Catechism - Protestant Catechisms

Protestant Catechisms

The catechism's question-and-answer format, with a view toward the instruction of children, was a form adopted by the various Protestant confessions almost from the beginning of the Reformation.

Among the first projects of the Reformation, was the production of catechisms self-consciously modelled after the older traditions of Cyril and Augustine. These catechisms showed special admiration for Chrysostom's view of the family as a "little church," and placed strong responsibility on every father to teach his children, in order to prevent them from coming to baptism or the Lord's table ignorant of the doctrine under which they are expected to live as Christians.