Historical Precedent

Since the days of the early Church, this Question and Answer Method has been tried, proven, and endorsed by honorable students of the Bible throughout history. Matthew Henry and John Knox are only a couple of these. Here is what these two men had to say about the value of the catechetical approach:

Matthew Henry (1662–1714)
English clergyman and Bible commentator

• “By these forms of sound words, the main principles of Christianity, which lie scattered in the Scripture, are collected and brought together.”


• “By these, the truths of God are arranged and put in order...the harmony of divine truths, how one thing tends to another, and all center in Christ, and the glory of God in Christ: and thus, like the stones in an arch, they mutually support, and strengthen, and fix one another.”


• “By these, the truths of God are brought down to the capacity of young ones.”

John Knox (1514–1572)
Scottish religious reformer

• He wrote in his Book of Disciple that the minister must take care of the children and youth of the parish, instructing them in the basic doctrines and especially in the catechism.

For centuries, the Question and Answer Method has also been the target for severe attacks from the enemies of Christianity.

Julian the Apostate (ca. 360) so feared the effectiveness of this enterprise (catechism) that he closed all Christian schools and places of public literature and forbade the instructing of youth.