I still recall from my childhood learning the first question and answer of the Westminster Catechism: What is the chief and highest end of man? Man’s chief and highest end is to glorify God and fully to enjoy him forever. This is the catechism used by Reformed churches, but I never heard it in church. My mom thought it would be a good idea for us to try and learn the Catechism (even though we did not attend a Reformed church at the time). The discipline didn’t last very long, and was soon abandoned. But over all these years I have remembered that first line. I also remember being a little confused about what the Catechism was and which churches professed it. I sort of understood that John Calvin and other early Protestant theologians contributed various portions of different versions of Protestant catechisms, but I also got the feeling that these were old documents that newer churches didn’t use that much anymore, because, well, they didn’t. Continue reading →