A Tool for Today: The Westminster Shorter Catechism
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What is the Westminster Shorter Catechism and its significance?
I remember somebody telling me, if you want to define justification, it's just as if I'd never sinned, justified, right? And I remember thinking, that's quite clever. And then thinking, but it's not clever enough. But many Christians think that's what justification is, means your sins are forgiven. And it does mean that. But if that were all justification meant, then in a way you're back with Adam in the Garden of Eden. It's as though God is giving you a second chance to keep what the Westminster Assembly calls the covenant of works. You're on your own now. And so I think it's so helpful that the Westminster Confession and the catechisms emphasize that, yes, on the one hand, it's the pardon of your sins, but it's also you are now accounted righteous in Christ for Christ's sake.
That was part of Sinclair Ferguson's answer when I asked him if he had a favorite question from the Westminster Shorter Catechism. And he selected a question on justification. Have you read the Westminster Shorter Catechism or used a catechism before? That will be our topic today on this special edition of Renewing Your Mind. Well, I am glad that you're joining us today because just before Ligonier's first ever conference in Southeast Asia earlier this year, I was able to sit down with Sinclair Ferguson, the vice chairman of Ligonier Ministries and one of our teaching fellows, to help introduce us to both the brilliance and the beauty of the Westminster Shorter Catechism. Why? Because this year we have published a newly typeset and designed edition of this enduring catechism.
It remains a valuable tool for every generation. And if you'd like a copy, we'll send you one when you donate before midnight tonight at renewingyourmind.org. Well, here's that conversation with Sinclair Ferguson that was recorded in Malaysia. Well, Dr. Ferguson, we're here in Malaysia, and our conference is about to get underway, so I'm grateful that you're able to dedicate some time to talk about the Westminster Shorter Catechism. And I just wanted to begin by asking, what is the Westminster Shorter Catechism? Because I imagine that many of our listeners, when they hear that, they may be unfamiliar, or if they hear catechism, they might think of something childish, a Q&A format. but not really understand how it's being used in the church.
So could you explain to our listeners what is a catechism, firstly, and the significance of the Westminster Shorter Catechism?
Yes, well, thank you for having me, Nathan. And it is really, I mean, it's wonderful to be here in Malaysia and to meet brothers and sisters from what we call the Far East, but for them it's the center of the world. A catechism is a way of instructing people by using questions and answers. And I think if you think about it, actually, we do that a lot in any case. So when we are bringing up our children, we teach them by asking them questions and teaching them answers. And in many cases, actually, it's really amazing how many mums and dads will teach their children by rote. That is, they will teach them to memorize things without actually thinking that that's what they're doing. So I remember a friend of mine telling me it dawned on him one day what he was doing when he was teaching his little girl to say Mary had a little lamb.
The lamb was white as snow and everywhere that Mary went, the lamb was sure to go. And he realized he was teaching her by a catechetical method. so there was an implied question. Mary had a little lamb, she would say, and then she would build it up. And the catechisms, when they were used for children, they were used for both children and adults, were ways of teaching basic Christian truth in very simple ways by in the best catechism, short questions with short answers. Now, there were some catechisms, quite a lot of catechisms actually, written around the time of the Reformation and for about the next 150 years that were longer. They were like short manuals of Christian theology. But the ones that were used most, like the shorter catechism, which was written in the middle of the 17th century,
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