A catechism is a brief summary of Christian doctrine intended for the uninstructed, often put in a question-and-answer format. Since the earliest times in the church, converts were instructed in their basic understanding of the faith before being admitted to full fellowship in the sacraments of the church. The course of instruction in the ancient Church for such a convert, or catechumen, typically lasted three to five years. Luther noted that in the medieval church this course of instruction was replaced by the pomp and ceremony of the sacrament of confirmation. This ceremony substituted mere recital for the understanding of content. In the face of rampant ignorance-both on the part of pastors and laypersons-Luther reinstituted catechesis anew.
Reformation catechisms demonstrate the great deal of continuity between the Reform movement and the previous 1,500 years of church history. Luther's small catechism (1529) gives brief and simple explanations of the Ten Commandments, the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Sacraments, following the practice of the ancient Church. He did, however, omit the Hail Mary, which was often included in this list during the Middle Ages. While this amount of material may appear onerous and artificial by modern standards, it is interesting to note that Luther's concern is quite pastoral:
Indeed, the total content of Scripture and preaching and everything a Christian needs to know is quite fully and adequately comprehended in these three items [Ten Commandments, Apostles' Creed, Lord's Prayer]. They summarize everything with such brevity and clarity that no one can complain or make any excuse that the things necessary for his salvation are too complicated or difficult for him to remember. (1)
Through these three forms, even the illiterate are able to comprehend a summary of the whole of Scripture and preaching. (2) For Luther, these three forms were provided by God as a faithful summary of the Christian faith, allowing even the uneducated to memorize them and so know God's goodness.
Indeed, Luther's small catechism is a masterwork of simplicity. Its intended purpose is to assure that its student comes to know and understand these three forms, as well as the elementary principles of the sacraments. Luther's catechetical materials silence the critics who claimed that the faith required for the Gospel was too intellectual. Rome had thought that the faithful need merely voice agreement-even if they didn't know or understand the particular teaching of the Church. But Luther and the Reformation after him recognized that one must know God in Christ in order to trust on him for salvation. To be a Christian, you need not be a Doctor of Theology, but you must know what you believe.
Luther's catechetical literature inspired literally hundreds of other catechisms, all following him in his adherence to the classical content of the catechism. (3) The vast number of catechisms produced during the sixteenth century is a testimony to an intense pastoral drive-not to a nit-picking intellectualism in matters of the faith. This pastoral desire is nicely summarized by the Heidelberg Catechism's second question: "What three things must you know to live and die in the joy of this [Christian] comfort?"
This single question illustrates quite nicely two fundamental ways in which virtually all the catechisms of the Reformation are set apart from their modern counterpart, WWJD. The first is a concern with knowledge. Heidelberg insists that unless you know the extent of your sin and misery, the deliverance wrought for you by God, and how you ought to respond, the comfort of the Gospel is beyond your grasp. By way of contrast, WWJD is thoroughly anti-intellectual, providing no correct answer to its single, hypothetical question. WWJD is ultimately not asking what you know, but what might be the case were Jesus in your shoes. Once the catechumen takes a stab at this, he has obtained a criterion for his behavior. A criterion, we should note, entirely of his own making. The knowledge of saving faith-consisting primarily of God's redemptive action-has been replaced with a prescription for our own action.
The second distinction follows from the first. Whereas the Heidelberg Catechism has as its goal the communication of Christian comfort, WWJD has as its goal discomfort. It seeks to challenge its student with his current life, convict him of sin, and thus drive him to more "Christian" behavior. A catechumen who correctly(?) determines the appropriate course of action must yet perform that action. Upon performance, he may either recognize his failure to measure up to the rigor of the Law, or-like the rich young ruler-deceive himself into thinking that he has kept the whole Law. There is that point of contact here between WWJD and the first section of the Heidelberg Catechism, which treats the topic of our sin and misery. Unfortunately, whereas Heidelberg proceeds to address our deliverance and faithful response, WWJD has nothing further to say.
2 [ Back ] Zacharias Ursinus, one of the principal authors of the Heidelberg Catechism, lists preparation to understand preaching as one of the key reasons that catechesis is necessary: "Those who have properly studied and learned the Catechism, are generally better prepared to understand and appreciate the sermons which they hear from time to time, inasmuch as they can easily refer and reduce those things which they hear out of the word of God, to the different heads of the catechism to which they appropriately belong, whilst, on the one hand, those who have not enjoyed this preparatory training, hear sermon, for the most part, with but little profit to themselves." Ursinus, Commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism, (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company:, 1852), p. 15.
3 [ Back ] The early editions of Calvin's Institutes are themselves a summary of the Christian faith which follows Luther's catechetical structure quite closely. Though later editions incorporated additional structural elements, sections commenting upon the Creed, the Ten Commandments, the Lord's Prayer, and the Sacraments can still be easily discerned.
