Luke writes so that Theophilus can have confidence in what he has been taught. Christian instruction is not an embarrassing preliminary to a more authentic private spirituality. It is part of the way the faith is handed on and understood.
The Word
κατηχέω (katēcheō) means to instruct or inform. The English words catechize and catechism belong to its later history. The New Testament verb itself does not name every feature of a later catechism class.
It can describe religious instruction or information received about events. Its use therefore should not be reduced to one teaching technique, such as repetition, memorization, or a fixed question-and-answer format.
Range of Meaning
Luke 1:4 uses the verb for what Theophilus has been taught. Acts 18:25 describes Apollos as instructed in the way of the Lord. Galatians 6:6 speaks of the person taught the Word sharing good things with the teacher.
Acts 21 also uses it for reports about Paul. That broader use is a useful check on an overly narrow definition. Context identifies whether the information is the Christian teaching we would call catechesis.
Where You’ll Meet It
Luke states his purpose:
“so that you may know for certain the things you were taught.” (Luke 1:4, NET)
His introduction speaks of earlier accounts, eyewitnesses, and careful investigation. Instruction and an orderly account belong together. Confidence is supported by testimony about actual events, rather than by treating historical questions as enemies of faith.
Apollos supplies another instructive example. He knows much and speaks boldly, yet Priscilla and Aquila explain God’s way more accurately to him. A teacher can need further teaching without everything previously learned becoming worthless.
What Confessional Lutherans Hear
The Small Catechism’s household setting makes instruction an ordinary part of Christian life. Parents and households do not outsource every word of faith to a specialist. The Church’s teaching gives them words to learn, confess, pray, and use with one another.
Augsburg Confession V identifies the gospel and sacraments as the means through which the Holy Spirit works faith. Catechesis serves that Word. It is more than the transfer of religious information, but it does not accomplish something higher by leaving information and teaching behind.
Learning the commandments exposes what love requires. Learning the Creed identifies God’s gifts. Learning the Lord’s Prayer and the sacraments gives a Christian language for receiving and asking. Knowledge has a pastoral use because its subject is the God who speaks and saves.
Where People Get It Wrong
Memorization without understanding can leave familiar sounds disconnected from their meaning. Dismissing memorization altogether can leave a person without words when fear, illness, or grief makes spontaneous speech difficult. Good instruction joins retained words to their meaning and use.
Nor is catechesis finished simply because someone has reached a confirmation date. Apollos’s further instruction is a reminder that learning belongs to mature Christians too.
So What
Return to a familiar part of the catechism and ask what it gives you to confess or pray today. Discuss it with the people in your household or congregation.
And receive correction without treating it as defeat. Didachē considers the teaching in which the apostolic Church continued.