It is vital now more then ever to deliniate our common beliefs, this is done through both doctrinal statements and creeds. Although baptists are not truly creedal we do put down in writting what we believe and call it a doctrinal statement. Most of the wording in doctrinal statements was in one form or another derived from one or more of the creeds found on this site. It is very important to know what you believe and why you believe it. However, being able to quote chapter and verse is not really what we are talking about here. The main point is not so much that you believe the truth, but that the truth of God's word is becoming a part of you as a believer.
An important part of growing as a believer is knowing what these truths are requiring in your life, that is the purpose of cathecisms. This word "cathecism" has been over worked on the part of the main protestant denominations and the Roman Catholic church. A cathecism is a question and answer means of learning what you believe. Baptists have had a number of these in the past, but they are mostly like the puritan cathecism which is included above.