How to Catechize Your Children

Growing up, the only time I heard of catechism was from my Roman Catholic friends who went to catechism on Wednesday nights.  It wasn't until much later that I learned what catechism is, and that catechisms have been used by Protestants since the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. 

A catechism is simply a method of education in which the student memorizes the answers to a series of questions.  For example:

Question 1:  What is the Holy Bible?

Answer:  The Bible is God's revelation of Himself to man.  It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter.

The most famous Protestant catechisms include the Westminster Catechism (1647), the Westminster Shorter Catechism (1647), and the Heidelberg Catechism (1563). 

I wanted to catechize my kids, so I tried out the above catechisms as well as others.  But I ran into a few snags.  First, the traditional catechisms were too long for my taste.  The Heidelberg has 129 questions, and the Westminster Catechism has a whopping 196 questions!  I wanted something much shorter -- around fifty questions.  Second, all of the traditional catechisms are written from a Calvinistic perspective.  That's a problem, since I am an Arminian.  I disagree with Calvinists on their views of limited atonement, unconditional election, and pre-faith regeneration.  Third, I wanted a catechism to teach not only sound theology, but to get into Christian ethics and apologetics. 

As a result I decided to write a new catechism for my children and the children in our church.  It is called The Home Discipleship Catechism. 

• The title indicates that the catechism is to be used primarily by parents in the discipleship of their kids at home.  
• It has 51 questions, so it is much shorter than the older catechisms.  
• It teaches students the basics of sound doctrine, including the Ten Commandments, the Lord's Prayer, and the Apostle's Creed.  
• It touches on the basics of apologetics, and it gets into the basics of Christian ethics with questions like, "Why is abortion wrong?", "What is sex?", and "How do we glorify God with our bodies?"  
• The catechism also comes with a short chapter on each question, along with discussion questions and "Fun Facts".  

The Home Discipleship Catechism is a great tool to help you disciple your kids.  I've been using it for years (my kids know the entire catechism by heart), and now I've made it available for everyone.  I still do the catechism with my kids three days a week, and they are between the ages of 9 and 16.  I highly recommend it for those parents who are looking for an effective discipleship tool.

The Home Discipleship Catechism is available in two formats:  Kindle, or PDF.