as a more formal catechetical account. (This appears to be part, at least, of the rationale for all four Gospels, as we shall shortly see.) If, on the other hand, Theophilus was a believer already, then here might refer to a past experience of some sort of catechesis, to which Luke now adds his confirming testimony. These issues are much debated among commentators, and it is probably unwise to be too dogmatic about our own answer, though we tend toward the latter view.
The second instance where we may see something of a technical usage of also comes from the pen of Luke. Introducing his readers to Apollos—a new character in the unfolding drama of the still emerging church—Luke writes, “He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately about Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John” (Acts 18:25). Again, the term here may simply mean that Apollos had been instructed in a general sense about the way of the Lord. But given the fact that “the way of the Lord” is itself a technical term for full-scale Christianity both in Scripture and in the language of the ancient church, it seems to us to be a strong possibility that here carries a more technical sense. Apollos had, in fact, been catechized in the way of the Lord, albeit only to a limited extent. He was in need of further catechesis about the person and work of Jesus, including apparently the sacramental ordinances that Jesus instituted, and God was about to provide this through the ministry of Priscilla and Aquila, who had themselves been catechized by the apostle Paul. This further catechesis helped Apollos become a source of deep blessing to the believers (see Acts 18:1–4, 18–21, 26–28).
Our third and final example of a possible technical usage of in the New Testament is in Galatians 6:6. As Paul moves toward the closure of this particularly spirited letter, he writes, “One who is taught the word must share all good things with the one who teaches.” If we were to use the language of the early church (see chapter 1 for our outlining of the various terms) in rendering the key words in this verse, our reading might be, “The catechumen must share all good things with the catechist.” While we cannot say definitively that this is in fact an intentionally technical use of the term, many have argued that it is the clearest example of such usage in the New Testament.
It is in any case clear that if katecheo cannot be indisputably understood as a technical term within the New Testament itself, it became such a term soon afterwards. One example from the middle of the second century is often cited. In 2 Clement 17:1, we read: “Let us repent, therefore, with our whole heart, lest any of us should perish needlessly. For if we have orders that we should make it our business to tear men away from idols and to instruct them, how much more wrong is it that a soul that already knows God should perish?” (emphasis added).5
Other New Testament Terms Related to Catechesis
The case for catechesis as a New Testament reality, however, is not primarily dependent upon the biblical term . There are other terms that appear throughout the New Testament that are quite explicit when it comes to the practice of grounding and growing believers in the essentials of the faith. In the first place, there are several words that relate unambiguously to the matter of catechetical content. These include “the Gospel,” “the Faith,” “the teaching(s)” or “the doctrine(s),” and “the tradition(s).” The first two of these terms—the Gospel and the Faith—we will explore in greater detail in chapters 4–6. For now, we simply point out that these terms and their frequent usage in the New Testament clearly indicate that certain Christian truths and practices were regarded as essential and nonnegotiable material for preaching and teaching in the church.
“The teaching(s)” or “the doctrine(s)” are terms frequently used to render the Greek words 
or didaskalia in the New Testament. A key example for our purposes is Acts 2:42. There we read of three thousand newly baptized believers who earnestly committed themselves to “the teaching of the Apostles, the fellowship, the breaking of bread and the prayers.” “Teaching” is in this instance. Together, the fourfold commitment seems to represent an outline of essential content in this early school of Christian disciples (that is, an early sort of catechumenate, to use another term introduced in chapter 1). The converts were drilled in an understanding of apostolic doctrine, in the discipline of authentic Christian fellowship, and in the communal practices of worship and prayer.
The teaching of the apostles—the first of these fundamental commitments— no doubt focused on the Gospel of Jesus Christ and other essential aspects of the Faith, all derived from the apostles’ own Spirit-led exposition of the Holy Scriptures in the light of Christ. There are a number of other New Testament examples of phrases such as “the teaching(s).” In Romans 6:17, Paul thanks God for the fact that the Roman believers had become “obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching [tupon didache] to which you were committed.” Tupos in Greek literally means “die-stamp,” and thus metaphorically a fixed pattern functioning as a benchmark or standard. Paul writes to Timothy about being faithful in his own teaching ministry. By doing so, he would be “a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed” (1 Tim. 4:6). Here we have the apostle using both “the faith” and “the . . . doctrine” (in this instance, the Greek word is didaskalia) in a single verse. In Titus 2:10, Paul exhorts Titus to teach the believers godly living, “so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine [didaskalia] of God our Savior.” This verse thus aptly finishes the passage that began with Paul’s urging Titus to “teach what accords with sound doctrine” (Titus 2:1).
The apostle John, likewise, makes reference to the importance of “the teaching.” In 2 John 9–11 he writes, “Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked deeds.”
Another important set of terms we must consider are words deriving from the Greek noun paradosis. These are usually rendered as “tradition” or “traditions” in English versions of the New Testament. In some instances, the word is used with negative connotations, referencing the traditions of men that stand over against the teaching of God in Scripture and through the apostles. Thus Jesus rebukes the religious leaders of his day for “making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down” (Mark 7:13). Paul too warns the Colossians against falling prey to “human tradition” (Col. 2:8). Before he surrendered to Jesus as his Lord, Paul himself had been “extremely zealous . . . for the traditions of my fathers” (Gal. 1:14; some of these traditions doubtless reflected God’s Word, while others contradicted it).
In other places, however, paradosis is used in a very positive sense. In 2 Thessalonians 2:15, Paul urges the believers to “stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.” Later in the same epistle, Paul warns the believers to “keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us” (2 Thess. 3:6).
The Greek verb 
is closely related to the noun paradosis. Alongside all the implications of the verb and other New Testament words for teaching, represents a critical dimension of the catechetical process. It is typically rendered in English versions of Scripture as “deliver,” “commit,” “hand over,” or “pass on.” Luke writes in the opening verses of his Gospel of “the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us” (Luke 1:1–2). Paul and Timothy delivered to the believers for observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem. “So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers daily” (Acts 16:4–5). We noted earlier Paul’s praise for the Roman believers’ having “become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed.” Apostolic teaching hands the learners over, as it were, to the truth that must henceforth rule their thoughts and lives. And the apostle Peter warns about false teachers for whom “it would have been better . . . never to know the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them” (2 Peter 2:21).
Perhaps the most striking use of paradidomi in the catechetical sense we are focusing on is found in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. Twice in chapter 11 of that letter Paul uses the term to describe critically important teaching he had given during his eighteen months of ministry in Corinth. First, speaking in general terms, he commends the Corinthian believers “because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you” (1 Cor. 11:2). Then later in the chapter Paul speaks specifically of instructions regarding the Lord’s Supper: “For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread” (1 Cor. 11:23). The words Paul uses in the following verses are very similar to those recorded in Luke’s account of the Last Supper (Luke 22:19–20). Paul had not made up these words. He had received (parelabon) them. Before these words were recorded in either Luke’s Gospel or Paul’s letter, they had passed verbally from Jesus to the apostles and, in turn, had been handed down by the apostles to the various followers of Christ.
Then in 1 Corinthians 15:3–5, Paul introduces the Gospel as he preached it among the Corinthians. “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received [parelabon]: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared.”
Paul’s use of the term parelabon in these passages is both intriguing and instructive. He does not indicate how he had received these teachings. To say that he had received them from the Lord does not require that he had done so by direct revelation. It is more likely that he had received this teaching “from the Lord” through the teaching of the other apostles. In similar fashion, we who worship the Lord today receive God’s Word through the ministry of preachers and teachers and through our own reading and study of the Scriptures. Beyond the issue of how Paul received this instruction, however, is the simple but crucial fact that he received it. If “passing on” or “delivering” describes the catechetical process from the vantage point of the teacher or catechist, “receiving” describes the same process from the vantage point of the disciple or catechumen. In fact, all who engage in the ministry of catechizing others are continually exercised in both directions—they pass on what they have received. Catechesis, then, is not concerned with novelty—certainly not in terms of content. It is concerned, rather, with faithfulness in both learning and teaching the things of God.
Taken together, these various New Testament terms—the teaching(s) or doctrine(s), or the tradition(s) that we both receive and pass on—reveal important truths about the Faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.6 This Faith is not only to be earnestly contended for. It is also required that believers diligently study it (Acts 2:42), abide in it (2 John 9–10), obey it (Acts 6:7), and—as the numerous verses we have considered above indicate—faithfully pass it on to others. Catechesis represents a convergence of these commitments. It is the intentional passing on of the Faith, not merely for cognitive apprehension, but for the holistic transformation of individual believers and for the maturing of those believers together as the body of Christ.
Examples of “the Teaching,” “Sound Doctrine,”“Tradition,”
and “Passed on” in the New Testament
“And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching.” (Acts 2:42)
“Watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned.” (Rom. 16:17 NIV)
“Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you.” (1 Cor. 11:2)
“For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.’” (1 Cor. 11:23–24 NIV)
“For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” (1 Cor. 15:3–4 NIV)
“So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.” (2 Thess. 2:15 NIV)
“Keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching you received from us.” (2 Thess. 3:6 NIV)
“So that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine.” (1 Tim. 1:3)
“Let all who are under a yoke as slaves regard their own masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled.” (1 Tim. 6:1)
“If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing.” (1 Tim. 6:3–4)
“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine.” (2 Tim. 4:3 NASB)
“He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.” (Titus 1:9)
“But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine.” (Titus 2:1)
“Show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.” (Titus 2:10 NIV)
“It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them.” (2 Peter 2:21 NIV)
“Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.” (2 John 9 NIV)
Catechetical Documents in the New Testament
There is yet another line of argument that establishes the biblical basis of catechesis: many, if not all, of the New Testament writings themselves are in effect catechetical documents. Indeed, in the general sense of the term—catechesis as instruction—all the New Testament writings plainly served catechetical purposes. The Gospels and the narrative of Acts, the letters and the book of Revelation, were all vitally important teaching documents within the life of the early church.
Beyond this general sense, however, can it be argued that any of the New Testament books were explicitly catechetical documents? As a matter of fact, many have made this very case. The Gospels are often viewed as a starting point of instruction. Each of the evangelists, it is argued, was presenting an account of Jesus’s life and teaching to particular communities of professed believers. The result is four carefully crafted and culturally contextualized catechetical documents. We dealt earlier with some of the interpretive questions surrounding the opening verses of Luke’s Gospel. Our tentative conclusion was that Luke’s account may be more a work to confirm an earlier catechesis that Theophilus had received than primarily a catechetical work in its own right. It is entirely possible, however, that Luke-Acts represents an intentional effort of initial or ongoing catechesis.7
Many have suggested that Matthew’s Gospel is more explicitly catechetical. R. V. G. Tasker, though not himself arguing that catechesis was the primary purpose of Matthew’s writing, joins many in noting the educational value of the evangelist’s “systematic arrangement of his material according to subject matter rather than in strict chronological sequence.”8 He goes on to quote J. H. Ropes’s remarks about Matthew: “A well-educated man of distinguished literary ability, he undertook to provide for the instruction of Christians a systematic compendium or handbook of what was known about the deeds and words of the Founder of the Christian Church.”9
Matthew’s arrangement of narrative portions followed by extended passages of Jesus’s teaching, and the book’s similarities to early catechetical works like The Didache of the Apostles and the Epistle of Barnabas, are also frequently noted in support of the view that his work is distinctly catechetical in nature and intent.
Of Mark’s Gospel, suffice it to say that it serves extremely well as the basic text for the current catechetical course Christianity Explored, to which we shall return later, and this in itself strongly suggests that it was actually written, among its other purposes, for catechetical use. As for John’s Gospel, the absence of any direct account of Jesus’s baptism, transfiguration, and institution of the Lord’s Supper, which might undergird the profound Trinitarian teachings on the new birth and the Bread of Life that John records so fully, would seem to support the time-honored guess that John was intentionally writing a higher catechetical supplement to initial Christian instruction, such as the Synoptic Gospels provide.
To the degree that some or all of the Gospels are, in fact, catechetical works, there are some key implications for those of us who would catechize today. In terms of content, the books point, of course, to Christocentricity in catechesis. Jesus’s person and his reconciling work—in both life and in death—are the central foci of each of these works. The account of his passion, death, and triumphant resurrection is especially prominent in each narrative. But critical too is the account of Jesus’s living faithfully and obediently in the will and way of his heavenly Father. Who Jesus was, and how he lived, suffered, died, and rose, are the substance of all four Gospel records. We will argue through the course of the book that this emphasis on proclaiming Christ is always proper and primary for Christian catechesis.
In terms of catechetical process, the Gospels together may argue for the wisdom of taking a narrative approach. Even Matthew’s account, which, as we noted above, may be seen as more topical than chronological in arrangement, is fully concerned to trace the outline of the story of Jesus from initial promise, to birth, to life and ministry, and on to death, resurrection, and ascension. Such an emphasis on telling the Story, we will later suggest, may be especially important for renewed catechetical work in our time.
Beyond the Gospels and Acts, we can easily see how the apostolic epistles are exceedingly important catechetically—if not explicitly, then certainly by implication. The majority of the letters were evidently occasioned by circumstances, crises, or questions that arose in the various Christian communities. As we shall see later in this book, catechesis can and must be a responsive ministry at times. When Paul responds to heresy among the Galatians or to abuses and questions arising among the Corinthians he is doing important catechetical work. The same can be said regarding the letters of Peter, John, and Jude, and of the letter to the Hebrews.
Catechesis, however, is not always responsive. Indeed, it is in the first instance more of a preemptive ministry. It seeks to lay spiritual, moral, and theological foundations that can help grow a church and its individual members toward maturity, so that they will not be easily swayed by deceptive doctrines or moral compromises that will, invariably, arise to trouble them (see Eph. 4:11–16). It aims, in other words, to prevent struggles before they begin, anticipating them and, as we say, nipping them in the bud.
Some of the New Testament letters combine preemptive and responsive elements of teaching. In any case, the line between these emphases is a fuzzy one at best. In the letter of James, for example, the author appears to be responding to abuses that are already observable in the communities he is addressing. It seems likely that sins of spiritual laziness, of partiality toward the rich, of internal fighting, and more are already at work in the lives of his readers, and James writes to correct these things. On the other hand, James’s writing has much in common with many early Christian works of catechesis, especially his way of emphasizing the moral outworking of the Christian faith in daily obedience to the Word and way of God. His letter, then, is probably as much preemptive in purpose as it is responsive.
At least three of Paul’s letters seem to be of primarily preemptive catechetical import. These are the letters to the Ephesians, the Colossians, and the Romans, by common consent the three greatest and most significant letters he ever dictated. Their expository styles differ: Romans proceeds by what has been called the “diatribe” method, that is, by perpetually raising and resolving questions, while Ephesians and Colossians follow the “proclamatory” method of letting each point grow out of what preceded it, building each new thought logically and analytically on and out of what went before. But in doctrinal content the three letters complement each other, laying out different elements of the one truth about the grace of God, which is expressed and enjoyed through the Lord Jesus Christ in the new life that he brings. In all three, Paul shows that he has the mind of a theologian, for he relates everything systematically to God’s purpose revealed and redemption achieved through and in Christ, thus spelling out in full what he understood to be the Gospel. Equally, however, he shows himself to have the mind of a catechist as he lays out his material in clear doxological and devotional format. He relates it to those whom these pastoral letters, sermons on paper as they are, seek to disciple by indicating the faithful obedience and obedient faithfulness that Gospel truths require of them in all departments of life. In Paul, theologian and catechist are one.
Thus to the Romans, who he knew had differences among themselves regarding Jew and non-Jew together in the church, and to whom he knew he had probably been misrepresented already by Judaizers who thought the Gospel required Gentiles to become Jews, Paul presents in detail the theme of knowing and sharing Christ’s salvation. And to the Colossians, confused by devotional proposals that for Paul entailed christological heresy, he offers a presentation on the theme of living faithfully and authentically in Christ, in which his correction of the errant devotional proposals (worshiping angels and attending to visions) becomes almost incidental to his main thrust. Ephesians seems to bear the marks of an encyclical, a circular letter growing out of Colossians, addressed to a group of churches whose copies Tychicus delivered, and from the Ephesian copy of which our present text derives; but be that as it may, the letter’s catechetical theme is clear and explicit: live up to your calling in Christ in face of the world, the flesh, and the devil. As a group, all three letters are teaching the same Gospel—centered on Christ; oriented toward new life; attuned to faith, hope, love, and good works; and focused on the church as central in God’s plan of grace. Each, however, adds something distinctive to what is in the other two (Christology in Colossians, ecclesiology in Ephesians, and soteriological detail and Old Testament fulfillment in Romans, for starters). In each, Paul expounds high doctrine not as rarefied abstractions for Christian eggheads, but as practical truths to be grasped, responded to, and lived out by everyone. Moving thus on a preemptively catechetical wavelength, the apostle is unapologetically didactic, and what he writes, apart from its compression (writing is always more compressed than direct speech, and Paul on paper is a truly marvelous compressor), must surely have corresponded to what he would give to churches viva voce.
Catechetical Imperatives in the New Testament
One of the most important arguments for ministries of catechesis today derives from the simple fact that believers have been commanded to teach others catechetically. As we saw to be the case in the Old Testament, so in the New, parents are commanded to teach their children. Paul, citing the responsibility of fathers in particular, writes, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4). Paul himself actually models the teaching of children in the same letter, when he specifically addresses children in the believing community (Eph. 6:1; see also Col. 3:20).
In the pastoral epistles especially we find numerous exhortations to exercise ministries of substantive teaching. It is clear that Timothy and Titus were to see such teaching as central in their own ministries. Here are some of Paul’s exhortations to them:
• “Charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor devote themselves to myths.” (1 Tim. 1:3–4)
• “If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed.” (1 Tim. 4:6)
• “Command and teach these things.” (1 Tim. 4:11)
• “Devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.” (1 Tim. 4:13)
• “Keep a close watch on yourself and on your teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.” (1 Tim. 4:16)
• “Teach and urge these things. If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing.” (1 Tim. 6:2–4)
• “O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you.” (1 Tim. 6:20)
• “Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.” (2 Tim. 1:13–14)
• “What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” (2 Tim. 2:2)
• “Remind them of these things, and charge them before God not to quar-rel about words. . . . Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” (2 Tim. 2:14–15)
• “The Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness.” (2 Tim. 2:24–25)
• “Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching.” (2 Tim. 4:2–3)
• “But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine.” (Titus 2:1)
• “Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned.” (Titus 2:7–8)
• “Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority.” (Titus 2:15)
• “Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work.” (Titus 3:1)
Beyond the teaching ministries that Timothy and Titus themselves were to engage in, they were also to ensure that other leaders and mature believers would likewise engage in teaching. Overseers (episkopoi) were required to be “able to teach” (1 Tim. 3:2). Each overseer was to hold firmly to the deep truths of the Faith “so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it” (Titus 1:9). Mature men were to be enlisted who could teach others (2 Tim. 2:2), and the mature women were likewise “to teach what is good” (Titus 2:3).
In light of this testimony from the pastoral epistles, what might Paul think of the state of affairs in too many of our churches today, with pastors who do not regard teaching as a central feature of their ministries and with other church leaders who are largely ignorant of the Faith they have been charged to pass on to others? May God grant to those of us in such leadership roles a spirit of repentance to take up a serious ministry of teaching once again. Returning to a vision of rigorous catechesis will go a long way toward such a course correction.
Here we may appropriately observe that Christians who are developing in a natural, healthy way—regenerate persons, that is, who are now indwelt, led, and energized in mind and heart by the Holy Spirit—will welcome this kind of ongoing instruction in which attention is focused on the self-revealed Triune God: who and what he is; what he has done, is doing, and will do; his works, ways, will, wisdom, and how he wants to be worshiped; in short, everything he shows us with regard to himself throughout Scripture. Children between two and twelve in ordinary, healthy families will again and again manifest curiosity about what their parents are up to, and will often follow them around and stand watching them at work. When you love someone, you want to know everything about them. Similarly, children of God whose spiritual instincts have not been blunted or twisted will, in the natural course of things, show strong theological interests; they will want to learn all they can about their heavenly Father, their gracious Savior, and the sanctifying Holy Spirit, and will always welcome opportunities to find out more about their glorious God. Theirs is not the sinful curiosity that seeks to pry into things unrevealed, but the affectionate curiosity of admiration, gratitude, and love.
Reading between the lines of the heavy letters of Paul and the book of Hebrews, and the profundities of Jesus’s teachings in John’s Gospel, one gets the sense that those at the receiving end of these documents must have been excited already about God’s loving purposes and the fresh taste of life lived in and under Christ in the Spirit’s power. They were willing to think hard about it all. Theologically, Romans, Colossians, Ephesians, Hebrews, and John are dense and deep, but the writers are clearly confident that their addressees, hearing these documents read in church, will be able to grasp their meaning. It looks as if these early Christians lived in a sustained theological buzz, constantly discussing and debating divine things in a lifelong learning endeavor that was one of their many spontaneous expressions of newness of life in Christ.
But if that is so, then the general dumbing down of doctrinal instruction in today’s Western churches, the widespread suspicion and skepticism about the trustworthiness of the Bible and the Christian heritage, and the bland assumption of so many that learning biblical theology is in any case not needed for Christian well-being are both telltale symptoms and continuing causes of the weakness, woolliness, and waywardness that outsiders nowadays too often discern in us. A change of heart in Christians and a conscious course correction in church practice is, as was said above, most urgently needed for our good.
Nor is that all. We close this chapter with a supremely weighty and compelling thought, more demanding and decisive than any we have expressed thus far. We catechize because of the model and mandate of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus was and is the model catechist. He was the Teacher of teachers. It is not only his example that moves us to catechize, however. We catechize by command of Jesus. Jesus charged his followers with the task of teaching on several occasions during his earthly ministry (e.g., Matt. 10:14; 13:52). Just before ascending to the Father’s right hand in glory, the risen Christ commanded his followers to disciple all the nations. This task requires the ministry of serious, sustained, systematic, and substantive teaching—“teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:20). Catechesis is a faithful and fruitful ministry that flows directly from this “Great Commission” of Jesus.
Catechesis is, indeed, a very biblical idea! More than that—the ministry of catechesis is actually a biblical imperative. Tragically, however, the church has very often been unfaithful in working out God’s will in regard to this critical ministry. In the next chapter, we turn our attention to our checkered past in this respect as we consider the waxing and waning of catechetical endeavors in the history of the church. This will make for realism as we attempt to see the way ahead.