Catechizing Our Children: The Whys and Hows of Teaching the Shorter Catechism Today by Terry L. Johnson

by Terry L. Johnson

Communicating the faith to children is one of the great responsibilities of Christian parents. In this book, Terry Johnson, a father as well as a pastor, shows how the Shorter Catechism can be of great help to parents facing this vital task. Many generations of Christian parents have found the Westminster Shorter Catechism to be one of the most effective ways of raising their children in the 'discipline and instruction of the Lord' (Eph. 6:4); for not only does it provide a clear explanation of the gospel, but it is still one of the best introductions to the most important doctrines of the Christian faith.Concise, brief, informative, and above all practical, this book will be a great help and a most useful guide to parents and grandparents, pastors and Sunday-school teachers.

Genres: Parenting, Family, Christian, Christian Living, Theology, Education

Paperback

First published October 8, 2013

About the author

Terry Johnson was born and raised in Los Angeles. He studied history at the University of Southern California and also studied at Trinity College, Bristol, England, and Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary, before earning his D. Min in 2008 from Erskine Theological Seminary.

Reviews

[Eliézer Salazar · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't understand why some reviews claim that this book is mainly just history. Chapter 4 alone is worth every penny of this book. It is a wonderful invitation to old formulations of ancient biblical truth that "heads of households" are primarily responsible to pass on to their children, with the aid of the church. I absolutely loved this book and am encouraged by it even more to instruct my one year old son, even now, in the wonder of the gospel of God.
Parents, pick up this book, and read it with delight.
I don't give it five stars because I'm a Reformed Baptist, and the paedobaptist views do have an impact on the arguments presented, but do not hinder Christians from any persuasion from drinking deeply and enjoying it.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much wisdom about catechizing children.

[Austin Cox · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very helpful overview of the Shorter catechism as well as its history in the Reformed Churches. I especially appreciated the practical advice the author gives on method of teaching and memorization. Besides a random throw away comment on Theonomy, it was a very good and enjoyable read.

[Madeline Fary · Rating 5 out of 5]

A helpful, succinct little book on the importance and beauty of the Shorter Catechism. Especially as it relates to teaching children.

Thankful for my mom who faithfully had us memorize the catechism, even when we didn’t understand its depths.

[Shawn Paterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent introduction.

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Terry L. Johnson does a great job of keeping the book short enough for the topic. The problem with a lot of books is that they are too long for the topic, which is sort of the point in learning the Shorter Catechism. It is a “less is more” approach to learning. In other words, if we focusing a solid, strong foundation that is mastered, it has more benefit than familiarization with a lot of content. Familiarization can be the enemy of a good education if there is mastery of nothing. This could be applied to many fields, not just Christian education.

Like the catechism itself, Johnson’s book has a theory section and a practice section. He gives his own church’s use as an example of how to go about teaching the catechism.

[Corby H · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good little book highliting the many heroes of the faith who had their mothers teach them the catechism. Most of the book goes over the sections and the flow of the catechism. The authour teaches the reader about the catechism to prepare the reader to instruct their children with it. The last chapter offered some practical tips on how to actually go about doing the catechetical instruction.

If you plan to teach your children the WSC I would recommend this book for sure. Even if you plan on using another catechism with your family the last chapter, with all its practical goodness, will help parents teach any of the great Reformed catechisms to their covenant children!

[Nick Prodromou · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it.
The historical information is great, the testimonies of great men of God being trained up by way of the shorter catechism is very encouraging - and the summary & outline of what the catechism is teaching is superb.

Only thing lacking is the practical application, there is a practical application given, don't get me wrong - I just don't think it's attainable for my purposes.

That said, this made me want to drive into the shorter catechism & try out teaching from the catechism for young children, as well as digging into an exposition of the SC such as Watson's Body Of Divinity.

[Seth Mcdevitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short, helpful. Isn't that all you really need to know.

[Elizabeth Pickard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple and short, and includes great references and the history of catechism, along with practical ways to teach them to your children.

[Jacob Pippin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

[Madison Rutherford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book on the reasons behind teaching children the "gospel tract", the catechism.

[Christy Gould · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short, easy to read, and informative. Made me want to switch to the Shorter Catechism (instead of the Children’s First, which we’ve always used with our littles) now that the kids are older.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A relentlessly Presbyterian book. There was a reference on almost every single page either explicitly or implicitly to Presbyterianism or theology that is particular to Presbyterianism. I would not have minded this so much if I didn't get the distinct impression that the reason why the author mentioned Presbyterianism almost exclusively was because the author views other denominations with condescension. The clearest example of this was when the author described a particular individual as having "turned away from his Presbyterian upbringing" as a stand-in for rejecting Christianity in toto. I found this statement of Presbyterianism being equal to the Christian faith more broadly to be extraordinarily unhelpful. Hopefully the author was not meaning to imply that and rather was just being loose with his words. But despite all of that, the book gave a helpful analysis and breakdown of the Westminster Shorter Catechism and its background. The author provided a great walkthrough of the topics in the Shorter Catechism and how they naturally flow from one topic into the next topic. My appreciation of the Catechism has definitely been increased by reading this. I also thought the emphasis on explaining the importance of catechizing children was great and very much needed in the Evangelical world. I did not understand why the author advocated having children memorize the entire Shorter Catechism with no prompting at all. It seems to me like the whole question and answer format is designed to prompt the individual i.e. one person asks the question, and the other person recites the memorized answer. So, I would have appreciated some more explanation on why that was the correct way to teach the Catechism. But overall, this was a pretty good book that I would give 3 and 1/2 stars if I could.

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

An encouraging and informative booklet about the purpose, need, and history of the various catechisms of the faith. Johnson is promoting the Westminster Shorter Catechism in particular, and some of his commentary is reflective of the theological distinctives of conservative, Reformed Presbyterianism.

Catechisms are self-ordering: you don't need much guidance on how to use them, though Johnson goes over several principles of catechising new believers and children, by mentors, parents, and churches. A good read for anyone who is considering or begun to use a catechism. Unfortunately, it's unlikely anyone would pick up the book that hasn't already made that choice - the "inspiration" is the strongest part of the book. A worthwhile read for Christian leaders and parents looking for a place to start training those who will follow after us.

[Andrew Canavan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really excellent and brief introduction to the Westminster Shorter Catechism, a defense of it's importance as a tool for discipleship, and a plan for using it in the church and home.