Catechism

A catechism (katekismus in Finnish, katekes in Swedish) is a book that summarizes the faith and teachings of the church.  Many different catechisms have been written over the years in various Christian churches.  The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland recognizes the Large Catechism and Small Catechism written in 1529 by Martin Luther as valid representations of Christian faith, but in the centuries that have passed after the Reformation there have been many kinds of Lutheran catechisms in Finland.  Nowadays it is the General Synod that approves the catechism that is used for instruction in confirmation school and elsewhere.

The catechism that is now commonly used in our church was mostly written by bishop Eero Huovinen and approved after small changes by the General Synod in 1999.  Various printings have been made of this catechism, but the most common one is a blue paperback edition.  This catechism has been translated into many languages (including English, Russian and Chinese) which has been especially helpful for immigrants in Finland.

Our present-day catechism combines the text of Luther's Small Catechism with contemporary explanations and selected Bible verses.  The topics and their order follow the traditional Lutheran pattern:  first the Ten Commandments with explanations, then the Creed that tells about the God in whom we believe, and then the Lord's Prayer with comments.  Sacraments and some other topics are dealt with towards the end of the book.

Catechism:  Christian doctrine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland  can be read in English in the Internet as a PDF file.

Please note when reading the Ten Commandments:  the numbering of the commandments in Lutheran catechisms follows Roman Catholic tradition, so that “I am the Lord your God.  You shall have no other gods” is the first commandment and “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain” is the second.  This causes the dividing of the commandment “You shall not covet” in two (the ninth and tenth commandments).  In many other churches and among Jews the numbering is different, with the first commandment divided in two.  For example, the commandment “You shall not kill” is counted as the fifth commandment by Lutherans but as the sixth in many other traditions.  Although this can be confusing, the content is basically the same, based on the full text in Exodus 20:1-17 where the commandments are in order but not numbered.