Sinclair Ferguson

I think you are saying catechisms don't work because we've never tried them.

And so I think many, many Christians in my generation probably only discovered catechisms later in life.

And then they discovered that when it's embedded in your mind, that what I am actually for is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.

That really makes a difference to the way you live.

It actually makes a huge difference to the way you feel about God, because it tells you you're meant to enjoy God.

And that's a different thing from what that generation that had such an influence in the Christian church was saying, what I'm for is to enjoy myself.

which in essence was to mean that you were cutting the source of real joy out of your life.

So the impact of that one statement

on people's psyches, their emotional life was colossal.

You know, to me, one of the greatest stories that ever been told about the Shorter Catechism is in an essay that the American theologian B.B.

Warfield tells in a little tiny essay he wrote, I think it's called, Is the Shorter Catechism Worthwhile?

And he tells this story that I think may come from the Civil War period, or depending on where you live from the war between the states.

And he tells this story about a man who was in a Midwestern city, which Warfield says was in a state of unrest.

And he's just walking down the street and there's a man coming towards him that he describes as, the way I would put it is, clearly this man had presence.

And as this man's walking down the street, people are kind of, they stop and stare at him.

There's just something about him.

And as the man comes towards him, you can imagine the scene, this man is thinking, you know, the last thing I should do here is stop and stare.

But as the man passes him by, he finds himself like a magnet drawn

to look back on him, assuming he'll see his back.

And to his horror, the man has actually turned round and is coming up to him.