What you need to know about Confessions of Faith, Catechisms, and Liturgies → A More Beautiful Life Collective

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In this episode, we are looking at three types of confessional documents: Confessions of Faith, Catechisms, and Liturgies. We are going to talk about what they are, the most popular examples of them, and why it is worth your time to study them.

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Welcome to Season 2 Episode 18 of A More Beautiful Life Collective Podcast. Today, we are continuing our study of high-church confessional statements. We are going to think about the benefits and detriments of using these confessional documents and how you can refer to them while still developing your own statement of faith.

The four types of high-church confessional statements are:

Creeds
Catechisms
Confessions of Faith
Liturgies

Be sure to listen to part 1 of this series (Season 2 Episode 15) where we looked more closely at the Christian Creeds. Last time, we talked about the benefits of engaging with these texts in general. Then, we focused on the Creeds and the history of the Nicene Creed in particular. Today, we are going to talk about Confessions of Faith, Catechisms, and Liturgies.

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Confessions of Faith

Over the two millennia between when Jesus walked on the Earth and the present day, there have been a plethora of spiritual writings created to help disciple believers. For about 1500 years, those spiritual writings were created, published, and disseminated by the Catholic church. After the Protestant Reformation, there was a rush of writings that strove to set apart the beliefs of the new reformers against what the Church was teaching.

As Burk Parsons explains, “But of course, over the ages, throughout history, Christians have differed on what the Bible says, and what the Bible teaches, and how to interpret the Bible, and how to interpret this doctrine over that doctrine. So, the church came to see the need for having clear, doctrinal summary statements. And that began, really, back in the early church, and then it continued through the first several centuries of the church with the early universal or ecumenical creeds that all true churches confess today. But then also, confessions developed, and catechisms developed throughout history and through the time of the Reformation. And so, churches throughout the ages have essentially formulated these confessions. They have formulated these confessions of faith and creeds in order to establish and proclaim, “This is what we believe the Bible to say.”

Confessions of Faith, like the creeds, were created to describe what a specific denomination believes. Most of these confessions of faith were written after the Reformation as various groups of believers tried to articulate how their beliefs stood in contrast to the Catholic Church.

The main difference between the creeds and confessions is primarily the length of the confessions of faith. The Westminster Standard is over 450 pages long. The Belgic Confession of Faith has 37 articles. This compares with the Nicene creed which is basically the size of a paragraph. Really, these texts are more like our modern Systematic Theology texts, just with a different name and more authors. However, whereas systematic theology texts are used more as textbooks, confessions of faith have become the foundational text for disciplining new believers.

According to this understanding, the following Church denominations follow these confessions of the faith:

Presbyterian – Westminster Standards (Westminster Assembly, 1646)
Reformed Christians – Belgic Confession (Guido de Brès, 1562), the Heidelberg Catechism (Caspar Olevianus & Zacharias Ursinus, 1562), and the Canons of Dort (the Great Synod, 1619)
Baptists – Second London Baptist Confession/the Reformed Baptist Confession of 1689 (Nehemiah Coxe, William Collins, Hansard Knollys, & William Kiffin), the Baptist Faith and Message (Herschel H. Hobbs, 1926)
Lutherans – Augsburg Confession (Philipp Melanchthon, 1530), The Book of Concord (Jakob Andreä & Martin Chemnitz, 1577), Luther’s smaller and larger catechisms (1529)
Anglicans & Episcopalians – Thirty-nine Articles (Thomas Cranmer, 1553)

Parsons goes on to explain, “That’s the beauty of having confessions—because they give us guardrails, they give us parameters, and they help to give us a good footing so that we would not go off-track and teach contrary to Scripture.”

At the same time, The Presbyterian Outlook describes confessional churches in the following way: “Reminded of the gospel by our confessions, we do not have to cling too tightly to the past, resist the changes of the present, or fear the future. We can live confidently in a community that is both confessional and confessing at the same time, hence the phrase “reformed and always being reformed according to the Word of God” (ecclesia reformata et semper reformanda ex verbum Dei).”

The view in confessional churches is that they don’t hold these texts on the same authority as scripture, but they view them as guardrails. This being said, with the current statistic being that over half of Americans have read little or none of the Bible, how many people have actually read through these texts to understand their own faith better? Like modern Systematic Theology texts, confessions of faith can easily become a way of gatekeeping theology from the public by identifying heresies and non-conforming beliefs for pastors and church leaders to look out for.

So should you read these confessions of faith?

They are not as widely known as the creeds, but they do help you to understand the specific beliefs of various denominations.
They also lay out Theology in a systematic way. This can help you while you formulate your own statement of faith. Think of them as a conversation between you and the great thinkers of the faith of the past. Like the creeds, they are not infallible, but they can give you a lot to think about as you wrestle with your own beliefs.

You may not belong to one of the high-church denominations that ascribe to these statements of faith, but almost every denomination has some kind of statement of faith or systematic theology text they refer to. In addition to reading the texts mentioned above, try engaging with your denominations ‘key texts’ to help you understand your faith better.

Catechisms

Growing up in a non-confessional church, the last two topics seem particularly Catholic to me. I had never really heard or read a Catechism or Liturgy. And, ‘to catechize’ someone sounded like something I would read in a book about the middle ages.

While I was researching the homeschooling curriculum for my kids, one of the programs has a section in their memory work portion for catechism. By repeating the questions and answers each day, my 3-year-old son was able to say that God made him for his glory and that we can show God’s glory by loving him and obeying him. Even my daughter would say “God!” when I asked the question. This taught me the value of catechism.

Catechisms are simply a series of questions and answers that systematically move through key doctrines and ideas surrounding the Christian faith. The word catechism comes from a Greek word that means ‘instruct orally, make hear.’ Even though I thought that most catechisms were created by the Catholic church, they were actually a Protestant creation. Early instructional handbooks existed before the 16th century, but the word was first used and then became very popular in the period after that. During the early years of the Reformation, church leaders recognized the importance of describing the distinctives of the faith (as opposed to the Catholic church). The question-and-answer format lent itself to easy memorization and proved a valuable tool in discipling new converts to various Protestant denominations. The Catholic church then incorporated this model into its own discipleship process.

Joe Carter explains in his article on 9 things you should know about catechisms, “Almost every denomination and tradition in church history has used some form of catechesis for the religious education of Christian children and adults: Lutherans (Luther’s Small Catechism), Presbyterians (Westminster Shorter Catechism), Baptists (Keach’s Catechism), Catholics (the Catechism of the Catholic Church), Anglicans (The Book of Common Prayer’s Catechism), and so on.” In this recent White Horse Inn episode, they describe the purpose of catechisms and begin to explain certain aspects of the Heidelburg catechism.

Confessions of Faith were usually longer documents that strove to explain doctrine in a systematic way. They weren’t necessarily memorized – though they could be. Instead, confessions of faith were meant to be a doctrinal statement that set a specific denomination or faith group apart from other groups. Catechisms differed from confessions of faith in that they were meant to distill confessions of faith down into memorizable statements that could educate new believers in their beliefs.

Generally, the catechisms contain questions about the Apostles’ Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, the Ten Commandments, and teachings on the sacraments or ordinances like communion and baptism. Each catechism is structured in various ways. The Heidelburg catechism is divided up into creation, redemption, and sanctification. The Westminster catechism is divided into what we should believe and what we should do.

There are threads that are woven through each Catechism. The authors of the various catechisms choose a beginning question and then begin to answer that idea and expound upon it (including various concerns that might arise from that question). For instance, these are the first few questions in the Westminster Catechism:

Q. 1. What is the chief end of man?

A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.

Q. 2. What rule hath God given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him?

A. The Word of God, which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him.

Q. 3. What do the Scriptures principally teach?

A. The Scriptures principally teach, what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man.

Q. 4. What is God?

A. God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.

Q. 5. Are there more Gods than one?

A. There is but one only, the living and true God.

When we approach our theology and our personal statement of faith, we have to ask ourselves what questions are we starting with. What is the touchpoint? Reading catechisms makes us confront that.

Why should you read catechisms?

As believers, we often come to the Bible with questions, but the beauty of catechisms is that they ask us questions that we may have never considered. They can help to broaden our understanding of the faith as we approach concepts from a different angle.
They provide an excellent summary of key points of the faith. They can help us to clearly answer questions about our own beliefs and can be an evangelistic tool as we learn clear answers to others’ questions.
Catechisms can also be a valuable tool for discipling ourselves and others. The question-and-answer format truly does help us to memorize answers more easily.

There are several 500-year-old catechisms you can engage with that offer beautiful language and descriptions of our faith. There are also several modern catechisms. Tim Keller wrote the New City Catechism as a discipleship resource in 2017. There is also a Catechism for Young Children written in 1991 that is based on the Shorter Catechism. Songs for Saplings created a music adaption of this Catechism in 6 albums. My kids like to listen to the songs during our homeschool morning time.

If your church doesn’t have a catechism that they use, you could engage with any of these options or attempt to create your own that is reflective of your personal statement of faith.

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Liturgies

The first three types of high-church confessional statements could be thought of on a timeline as well. The creeds were created in the 3rd-5th century Catholic church. There are not really any ‘modern creeds’ written now. The Confessional Statements were mostly formed in the wake of the Reformation in the 16th century. Most modern confessional statements are just called statements of faith or Systematic Theology textbooks. The Catechisms were also written during the wake of the Reformation in the 16th century and continued to be refined over time with modern catechisms still being published today.

All of these types of confessional statements deal with doctrine. They are meant to be discipleship tools that grow your understanding of your knowledge of the faith. The last type doesn’t necessarily fall into this same category, but it can be just as rewarding to engage with.

According to Jonathan Cruse, the word Liturgy “comes from the Greek leitourgia, which is a combination of two other words: people (laos) and work (ergon). Literally, a liturgy is a “work of the people,” or perhaps more helpfully, a “public service.” Therefore, at its most basic, “liturgy” refers to the order of a corporate worship service.”

Basically, liturgy just refers to a pattern of worship for a group of people. We all are liturgical – even if we don’t go to a liturgical church. My church is a non-confessional, non-liturgical church – but you better have those bulletins ready with the order of service. More than that, the basic pattern of the service can’t change or people wouldn’t know what to do. We have a liturgy; it just isn’t called that.

Liturgies.net has a list of the most popular liturgies from various denominations. The most recognizable liturgy is probably the Catholic Mass which follows a specific plan and guidelines. Here are the parts of the Catholic Mass:

Introductory Rites: The Mass begins with greetings and people often dip their fingers in holy water and cross themselves
Liturgy of the Word: Includes scripture readings, the Creed, and the Prayer of the Faithful
Liturgy of the Eucharist: A reenactment of the Last Supper, where the bread and wine are transformed into the body and blood of Christ
Concluding Rites: The Mass ends with a time of thanksgiving and the Final Blessing
Penitential Act: A time to confess sorrow for not loving God as one should
The Lord’s Prayer: A prayer to praise God and ask for forgiveness
Sign of Peace: A time to shake hands with others to share the peace of Christ
Communion: A time to receive the body and blood of Christ

The mass is divided up into ordinary parts that are said at every service and special parts that deal with the current time.

Catholic churches are not the only ones that follow a specific liturgy. Anglican churches use the Book of Common Prayer (1549) created after the split with Rome. John Calvin also wrote his Book of Common Order in 1562. This was later replaced by the Westminster Directory in 1643. You can read more about the current Presbyterian directory of worship here. Lutherans also follow a specific liturgical pattern for their worship.

Like the confessions of faith, protestant liturgies were created in an attempt to define Protestantism against Catholicism. Unless you have grown up in a high-church background, you probably haven’t come into contact with a liturgical service (though your church has its own set of unspoken liturgies).

Liturgies are important because (1) they create order in a worship service. Through liturgies, everyone knows what to expect which helps the services run more smoothly. Liturgies also help to (2) make sure there is balance in the worship service. There is a conflict within churches today: Should worship services be more participatory or performative? Should we focus on consumption and entertainment – just get people in the doors? Or should our services focus on the meat of discipleship? Liturgies solve that question for you. They are participatory and primarily devote time to worship, scripture, and doctrinal statements.

This being said, most people don’t follow a liturgy anymore in a church context. At the same time, there is a new revival of people creating their own liturgies. Just do a quick Google search about liturgies and you will find book after book about liturgies for different topics. (Anywhere from Liturgies for Wholeness to Liturgies for Every Emotion to Liturgies for Sacred Seasons.) Creating liturgies has become a popular endeavor.

People naturally want a pattern of worship and prayer to follow when they don’t have the words and ideas for themselves. Though following the same common prayer book or liturgy may have fallen out of favor in most mainstream denominations, people are seeking that for their own personal devotional time.

Why you should read liturgies:

They connect you with other believers in prayer.
They help you to celebrate the church calendar by generally recognizing common feast days and events.
They can keep you consistent in your prayer time and can aid in reading scripture daily.
They provide a connection with the past as you read the biographies and writings of people in the past.

The Book of Common Prayer is a widely recognized liturgy. However, there are several others to choose from. Shane Claiborne wrote a new Book of Common Prayer in 2010. Jonathan Gibson wrote a 31-day liturgical guide called Be Thou My Vision in 2021. One collection that I’ve found and enjoyed is the Celtic Daily Prayer published in 2002 by the Northumbria Community. These modern liturgies can breathe new life into your quiet time.

Is reciting a spiritually dead practice?

One argument against the use of liturgies is that it promotes ‘rote prayers.’ Generally, people view this as a particular Catholic practice that deadens your spiritual life. This can be true if you pray these prayers for ‘show.’ However, I don’t think that is the only way to view this practice.

All of the confessional church texts that we’ve talked about – Creeds, Confessions of Faith, Catechisms, and Liturgies – require some element of memorization and recitation. It adds to their sticking power and offers a regular opportunity to review the truths that they espouse.

Memorization is something that is often balked at in this modern age. But, we need to remember that at the end of the day, we are only left with the memories and words that we have stored in our hearts. We may not always have access to our phones or a paper copy of our Bibles, but we still want to have scripture and spiritual texts nestled inside of us.

When we memorize, we are not just collecting rote facts to spew out to show that we are more spiritual. We are memorizing so that we have a solid foundation of scripture in our minds that we cannot lose. Having this foundation becomes the groundwork for our faith. In years past – especially when most of the world was not literate – memorization was the only way that people could really interact with spiritual texts. They would have to listen to the word and to teachings and then try to remember them to think back on through the week. (If you think that the medieval layperson knew nothing about their Bibles or faith, read this article.)

Reciting can be one of the best ways to reteach truths to ourselves. When we sing hymns, we are practicing in a form of recitation. Most of us would not say that singing “How Great Thou Art” or “Great is Thy Faithfulness” throughout our lifetimes would lead to a ‘dead faith.’ The meaning of these songs actually grows richer over time.

In the same way, the meaning of certain prayers and confessions of faith can grow richer over time as we grow to understand it deeper. Importantly, we have to check our attitudes when we are reading, praying, and reciting. If we are doing something by just going through the motions, we are not going to ‘get as much out of it’ as if we are praying with our whole hearts and minds. But, we all know that there are days when we are distracted while reading our Bibles. Even if we are, we still get up and read knowing that consistent action makes for the biggest impact in our lives. Recitation operates in the same way.

Often, our prayers can turn our gaze inward as we focus on our immediate context. When we practice recitation, we disciple ourselves through the process of turning our gaze outward onto the truth of God. This can lead to praise, worship, and a deeper understanding of who he is.

Utilizing Confessions of Faith, Catechisms, and Liturgies

As you begin to engage with these confessional, high-church texts, you will find yourself going down the rabbit hole of theology, church history, and spiritual disciplines. Ultimately, these texts are extra-biblical. They are not the authoritative word of God. We are always reforming our understanding of our beliefs as we go to scripture and uncover what it says.

These texts can provide a deeper understanding of your faith if you view them as a tool for getting you to pursue greater knowledge of God and his son.

What is the best way to engage with these texts? Once you choose the text you want to begin with:

Learn about the context. When was it written? Who wrote it? Why was it written? Who currently uses this text?
Read through the text marking key ideas, doctrines, and concepts.
Compare what the text says with your own personal statement of faith and make adjustments in your understanding based on what you’ve studied.
If you’re able, talk about what you’re learning with someone else who is also familiar with the text. This can lead to even greater insights.

I hope this deep dive into confessional documents helps you to understand what they are, how they are used, and why engaging with them can still be valuable even if you aren’t part of a ‘high-church’ denomination. These texts have been instrumental in the development of doctrine over time which is why it’s necessary to address them. We can’t just ignore them. We have to engage with them.

Don’t forget to check out the shop for more resources including our Building Your Foundations Systematic Theology Workbook. You can also subscribe to the podcast and blog to never miss an episode. Until next time, keep creating a life you love and cultivating your heart for God.

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