Discipleship in the Early Church: A Study of the Catechumenate and Its Implications for Discipleship Today

by Andrew T Burggraff

The state of discipleship in American churches is dismal.

Today, discipleship is used as a catchall term for anything from mentorship to small-group discussion, to meetings at a coffee house, to the title of a conference at a sports arena. But at its core, discipleship is a deliberate, intentional process to help believers know what they believe, why they believe it, and how to defend it.

The post-apostolic church placed a high priority on training and educating new believers before they joined the church community. In a world of persecution, vice, and doctrinal heresies, it was critical to train new converts in the teachings of Scripture, doctrinal orthodoxy, and moral purity. The early church developed the catechumenate to accomplish this important corporate education of new believers.

But contemporary research has painted a dismal picture of the current state of discipleship taking place (or not taking place) within American churches today. As a step toward addressing this major concern, Dr. Burggraff examines the catechumenate, the post-apostolic discipleship program of the church that witnessed the rapid growth of Christianity through a deep commitment by believers to Jesus Christ.

Though today's church may never return to the catechumenate, several lessons should be learned from the process and implemented in current discipleship programs. It is the church's responsibility to teach a believer the Scriptures, doctrinal truth, and moral purity. Corporate Christian education is more than just a suggestion; it is a mandate.

Genres: Discipleship

235 pages, Paperback

Published November 16, 2022

Reviews

[Jordan Hoyt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic read that dives deep into the evolution of the catechesis process. At one point every Christian went through seminary (of sorts) before they could call themselves "christian." Good thing for the sinner's prayer folks today that the practice was done away with by our ol pal Constantine when the religious movement was bought by the empire.
Burggraff elequently urges modern Christians to reclaim their catechetical roots, deepening their theological training, engaging in meaningful holistic formation, and actually taking on the transformational life of Christ to become his body out in the world today. A great introduction to that invites readers to ask what it might look like for a more serious "on-boarding" process into the faith might look like, Burggraff gives practical suggestions that, if taken seriously, could in fact change a whole church culture over a quick and easy 3 years of transformational development.
Looking forward to seeing what Andrew does next!

[Colby Jackson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good synopsis of the nature of the Catechumenate (early church’s training of new converts before baptism), its purpose, and what caused it. A bit too much fluff in the middle in my opinion. Also, would’ve liked to see more of what Burggraff would propose for modern applications of these principles. And also how we should think about postponing baptism for such a long time.

[Kyle Shoemaker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very solid overview of the history of early church discipleship as well as the condition of our current systems. The only thing lacking is a more in depth action plan for where to go from here. I don’t think that’s the point of this book though and it’s an excellent resource.

[Carson Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chapter on the catechumate (main reason I was reading) was interesting- would like to research more on the church pre-Constantine turn at some point