On the Construction of Religious Texts: The Case of Writing a Catechism

Religious texts represent a specific rhetorical genre. What does it mean to construct these texts? In order to answer this question we reflect
upon our experience of co-authoring a religious text, the *Ordinary
Catechism* (*Gewone Catechismus*), published in 2019. The findings
include insights in collaborative spirituality, a dynamic interaction with
tradition, and various levels of abstraction in theologizing. Further,
we analyze these findings by using genre theory. It is concluded that religious texts are responses to a rhetorical situation; they are part of genre repertoires that religious communities use to express and to experience the Christian faith.