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Presbyterians love catechizing so much that besides the Westminster and Heidelberg catechisms, among others, they have developed ecclesiastical catechisms. These teach the principles of church government (worship and polity) that Presbyterians believe the Bible sets forth, as well as the history of Presbyterianism.
We have highlighted the ecclesiastical catechisms of Alexander McLeod and Thomas Smyth previously, as well as another by Mrs. M.W. Pratt. Today’s post concerns one by a Southern Presbyterian, Luther Halsey Wilson (1837-1914), titled The Pattern of the House: or, A Catechism upon the Constitution, Government, Discipline and Worship of the Presbyterian Church (1893). This work was added to Log College Press last year through the kind assistance of Wayne Sparkman, Director of the PCA Historical Center.
In pages 11-13, we find instruction concerning what Wilson calls “the charter of the church.” He is speaking of the church’s origin on earth to which Presbyterianism traces its beginning.
Q. 12. Has God always had a people upon earth from the first who were called by his name and were devoted to his service?
A. He has. [Gen. 4:26; Ps. 83:3; Is. 48:1]Q. 13. When did this people, so far as we know, first receive its separate and distinct organization from the world?
A. In the days of Abraham.Q. 14. When and where did Abraham live?
A. About two thousand years before the coming of Christ, and in the land of Canaan.Q. 15. What transaction took place in Abraham’s day confirming and establishing this separation from the world?
A. God made a covenant with Abraham, bestowing certain rights and privileges upon him and his household, and upon certain conditions. [Gen. 17:1]Q. 16. How is this covenant usually regarded by the church?
A. As the charter of the church.Q. 17. What is a charter?
A. Any official writing or document, properly sealed and confirmed, which bestows certain rights and privileges.Q. 18. By what other name is this covenant with Abraham sometimes known?
A. As “the household covenant.”Q. 19. Why is it so called?
A. Because the promises and blessings of the covenant included the household as well as the believing parent.Q. 20. Were these blessings there promised spiritual or temporal?
A. They were both spiritual and temporal.Q. 21. How was this covenant with Abraham confirmed?
A. By the seal of circumcision.Q. 22. What did circumcision denote?
A. The cutting off of the body of sin, and the renewing of the inward nature of man. [Deut. 10:16; Rom. 2:28-29]Q. 23. Has this covenant ever been repealed or changed?
A. It has not.Q. 24. Did God declare that it would ever be repealed, altered, or set aside?
A. On the contrary, he declared that it was to be an “everlasting” covenant. [Gen. 17:17; Gal. 3:17]Q. 25. Was this covenant not repealed or changed at Mount Sinai?
A. It was not. [Gal. 3:7]Q. 26. Nor at the coming of Christ?
A. Instead of this, it was “confirmed of God in Christ.” [Gal. 3:17]Q. 27. Is that Abrahamic covenant, therefore, still in force, and the church now living under it?
A. Yes, it is still in force, and the church is now living under it.Q. 28. Why, then, does not circumcision continue to be administered in the church now, as it was before the coming of Christ?
A. Because, while the same covenant is still in force, it is, nevertheless, a New Dispensation under which the church now lives, and is accompanied by a new seal.
The Abrahamic covenant of grace, of which Wilson speaks, is truly “the charter of the church,” the fundamental transaction between God and his people, which endures in the Christian era, and thus is “the Pattern of the House,” as it were.
This extract from Wilson’s catechism may whet the appetite for further reading. His treatment of where the Presbyterian church was in the pre-Reformation era is also particularly valuable, among other aspects of this fascinating work. Visit his page here and download his book to learn more.
