Christ Our Hope PCA blog - Tony Phelps, pastor

First Catechism & the Bible alone

My next modification to FC is very minor, and relates back to my changes to Q/A 4.  Q/A 14 reads:  "Where do you learn how to love and obey God?  In the Bible alone."  Of course, I have no issues at all with the answer!  This conveys to our covenant children the Reformation declaration of sola scriptura - that is, God's written Word alone is our ultimate authority for faith and life.  The Bible has a self-attesting authority - "as it is written" or "thus says the LORD" settles any matter with the finality of God's supreme authority. 

For consistency with my changes to Q/A 4, I've changed the wording of question 14:  "Where do you learn to believe and obey God?"  Again, I do not want to create a first impression with my covenant child that he has any inherent ability to love and obey God.  He is a "covenant of grace child" - not a covenant of works child.  So he is called to believe God's Law & Gospel as revealed in His written Word - and as a covenant child, he is especially called to believe God's Gospel-promises held out to him in baptism.  Faith in God's promises must be the priority - yet true belief will produce new obedience.
 

First Catechism - Introducing our covenant children to God as Creator, Sustainer... and REDEEMER

FC's Q/A 5 reads:  "Why are you to glorify God?  Because he made me and takes care of me."  Here, our covenant children are introduced to God-centered motives for glorifying God.  The answer is personally and beautifully expressed in the first person, and indicates that my motives for glorifying God are His personal creation of me, and on-going care for me.  God is introduced here as our personal Creator and Sustainer.  God's sovereign power over creation and providence is also here implied. 

Introducing our children to God as Creator and Sustainer is, of course, most necessary - but once again, in my opinion, incomplete.  We're not in the Garden anymore!  A sinner, though obligated to glorify the God who made him and cares for him, is unable to do so.  He unrighteously suppresses the truth of God as Creator and Sustainer, though these things are clearly revealed in creation and to his conscience (Romans 1 & 2). 

For our covenant children, however, they are not "unclean" but "holy" in the eyes of God - that is, He has sovereignly brought them into a covenant family; He sets them apart for His purposes; He extends His Christ-centered new covenant covenant promises to them, which are signified in baptism.   Our covenant children are sinful by nature, but "covenantally holy."  So how should I introduce my covenant child to his covenant God?  I should introduce him to the true and living God not only as his Creator and Sustainer, but also as his Redeemer.   And so I modify this question and answer as follows:

"Why are you to glorify God?  Because He made me, takes care of me, and promises to forgive all my sins." 

In this way, our covenant God is presented in His covenant fullness - our Creator, Sustainer, and Savior.  And the sinner's highest motive to glorify God is provided:  I glorify Him because of His redeeming grace to me in Christ (as Paul demonstrates in Ephesians 1:3-14), which thus liberates me to glorify Him as I ought to - as my Creator & Sustainer (witness the manifold songs of the redeemed in the Psalter, which glorify God as Creator and Sustainer; Psalms 8, 19, 104 come to mind immediately). 

With this answer, I'm also trying to preserve the promissory nature of my covenant child's relationship to God via baptism.  God promises to forgive all his sins for the sake of Christ - and signifies that promise with the cleansing waters of baptism - yet also calls him to embrace that promise by faith alone.   FC will flesh this out nicely as it unfolds. 

I have a few more changes I have in mind, which I'll present in future posts.

First Catechism - and first impressions

Last post, I mentioned that we plan to once again use First Catechism with our newest covenant child - but in reviewing it afresh, I found some areas I'd like to "perfect."  This catechism is published by GCP, and is an adaptation of a work by Joseph Engels originally published in 1840 for small children, as a way to introduce and simplify the concepts of the Westminster Shorter Catechism (WSC).   

Let me state clearly that I think First Catechism is in many ways excellent - especially in briefly describing the covenant of grace, Christ's person and work as Mediator of the covenant of grace, and justification.  A choice example is Q & A's 44 & 45:  "Q:  Who was represented by Jesus in the covenant of grace?  A:  His elect people. / Q: How did Jesus fulfill the covenant of grace?  A: He kept the whole law for his people, and then was punished for all of their sins."  There are many other examples of how this catechism is a commendable effort to convey biblical, reformed faith in a concise and faithful way to our little ones. 

The first 5 questions of First Catechism (FC) obviously create a "first impression" - this is the "starting point" for our covenant children, as we instruct them in our faith.  Famously, of course, WSC's first question & answer is:  "What is man's chief end?  Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever."   FC is clearly attempting to convey that in these first questions.  Q/A's 1-3 are:  "Who made you?  God.  What else did God make?  God made all things.  Why did God make you and all things?  For his own glory."  Excellent!  In a way, this even improves on WSC (dare I say!), because it makes explicit what WSC only implies in its first Q/A - that God is our Maker, who made us & all things for His glory. 

And then we come to Q/A 4:  "How can you glorify God?  By loving him and doing what he commands."  FC will do a fine job of explaining sin later on.  And I'm sure this is simply intended to express our obligation as creatures to glorify our Creator.  But again, this is a first impression - and I don't want to catechize my child in implicitly Pelagian doctrine (!), which is thankfully undone later in the catechism.  "You need to love God, and obey His commands" is true enough - but still, my covenant child is completely unable to do so!  The heresy of Pelagius taught that man still retains the ability to love God and obey His commands, without the enabling of God's grace - and though surely unintentional, that error is implied in this answer. 

My covenant child's "natural" condition is one of rebellion, not obedience.  This answer seems to set a works-oriented context for our relationship to God - which is inconsistent with what we Reformed folks call the covenant of grace (see Westminster Confession 7.3, WSC 20, WLC 30)!  Again, later on, FC will do a fine job of explaining the covenant of grace & its necessity in light of our sin.  And some might defend the original answer, "Well, this is Law, and it IS what God as Creator requires of us as His image-bearers."  True enough, but those subtle theological assumptions are not clear in this answer, or those which immediately follow.  Again, these first few Q/A's are creating first impressions with our covenant children. 

As an alternative, I modify the answer to this question as to HOW we can glorify God:  "As I believe His Word of promise and worship Him for His grace."  With this answer, I want to lay the groundwork for my children to understand the priority of faith in God's Word of grace, the promise of the Gospel - and our response of grateful worship (which includes our obedience) for His saving grace.  Our covenant children are not baptized in view of the broken covenant of works (or, as some prefer, "covenant of creation" - or even "covenant of life" as FC puts it).  Instead, we baptize them on the basis of God's Christ-centered promises to us and our children in the covenant of grace (cf. Genesis 17 with Acts 2:39, etc).  We catechize them in view of those promises, that by God's grace they would come to understand and embrace them by faith.  Sinners glorify God not by presuming they can win His favor by loving and obeying Him, but by believing the Word of Christ crucified for helpless sinners like us - and worshiping Him for this amazing grace.  This is the Gospel-oriented "first impression" I want to create with my little ones as I catechize them.

Catechizing our covenant children to know & love their Creator and Redeemer

Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good!  For His mercy [Heb=hesed - covenant faithfulness] endures forever! - Psalm 118:1

And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. - Genesis 17:7

Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb is a reward.- Psalm 127:3

May the LORD give you increase more and more, you and your children.  May you be blessed by the LORD, who made heaven and earth. - Psalm 115:14-15

"Hear, O Israel:  The LORD our God, the LORD is one!  You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.  And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.  You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up." - Deuteronomy 6:4-7

"For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call." - Acts 2:39

And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and the admonition of the Lord. - Ephesians 6:4

My wife and I are rejoicing in God's goodness and covenant mercy to us as a family - as He blessed us with our third covenant child just a few days ago.  Already, I'm speaking covenant words to our son; "baby talk" can even be used to begin to catechize our children from their first days!  Sure, silly words, goofy sounds, and funny faces are the inevitable, joyful stuff of enjoying our babies.  But I also want to be intentional in the words our newest son is hearing.  He's going to learn how to speak from us - so let us teach him the language of God's gracious covenant with us in Jesus Christ, right from day one!  Of course, we'll speak Scripture to him.  But we'll also teach him our faith - we will intentionally instruct him in the gospel by way of catechism.  In his first few days outside of the womb, our son is hearing the first few questions & answers of First Catechism, published by Great Commission Publications (the publishing arm of the PCA/OPC). 

I remember when I was new to the stuff of Reformed theology, and learned that Reformed folks (as well as Lutherans) have used catechisms since the first days of the Protestant Reformation.  I remember my initial thoughts:  "Catechisms?  Isn't that what Roman Catholics do?  Isn't this just a left-over appendage of papist error?  Why not teach your kids to memorize Scripture instead of 'the traditions of men'!  The Bible is where you really find God's power!"  I've since become convinced that these thoughts were nothing more than my self-righteous, sanctimonious drivel as a novice...

Christian parents teach their kids the faith, whether intentionally or not - even if they piously avoid catechisms and use Scripture memorization, Bible videos, story-books, etc.  The Scripture verses we select (often yanked out by the roots of their biblical, Christ-centered context), the story books we read, and what we teach our kids about the Bible informally are all ways of instruction - for better or for worse. 

Catechisms are simply a teaching method of questions and answers through which we aim to provide intentional  &  biblically faithful instruction about the Christian faith.   It is an effort to faithfully fulfill the covenant mandate our Lord has given us to teach our children about our covenant God and His covenant ways - to "bring them up in the training & the admonition of the Lord." Yes, the Word of God written is the most important thing - but we shouldn't use Scripture superstitiously as a "magic power" that wards off bad things (i.e., if we mechanically memorize Bible verses, we'll keep ourselves or our kids immune from temptation); instead, we must use Scripture set in its proper biblical context - which biblically faithful catechisms can help us to do.  Catechisms help us to sum up the span of biblical teaching.  For example, John 3:16 is a wonderful text & great to memorize - but it demands a context!  Otherwise, it can be misused & abused, and degenerate into a religious jingle.

We continue to work through the Westminster Shorter Catechism with our older kids (12 & 9 years old), using the very helpful Training Hearts, Teaching Minds by Starr Meade (published by P&R) for our family worship times.   But we'll be returning to First Catechism with our newest - an effort to summarize & introduce the Shorter Catechism for little ones. 

As I've reviewed First Catechism once again, however, I found  some things about it I'd like to "perfect" - to make it more redemptive / Gospel-centered in its first questions & answers.  I'll be sharing more of my thoughts in some future blogs, but here's an example from Q & A's 4 & 5. 

Original:
4.     Q.  How can you glorify God?
         A.  By loving him and doing what he commands.

5.     Q.  Why are you to glorify God?
       A.  Because he made me and takes care of me.

My edits:
4.    Q.  How can you glorify God?
      A.  As I believe His Word of promise and  worship Him for His grace.

5.    Q.  Why are you to glorify God?
      A.  Because He made me, takes care of me, and promises to forgive all my sins.

I'll begin explaining my reasons for these changes (and some others) in my next post!