Book Review

Title: Rediscovering Catechism: The Art of Equipping Covenant Children
Author: Donald Van Dyken
Publisher: P&R Publishing
Number of pages: 146 (including appendices and endnotes)
Purchased: At the Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary Spring 2005 conference; $7.19.
Begun: 1-16-2007
Finished: 1-18-2007
Rating: **


Review: A surprisingly quick read with very short chapters, this book is a call to recover the lost practice of catechizing the Church’s children; or as the author puts it, to recover the “lost art of equipping covenant children.” You may misunderstand his purpose if you think of “catechizing” only in terms of the rote memorization and recitation of a published “catechism.” Van Dyken says “that definition is too narrow” (ibid.).

Catechism: the Art
Van Dyken views “catechism” primarily as an event (i.e. “catechizing”) in which youth are instructed. It is teaching (he draws a sharp distinction between preaching and teaching) through the use of questions so that the understanding of the students may be ascertained. “Catechizing is a question-and-answer teaching method that bounces words off students, catches their responses on the rebound, and serves up words again as needed” (15). The questions are not limited to those found in a book, but can be prepared ahead of time by the “catechist” or asked spontaneously in response to the needs of the “catechumens.” It is a technique similar to the Socratic method and used to great profit by such men as Augustine, Anselm, and Erasmus. He laments its disuse today.

Catechism: the Material
Van Dyken observes a logical and historical progression from the Bible to confessions to catechisms. The Bible is the source of all truth; the confessions inform us what the Church believes about the Bible; and the catechisms serve as tools to teach us the Bible or a specific confession. (For example: the Westminster Shorter Catechism was written to teach youth the doctrines confessed in the Westminster Confession of Faith.) Van Dyken believes that catechisms (and catechizing) should be used to teach Biblical history, not just theological doctrines. He agrees with Matthew Henry (who wrote a Scripture-knowledge catechism to complement the confessional catechism): “The history of Scripture is [the] most proper [thing] to acquaint your children with in the first place” (94), i.e. above simply a knowledge of the Church‘s confessions.

Catechism: the Motivation
From an ecclesiastical perspective, catechizing our children is important because they are the Church of tomorrow. The Council of Trent observed, “The heretics [by that they meant the Protestants] have chiefly made use of catechisms to corrupt the minds of Christians” (31). Where catechizing was practiced, the churches thrived. The Jesuits noticed this fact and made use of catechizing (a method long ignored by Rome but revived by the reformers) to arrest the progress of the Reformation. Long after it fell out of disuse among most of the Protestant churches, the Roman Catholic church continued to use it to its great advantage.

From a theological perspective, “the doctrine of predestination fueled the great efforts at catechizing. ... God’s promises for the continuation of his church from generation to generation were built upon his promises to work in the hearts of the children of his people through his Word and Spirit. Out of the faith in these promises sprang the unflagging zeal of the Reformation churches to catechize the next generation in the grand Reformation teachings of scriptural truth” (28). Though I do not hold to his covenantal perspective (“God includes children in the unbelief or faith of their parents” p.59), I do believe that the children of the elect are “sanctified” and set apart to receive God’s special favor and that there is every reason to anticipate their own salvation and thus catechize them in preparation for their own roles in Christ’s Church.

From a practical perspective the use of catechisms is to the Bible what an atlas is to world geography. While some might maintain that the best way to learn geography might be to go outside and study “the real thing” for yourself, most will acknowledge that one is far too limited in experience, knowledge and time to understand the big picture of world geography through personal discovery. In the same way, we must acknowledge that a child (and we, for that matter) is too limited in his understanding and experience to understand the grand scheme of revelation through personal reading and discovery. Catechisms serve as an “atlas” that can later be tested and proven true through personal discovery.

Overall, an interesting and helpful read. It encouraged me personally to put more careful thought into the instruction that my children and the children of my church are receiving. I am already making plans ...