This catechism aimed at much more, and was quite on a different plan from that published by Calvin in 1538, consisting of a certain number of paragraphs in which the fundamental doctrines and rules of the Protestant Church and Christian life were briefly stated. In the Catechism of 1545, Calvin changed the form, and extended the plan of the work. By the arrangement in questions and answers, the book became a true catechism, fitted for the instruction of youthful Protestants. It was fundamentally a treatise on dogmatic theology, in which all the doctrines of Calvin's great work, the 'Christian Institutes,' were reproduced in the form of elementary instruction. The peculiarity of such a method is that all the information is given by the pupil, _the child_, as Calvin says, and that the only aim of the master's questions is to bring out this information in a logical and scientific form. The child thus seems to be teaching the master, and certainly shows how far the master has been already well taught. It is a very anomalous position, and becomes still more so when the master's queries lead the child to discuss some of the most difficult theological questions, and to uphold doctrines which are disputed even among the most eminent theologians. Calvin made his catechism serve not only for instruction in the fundamental doctrines of Christianity, in its historical, spiritual, and moral truths; but also for the propagation of those parts of his theological system which were beset with difficulty and controversy. In my eyes this is a very grave defect; at the same time, however, Calvin's catechism has one important characteristic, admirably suited for its purpose:--it is not philosophical discussion, it is religious instruction. {348} I open some of the most highly approved catechisms, Protestant or Catholic, and I find as the very first question, at the beginning of one of them, 'What is God?' [Footnote 132]--in another, 'Are we certain that there is a God, and by what proofs may we convince ourselves of his existence?' [Footnote 133] [Footnote 132: _Instruction Chrétienne_, used in the Church which has adopted the Confession of Augsburg, and said to have been revised by one of its most eminent representatives, the late M. le Pasteur Verny, p. I.] [Footnote 133: _Catéchisme de Montpellier_, i. 10, 11 (1769).]