Learn by Heart

The Catechism

is a Prayer Book and Handbook

for the Christian Faith and Life

At Clover Trinity Lutheran Church and Clover Christian School, we proceed from the basic understanding that Dr. Matin Luther's Small Catechism is a prayer book and handbook for the Christian faith and life, rather than a textbook. A textbook is used for a course of instruction, but rarely used again. A prayer book is used continually. A prayer book speaks to all our needs, giving us God's promises, so that we might learn to "ask Him as dear children ask their dear father." It even gives us the very words to pray. As a handbook the catechism teaches us how to understand and interpret the Bible, the liturgy, and our own lives in relation to all that God has done and continues to do for us. It sets forth in plain, simple language what all Christians need to know for their faith and life. Its explanations are devotional in character. They invite us to return to the central truths of our faith again and again for all that we need to live as Christians in this world.

"Learn by Heart"

The Importance of Memorization

The text of the Small Catechism is to be learned by heart if it is to function as a prayer book and handbook for Christians. It is to be learned by heart, word for word, so that it can be used for the rest of their lives. Memorization of texts is not part of our modern culture and is deemed unimportant. It was very important for Luther. He wished for his students to develop a love affair with the texts of the Ten Commandments, the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the sacraments. To know these texts was to know God. We know of no Jesus except that Jesus who is revealed to us in the sacred Scriptures. The catechism gives us the most important texts or primary vocabulary of the Scriptures. Luther's explanations of those texts were written so that the student might learn to embrace Jesus through those texts with an ever deeper faith and understanding. Christian faith rests in the words and promises of God. It does not rely upon personal experience, emotion, or human intellect. There is no faith in Christ apart from His Word. The catechism reveals that Word of God to us. The catechism is learned by heart, so that the student might learn to pray those texts and use them in confessing the faith in his vocation. The catechism gives him the words to say.

Learn the Words First!

Understanding Takes a Lifetime

"First teach them the words, then teach them what they mean" is an axiom for Luther's approach to teaching the Christian faith. Baptized children learn the language of their heavenly Father in the same way all children learn a language. They hear their father and mother speaking to them over and over and over again, until they begin to speak the language themselves. They begin to use the words that they have heard, even before they fully understand what the words mean. So it is for the baptized and the students. We hear the Word of God over and over and over again until it becomes imbedded in our hearts. We begin to hear, learn, and use words before we fully understand what those words mean. In fact, learning to believe and understand those words is the lifelong process of growing in the Christian faith. This process begins with hearing and receiving the Word in the heart. Only in this way does the Word of God become our own word in our confessions of the faith and in our prayers. If we wait to teach the language of the Scriptures and catechism until people know what the words mean, or are "old enough" to understand them, then we will never use the words or teach them anything.

Christian Meditation

When the language of the catechism is learned by heart, it becomes an indispensable aid in meditation, and is continually used by the Holy Spirit for our comfort and to awaken in us new understandings. Christian meditation is to give one's mind and heart to the contemplation of God's Word. It is to reflect upon and ponder the Word of God. To put it crassly, Christian meditation is the "regurgitation of the Word of God. Like a cow that chews her cud, it involves recalling the Word of God that has been previously "implanted" in the heart, for the purpose of receiving from it even greater blessings for our faith and life. This can only happen when the Word of God and the text of the catechism are committed to memory, or "learned by heart." Unlike other forms of meditation which teach the individual to find renewed strength and peace from that which is within the self, Christian meditation directs us from our sinful self to find our comfort, strength, and life in the "implanted word, which is able to save [our] souls (James 1:21).

The Catholicity (Universality) of the Catechism

It is important to note again that the primary texts of Luther's Small Catechism are not "Luther's." The primary texts of the Small Catechism belong to the church of all times and in all places. They are the most important texts for the church and they are all taken from the Bible. They answer practical questions for every Christian:

What is God's Law?   The Ten Commandments.

What is the Gospel?  The Creed.

How do Christians pray?   The Lord's Prayer.

How do we become Christians?   The Sacrament of Holy Baptism.

How is our faith strengthened?   The preaching of absolution.

What medicine does God give us against the devil, the world, and our sinful nature? The Sacrament of the Altar.

These texts are not unique to Lutherans. They are Christian, catholic, and biblical. Luther's explanations were written to help us understand and use them rightly.

As the Head of the Family Should Teach...

Each of the Six Chief Parts, with the exception of Confession, begins with the phrase, "As the head of the family should teach it in a simple way to his household." The catechism is for home use by the head of the family to teach and practice the faith with his children. Parents are the primary teachers of their children. The catechism gives the head of the family everything that he needs to teach his family what they are to believe and do as Christians. It teaches them what and how to pray. It teaches them the calling from God where they are to live their faith in Christ. And it teaches them where to find God's salvation and help against all sin and temptation in their lives.

God passes on His word of faith through the instrumentality of others. This is God's way. The primary focus of the pastor's teaching is adults. He teaches adults, passing the word of faith on to them, so that they are enabled to teach their children by word and example. Even when the pastor teaches the baptized children of his adult members, he is teaching those children in the place of their parents. He must do everything in his power to engage the parents in ongoing religious instruction, so that the teaching of the children of his congregation and school may not be hindered. If parents are enlightened by the Holy Spirit through faithful teaching, the teaching of the children of those parents will readily follow, without coercion, and bear much fruit.