I remember somebody telling me, if you want to define justification, it's just as if I'd never sinned justified, right? And I remember thinking, that's quite clever. And then thinking, but it's not clever enough. But many Christians think that's what justification is. It means your sins are forgiven.
And it does mean that. But if that were all justification meant, then in a way you're back with Adam in the Garden of Eden. It's as though God is giving you a second chance to keep what the Westminster Assembly calls the covenant of works. You're on your own, pal. And so I think it's so helpful that the Westminster Confession and the Catechisms emphasize that yes, on the one hand, it's the pardon of your sins, but it's also you are now accounted righteous.
in Christ for Christ's sake. That was part of Sinclair Ferguson's answer when I asked him if he had a favourite question from the Westminster Shorter Catechism. and he selected a question on justification. Have you read the Westminster Shorter Catechism or used a catechism before? That will be our topic today on this special edition of Renewing Your Mind.
Well, I am glad that you're joining us today because just before Ligonier's first ever conference in Southeast Asia earlier this year, I was able to sit down with Sinclair Ferguson, the vice chairman of Ligonier Ministries and one of our teaching fellows to help introduce us to both the brilliance and the beauty of the Westminster Shorter Catechism. Why? Because this year we have published a newly typeset and designed edition of this enduring catechism. it remains a valuable tool for every generation. And if you'd like a copy, we'll send you one when you donate before midnight tonight at renewingyourmind.org.
Well, here's their conversation with Sinclair Ferguson that was recorded in Malaysia.
Well, Dr. Ferguson, we're here in Malaysia and our conference is about to get underway.
So I'm grateful that you're able to dedicate some time to talk about the Westminster Shorter Catechism. And I just wanted to begin by asking what is the Westminster Shorter Catechism? Because I imagine that many of our listeners, when they hear that, they may be unfamiliar, or if they hear Catechism, they might think of something childish, a Q and A format. but not really understand how it's been used in the church.
So could you explain to our listeners what is a catechism firstly and the significance of the Westminster shorter catechism? Yes, well, thank you for having me, Nathan. And it is really, I mean, it's wonderful to be here in Malaysia and to meet. Brothers and sisters from what we call the Far East, but for them is the center of the world. A catechism is a way of instructing people.
by using questions and answers. And I think if you think about it, actually. We do that a lot in any case.
So when we are bringing up our children, we teach them by asking them questions and teaching them answers. And in many cases, actually, it's really amazing how many Moms and dads. will teach their children by rot. That is, they will teach them to memorize things. without actually thinking that that's what they're doing.
So I remember a friend of mine telling me, it dawned on him one day what he was doing when he was teaching. his little girl to say Mary had a little lamb. The Lamb was white as snow, And everywhere that Mary went, The Lamb was sure to go. and he realized he was teaching her by a catechetical method.
So there was an implied question Mary had a little at all. Lamb, she would say. And then she would build up. And the catechisms, when they were used, For children, they were used for both children and adults. were ways of teaching basic Christian truth in very simple ways by In the best catechism, short questions.
With short answers.
Now, there were some catechisms, quite a lot of catechisms, actually. Written around the time of the Reformation and for about the next 150 years that were longer. They were like short manuals of Christian theology. But the ones that were used most, like the shorter catechism, which was written in the middle of the 17th century, were intended to give very basic answers to very important questions. and to put into people's minds what I think of as Velcro strips.
That would enable truth to stick in their minds, that would then enable them to be able to see. Their own experience. The preaching they were listening to and the world through lenses. That's a mixed metaphor, Velcro strips and lenses, but through lenses that were crafted according to the teaching of Scripture so that they would have spiritually speaking 20-20 vision. And from the time of the Reformation through to about the end of the 17th century was a great period of.
Writing catechisms. There were, I believe, about 700 different catechisms published. In England within that 150 to 200 year span.
So the people who wrote them were really experts. They knew how to do it. And I've sometimes said to people, try and write your own catechism. And the first question is, what is the first question? And everyone who knows the sharter catechism thinks, oh, that's the first question.
But blank that out. Where do you actually begin? And when you ask that kind of question, you realize. That was a period when men who had great theological and pastoral experience were wrestling with the question. What is the best way to teach someone the basics of the Christian faith?
And that's why I think even today in the twenty-first century, We often look back to the middle of the 17th century, and especially the Westminster Shorter Catechism, as being a kind of supreme example. of catechetical teaching. In a catechism written by men who were masters of the catechetical art. And some of them, I'm sorry, this is a long answer to a short question, which is not what the Westminster Shorter Catechism does.
Some of them, fascinatingly, Trace this practice back to Luke chapter 2. And you think, well, what's in Luke chapter 2? What's in Luke chapter 2 is Jesus being in the temple. and answering and asking questions. And some of them look back to that incident when the Lord Jesus was 12 years old.
and drew the implication. that what Jesus was actually sitting at was a kind of catechism class. We're already There was teaching by way of question and answer. Otherwise, what would a 12-year-old be doing? Giving answers and asking questions.
Now, I don't think you can prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that that's. exactly what was happening. But actually you don't find that in the modern. Commentaries, and probably one of the reasons is because the modern commentators are not very familiar. with catechisms.
So I've always found that really a very stimulating and interesting thought. that that kind of instruction actually goes right back into the days of the Lord Jesus himself. And if that's true, then then how valuable it is for us today. And I think there are many I mean, I think of one or two particular illustrations of ways in which there are really stunning illustrations of just how valuable that catechetical instruction is. You mentioned the first question, which the first question and answer is perhaps the most well known.
What is the chief end of man? Why did they begin there?
Well, because that's the great question, isn't it? And the other interesting thing about many interesting things about catechisms, but one of the challenging things is. How do you ask the right question? Because the right question actually depends on the right answer. Not the other way round.
So Unless you know what is absolutely central. You can't actually ask. the central question. But then the next question is How does the answer lead on to the next question? And I think that's the genius of the question and answer.
Number one, man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. And there they are partly resting on a tradition of theological thinking. that for example you get in the opening chapter of Calvin's Institutes.
So what is life all about?
Well, life is about the knowledge of God and the knowledge of ourselves. And these two things belong together. And that's what the Catechism is saying. in some ways in an even more wonderful form. by saying what our life is about is about God.
And what God's purpose for us is, is that we should actually enjoy him. And when you think back to the fact that this catechism was written by the people we nowadays call the Puritans. And most people have a very fixed idea of what Puritan is, you know, tall heart, dark clothes. Stony face. very severe.
certainly doesn't want to enjoy life. Mook there wrote. Our chief end, that is this is what we are for. is actually enjoyment. And supremely, the enjoyment of God.
And then also the notion that we can't actually. fully enjoy this world even in its fallen condition unless we first of all enjoy God. But then when we enjoy God, We are able to enjoy the world that he has made and enjoy each other. Many people think of a catechism as a tool for children. But can catechisms be used even for life long discipleship?
Yeah, I think that's a great question, Nathan, because actually the shorter catechism was written. for younger people. The larger catechism was written for People like ministers. to learn.
So it was like a next stage. But You know, I've quite often said, usually fairly quietly, I suspect that a thirteen year old boy in the Highlands of Scotland. in the late seventeenth century. would be able to articulate More theology clearly. than many seminary graduates from many seminaries would be able to do.
And when you think about it, I mean, I think nowadays I sometimes say. One of the things we need to help our young people to do is to outthink. their contemporaries. to outthink them. And that's one of the things that the Shorter Catechism enabled youngsters.
You know, historically it was probably used more in Scotland. than anywhere else. For historical reasons, it wasn't used very much in England, although it was it was written there.
Now, of course, it's used all over the world because largely through Presbyterian churches. But I have sometimes thought this sounds very ethnically oriented. But, you know, books like How the Scots Invented Almost Everything, that kind of thing, when you look back to that period of history. And there was a period of history when the Scots did seem to invent almost everything. And to a certain extent, it has continued into the present age.
But it's fascinated me But that was an era when You know, a large percentage of Scottish boys were taught to memorise the Shorter Catechism. And you think, well, what has that got to do with engineering? or with science This is what it's got to do. It helped them to think clearly. It helped them to think.
and ask the right questions. to probe reality and to listen. To the answers that reality gave. And so I'm convinced, and I think, you know, I think it's not only Christians that have wondered about this. That tool that taught young Christians how to think clearly.
was also what we would nowadays call a transferable skill. And so putting it into the lenses of young people. wonderfully equipped them to live in the world that God had created. to listen. What the world said, you know, as young scientists or engineers, and then to formulate.
what they could do with this world. According to the principles of the world itself. I sometimes think, I wonder if we would have had AI and such things earlier. If Adam and Eve had not sinned. Would they have been able to listen to the world better and to use?
You know, we have created nothing. I mean, we speak about creating things like that. We create nothing. We are engineers, always engineers. Using what God has embedded in the world that He's made.
And I think. And I mean, I think of some stories I know from just my own experience in life. Of what a remarkable instrument it's been in the lives of people who have. Even if they've not memorized the shorter catechism, they've learned how to think. theologically and logically by using the shorter catechism.
How does committing these truths to memory Help shape our hearts and not just our minds. Yeah, in my lifetime.
So I would say, you know, at home in the United Kingdom. Evangelical Christians suffered at the hands of secular psychologists. who taught Two things. One, if children learn things by rot. That's not a good way to instruct them.
And B, to teach them a system of theology is a very bad thing. And yet having said that, that's what was happening in the secular world. The way people learn Baseball statistics. Cricket statistics. They may not notice it, but they learn these things by rote.
The way people learn computer languages. And so there was a default here. between how people thought in secular terms And how they thought about the spiritual and intellectual nourishment of children. And so introducing catechism. Back into the lives of evangelical Christians was like one of the most difficult sells.
in the world. And I think there was therefore a whole generation that suffered pretty badly. Because It reared young people who weren't able to outthink. their peers. Untrue.
Thought, if I can use the same verb. that thinking was no part of the Christian life. You know, I remember the late John Stott saying, you know, that he thought he lived in a generation where evangelicals thought that when you come to church, you take your head off. And the the big thing is how you feel. And what you like.
And you can see how that way of thinking. And people who didn't think that thinking was important were thinking. to think that. All the time. rear the generation.
of Christians for whom What I like and how I experience is the big thing. and not what God likes and what God says. And into that generation, I think it was a pretty hard sell. to say you know I think you are saying Catechisms don't work because we've never tried them. And so I think many Christians in my generation probably only discovered catechisms later in life.
And Then they discovered That when it's embedded in your mind that what I'm actually for is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. That really makes a difference to the way you live. It actually makes a huge difference the way you feel about God. Because it tells you you're meant to enjoy. Gone.
And that's a different thing from What that generation that's such an influence in the Christian church was saying, What I'm for is to enjoy myself. which in essence was to mean that you were cutting the source of real joy Out of your life.
So the the impact of that one statement. on people's psyches, their emotional life. was colossal. You know, to me, one of the greatest stories that have ever been told about the Shorter Catechism is in an essay that the American theologian B. B.
Warfield. Tells in a little tiny essay he wrote. I think it's called Is the shorter catechism worthwhile? And he tells this story that I think may come from the Civil War period. or depending on where you live from the war between the states.
And he tells this story. about a man who was in a Midwestern city. which Warfield says was in a state of unrest. And he's just walking down the street, and there's a man coming towards him. That he describes as the way I would put it is: clearly, this man had presence.
And as this man's walking down the street, People are kind of, they stop and stare at him. They're just something about him. And as the man comes towards him, you can imagine the scene. This man is thinking, You know, the last thing I should do here is stop and stare. but as the man passes him by, he finds himself like a magnet drawn.
To look back on him, assuming he'll see his back. and to his horror The man has actually turned round and is coming up to him. And you can think, what's he going to say to me? taps him in the chest. and he says to him, What is the chief end of man?
And relieved, this man says, is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. And the man says to him, I knew you were a shorter catechism boy by your looks. And the fellow says, you know, that's exactly what I was thinking about you.
Now, The power of that story to me lies, first of all the fact it was true. Second, in the fact that we tend to laugh at it today. And to think. That's a fairy story. And the reason for that is...
because we don't have what these men had. and recognized in each other. The Queen Ba truth. influences the way you think. Therefore, it influences the way you feel.
That, for instance, is the way you live. therefore influences the development of your character. Christians become people who have There's a presence. I bought it then. And I've often thought, I think because occasionally it has actually happened in situations.
Where I'm still puzzled how it happened. people will have said, are you by any chance a Christian? I remember we stopped on the road one day in Scotland because there was a lady, an elderly lady. And we could see she was standing beside our car. off the highway and we stop to see if we Fould help in any way.
And after a minute or two of conversation, this lady said to me out of the blue Still You. Are you a Christian minister? And I was like, if she'd said, are you an angel? I wouldn't have been even more surprised. And I think Why does that not happen more often in a world where Christians are so much a minority.
Culture. Is there not more about us? that smells of the glory of God for people to notice. And so, I mean, even in kind of minor experiences like that, and I confess. I think maybe to my shame, it's happened a few times, but not all that often.
And I thought, oh, that story really is true. There should be something. about us. that is so different that even if people don't understand it, They see that there is a difference. And In a sense.
Everything is wrapped up in that first question and answer shorter catechism.
So, I mean, it's. It's fantastic, really.
Well, it makes me think of Peter in 1 Peter 3.15. Always be ready to give a defense for the hope that's within you. There's this assumption that people will see There is something different. Yeah. I mean, I've just often thought this is really interesting because.
I guess in my earlier years, one of the great techniques for evangelism was to go out into the streets and saying we're we're just taking a survey of what people think. And I was never very comfortable with that because I thought that's not really upfront about what you're doing. You know, you're not really being honest with people. And then as I thought about it, it dawned on me, we're doing the very opposite of what Peter expected. We are in a situation where we've got to ask non-Christians questions.
And the assumption behind that is they're not going to be asking us questions. Whereas the assumption behind what Peter says is... Christians are going to stick out like Excuse the expression, sore thumbs. in the world. Not because they are you know they're using hammers on their thumbs but just because we are different we belong to a heavenly Citizenship.
There should be something about us. that makes people think. What are because of intrigue or because of irritation. Why is it that he or she is? Definitely.
And the Going back to the first question, we're not going to get back. Past the first question. Are we really It's because We're living for completely different motivations and ends. Our end, our goal. Is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.
And one, The non-Christian thinks glorifying God is the abolition of my joy. Whereas the Catechism is teaching us, no, that's... What gives us joy And the other thing that I think many non-Christians think is There's no way I would become a Christian. It is a joyless life. And the catechism is saying, no, actually it's the very reverse of that.
It is. truly the joyful life.
Now, I'm Scottish, right?
So I sometimes have to say we Scottish Christians enjoy this so much, we don't want to waste our energy showing it by smiling all the time. But you know, that joy does not need to be like obnoxious. Happy, happy, happy.
Okay. Just a something. Abotos.
So You know, you've maybe heard me say When we lived in Texas and in South Carolina, I loved riding on the elevators. what we call the lifts. I don't know what them in Australia, the lifts, and just engaging with conversation and then. When it came to my floor to get out, whether I was going up or down, sometimes people. Puzzled by the accent.
would say, well, where do you come from? And I would always like step out of the elevator at that point and then turn around and say, Columbia, South Carolina, as the doors were closing and see the, you know, the like There's something I'm not getting here. And I've, you know, I've often thought. You know, that's how we should be as Christians. There should be a kind of So where do you really come from?
What makes you tick? When John says in first John three, What manner of love? The Father has bestowed on us that we should be. children of God. Literally.
The question he's saying is. From what country? Does this love come from? It's like this is from another country, another world. And we're back to question and answer number one.
Again. It's really It's You know, even if you just learned to live by that question and answer, you would have learned a great deal. I'm speaking with Sinclair Ferguson about the Westminster Shorter Catechism. If you'd like your very own copy of this newly published edition from Ligonier Ministries, we'll send you a copy when you give a donation in support of Renewing Your Mind at renewingyourmind.org.
Well, Dr. Ferguson, I'm going to try and move on from the first question, okay? I'm going to jump to question and answer number four. What is God? God is Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His Being wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.
This is such a beautiful and concise answer. Why is it so vital for Christians to understand the attributes of God?
Well, that itself is a profound question. And just as a rabbit trail The best catechists not only asked the question, but also ask your question.
So they followed up with it. And that, I think, made For them, for parents, the catechism a really helpful teaching tool because it was a start. And I think the answer obviously to that question is just to put it in biblical terms, for example, what Jeremiah nine says, don't let the rich man boast in his riches or the strong man in his strength. But if you're going to boast in anything, boast in this, that you know the Lord. And Jesus says this is eternal life.
But They might know you. the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. Which In my lifetime, actually, has become a revolution. in the evangelical world. Because I would say until Maybe even until about The mid-nineteen sixties.
Evangelical faith was not really thought of in terms of knowing God. It was thought of in terms of experiencing regeneration. and new life. And of course That is genuine Christianity, but it's rooted in The knowledge of God. And the importance of that is Because unless we know God, we can't really reflect him.
to the wild. And in some ways, I would rather they had asked the question: who is God? But the answer to that question would be in terms of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And so that question they are really saying, so what is God like? Just if I If somebody said to me, what is Nathan W.
Bingham like? I could say, well, he has the following attributes. They are inseparable from him. He has an Australian accent. He's about nine foot tall.
He works out in the morning because I saw him this morning with a perspiration-filled t-shirt on. And yet I could go through your characteristics. I won't embarrass you by doing that, but that's how we think about people. I sometimes say I like people with horns, and I don't mean bullish people, but people. that you feel you can tell who they really are.
Because they have these certain characteristics. They're not bland, and so. With some people you feel, I don't really know who he is or who she is. And so, what the Westminster divines were actually saying to us there is. Here are the things about God that you can know and rely on.
These are ways into thinking.
Well, what is he really like? And the wonderful thing, I think, is he has all of these attributes, he's all of them simultaneously. and at the end of the day These are not like seven or eight different Sticky notes. On guard. These are, as it were.
Seeing that God is so great, we've got to use all of these descriptions. which we use seriatum, that is to say one by one. But they're all different ways of looking at the same. person of God. And means by which we can get to know him so that we know he is holy.
We know He is infinitely great. We know he's also kind and generous. and use all of these things all of the time. If you were to pick one question and answer from the shorter catechism, aside from the first question and answer, that has perhaps been profound in your life. or something that has been meaningful in your life or ministry.
What question and answer would you select? Boy, that's a difficult one. I do like the question. I mean, I like all the questions. I think one.
question and answer that is really helpful for people is The question on justification. I mean, I remember.
somebody telling me if you want to define justification It's just as if I'd never sinned justified, right? And I remember thinking, That's that's quite clever. And then thinking But it's not clever enough. But many Christians think that's what justification is. means your sins are forgiven.
And it does mean that. But if that were all, justification meant then in a way you're back with Adam in the Garden of Eden. It's as though God is giving you a second. Chance. to keep what the Westminster Assembly calls the covenant of works.
You're on your own, pal. And so. I think it's so helpful that the Westminster Confession and the Catechisms emphasize that, yes, on the one hand, it's the pardon of your sins. but it's also you are now accounted righteous. In Christ, for Christ's sake.
And that means if I'm accounted righteous in Jesus Christ. The righteousness I have standing before God. Is as perfect a righteousness as Jesus' righteousness because it is his righteousness. And one of the ways in which I think that is helpful to us is because I've had this sneaking suspicion. that many Christians think that justification is something that happens in them.
that the righteousness is in them. And don't realize actually that is medieval Catholicism. but righteousness is infused into you. And What the divines are emphasizing there is, no, the only righteousness you ever have is not in you. If you depend on any righteousness in you, you are a goner.
And that question then, I think, does something very important. It teaches me to live the Christian life. from the objective to the subjective. It teaches me to look out away from myself. to Christ who is my righteousness.
And then When I look out to Christ as my righteousness, not only in the sense that in him I have forgiveness of sins, but also in him I'm clothed in his Righteousness. That's what brings me assurance. And when you think back to the pre-Reformation. Teaching of the church, which was. At baptism, there's a righteousness infused into you.
You keep on losing it. I'm simplifying it. But the sacraments Kind of help you to recover it. And if you cooperate with that sacramental grace, eventually there may be produced in you A righteousness. That is so righteous because your faith is Suffused with a love for God that is perfect, that then you actually become justifiable.
So you are justified by grace, they would have said. They would have insisted it's by grace. on the basis of your cooperation with sacramental grace, producing Within you A righteousness that's created, yes, by grace. That makes you justifiable, which is the reason why, by and large, in the medieval church, assurance. was both denied, I'm discouraged.
And white. The Reformation was such an explosion because people realize but if our justification is in Jesus Christ then we can be assured of our salvation. We can be assured. that we have a righteousness that is as righteous as his righteousness. Because it is his righteousness.
And it's perfect. Is irreversible? And it's ours. Through faith, we make no contribution to it. We receive him and we receive that righteousness.
And that was why there was such a bursting forth of assurance. And I find, I think, many Christians, it's just at that point that things begin to go wrong in their Christian lives. and they turn back in upon themselves. and they lose both the joy and assurance of a Christian life. Because They're actually looking at the level of their sanctification.
For there. assurance of justification. Um In a sense, they've turned the gospel on its head. clearly without realizing it. Because if you said, what is the gospel?
Hopefully they would not say the gospel is I have done enough. but that Christ has done everything. But how we articulate our theology and how we actually experience the Christian life sometimes can be very different. And so that's one of the questions. That I mean, going back to you're asking another question beyond the question of question number four.
But pastorally in homes and families as well as for catechists and ministers. the catechism became a real tool To explore the Christian life and Christian faith in a very comprehensive way. There are so many beautiful theological truths in the shorter Catechism, and you have given our listeners a sneak peek, if they haven't read the Catechism before, of just some of those, at least from a couple of questions. If one of our listeners is thinking, I'd like to get a copy of the shorter catechism. But they've never read it before, they've never catechised or done memorization with their children.
What encouragement? What counsel would you give them? Where should they start if they wanted to implement the shorter catechism in their life? or perhaps in their family. Yeah, I think the first thing to do is to get one.
And I mean, it's conceivable that somebody listening to our conversation might think... got to get the shorter cut because we've got to you know charge full ahead. We need to be patient, take our time. and read it for ourselves and Take time to Tasted. Take time even to notice the questions that you find particularly helpful, the answers you find particularly helpful.
And You know, there are different ways of making your coffee. There's the French press, you know, I'm in a hurry, boom. And then there's the drip feed. And I think usually the drip feed method in learning something new is better. And then if I may tell another story.
Our church had the youth staff, youth staff go away. couple of times a year with the young people. We canned away some of the parents there as chaperones. One weekend after the youth retreat, this story filtered through to me. That at the end of the day, the youngsters were sitting round with a couple of the parents who were there as chaperons, and end of the day, they're full of questions, probing.
questions. And one of the parents is answering these questions very patiently. Question after question after question. when the youngsters have gone away The other parent says them how on earth Were you able to answer all these questions? And the first parent, according to the story, just now says, you know.
All the answers are in the shorter catechism. And I thought that that's really That's really impressive. And so encouraging to think. that here is a document. you know was you know, a hundred plus questions.
And it gave this parent the equipment. to help these youngsters. to think better about the Christian faith. And as I've said probably a couple of times in our conversation, to learn to outthink their peers. And I'm just increasingly convinced that in the world in which our youngsters are now being reared, the ability to outthink and outlive their peers in a genuinely gracious Christian way.
will make our youngsters really stand out and point others to the Lord Jesus in wonderful ways. Is it fair to say if a Christian parent is not catechizing their child, Somebody is. Yeah. And One of the things catechisms teach us in helping us to think clearly is to realize that that's the case. That actually, our youngsters are being catechised by those household gods they hold in their hands, and you see them.
adoring that household God everywhere they go. and that household god in not a few occasions is actually being controlled by secular catechists.
some of whom are determined. to master their minds. I mean, I remember when some of the gender issues began, my wife saying to me, you know, The word on the street is, we don't want to trouble anyone, we're just looking for equality. And I remember she said to me, you know, then it's not equality they're looking for, it's domination. And this isn't going to affect anyone.
you know, and and it's affecting the children in elementary school. It's affecting states, it's affecting governments, affecting A world. And it was all taken in. because people were not able to think Clearly. And However we do it, however we do it.
Unless we catechize our children. we will be handing them over. to the catechists of the world. and the catechists some of the catechists of the world are clearly determined. That you will think this way.
So when I was a youngster, I remember. people of my parents' generation lamenting what was happening in the Soviet Union. How unless you thought a certain way and conformed a certain way, there were jobs that you would not get. There were educational opportunities she wouldn't have. And it was lamented.
And now It has actually come true in the Western world. There'll be areas of medicine and science and education that are being closed down to people because they have Christian convictions.
So much so that I think in in some places The ultimate sin is to have Christian convictions. And that means, I think, if we are teaching the shorter catechism, the challenge to us. as catechists, as parents or ministers or whatever is that we actually live it out ourselves.
Well, Dr. Ferguson, thank you for your time today, and I really trust that giving our listeners an insight into the shorter catechism will be a great encouragement. and I look forward to seeing many families using it.
Well, thank you for having me today. I so appreciate Sinclair Ferguson's insights and the reminder that this conversation was for me as to the importance of catechesis and the skill behind the writers of the questions and answers in the Westminster Shorter Catechism. This is the Friday edition of Renewing Your Mind. I'm Nathan W. Bingham.
If you'd like Ligonier's newly published edition of the Westminster Shorter Catechism, we'll send you a copy today only. when you donate at renewingyourmind.org or when you call us at 800-435-4343. I encourage you to take Dr. Ferguson's advice. Read it for yourself.
Take note of the questions and answers you found helpful and use it with your children. with someone new to the faith or reformed theology, or even as devotional material to keep central truths of the Christian faith in the forefront of your thinking. Visit Renewing Your Mind dot org or use the link in the podcast show notes. And if you live outside of the US and Canada, the ebook edition is waiting for you at Renewing Your Mind dot org slash global. But be quick, as only hours remain for this special resource offer.
Who is God? What do the names of God mean throughout the pages of Scripture?
Next week, RC Sprawl will answer those questions as you hear messages from a series that hasn't featured on Renewing Your Mind for almost two decades.
So on Monday, we're going back into the archives. Be sure to join us then here on Renewing Your Mind.
