New City Catechism Download

Both of these examples illustrate what I think might be a general problem with the New City Catechism: it was written to be all things to all people, so long as you are vaguely Calvinist in your soteriology. So it overlooks ecclesiology and the sacraments in an effort not to offend or limit its audience. But in doing so it leaves important questions unanswered which ought to be addressed in a catechism.

This is mostly right, but seems to be very open to a purely memorialist reading. I suppose that in order to properly understand it, one needs to look back at the questions on the sacraments, in which it is said that sacraments are signs and seals. In the catechism itself you don't see the words 'Body' and 'Blood' used; you have to look to the commentary section. But even then it seems to just ignore the issue of how Christ is present in the Lord's Supper.

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But notice that this catechism is totally neutral as to the structure of the church. It leaves open the question of when parts of the church should commune or not commune with each other. It doesn't address polity at all. There is no further question about the church. To get anymore content, you have to again look at the commentary section. In that commentary section, you see this vague line from Yates:

A joint adult and children's catechism consisting of 52 questions and answers adapted by Timothy Keller and Sam Shammas from the Reformation catechisms - this is the kids version. Used with permission. See the New City Catechism website for more information.

Amen. One of the first things the Protestants did was to confess the faith, as churches, and to instruct children and adults in the basics of the Christian faith through the use of questions and answers or catechisms. Luther published two catechisms in 1529 (the Large and Small). Calvin published two catechisms for Geneva. The Palatinate Church published the Heidelberg Catechism in 1563. The Church of England adopted a catechism (1549). There were many (now) lesser known catechisms written by a variety of figures (e.g., Johannes a Lasko) through the sixteenth century that were used by churches locally or regionally.

The issue here is not the creation of a new confession or catechism. One of the burdens of RRC was to argue the case for a new confession (and catechism). We may be sure that our confessing forebears would be quite surprised that we have gone this long without confessing the faith again in response to the issues facing the visible church in our own time.

When an organization that is Together for the Gospel but not together regarding the church and sacraments, where and in which the gospel is administered, what can they confess about those issues that separate the various members ecclesiastically? One fears that, in order to satisfy the needs of such an ecumenical organization, the temptation will be to downplay church and sacraments or else to create two parallel catechisms, one for those who confess the Reformed faith and those who affirm elements of the Reformed faith but who dissent from the Reformed ecclesiology and theology and practice of the sacraments.

Content

Anyone who knows the Heidelberg Catechism or the Westminster Shorter Catechism will recognize most of the language of this catechism. The answers are abbreviated but the substance of several of the answers is present and generally well done. The questions are well formed and the answers are crisp and clear. This will make the catechism easier to put to memory.

My students (and catechism students) have heard me complain for years about the 1976 CRC translation of the Heidelberg Catechism. In their attempt to mimic the New International Version translation of Scripture the translators made the answers wordy and even poetic. The translators did not appear to assume that the catechism would be memorized and so they gave up the repetition essential to a sound catechism. Finally, the translators omitted essential vocabulary by substitution and thus weakened its doctrinal content.

Form

The most revolutionary aspect of this catechism is the way the material is presented. It makes terrific use of the touch-screen iPad technology, which is how I accessed the catechism. There is a hide and seek feature for each answer. When the question appears on the screen, the answer is blurred. This gives the student an opportunity to test himself. When ready, the user may tap the screen to reveal the answer and then tap it again to obscure it. This is terrific. The iPad does this well and this is exactly how catechisms are memorized, by self-testing and repetition.

What should we make of the New City Catechism? Despite my criticisms and misgivings we should give a hearty thanks to those who produced it for their good work. They have pioneered a new and very interesting way to renew catechesis in our day. Those of us who are unwilling to omit a more full account of the church and sacraments (among other things) should take this project as a stimulus to produce our own new confession and catechism(s). This project shows that it can be done and it can be done well.

If God has truly spoken to you in the Bible, you would be wise to listen to what He has to say about Himself and His world, and what He promises and requires of us. A catechism provides an effective introduction into these eternal matters.

In conversations with Christians from around the continent I have been overjoyed to learn that translations of the historical catechisms and creeds exist and are being employed. In fact, it was my discovery of a Swahili translation of the Westminster Confession of Faith (WCF) that gave me the idea to pursue this project. That process has resulted in unearthing a full translation of the New City Catechism in Xhosa. In addition, an entirely new translation in Swahili is in process. As we publish this article we are in conversation with both African translators and Crossway about providing our continent with this great resource in their own languages.

We owe the team from Redeemer Presbyterian and the Gospel Coalition a debt of gratitude for compiling this fine resource. They should also be commended for offering their work to us free of charge! The New City Catechism provides a helpful entre into the study of catechism.

The prayer relating to each question and answer also adds a devotional richness as well. These spiritual gems are harvested from such luminaries as Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Stott, D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, John Bunyan, JC Ryle, John Chrysostom, C.S. Lewis, and Francis Schaeffer. These writers and other prominent historic figures also contribute commentaries to enhance the understanding of the doctrine presented in the catechism.

Catechisms have been used by the Christian church for centuries to teach people the truths of the Gospel and foundational biblical doctrine. Most catechisms are designed for group recitation so that believers can, in community, affirm their faith and counteract errors and false beliefs that are prevalent in the culture.

Synod 2019 considered a request to officially recognize one of these contemporary catechisms, the New City Catechism, as a contemporary testimony within the Christian Reformed Church. Though declining to give an official status to the New City Catechism, Synod 2019 tasked Faith Formation Ministries with providing a review of this teaching tool. Rather than offering a comprehensive review of the theology of the New City Catechism itself, which would be better suited for Calvin Theological Seminary, Faith Formation Ministries reviewed the children's curriculum based on the New City Catechism.

Faith Formation Ministries recently presented our report to the Council of Delegates for the May 2020 meeting. The Council of Delegates has endorsed this review, which is now being made available to churches (see the attached pdf). The report shares our review process, highlighting questions and observations about the content of the New City Catechism and about the curriculum content, pedagogy, and design. This approach is shared with a desire to help church leaders and members grow in their capacity to engage and discern other discipleship resources.

It is a joint adult and children's catechism. In other words, the same questions are asked of both children and adults, and the children's answer is always part of the adult answer. This means that parents are teaching it to their children as they are learning their answer to the question at the same time, albeit an abridged version. The adult answer is always an expanded version of the children's answer. In the adult version, the children's answer appears in color to differentiate it from the longer adult answer.

As with most traditional catechisms, there is a Bible verse that accompanies each question and answer. In addition, attached to each question and answer, there is a short commentary and a short prayer taken from the writings or sayings of past preachers to help students meditate on, and think about, the topic being explored. As far as possible, a commentary and prayer has been included from the same preacher in each of the three parts so that students can become familiar with their style and work.

There are good pointers at www.newcitycatechism.com for memorizing the answers, but the simple trick is doing it every day and keeping it in front of you... and also, talking about it. With someone. With anyone. With multiple people. Erin and I have had some laughs testing and competing with each other.

Del Rey Church is excited to share free resources to encourage the church to memorize the New City Catechism. Our desire as a church is to encourage individuals and families to memorize the New City Catechism together as a part of discipleship. To learn more about catechism at DRC please see Pastor Matt's blog post on the topic. 2351a5e196