Some have asked about the banner at the top of the page. It is a photograph that I took in 2007 of the Reformation Wall in Geneva, Switzerland. The Wall was built in 1909 for the 400 anniversary of John Calvin’s birth. Here are a few more pics from Geneva.
Reformation Wall – Farel, Calvin, Beza, Knox
Dwarfed by Theological Giants
Calvin's Cathedral
Calvin's Pulpit
Calvin's Cathedral
Calvin's Cathedral
Calvin's Cathedral
Zwingli monument adjacent to Wall
Luther monument adjacent to Wall
Categories: Historical Theology · Uncategorized
Tagged: geneva, john calvin, reformation wall
Saturday, January 24, 2009, I attended the 6:30pm service at Saddleback Church. Rick Warren was surprisingly in attendance after his busy week of inaugural festivities. I will give a chronological rundown of the evening and then offer commentary.
I arrived on the campus at about 6:00pm and was amazed at the size. The campus is sprawling. It was dark, so I could not get a complete view, but it has to be many acres. I crossed the pedestrian bridge from the parking garage and walked through the center of the campus. Immediately to the right stood the Refinery. This appeared to be Saddleback’s student building because there were teenagers everywhere. The building is very large and looked pretty cool from the outside.
On Sunday nights, the FUSE ministry has three services in the Refinery for people in their 20s and 30s who are “looking for a place where you can make connections and build relationships.” They ask, “What makes Fuse unique?” Bullet points follow: Located in the Refinery, Food, Shorter Service, Pastor Doug re-teaching the weekend message, Live teaching, New friends, and Eclectic music.
At the back of the Refinery is a skate park where dozens of teenagers were skating. I walked on to the Terrace Cafe on my left, across from the Children’s Building. The Terrace Cafe is an outdoor coffee shop that serves free coffee on the weekends. They won’t put Starbucks out of business, but hey, it’s free.
Along the way to the worship center, I passed a few information signs. These are the signs that you may see at the mall or the zoo with the “You are Here” information. These are very helpful to avoid getting lost.
Across from the Children’s Building is a hill with crosses on top. Below the crosses is what appeared to be an empty tomb. Children were running around on the hill and climbing the rocks by the empty tomb.
I made my way to the front of the worship center and saw many tables set up with different ministries represented. The men’s ministry (The Herd), HIV/AIDS ministry, small groups, and the rest all had staffers assisting people with information about the myriad of ministries at Saddleback. Adjacent to the ministry tables, is an outdoor bookstore with a few aisles of books. There was nothing too heavy on the shelves, but I did see copies of the Green Bible, Wild at Heart, and Surprised by the Power of the Spirit.
I made my way into the Worship Center and received a bulletin. The bulletin contained information about Girls Night Out, Keeping the Marriage Alive, Career Coaching Mixer, and Financial Freedom Workshops. On the screens in the Worship Center, I also saw that a new Saddleback Improv Comedy Troupe was starting.
Let me describe the Worship Center. It was smaller than I had anticipated. I figured that it would be the size of a basketball arena, but it was much smaller. I’m guessing that it seated less than 5,000 people. That’s pretty small for a church that has many more members than that. But, I had to remember that they have two services on Saturday night and at least five services on Sunday. Plus, there are other venues around the campus that broadcast the service on televisions, including the Terrace Cafe. You can enjoy your cup of coffee and witness the worship service from the convenience of the coffee shop.
The stage reminded me of the set of The Arsenio Hall Show, back in the early ’90s. The background is a little cheesy with different color lights that change to fit the mood. The band is on the side of the stage and the band leader sat with his guitar in his lap during the sermon. He reminded me of Kevin Eubanks from the Tonight Show. There are three big screens that are definitely big, but not High Def. This was disappointing. I have been to Willow Creek and they have High Def. I’m not saying that Willow is better than Saddleback; I’m just saying that I like my mega-church pastors in High Def.
The upbeat music that started the service got the crowd rocking, and that was not a good thing. By no means did I conduct a scientific poll, but the crowd appeared to be about 95% white, ages 40 to 60. This is not good when they try to dance, including the guy leading the music. Yes, he was dancing.
We only say one song before they played Rick’s inauguration prayer from the previous Tuesday. I was confused by this. I was more confused when he came out after the clip and received a standing ovation. In case you are wondering, no I did not stand. This is not because I think that Rick Warren is a bad guy; I just have a thing about not standing and applauding for preachers in church. Call me weird, but I think that God should get the attention during worship.
Anyway, he explained that the title of the sermon was, “A Prayer for our Nation: Recession or Revival – Part 2.” His inaugural prayer was actually a six-step outline for revival and those steps would be the points of this sermon. This six-step plan of revival works for any type of revival: national revival, church revival, economic revival, etc.
Pastor Warren said that two weeks ago he had preached on 2 Chronicles 7:14. On Saturday, the main text was Deuteronomy 30:2-3, “If you return to the Lord your God, and you and your children begin wholeheartedly to obey all the commands I have given you today, then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes” (NLT).
The six steps were: 1. We must reconnect with God. 2. We must rejoice in God’s grace. 3. We must request help for our leaders. 4. We must repent of self-centeredness. 5. We must respect each other. 6. We must revere Jesus’ name.
For each point of the sermon, he actually exegeted a portion of the inaugural prayer. He included multiple verses for each point. Let me give some brief notes from the sermon. During the first point, We must reconnect with God, Warren stated that the number one reason for the economic collapse was that “we walked away from God’s principles.” He followed this by listing sins that led to economic collapse including greed, selfishness, etc. This cause me to wonder, “What was the reason for the previous economic success? Were we following God’s principles during economic growth?”
In the second section, We must rejoice in God’s grace, Warren quoted from his prayer, “We know today that Dr. King and a great cloud of witnesses are shouting in heaven.” I was struck by this. Do we really think that Dr. King or anyone else in heaven stopped worshipping God around the throne to take a look at our inauguration festivities. Think about that. The arrogance that we have as Americans, to think that the worship of God ceases, because we have sworn-in the first African-American president. Unbelievable.
In the third section, We must request help for our leaders, Warren recounted how Billy Graham had sent him a silk hat, explaining that he had worn it in all the inaugrations in which he had participated. Graham left a note that said, “It’s yours now.”
During this third point came the first prayer of the evening. The final three points did include the mention of sin, judgment, and the statement that laws cannot change hearts, only Christ can. Intermixed throughout the sermon were congregational songs and solos. The sermon closed with a strong conversion plea, reminiscent of a Billy Graham Crusade, including the sinner’s prayer. After the sermon, Warren said that anyone could be baptized by going out to the baptismal pool.
After the service, Warren stayed at the front and shook hands and gave hugs to anyone who wanted one. This impressed me, because I have seen mega-church pastors get whisked away to a back room at the end of a service. Warren was very accessible.
Rick Warren is certainly an amazing person. He is obviously a tremendous leader, heading up this massive organization including multiple para-church groups. He is an excellent public speaker. His style is warm and engaging; you cannot help but like the guy.
If revival is the goal, they are certainly accomplishing revivalism. They have the formula down: emotional music, slick production, group think, engaging sermons heavy on the imperatives, and plea for conversion. They will definitely be successful in revivalism; they have been for 25 years. Is Rick Warren the next Billy Graham? I do not know about a national scale, but he has adopted Graham’s method in his worship service. All the elements were there. Instead of telling the crowd that “the buses will wait!” while they come forward, Warren could have said, “The trams back to the parking lots will wait!”
Categories: Ecclesiology
Tagged: rick warren, saddleback church
The following excerpt is from Christianity and Liberalism, published in 1923.
In maintaining the doctrinal basis of Christianity, we are particularly anxious not to be misunderstood. There are certain things that we do not mean.
In the first place, we do not mean that if doctrine is sound it makes no difference about life. On the contrary, it makes all the difference in the world. From the beginning, Christianity was certainly a way of life; the salvation that it offered was a salvation from sin, and salvation from sin appeared not merely in a blessed hope but also in an immediate moral change. The early Christians, to the astonishment of their neighbors, lived a strange new kind of life – a life of honesty, of purity and of unselfishness. And from the Christian community all other types of life were excluded in the strictest way. From the beginning Christianity was certainly a life.
But how was the life produced? It might conceivably have been produced by enhortation. That method had often been tried in the ancient world; in the Hellenistic age there were many wandering preachers who told men how they ought to live. But such enhortation proved to be powerless. Although the ideals of the Cynic and Stoic preachers were high, these preachers never succeeded in transforming society. The strange thign about Christianity was that it adopted an entirely different method. It transformed the lives of men not by appealing to the human will, but by telling a story; not by exhortation, but by the narration of an even. It is no wonder that such a method seemed strange. Could anything be more impractical than the attempt to influence conduct by rehearsing events concerning the death of a religious teacher? That is what Paul called “the foolishness of the message.” It seemed foolish to the ancient world, and it seems foolish to liberal prachers to-day. But the strange thing is that it works. The effects of it appear even in this world. Where the most eloquent exhortation fails, the simple story of an event succeeds; the lives of men are transformed by a piece of news.
Categories: Machen
Tagged: christianity and liberalism, gospel, J. Gresham Machen
The following excerpt was the response of Machen and his allies to the Auburn Affirmation of 1924. This counter-affirmation was not published until 1954, when it appeared in Ned Stonehouse’s biography of Machen.
A Counter-Affirmation designed to Safeguard the Corporate Witness of the Presbyterian Church to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We the undersigned, ministers of the presbyterian Church in the United States of America, having been made cognizant of an Affirmation signed by one hundred and fifty ministers in protest against the action of the General Assembly of 1923, and being convinced that the Affirmation will have an effect detrimental to the unity and to the corporate witness of the Church, desire to make the following answer: I. The constitution of the Church, though it does not claim infallibility for itself, clearly does claim it (in the pledge required of all officers) for the Scriptures. This fact is ignored and in effect denied in the Affirmation. II. The right of interpretation of the Scriptures and of the system of doctrine contained in the Confession does not mean that any officer of the Church may interpret the Scriptures or the system of doctrine described in the Confession as he pleases. Every interpretation must conform to the meaning of the Scriptures and of the system of doctrine contained in the Confession where the meaning is clear. The interpretations for which tolerance is asked in section IV of the Affirmation, on the contrary, reverses the plain meaning. Thus the Affirmation really advocates the destruction of the confessional witness of the Church. To allow interpretations which reverse the meaning of a confession is exactly the same thing as to have no confession at all. III. In Section IV of the Affirmation, the five points covered in the pronouncement of the General Assembly of 1923 are declared to be “theories” which some of the signers of the Affirmation regard as satisfactory but which all of the signers unite in believing not to be the only theories allowed by the Scriptures. This means that the Scriptures allow the Virgin Birth, for example, and the bodily resurrection of our Lord to be regarded both as facts and not as facts. We protest against any such opinion. The redemptive events mentioned in the pronouncement of the Assembly are not theories but facts upon which Christianity is based, and without which Christianity would fall. IV. We believe that the unity of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America can be safeguarded, not by a liberty of interpretation on the part of the officers of the Church which allows a complete reversal of perfectly plain documents, but only by maintenance of the corporate witness of the Church. The Church is founded not upon agnosticism but upon a common adherence to the truth of the gospel as set forth in the confession of faith on the basis of the Scriptures.
Categories: Machen · Uncategorized
Tagged: auburn affirmation, J. Gresham Machen, presbyterian controversy
The following excerpt is from an essay entitled, “For the Welfare and Profit of the Soul: A Biblical and Historical Case for Catechetical Preaching.” The entire essay can be accessed here.
Objections to Catechism Preaching
Since the appearance of the Heidelberg Catechism, many have objected to catechism preaching, including Martyn Lloyd-Jones, who said:
…on the whole I do not believe in preaching through a catechism. There are those for whom I have great respect who do this regularly; but I suggest that this is not a wise procedure, chiefly for the reason that it tends to produce a theoretical attitude to the Truth, an over-intellectual attitude to the Truth.[1]
Lloyd-Jones did believe in teaching the content of the catechisms, just not in sermonic form. He explains, “I would place this under the heading of instruction and deal with it in a series of lectures.”[2]
The most significant charge against catechism preaching, from Lloyd-Jones and others, including Donald Macleod, is that it is not preaching the Word of God. Macleod declares, “Our mandate is to preach the Word. To resort instead to expounding a human document is to confuse our people by blurring the distinction between what is normative revelation and what is to be judged by that revelation.”[3] Lloyd-Jones adds:
I believe… that in preaching the message should always arise out of the Scriptures directly and not out of the formulations of men, even the best men. After all, these catechisms were produced by men and men who were concerned to emphasise [sic] certain things in their peculiar historical situation, over against certain other teachings and attitudes. At their best, therefore, they tend to be incomplete, they tend to have a particular emphasis; and therefore they tend to leave out certain things.[4]
Lloyd-Jones concludes his critique of catechetical preaching, found in his landmark Preaching and Preachers:
… it is surely wrong therefore to just preach constantly year after year on the Catechism, instead of preaching the Word directly from the Scripture itself, with the Scriptures always open before you, and the minds of the people directed to that rather than to men’s understanding of it. Though what you are preaching is your understanding of the meaning and the teaching of the Scriptures this method preserves, and emphasises [sic] in a clearer manner, the idea that you are giving the message of the Bible rather than the dogma of a particular church.[5]
Lloyd-Jones actually brings out the main objection to his own position. The issue is not the strict preaching of the Word of God. As De Jong points out, “No sermon – and on this all will have to agree – is simply a verbatim recitation of a large number of biblical texts.”[6] Every sermon contains an understanding of the meaning and teaching of the Scriptures. The issue is, whose understanding is involved? Is it the understanding of those who formulated the creeds and catechisms that have stood for centuries, or is it the individual preacher’s understanding? Catechism preaching relies on the combined wisdom of the history of the church to bring out the teachings of Scripture on various topics, rather than relying on the personal wisdom of a single pastor. Macleod actually goes on to make that point, “First, these documents represent the collective wisdom of the Christian centuries. Consequently, anyone who is preaching under their stimulus and within their parameters can be absolutely confident that he is not preaching a private opinion…”[7] Catechism preaching restrains the pastor from potential error and unites a church around its corporately confessed faith.
Certainly, pastors who do not preach catechically are guided by the confessions that they subscribe. They are not guided, however, in the topic, content, and structure of their sermons. Preaching the catechism ensures that the pastor will address the major points of doctrine, not just his private hobby-horses. Macleod points out, “[C]reeds and confessions furnish the preacher with an invaluable indicator of the relative importance of the various doctrines. The preacher must be ‘most in the main things’ and these ‘main things’ may not be the doctrines we like most and those we have studied fully.”[8] A pastor who preaches the catechism is saved from his most dangerous enemy, himself. The catechism provides structure and boundaries to guarantee that he will preach biblical truth in an efficient manner.
Proper catechetical preaching is preaching from the Word of God. Contained within the 129 questions and answers of the Heidelberg Catechism are over 650 Scripture references. These references are intended to be used by the pastor as his texts for each particular Lord’s Day sermon. This fact actually negates another criticism of catechetical preaching, that it is boring. Van Baalen points out that catechetical preaching can become boring if the minister replaces the Bible with the catechism, rather than using the catechism as a “method of approach to the Bible.”[9] For instance, if every Christmas, a pastor preached on Luke 2:11, it would become tedious. But, if ever year he approached the subject of Christ’s birth from different angles, using various texts to shed new light on the subject, his Christmas sermons would remain fresh and vital. This is the proper method of catechetical preaching in order to avoid monotony.
Some may claim that catechism preaching is boring because it emphasizes doctrine. Many in our culture desire preaching that meets felt needs. This criticism of catechetical preaching serves as an indictment against the contemporary church. The doctrinal aspect of catechetical preaching is actually one of its strong suits. De Jong explains, “In season and out of season they [catechism sermons] teach, despite any disinclination on the part of many to be instructed. In view of the palpable ignorance which characterizes many who claim to be Christian this facet of preaching can hardly be overstressed.”[10] Basically, catechism preaching is effective, even if the hearer does not want it to be. The Holy Spirit is sowing the seeds of the truth of the Word of God into the hearts of the congregation. This truth is difficult to miss in the clear outline of a catechetical sermon. Eventually, those seeds will produce knowledge of Scripture and theology. This aspect of catechetical preaching is critical in our age of biblical illiteracy.
With the claims of boredom due to the doctrinal content, comes the criticism that catechism preaching is too intellectual for the typical congregation. Some critics say that the average church member cannot possibly be expected to grasp the highly technical concepts mentioned in the catechism, especially with the theological jargon that is involved. What many fail to understand, however, is that the primary purpose of the Heidelberg Catechism was to instruct children. Children of the sixteenth century were not more intelligent than children of today. In fact, many of the children who learned and understood the catechism were illiterate. Surely, if these children could benefit from catechism preaching, then church members of today can as well. It is actually an insult to the congregation to assume that they are not intelligent enough to understand these sermons.
Another objection to catechetical preaching is that it can become an opportunity for the pastor to venture into theological speculation about a given point of doctrine, while drifting from the text. This criticism is not limited to catechetical preaching. The same temptation to use the text as a springboard to launch into personal opinion is present in an expositional sermon or topical sermon. The solution is not to abandon catechetical preaching; rather, the consistory must ensure that the pastor’s sermons are consistently tied to the texts of Scripture and that they follow the structure of the catechism.
A primary reason for the lack of contemporary catechism preaching has been the loss of the second service. Many Reformed churches have ceased to hold an afternoon or evening service on the Sabbath due to lack of attendance. The solution to this problem in the twenty-first century is the same as it was in the sixteenth. As the Synod of The Hague mandated in 1586, ministers in the current century should be required to hold the second service even if their family is all that attends.[11]
Above all, catechism preaching is gospel preaching.
Heidelberg Catechism Question 84: How is the kingdom of heaven opened and shut by the preaching of the holy Gospel? Answer: In this way: that, according to the command of Christ, it is proclaimed and openly witnessed to believers, one and all, that as often as they accept with true faith the promise of the Gospel, all their sins are really forgiven them of God for the sake of Christ’s merits; and on the contrary, to all unbelievers and hypocrites, that the wrath of God and eternal condemnation abide on them so long that they are not converted: according to which witness of the Gospel will be the judgment of God, both in this life and in that which is to come.[12]
In preaching through the Heidelberg Catechism, the pastor will explain the guilt of mankind, the grace of the gospel, and the gratitude that is the proper response of the believer. The gospel is present in every Lord’s Day division. A congregation that receives a steady diet of catechetical preaching will be steeped in the gospel.
In conclusion, all Reformed churches should consider adopting catechetical preaching, because of its benefits to the church. This practice is demonstrated in Scripture and has been utilized by the church throughout its history, particularly during the Reformation. Catechetical preaching is able to answer its critics and prove that it can be helpful to the church of the twenty-first century.
[1] D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Preaching and Preachers (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1971), 187.
[2] Lloyd-Jones, Preaching, 187.
[3] Donald Macleod, “Preaching and Systematic Theology” in The Preacher and Preaching: Reviving the Art, ed. Samuel T. Logan, Jr. (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company, 1986), 269.
[4] Lloyd-Jones, Preaching, 187.
[5] Lloyd-Jones, Preaching, 188 (my italics).
[6] Peter Y. Dejong, “Comments on Catechetical Preaching [2],” Mid-America Journal of Theology 2:2 (Fall 1986): 159.
[7] Macleod, “Preaching,” 269.
[8] Macleod, “Preaching,” 270.
[9] van Baalen, Heritage, 23.
[10] Peter Y. Dejong, “Comments on Catechetical Preaching [3],” Mid-America Journal of Theology 3:1 (Spring 1987): 99.
[11] See R. Scott Clark, Recovering the Reformed Confession: Our Theology, Piety, and Practice (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company, 2008), 293-342.
[12] The Creeds of Christendom, ed. Philip Schaff, rev. David S. Schaff, 3 vols. (1931 ed.; Grand Rapids: Baker, reprinted 1996), 3:337.
Categories: Ecclesiology · Historical Theology
Tagged: catechism, catechism preaching, martyn lloyd-jones, preaching
The following excerpt is from an essay entitled, “For the Welfare and Profit of the Soul: A Biblical and Historical Case for Catechetical Preaching.” The entire essay can be accessed here.
As the Reformation moved into the middle of the sixteenth century, catechetical preaching was becoming a standard practice in reformed churches throughout the continent. With the publication of the Heidelberg Catechism in 1563, catechetical preaching reached a new height. The Heidelberg was somewhat unique in terms of reformed catechisms, in that, it functioned as a catechism, but also a confession.[1] The preface, by Elector Frederick III, makes it clear that it was formulated:
…that the Pastors and Schoolmasters themselves may be provided with a fixed form and model, by which to regulate the instruction of youth, and not, at their option, adopt daily changes, or introduce erroneous doctrine: We do herewith affectionately admonish and enjoin upon every one of you, that you do, for the honour of God and our subjects, and also for the sake of your own soul’s profit and welfare, thankfully accept this proffered Catechism or course of instruction, and that you do diligently and faithfully represent and explain the same according to its true import, to the youth in our schools and churches, and also from the pulpit to the common people…[2]
From the very beginning, one of the main objectives for the catechism was to serve as sermonic material for the churches. Pastors were to preach the doctrines that were contained within the catechism. Conveniently, the Heidelberg Catechism was arranged into fifty-two Lord’s Days in order to insure that the material was covered in one year.
The expectation to preach the catechism was made known to the Palatinate churches early on. This is evidenced, not only from the introduction to the Heidelberg, but also from a Palatinate Church Order issued by Frederick, which included a special prayer to be offered by pastors after the catechetical message. Ronald Cammenga writes, “The incorporation of this special prayer in the Church Order is a clear indication that the Heidelberg Catechism was being preached in Heidelberg in 1563.”[3] Zacharias Ursinus, the primary author of the Heidelberg,[4] also provides proof in a letter that the catechism was already being preached in 1563. Cammenga explains, “In the letter, written in 1563, Ursinus complains that the authorities have added to his already heavy workload the preaching of the Catechism at the Sunday afternoon worship service.”[5] The preaching of the Heidelberg Catechism was stressed in several synods in the Netherlands, leading up to the Synod of The Hague in 1586, which made preaching the catechism mandatory.[6]
The preaching and teaching of the Heidelberg Catechism became a point of contention in the Arminian controversy. The Arminians wanted to preach only from the Scriptures, claiming that preaching from the catechism placed man’s words above God’s. The matter of catechism preaching was settled at the Synod of Dort (1618-1619), which reiterated the mandate of the 1586 Synod of The Hague, which instructs:
…that the pastors in all places shall ordinarily in the afternoon sermon briefly explain the summary of Christian doctrine contained in the Catechism presently adopted in the Dutch churches, in order that it can be completed in this way every year by following the division introduced in the Catechism for that purpose.[7]
The Synod of Dort sought to address complaints regarding the lack of attendance at catechism preaching. One of the reasons why catechetical preaching was not being done was because ministers were not holding afternoon services where the catechism could be preached. Some chose instead to work or play on Sunday afternoon. Many pastors served multiple churches and could not attend to their congregations properly. There were Arminians that directly opposed catechism preaching, and the government had failed to ensure that Sunday would be a day of rest without labor. The synod produced five measures to remedy the situation:
1. It reiterated the mandate of catechetical preaching from the Synod of 1586. Ministers who failed to fulfill their duty were censured.
2. The second service was to be maintained despite lack of attendance. The minister is required to hold the second service even if his family is all that attends.
3. The government was asked to uphold the Sabbath.
4. Every church should have its own minister as much as possible.
5. Church visitors were charged to observe whether the minister was preaching catechism sermons; those who were not had to report to Classis for censure. Confessing members who refused to attend catechism sermons were seemingly censured also.[8]
The neglect of catechism preaching was emblematic of the tumultuous time of the Arminian controversy. This pattern of failure to preach the catechism in adherence to the Synod of Dort would resurface again and again over the ensuing centuries. The practice instituted in 1586 at the Synod of The Hague, however, is still in use by reformed churches whose ancestry goes back to the Netherlands, including the United Reformed Churches in North America, the Canadian Reformed Churches, The Protestant Reformed Churches, and others.[9]
[1] De Jong, “Catechetical Preaching [1],” 174-175.
[2] Fred H. Klooster, The Heidelberg Catechism: Origin and History (Grand Rapids: Calvin Theological Seminary, 1989), 152.
[3] Ronald Cammenga, “The Homiletical Use of the Heidelberg Catechism: An Examination of the Practice of Systematic Preaching of the Heidelberg Catechism in the Dutch Reformed Tradition,” Protestant Reformed Theological Journal 41:1 (Nov 2007): 3-4.
[4] Ursinus wrote the draft for the Heidelberg Catechism, but the final version was formulated after committee deliberations. See Derk Visser, “Ursinus, Zacharias (1534-83)” in The Dictionary of Historical Theology, ed. Trevor A. Hart (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000), 559-560.
[5] Cammenga, “Heidelberg,” 4.
[6] Cammenga, “Heidelberg,” 5.
[7] Donald Sinnema, “The Second Sunday Service in the Early Dutch Tradition,” Calvin Theological Journal 32:2 (November 1997): 320.
[8] Idzerd Van Dellen and Martin Monsma, The Church Order Commentary, Being a Brief Explanation of the Church Order of the Christian Reformed Church (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1941) 278-279.
[9] Daniel R. Hyde, “The Principle and Practice of Preaching in the Heidelberg Catechism” Puritan Reformed Journal 1 (2008): 116.
Categories: Ecclesiology · Historical Theology
Tagged: catechetical preaching, catechism, preaching
The following excerpt is from an essay entitled, “For the Welfare and Profit of the Soul: A Biblical and Historical Case for Catechetical Preaching.” The entire essay can be accessed here.
Church History
Ancient Church
Catechetical preaching continued after the Apostolic Era into the period of the Church Fathers. It is clearly seen in the early second century writing, The Didache (ca. 80-ca. 110). The Didache is a basic document, which outlines the moral principles that a Christian convert is to follow. Peter De Jong recounts, “Vividly it describes the way of life and the way of death in sharp contrast. Stress is layed upon the duty to love God and fellowman…” Old claims that the church was to be instructed in these doctrines as part of the ministry of the Word. It was not limited to daily catechetical teaching, but included the preaching of the Scriptures for the edification of the body. He writes, “The daily preaching was directed toward the mature members of the congregation; it was not simply elementary instructions designed for catechumens.” In these sermons the preacher explained how Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament promises in his death and resurrection.
Ambrose of Milan (339-397) was a contemporary of Cyril and also a proponent of catechetical preaching. Some have called him one of the fathers of catechetical preaching. In the weeks leading up to Easter every year, he would preach daily to those about to be baptized. In order, he would expound the Apostles’ Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, and deliver teachings on the sacraments. Old notes, “This procedure remained the schema for classical catechetical preaching for generations.”
Medieval Era
Catechetical preaching gradually fell out of favor in the church after the patristic era. Old notes, “For too long Christian preachers had neglected serious catechetical preaching. The missionary monks had done their best to teach their raw recruits the rudiments of the Christian life, but they rarely got beyond very simple moralism.” Catechetical preaching experienced resurgence when the Dominicans were founded in the thirteenth century. Janz notes, “In all likelihood, the bulk of… instruction took place in catechetical sermons that, bishops expected, parish priests would regularly offer.” Thomas Aquinas is the best example of catechetical preaching in this era. He delivered an memorable series of sermons in 1273 on the Ten Commandments, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Apostles’ Creed. Overall, however, catechetical preaching in the medieval era was lacking, resulting in a laity that was ignorant of doctrine and biblical truth.
The Reformation
When the Reformation began in the early sixteenth century, catechetical preaching was brought back to the forefront in the life of the church. Old explains, “The Reformation brought a revival of catechetical preaching. In fact, this was one of the first liturgical reforms actually to be instituted…” The Reformers knew that catechetical preaching was necessary in order to instruct their congregations in doctrinal truth. The heresies of the Roman church had to be abandoned and then replaced with an accurate summary of biblical teaching. De Jong describes the situation, “Faced with the low spirituality of the multitudes, the reformers set themselves to write creeds and confessions, church orders and catechism based on the Word… And out of this concern for loyalty to the Scriptures and the spiritual welfare of the people arose the practice of catechetical preaching.” Wherever the Reformation was adopted, catechetical preaching came part and parcel.
Luther is credited with initiating the revival of catechetical preaching. In 1515, he preached a series of sermons on the Apostle’s Creed, followed by the Ten Commandments and the Lord’s Prayer. After Luther wrote his Small Catechism of 1529, German pastors were instructed to preach from the catechism. In 1532, Heinrich Bullinger and Leo Judae passed the Pradicantenordunung, which required pastors of Zurich churches to preach a sermon every Lord’s Day on one of the basic doctrines of Christianity. One year later, Judae published his catechism, which was mandated to be preached in sermonic form. John Calvin was a strong supporter of catechetical instruction and presumably preached catechetically, like the other Reformed pastors. Unfortunately, these sermons were not preserved.
Hughes Oliphant Old, The Reading and Preaching of the Scriptures in the Worship of the Christian Church, vol. 3, The Medieval Church (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1999), 290.
Categories: Ecclesiology
Tagged: catechetical preaching, catechism, john calvin, martin luther, preaching
The following excerpt is from an essay entitled, “For the Welfare and Profit of the Soul: A Biblical and Historical Case for Catechetical Preaching.” The entire essay can be accessed here.
The Great Commission The basis of the biblical support for catechetical preaching begins with the Great Commission of Matthew 28:18-20. Here, Jesus instructs his disciples to go, to make disciples, to baptize, and to teach all that he has commanded. The command given to the disciples is not limited to proclaiming the gospel; this is merely the beginning of their task. The apostles were more than just evangelists who made converts and moved on; they were teachers whose goal was to present everyone mature in Christ (Col 1:28).
The making of disciples begins by the preaching of the gospel and baptism, but continues throughout the disciple’s life by means of the teaching of the apostles. The referent of “all that I have commanded,” is obviously important. Some have claimed that it refers to the Sermon on the Mount, but it seems to imply more than that. The “all” most likely refers to Jesus’ entire teaching ministry to the disciples.
The duty of teaching these new disciples fell on the apostles. In this task, they continued the pattern set by rabbinical instruction. Craig Keener notes, “[O]nce they are initiated, mature disciples must also build the new disciples into stronger discipleship by teaching them Jesus’ message… [H]ere, as in Jewish instruction in Judaism, the process of teaching continues subsequent to the initiation.”[1] This instruction is done by the church. Itinerant evangelists were used by God to initiate discipleship, but the process of maturity took place in the church, through Word and sacrament. The Holy Spirit works through the preaching of the gospel to create faith in the heart of the unbeliever and also to strengthen and mature faith in the life of the disciple. Catechetical preaching is never to be at odds with the preaching of the gospel. It must always include the message of salvation and the benefits found in Christ.
First Timothy
The New Testament epistles contain multiple examples of catechetical instruction, particularly the epistles of Paul. There is evidence that at least some of First Timothy is catechetical instruction, which was to be delivered to the churches in the form of catechetical preaching. Paul instructs Timothy, who in turn is to instruct the congregation by preaching this material, how church polity is to be properly conducted.
Paul goes so far as to command Timothy: “devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching” (1 Tim 4:13). Judging from the context, this teaching was to be done in public worship, along with the reading of Scripture and exhortation. One must discern whether these three commands are to take place in concert with one another or in different settings.
First Timothy, whether or not it was intended to be catechetical material, certainly contains didactic content that was to be delivered to the churches. Old declares, “The Epistle of First Timothy makes it abundantly clear that the teaching of Christian doctrine and instruction in piety and even the principles of church order have their place in the ministry of the Word.”[1] Preaching was to be doxological and instructional in order to help bring Christians to maturity in Christ.
The New Testament contains much catechetical material that was delivered to the churches in the preaching of the Word. The early church continued the practice of the synagogue and preached didactic material in order to instruct the congregation.
[1] Old, Preaching, vol. 1, 250.
[1] Craig S. Keener, A Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999), 720.
Categories: Ecclesiology
Tagged: catechetical preaching, catechism, preaching
The following excerpt is from an essay entitled, “For the Welfare and Profit of the Soul: A Biblical and Historical Case for Catechetical Preaching.” The entire essay can be accessed here.
In the twenty-first century, many pastors toil over how to communicate the truths of Scripture while keeping their sermons fresh and relevant. Pastors are burdened with the task of educating a laity that is becoming more biblically illiterate. They can turn to the fads that continue to spring up in American Christianity, or they can return to their Reformation roots and adopt catechetical preaching. The choice was not difficult for B. B. Warfield, who said of the Christian Reformed Church, “Two things keep the small Christian Reformed Church straight in the midst of a crooked ecclesiastical world, its Catechism preaching and its catechetical instruction of its youth.”
All Reformed churches should consider adopting the practice of catechetical preaching, because of its benefits to the church. The New Testament attests to catechetical preaching, especially in the epistles of Paul. Church History demonstrates a strong tradition of catechetical preaching, most notably the period of the Reformation. Catechetical preaching is able to answer the arguments of its critics and demonstrate a positive contribution to the theology and piety of the church.
Catechetical preaching explains the meaning of biblical doctrine by expounding various historic confessions and catechisms of the Christian church. Hughes Oliphant Old notes, “Catechetical preaching therefore outlines basic Christian teaching, often by explaining the Apostle’s Creed, the Ten Commandments, the Lord’s Prayer, and the sacraments. Catechetical preaching is by its very nature systematic.” Some have equated it with topical preaching, including Jan Karel van Baalen, who writes, “Catechism preaching is topical preaching. Topical preaching… deals with definite problems and asks, What is the sum total of scriptural teaching, in history, prophecy, gospel and epistles, concerning this topic or subject?” This style of preaching is rooted in Second-Temple Judaism and is demonstrated in the New Testament.
Background in Judaism
Christianity was not created in a vacuum. From its inception, it adopted practices of Second-Temple Judaism. Philip Carrington explains, “The substance of Christian worship and piety and catechism and church order was Jewish.” Every day in the synagogue, rabbis would instruct their hearers in the proper interpretation of the Mosaic Law. This instruction was later systematized in the Mishnah and then in the Talmud. From its beginning, catechetical preaching was considered a ministry of the Word.
Jesus demonstrates this type of preaching in the Sermon on the Mount, carrying on the rabbinic tradition. There are other portions of the New Testament that reflect this style of teaching, including First Peter, Ephesians and the Pastoral Epistles. The mandate for purposeful and thoughtful instruction in the Christian church comes from Christ’s command to his disciples in the Great Commission.
Categories: Ecclesiology
Tagged: catechetical preaching, catechism, preaching
This past Tuesday, I passed the examination for licensure in the United Reformed Churches of North America, enabling me to exhort in worship. I will be traveling to Kauai Reformation Church next Lord’s Day to exhort for the first time.
Categories: Uncategorized
