1 Cor 13: 8 Love never ends. But if there are prophecies, they will be set aside; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be set aside. 13:9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part, 13:10 but when what is perfect comes, the partial will be set aside. 13:11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child.…
1 Cor 10:1 For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea, 10:2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 10:3 and all ate the same spiritual food, 10:4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they were all drinking from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.…
Matthew 27:3 Now when Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus had been condemned, he regretted what he had done and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders, 27:4 saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood!” But they said, “What is that to us? You take care of it yourself!” 27:5 So Judas threw the silver coins into the temple and left. Then he went out and hanged himself.…
I like Jonathan Pennington’s idea of ‘iceberg preaching’. Consider, he says, what an iceberg might look like:
In the first triangle, almost all of the iceberg lies above the surface of the water. This represents the sermon in which the preacher tells his hears everything he knows about a text or subject. He knows nothing else. There is no more that he could have said. There is no unstated knowledge, or insight, or understanding that has helped him form his message.…
The New Testament writers show great concern for the spiritual growth of their readers. Paul, for example, writes to the Corinthians, “But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not ready” (1 Cor. 3:1–2).
The writer to the Hebrews similarly: “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God.…
It is tragically possible for God’s people to limit their understanding and preaching of the gospel to its essential components, while neglecting all-important implications.
Write J.I. Packer and Gary Parrett:
…‘Sadly, even tragically, evangelicals have sometimes been guilty of preaching and teaching a Gospel that is not, shall we say, “fully dressed.” They may have focused properly on the central features of God’s atoning work at the cross, faithfully preached Christ crucified for sinners, celebrated the resurrection as proof that Christ’s self-offering for our sins has been accepted, and urged hearers to be reconciled to God.
J.I. Packer and Gary Parrett write:
‘One of the most important arguments for ministries of catechesis today derives from the simple fact that believers have been commanded to teach others catechetically.’
In Ephesians 6:4, fathers are urged to bring up their children ‘in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.’
In the Pastoral Epistles, we find numerous exhortations:
“Charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor devote themselves to myths.” (1 Tim. 1:3–4)
“If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed.”…
It would seem that the four Gospels are ‘carefully crafted and culturally contextualized catechetical documents.’
Matthew seems to be explicitly catechetical, in that he arranges his material according to subject matter rather than chronological sequence. The result is a handbook on the words and deeds of the Church’s founder.
Mark is often found, in our own day, to provide an excellent basis for catechetical courses such as Christianity Explored.
Luke (along with Acts) was written, in the first place, to provide initial or follow-up catechesis for Theophilus.…
That there is a body of teaching that is to be faithfully passed on is clear from the repeated references in the New Testament to ‘the teaching,’ ‘sound doctrine,’ ‘tradition,’ and ‘passed on’.
Packer and Parrett (Grounded in the Gospel: Building Believers the Old-Fashioned Way) give some examples:
“And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching.” (Acts 2:42)
“Watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned.”…
In advocating a return to catachesis, J.I. Packer and Gary A. Parrett offer a definition, a set of distinctions, and an overview:
Definition
‘Catechesis is the church’s ministry of grounding and growing God’s people in the Gospel and its implications for doctrine, devotion, duty, and delight.’
Distinctions
