catechism, a manual of religious instruction usually arranged in the form of questions and answers used to instruct the young, to win converts, and to testify to the faith. Although many religions give instruction in the faith by means of oral questions and answers, the written catechism is primarily a product of Christianity. Some early handbooks of instruction were prepared by the Church Fathers (including Augustine of Hippo, John Chrysostom, and Cyril of Jerusalem), and many were prepared throughout medieval times. The term catechism, however, was evidently first used for written handbooks in the 16th century.
After the invention of printing and the 16th-century Reformation, catechisms became much more important, both in Protestantism and Roman Catholicism. These catechisms were influenced by the medieval catechism, which had imitated the works of the Church Fathers. The medieval catechisms concentrated upon the meaning of faith (the Apostles’ Creed), hope (the Lord’s Prayer), and charity (the Ten Commandments). The later catechisms usually included discussions of these three subjects and added others.
Perhaps the most influential book produced by any Reformer was Martin Luther’s Small Catechism (1529), which added discussions of baptism and the Eucharist to the usual three subjects. Luther’s Large Catechism (1529) was intended for use by the clergy.
John Calvin published a catechism in 1537 that was intended to instruct children. It proved too difficult, so he prepared an easier version in 1542. The Heidelberg Catechism (1563) of Caspar Olevianus and Zacharias Ursinus (revised by the Synod of Dort in 1619) became the most widely used catechism in the Reformed churches. The standard Presbyterian catechisms have been the Westminster Larger and Shorter Catechisms, completed by the Westminster Assembly in 1647.
The Anglican catechism is included in The Book of Common Prayer. The first part was probably prepared by Thomas Cranmer and Nicholas Ridley in 1549 and was modified several times before 1661. A second part, discussing the meaning of the two sacraments, was prepared in 1604 in response to a suggestion of the Puritan faction of the Hampton Court Conference.
The most famous Roman Catholic catechism was one by Peter Canisius, a Jesuit, first published in 1555, which went through 400 editions in 150 years. One that had a large circulation and greatly influenced later works was that of Robert Bellarmine (1597). In France, those of Edmond Auger (1563) and Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet (1687) were outstanding. In more recent times, well-known Roman Catholic catechisms have included the Baltimore Catechism (1885) in the United States, A Catechism of Christian Doctrine (“Penny Catechism”) in England (1898), and that of Joseph Deharbe (1847) in Germany. In 1992 the Vatican issued a new universal Catechism of the Catholic Church that summarized the church’s doctrinal positions and teachings since the second Vatican Council (1962–65). The new catechism abandoned the question-and-answer form and used modern language in its prescriptions on faith, the sacraments, sin, and prayer.
In reaction to the work of the Jesuits and the Reformed church among the Orthodox, Peter Mogila composed The Orthodox Confession of Faith. It was approved at a provincial synod in 1640 and standardized by the synod of Jerusalem in 1672. By order of the Russian tsar Peter I the Great, a smaller Orthodox catechism was prepared in 1723.