Brief Reflections upon Re-reading the Westminster Larger Catechism

I have just recently finished a third reading of this monumental work in the P&R edition with a commentary by Johannes Vos.

What can be said of this work? It is truly a profound and detailed survey of Christian doctrine as well as practice. Once again, I am overwhelmed by the comprehensiveness of the work along with its obvious piety and reverence for our God. This is not to say that I agree without reservation with everything the catechism declares. I disagree with some important doctrinal statements made by the catechism, but I feel that this in no way diminishes the work itself.

On this reading, I have been most profoundly moved by two of its sections in particular: the Ten Commandments and the use of prayer. The section on God’s law (summarized by the Decalogue or the Ten Commandments) begins with question 91 in chapter eleven and ends with question 149 in chapter thirteen. The use of prayer begins with question 178 in chapter seventeen and ends with question 196 of the same chapter.

I won’t address at length why I have been so moved by these two sections. Suffice to say that I have been going through some spiritual trials that seem to hinge on these two issues. In any event, I can’t help thinking how valuable this document is to all believers, especially those of the Reformed persuasion. This I believe because of the comprehensive nature of the Catechism itself but also because of the profound and solidly biblical truth it conveys to our sinful hearts. Indeed, it is precisely because of sin in my life that this past reading has been so powerful and so full of meaning and significance. In the section on God’s law, I saw my image reflected back to me as if in a perfect and flawless mirror and not as if through a glass “darkly” to quote the AV. In the elucidation of God’s law and its requirements, I have come to see with fresh eyes just how poor a sinner I really am and how hopeless it is to assume that my own righteousness can cover my sins and my sin nature. Truly, the Catechism not only shows us the depth of our depravity it also witnesses to our inability to even understand that depravity by ourselves, let alone overcome it. It teaches us that we not only “feel guilty" because of our sin, but that we “are truly guilty" in a very real, objective way before the eyes of God for every infraction we have ever committed or will commit as well as for our very sinful nature, which causes particular sins to manifest.

When I first read this section of the Catechism, I was upset and angry. I felt, and as some have said, that the Catechism was more biblical than the Bible. I was angered by what I thought then was more a Pharisaic approach to true piety and spirituality, than a truly Christian one. I thought the Catechism enumerated and expounded our sinfulness with such over-bearing exactitude that the inevitable conclusion could only be an overwhelming sense of our guilt before a perfectly holy and righteous God. I thought this was unfair and excessive. I've since come to realize that this is exactly what the Catechism meant to do. Using the example of biblical exegesis of Scripture given to us by the Lord in His Sermon on the Mount in Matthew, chapter five, where Christ explains the ramifications of disobedience to the Ten Commandments (especially in the cases of murder and adultery) I have come to see that the Catechism is in no manner exhaustive in its enumeration of our sins but that each example given is merely representative of our true sinfulness.

The Catechism has shown me the error of thinking that my sin is not just as repugnant to God now, even after my salvation, as it was before. Now that I understand the law better and more acutely, my sin increases, it does not diminish! Now, I am in even greater need of a Saviour and Redeemer, but thanks be to God He has provided for my need!


The other section, that on prayer, was instructive for me on a number of levels, but with my most recent reading, the use of prayer for Christian decision-making seems to be in the forefront of my concerns. I've written a similar post (read it here) about this issue before my most recent reading of the Catechism. My position then was that while prayer is extremely important for the believer, and is something (as a means of grace) we cannot do without, it is nevertheless not to be used as a method or means for making decisions. Since re-reading the Catechism, my position has become even more firm. Nowhere in the Catechism is prayer held up as an means for arriving at a God-decreed or ordained decision. The basis for misunderstanding this is the notion that God has a separate or "individual" will for each and every person. I see evidence of this belief all around in what I have personally come to describe as the "New Pietism." This new pietism seeks to establish that because God loves us and cares for us individually, He therefore has a "will" for each of us alone. This is completely unbiblical, and as Friesen and Maxson have proven (conclusively, in my opinion) in their ground-breaking book Decision Making and the Will of God, there is no basis for believing in such a notion.

The Catechism certainly supports my own view. Using the so-called Lord's Prayer as its model, the Catechism explains not only what prayer is to be used for, but also how it is to be used. Of course, all this must be seen in its true relationship to the Bible. The Catechism is a subordinate standard and must never be understood separated from Scripture. To do this is to elevate the Catechism (or any other similar documents) to the same level as the Bible. And to do this is to fall into grave error. There is much about prayer that the Catechism does not address, but it never leaves the reader with false ideas about its subject matter, including prayer.

I will be spending much reflective time chewing over what I've re-learnt from this most recent foray into the Catechism and thank God that, in His wisdom, He has seen fit to provide such a wonderful instruction manual when He had already given us that most perfect and inerrant book, the Bible.

Soli Deo Gloria