I’m well underway with my next book project–a catechism of the Christian faith based on John Broadus’ “A Catechism of Bible Teaching” from 1882. I’m using Broadus as a foundation, and expanding some of his comments and mixing in odds and ends from other classic Baptist catechisms along the way. I expect the final product to be 261 questions–enough for five questions and answers per week for one year. Pictures and charts will be sprinkled throughout. I’ll likely be self-publishing this one so I can have it for immediate use in our church and for distribution.
Broadus’ catechism is very, very good (so is Boyce’s), and I think every Christian would benefit from it. A preview of the original is below, and you can download a PDF scan of an original here (many thanks to the SBTS library for scanning me a copy!).





How does this compare to the Westminster or Heidelberg Catechisms?
Both Broadus and Boyce (whose catechisms will form the base for this project) were Reformed Baptists. They were not 1689 folks, but they came from the Reformed tradition. See the SBTS Abstract of Principles for the flavor of their theology. My building on that foundation will be in the same vein. The rough Baptist equivilent to the WCF is the 1689 (which I don’t believe has a catechism), and to the Heidelberg is the 1680 Orthodox Catechism by Hercules Collins. The latter doc is basically the Heidelberg catechism with Baptist edits. Mine will be shorter and (hopefully) more succinct and user-friendly with language. Both Broadus and Boyce wrote their catechisms for children and I hope to retain that feel. My own theology can generally be summed up by the 1833 New Hampshire Confession, a moderately Reformed document.
On a related note, the Baptist Faith and Message (the Southern Baptist faith statement) is based on the 1833 New Hampshire.