Protestant Catechism, is there such a thing?

Fidelibus

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Reason I ask, a few day's ago, a co-worker of mine that is a Protestant was asking me on various topics of the Catholic Church (doctrines/dogmas) and how am I to know the official Catholic Church's teaching on such topics. My answer........ The Catechism of the Catholic Church. (CCC) He was unaware that there was even such a thing, so I told him I would bring my copy of the the Catechism the following day.

After thumbing through it on our lunch break, he asked me if there is such a thing that a Protestant could turn to for official teaching in Protestantism, such as a Protestant Catechism, for he has never heard of such a thing. I told him I didn't know, and I too never heard of such a thing when I was Protestant before my converting to the Catholic Church.

So..... where do Protestant's go to get the official teaching on faith and morals. (i.e,
catechism?) or is there such a thing? I have yet to tell my co-worker, but I have come to believe there is not, or could not be due to the fact of the various denominations teaching "different doctrine" as in Baptism, the Rapture, once saved always saved, ect. for examples

Thoughts?
 
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Athanasius377

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Reason I ask, a few day's ago, a co-worker of mine that is a Protestant was asking me on various topics of the Catholic Church (doctrines/dogmas) and how am I to know the official Catholic Church's teaching on such topics. My answer........ The Catechism of the Catholic Church. (CCC) He was unaware that there was even such a thing, so I told him I would bring my copy of the the Catechism the following day.

After thumbing through it on our lunch break, he asked me if there is such a thing that a Protestant could turn to for official teaching in Protestantism, such as a Protestant Catechism, for he has never heard of such a thing. I told him I didn't know, and I too never heard of such a thing when I was Protestant before my converting to the Catholic Church.

So..... where do Protestant's go to get the official teaching on faith and morals. (i.e,
catechism?) or is there such a thing? I have yet to tell my co-worker, but I have come to believe there is not, or could not be due to the fact of the various denominations teaching "different doctrine" as in Baptism, the Rapture, once saved always saved, ect. for examples

Thoughts?

Good question. The short answer is yes. Lutherans have our confessional documents in the Book of Concord.

Reformed bodies have different confessional documents that I’m sure you will get links to.
 
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public hermit

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Athanasius377

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Reason I ask, a few day's ago, a co-worker of mine that is a Protestant was asking me on various topics of the Catholic Church (doctrines/dogmas) and how am I to know the official Catholic Church's teaching on such topics. My answer........ The Catechism of the Catholic Church. (CCC) He was unaware that there was even such a thing, so I told him I would bring my copy of the the Catechism the following day.

After thumbing through it on our lunch break, he asked me if there is such a thing that a Protestant could turn to for official teaching in Protestantism, such as a Protestant Catechism, for he has never heard of such a thing. I told him I didn't know, and I too never heard of such a thing when I was Protestant before my converting to the Catholic Church.

So..... where do Protestant's go to get the official teaching on faith and morals. (i.e,
catechism?) or is there such a thing? I have yet to tell my co-worker, but I have come to believe there is not, or could not be due to the fact of the various denominations teaching "different doctrine" as in Baptism, the Rapture, once saved always saved, ect. for examples

Thoughts?

The book of concord has Luther’s small catechism which is a basic teaching of the Christian Faith. The Large catechism is a more exhaustive explanation of the small catechism. The current Book of Concord dates from 1580.
 
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Athanasius377

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There are sections of the current CCC that are gold. Especially when it comes to the issue of life. Our catechisms assume this point of view.
 
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Athanasius377

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I would also mention the current CCC is not the only RC catechism. The one I remember is the Baltimore Catechism as well was the catechism of the Council of Trent.

or if anyone remembers “My Catholic Faith”. I don’t think this was official but it was effective at teaching the RC Faith.
 
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Aussie Pete

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Reason I ask, a few day's ago, a co-worker of mine that is a Protestant was asking me on various topics of the Catholic Church (doctrines/dogmas) and how am I to know the official Catholic Church's teaching on such topics. My answer........ The Catechism of the Catholic Church. (CCC) He was unaware that there was even such a thing, so I told him I would bring my copy of the the Catechism the following day.

After thumbing through it on our lunch break, he asked me if there is such a thing that a Protestant could turn to for official teaching in Protestantism, such as a Protestant Catechism, for he has never heard of such a thing. I told him I didn't know, and I too never heard of such a thing when I was Protestant before my converting to the Catholic Church.

So..... where do Protestant's go to get the official teaching on faith and morals. (i.e,
catechism?) or is there such a thing? I have yet to tell my co-worker, but I have come to believe there is not, or could not be due to the fact of the various denominations teaching "different doctrine" as in Baptism, the Rapture, once saved always saved, ect. for examples

Thoughts?
Presbyterians have a catechism. Anglicans have their own also. I don't know how they differ as I've never compared them.
 
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redleghunter

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Reason I ask, a few day's ago, a co-worker of mine that is a Protestant was asking me on various topics of the Catholic Church (doctrines/dogmas) and how am I to know the official Catholic Church's teaching on such topics. My answer........ The Catechism of the Catholic Church. (CCC) He was unaware that there was even such a thing, so I told him I would bring my copy of the the Catechism the following day.

After thumbing through it on our lunch break, he asked me if there is such a thing that a Protestant could turn to for official teaching in Protestantism, such as a Protestant Catechism, for he has never heard of such a thing. I told him I didn't know, and I too never heard of such a thing when I was Protestant before my converting to the Catholic Church.

So..... where do Protestant's go to get the official teaching on faith and morals. (i.e,
catechism?) or is there such a thing? I have yet to tell my co-worker, but I have come to believe there is not, or could not be due to the fact of the various denominations teaching "different doctrine" as in Baptism, the Rapture, once saved always saved, ect. for examples

Thoughts?
There was another thread on this not too long ago.

For the Westminster confession of faith there is a short and long catechism:


https://bpc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/D-lcatechism.pdf


https://bpc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/d-scatechism.pdf

The 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith contains a catechism as well:


https://chapellibrary.org:8443/pdf/books/lbcw.pdf


In my Reformed Baptist Church each Sunday we have “lessons on the faith” during our services and in children’s Sunday school.
 
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redleghunter

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Athanasius377

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Presbyterians have a catechism. Anglicans have their own also. I don't know how they differ as I've never compared them.
Anglicans used to use Luther’s small
Catechism until they incorporated a catechism based on the same later on. It’s still in classic versions of the Book of Common Prayer. I’m not sure about modern prayer books.
 
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Here's a recent thread on the same topic over in Exploring Christianity: non-Catholic catechisms?

I'll add that some Protestant groups allow more diversity of belief than the Catholic Church does. In these groups, by deliberate choice, there is no one official answer given by church authorities to some of the questions of faith and morals. Rather, it is left to the discernment of the individual believer, prayerfully reading the Bible and (for some groups) studying Christian tradition and scholarship. I would include Anglicans, Quakers, and some Baptists in this category.
 
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Paidiske

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Anglicans used to use Luther’s small
Catechism until they incorporated a catechism based on the same later on. It’s still in classic versions of the Book of Common Prayer. I’m not sure about modern prayer books.

We have a catechism tucked up the back of the prayer book. It is, I think, not intended to fulfill quite the same function as something like the Catholic catechism, but rather to be a basic introduction to some important concepts for people preparing for confirmation..
 
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Brian Mcnamee

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There are many sects of protestants and for some the Bible is the basis of everything. You could look at a brief statement of faith but to really understand their ideas you would need to see their commentaries or sermons through all 66 books of the Bible. Some churches elevate the entirety of scripture and will have a comprehensive teaching in every book while others like Joel Osteen's church will teach very little of the Bible and generally use 1 or two verses to use as a launching point for what ever positive thinking they will roll out. If you study the entire think with a literal view of history and prophecy to come you will come to most of the same conclusions that others who read it the same way do. This is where the teachings of the RCC will come into conflict with the Bible.
 
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redleghunter

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There are many sects of protestants and for some the Bible is the basis of everything. You could look at a brief statement of faith but to really understand their ideas you would need to see their commentaries or sermons through all 66 books of the Bible. Some churches elevate the entirety of scripture and will have a comprehensive teaching in every book while others like Joel Osteen's church will teach very little of the Bible and generally use 1 or two verses to use as a launching point for what ever positive thinking they will roll out. If you study the entire think with a literal view of history and prophecy to come you will come to most of the same conclusions that others who read it the same way do. This is where the teachings of the RCC will come into conflict with the Bible.
I believe the divide most Catholics who don’t know much about Protestant vs Non denominational should know is if a denomination is creedal.

Lutheran, Reformed and Methodist (at least for now) are creedal. Joel Osteen probably does not even know what a creed is.
 
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Fidelibus

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Thanks to all that have responded, and by these responses, it seems that I may have been correct in my conclusion.

1. If any non-Catholic wanted to learn about the Catholic Church and her teachings (as my co-worker did) all they need to do is get a copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) and read it for themselves.

2. The very fact that I am being referred to several different confessions of faith (or catechisms) by the different posters of this thread backs what I stated in my OP, that my belief there is no Protestant equivalent to the CCC, being there is no "one source" within Protestantism that a Catholic can consult to find out what Protestants believe on any given article of faith or morals. Would you all agree?

IOW, which catechism can Catholics read that gives them the official teachings of each and every Protestant? Is the Reformed catechism the official teaching of the Baptists? Is the Baptist catechism the official teaching of the Methodist church? And what about all of those non-denominational denominations out there? Where are the catechisms with their official teachings? Which of the Protestant catechisms can a Catholic go as to know which represents the official teaching of all of Protestantism?

In the mean time, I will do some comparing of the teachings of the Protestant catechisms and confessions,ect. provided by posters with each other and see what I come up with. Again, thanks to all that gave their input
 
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redleghunter

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Thanks to all that have responded, and by these responses, it seems that I may have been correct in my conclusion.

1. If any non-Catholic wanted to learn about the Catholic Church and her teachings (as my co-worker did) all they need to do is get a copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) and read it for themselves.

2. The very fact that I am being referred to several different confessions of faith (or catechisms) by the different posters of this thread backs what I stated in my OP, that my belief there is no Protestant equivalent to the CCC, being there is no "one source" within Protestantism that a Catholic can consult to find out what Protestants believe on any given article of faith or morals. Would you all agree?

IOW, which catechism can Catholics read that gives them the official teachings of each and every Protestant? Is the Reformed catechism the official teaching of the Baptists? Is the Baptist catechism the official teaching of the Methodist church? And what about all of those non-denominational denominations out there? Where are the catechisms with their official teachings? Which of the Protestant catechisms can a Catholic go as to know which represents the official teaching of all of Protestantism?

In the mean time, I will do some comparing of the teachings of the Protestant catechisms and confessions,ect. provided by posters with each other and see what I come up with. Again, thanks to all that gave their input
What did Catholics refer to before Pope John Paul II promulgated the catechism in 1992?
 
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