Catechizing Our Children, The Whys and Hows of Teaching the Shorter Catechism Today, by Terry L Johnson, published by the Banner of Truth Trust, paperback, 101 pages, £5.50.
The Introduction and first chapter of this book discuss the importance of passing on true religion to children within the church and the family. Historical examples are cited where the means used were blessed. The second chapter gives a brief history of catechising, and is followed by one on the strengths of The Shorter Catechism – including its comprehensiveness, its logical order and its biblical nature. A longer chapter describes its structure; there is much here that is helpful but not all of it is quite convincing. The last chapter presents a possible programme for teaching the Catechism.
There is much in the book that is helpful for parents, but it is rather disturbing to find the author describing as legalists those who “categorically forbid”, among other things, dance and movies. That was not the view of the Westminster divines, who included dancing in the Larger Catechism list of sins forbidden in the Seventh Commandment (Ans 139); and as “stage plays” also appears in the list, one would certainly expect them to have also included movies, if technology had been a few centuries more advanced. And for the author to have used the Authorised Version would have been more in keeping with the spirit of the Westminster divines.