| Concerning the Catechism This catechism is primarily intended for use by parish priests, deacons, and
lay catechists, to give an outline for instruction. It is a commentary on the creeds, but
is not meant to be a complete statement of belief and practice; rather, it is a point of
departure for the teacher, and it is cast in the traditional question and answer form for
ease of reference.
The second use of this catechism is to provide a brief
summary of the Church's teaching for an inquiring stranger who picks up a Prayer Book.
It may also be used to form a simple service; since the
matter is arranged under headings, it is suitable for selective use, and the leader may
introduce prayers and hymns as needed.
Human Nature
God The Father
The Old Covenant
The Ten Commandments
Sin and Redemption
God the Son
The New Covenant
The Creeds
The Holy Spirit
The Holy Scriptures
The Church
The Ministry
Prayer and Worship
The Sacraments
Holy Baptism
The Holy Eucharist
Other Sacramental Rites
The Christian Hope
An Outline of the Faith: commonly called the
Catechism
Human Nature
Q. What are we by nature?
A. We are part of God's creation, made in the image of God.
Q. What does it mean to be created in the image of God?
A. It means that we are free to make choices: to love, to create, to reason, and to
live in harmony with creation and with God.
Q. Why then do we live apart from God and out of harmony with
creation?
A. From the beginning, human beings have misused their freedom and made wrong
choices.
Q. Why do we not use our freedom as we should?
A. Because we rebel against God, and we put ourselves in the place of God.
Q. What help is there for us?
A. Our help is in God.
Q. How did God first help us?
A. God first helped us by revealing himself and his will, through nature and
history, through many seers and saints, and especially through the prophets of Israel.
God the Father
Q. What do we learn about God as creator from the revelation
to Israel?
A. We learn that there is one God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and
earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.
Q. What does this mean?
A. This means that the universe is good, that it is the work of a single loving God
who creates, sustains, and directs it.
Q. What does this mean about our place in the universe?
A. It means that the world belongs to its creator; and that we are called to enjoy
it and to care for it in accordance with God's purposes.
Q. What does this mean about human life?
A. It means that all people are worthy of respect and honor, because all are
created in the image of God, and all can respond to the love of God.
Q. How was this revelation handed down to us?
A. This revelation was handed down to us through a community created by a covenant
with God.
The Old Covenant
Q. What is meant by a covenant with God?
A. A covenant is a relationship initiated by God, to which a body of people
responds in faith.
Q. What is the Old Covenant?
A. The Old Covenant is the one given by God to the Hebrew people.
Q. What did God promise them?
A. God promised that they would be his people to bring all the nations of the world
to him.
Q. What response did God require from the chosen people?
A. God required the chosen people to be faithful; to love justice, to do mercy, and
to walk humbly with their God.
Q. Where is this Old Covenant to be found?
A. The covenant with the Hebrew people is to be found in the books which we call
the Old Testament.
Q. Where in the Old Testament is God's will for us shown most
clearly?
A. God's will for us is shown most clearly in the Ten Commandments.
The Ten Commandments
Q. What are the Ten Commandments?
A. The Ten Commandments are the laws given to Moses and the people of Israel.
Q. What do we learn from these commandments?
A. We learn two things: our duty to God, and our duty to our neighbors.
Q. What is our duty to God?
A. Our duty is to believe and trust in God;
I. To love and obey God and to bring others to know
him;
II. To put nothing in the place of God;
III. To show God respect in thought, word, and deed;
IV. And to set aside regular times for worship, prayer,
and the study of God's ways.
Q. What is our duty to our neighbors?
A. Our duty to our neighbors is to love them as ourselves, and to do to other
people as we wish them to do to us;
V. To love, honor, and help our parents and family; to
honor those in authority, and to meet their just demands;
VI. To show respect for the life God has given us; to
work and pray for peace; to bear no malice, prejudice, or hatred in our hearts; and to be
kind to all the creatures of God;
VII. To use all our bodily desires as God intended;
VIII. To be honest and fair in our dealings; to seek
justice, freedom, and the necessities of life for all people; and to use our talents and
possessions as ones who must answer for them to God;
IX. To speak the truth, and not to mislead others by
our silence;
X. To resist temptations to envy, greed, and jealousy;
to rejoice in other people's gifts and graces; and to do our duty for the love of God, who
has called us into fellowship with him.
Q. What is the purpose of the Ten Commandments?
A. The Ten Commandments were given to define our relationship with God and our
neighbors.
Q. Since we do not fully obey them, are they useful at all?
A. Since we do not fully obey them, we see more clearly our sin and our need for
redemption.
Sin and Redemption
Q. What is sin?
A. Sin is the seeking of our own will instead of the will of God, thus distorting
our relationship with God, with other people, and with all creation.
Q. How does sin have power over us?
A. Sin has power over us because we lose our liberty when our relationship with God
is distorted.
Q. What is redemption?
A. Redemption is the act of God which sets us free from the power of evil, sin, and
death.
Q. How did God prepare us for redemption?
A. God sent the prophets to call us back to himself, to show us our need for
redemption, and to announce the coming of the Messiah.
Q. What is meant by the Messiah?
A. The Messiah is one sent by God to free us from the power of sin, so that with
the help of God we may live in harmony with God, within ourselves, with our neighbors, and
with all creation.
Q. Who do we believe is the Messiah?
A. The Messiah, or Christ, is Jesus of Nazareth, the only Son of God.
God the Son
Q. What do we mean when we say that Jesus is the only Son of
God?
A. We mean that Jesus is the only perfect image of the Father, and shows us the
nature of God.
Q. What is the nature of God revealed in Jesus?
A. God is love.
Q. What do we mean when we say that Jesus was conceived by
the power of the Holy Spirit and became incarnate from the Virgin Mary?
A. We mean that by God's own act, his divine Son received our human nature from the
Virgin Mary, his mother.
Q. Why did he take our human nature?
A. The divine Son became human, so that in him human beings might be adopted as
children of God, and be made heirs of God's kingdom.
Q. What is the great importance of Jesus' suffering and
death?
A. By his obedience, even to suffering and death, Jesus made the offering which we
could not make; in him we are freed from the power of sin and reconciled to God.
Q. What is the significance of Jesus' resurrection?
A. By his resurrection, Jesus overcame death and opened for us the way of eternal
life.
Q. What do we mean when we say that he descended to the dead?
A. We mean that he went to the departed and offered them also the benefits of
redemption.
Q. What do we mean when we say that he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father?
A. We mean that Jesus took our human nature into heaven where he now reigns with
the Father and intercedes for us.
Q. How can we share in his victory over sin, suffering, and
death?
A. We share in his victory when we are baptized into the New Covenant and become
living members of Christ.
The New Covenant
Q. What is the New Covenant?
A. The New Covenant is the new relationship with God given by Jesus Christ, the
Messiah, to the apostles; and, through them, to all who believe in him.
Q. What did the Messiah promise in the New Covenant?
A. Christ promised to bring us into the kingdom of God and give us life in all its
fullness.
Q. What response did Christ require?
A. Christ commanded us to believe in him and to keep his commandments.
Q. What are the commandments taught by Christ?
A. Christ taught us the Summary of the Law and gave us the New Commandment.
Q. What is the Summary of the Law?
A. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and
with all your mind. This is the first and the great commandment. And the second is like
it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Q. What is the New Commandment?
A. The New Commandment is that we love one another as Christ loved us.
Q. Where may we find what Christians believe about Christ?
A. What Christians believe about Christ is found in the Scriptures and summed up in
the creeds.
The Creeds
Q. What are the creeds?
A. The creeds are statements of our basic beliefs about God.
Q. How many creeds does this Church use in its worship?
A. This Church uses two creeds: The Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed.
Q. What is the Apostles' Creed?
A. The Apostles' Creed is the ancient creed of Baptism; it is used in the Church's
daily worship to recall our Baptismal Covenant.
Q. What is the Nicene Creed?
A. The Nicene Creed is the creed of the universal Church and is used at the
Eucharist.
Q. What, then, is the Athanasian Creed?
A. The Athanasian Creed is an ancient document proclaiming the nature of the
Incarnation and of God as Trinity.
Q. What is the Trinity?
A. The Trinity is one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit
Q. Who is the Holy Spirit?
A. The Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Trinity, God at work in the world and
in the Church even now.
Q. How is the Holy Spirit revealed in the Old Covenant?
A. The Holy Spirit is revealed in the Old Covenant as the giver of life, the One
who spoke through the prophets.
Q. How is the Holy Spirit revealed in the New Covenant?
A. The Holy Spirit is revealed as the Lord who leads us into all truth and enables
us to grow in the likeness of Christ.
Q. How do we recognize the presence of the Holy Spirit in our
lives?
A. We recognize the presence of the Holy Spirit when we confess Jesus Christ as
Lord and are brought into love and harmony with God, with ourselves, with our neighbors,
and with all creation.
Q. How do we recognize the truths taught by the HolySpirit?
A. We recognize truths to be taught by the Holy Spirit when they are in accord with
the Scriptures.
The Holy Scriptures
Q. What are the Holy Scriptures?
A. The Holy Scriptures, commonly called the Bible, are the books of the Old and New
Testaments; other books, called the Apocrypha, are often included in the Bible.
Q. What is the Old Testament?
A. The Old Testament consists of books written by the people of the Old Covenant,
under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to show God at work in nature and history.
Q. What is the New Testament?
A. The New Testament consists of books written by the people of the New Covenant,
under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to set forth the life and teachings of Jesus and
to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom for all people.
Q. What is the Apocrypha?
A. The Apocrypha is a collection of additional books written by people of the Old
Covenant, and used in the Christian Church.
Q. Why do we call the Holy Scriptures the Word of God?
A. We call them the Word of God because God inspired their human authors and
because God still speaks to us through the Bible.
Q. How do we understand the meaning of the Bible?
A. We understand the meaning of the Bible by the help of the Holy Spirit, who
guides the Church in the true interpretation of the Scriptures.
The Church
Q. What is the Church?
A. The Church is the community of the New Covenant.
Q. How is the Church described in the Bible?
A. The Church is described as the Body of which Jesus Christ is the Head and of
which all baptized persons are members. It is called the People of God, the New Israel, a
holy nation, a royal priesthood, and the pillar and ground of truth.
Q. How is the Church described in the creeds?
A. The Church is described as one, holy, catholic, and apostolic.
Q. Why is the Church described as one?
A. The Church is one, because it is one Body, under one Head, our Lord Jesus
Christ.
Q. Why is the Church described as holy?
A. The Church is holy, because the Holy Spirit dwells in it, consecrates its
members, and guides them to do God's work.
Q. Why is the Church described as catholic?
A. The Church is catholic, because it proclaims the whole Faith to all people, to
the end of time.
Q. Why is the Church described as apostolic?
A. The Church is apostolic, because it continues in the teaching and fellowship of
the apostles and is sent to carry out Christ's mission to all people.
Q. What is the mission of the Church?
A. The mission of the Church is to restore all people to unity with God and each
other in Christ.
Q. How does the Church pursue its mission?
A. The Church pursues its mission as it prays and worships, proclaims the Gospel,
and promotes justice, peace, and love.
Q. Through whom does the Church carry out its mission?
A. The Church carries out its mission through the ministry of all its members.
The Ministry
Q. Who are the ministers of the Church?
A. The ministers of the Church are lay persons, bishops, priests, and deacons.
Q. What is the ministry of the laity?
A. The ministry of lay persons is to represent Christ and his Church; to bear
witness to him wherever they may be and, according to the gifts given them, to carry on
Christ's work of reconciliation in the world; and to take their place in the life,
worship, and governance of the Church.
Q. What is the ministry of a bishop?
A. The ministry of a bishop is to represent Christ and his Church, particularly as
apostle, chief priest, and pastor of a diocese; to guard the faith, unity, and discipline
of the whole Church; to proclaim the Word of God; to act in Christ's name for the
reconciliation of the world and the building up of the Church; and to ordain others to
continue Christ's ministry.
Q. What is the ministry of a priest or presbyter?
A. The ministry of a priest is to represent Christ and his Church, particularly as
pastor to the people; to share with the bishop in the overseeing of the Church; to
proclaim the Gospel; to administer the sacraments; and to bless and declare pardon in the
name of God.
Q. What is the ministry of a deacon?
A. The ministry of a deacon is to represent Christ and his Church, particularly as
a servant of those in need; and to assist bishops and priests in the proclamation of the
Gospel and the administration of the sacraments.
Q. What is the duty of all Christians?
A. The duty of all Christians is to follow Christ; to come together week by week
for corporate worship; and to work, pray, and give for the spread of the kingdom of God.
Prayer and Worship
Q. What is prayer?
A. Prayer is responding to God, by thought and by deeds, with or without words.
Q. What is Christian Prayer?
A. Christian prayer is response to God the Father, through Jesus Christ, in the
power of the Holy Spirit.
Q. What prayer did Christ teach us?
A. Our Lord gave us the example of prayer known as the Lord's Prayer.
Q. What are the principal kinds of prayer?
A. The principal kinds of prayer are adoration, praise, thanksgiving, penitence,
oblation, intercession, and petition.
Q. What is adoration?
A. Adoration is the lifting up of the heart and mind to God,asking nothing but to
enjoy God's presence.
Q. Why do we praise God?
A. We praise God, not to obtain anything, but because God's Being draws praise from
us.
Q. For what do we offer thanksgiving?
A. Thanksgiving is offered to God for all the blessings of this life, for our
redemption, and for whatever draws us closer to God.
Q. What is penitence?
A. In penitence, we confess our sins and make restitution where possible, with the
intention to amend our lives.
Q. What is prayer of oblation?
A. Oblation is an offering of ourselves, our lives and labors, in union with
Christ, for the purposes of God.
Q. What are intercession and petition?
A. Intercession brings before God the needs of others; in petition, we present our
own needs, that God's will may be done.
Q. What is corporate worship?
A. In corporate worship, we unite ourselves with others to acknowledge the holiness
of God, to hear God's Word, to offer prayer, and to celebrate the sacraments.
The Sacraments
Q. What are the sacraments?
A. The sacraments are outward and visible signs of inward and
spiritual grace, given by Christ as sure and certain means by which we receive that grace.
Q. What is grace?
A. Grace is God's favor towards us, unearned and undeserved; by grace God forgives
our sins, enlightens our minds, stirs our hearts, and strengthens our wills.
Q. What are the two great sacraments of the Gospel?
A. The two great sacraments given by Christ to his Church are Holy Baptism and the
Holy Eucharist.
Holy Baptism
Q. What is Holy Baptism?
A. Holy Baptism is the sacrament by which God adopts us as his children and makes
us members of Christ's Body, the Church, and inheritors of the kingdom of God.
Q. What is the outward and visible sign in Baptism?
A. The outward and visible sign in Baptism is water, in which the person is
baptized in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Q. What is the inward and spiritual grace in Baptism?
A. The inward and spiritual grace in Baptism is union with Christ in his death and
resurrection, birth into God's family the Church, forgiveness of sins, and new life in the
Holy Spirit.
Q. What is required of us at Baptism?
A. It is required that we renounce Satan, repent of our sins, and accept Jesus as
our Lord and Savior.
Q. Why then are infants baptized?
A. Infants are baptized so that they can share citizenship in the Covenant,
membership in Christ, and redemption by God.
Q. How are the promises for infants made and carried out?
A. Promises are made for them by their parents and sponsors, who guarantee that the
infants will be brought up within the Church, to know Christ and be able to follow him.
The Holy Eucharist
Q. What is the Holy Eucharist?
A. The Holy Eucharist is the sacrament commanded by Christ for the continual
remembrance of his life, death, and resurrection, until his coming again.
Q. Why is the Eucharist called a sacrifice?
A. Because the Eucharist, the Church's sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, is the
way by which the sacrifice of Christ is made present, and in which he unites us to his one
offering of himself.
Q. By what other names is this service known?
A. The Holy Eucharist is called the Lord's Supper, and Holy Communion; it is also
known as the Divine Liturgy, the Mass, and the Great Offering.
Q. What is the outward and visible sign in the Eucharist?
A. The outward and visible sign in the Eucharist is bread and wine, given and
received according to Christ's command.
Q. What is the inward and spiritual grace given in the
Eucharist?
A. The inward and spiritual grace in the Holy Communion is the Body and Blood of
Christ given to his people, and received by faith.
Q. What are the benefits which we receive in the Lord's
Supper?
A. The benefits we receive are the forgiveness of our sins, the strengthening of
our union with Christ and one another, and the foretaste of the heavenly banquet which is
our nourishment in eternal life.
Q. What is required of us when we come to the Eucharist?
A. It is required that we should examine our lives, repent of our sins, and be in
love and charity with all people.
Other Sacramental Rites
Q. What other sacramental rites evolved in the Church under
the guidance of the Holy Spirit?
A. Other sacramental rites which evolved in the Church include confirmation,
ordination, holy matrimony, reconciliation of a penitent, and unction.
Q. How do they differ from the two sacraments of the Gospel?
A. Although they are means of grace, they are not necessary for all persons in the
same way that Baptism and the Eucharist are.
Q. What is Confirmation?
A. Confirmation is the rite in which we express a mature commitment to Christ, and
receive strength from the Holy Spirit through prayer and the laying on of hands by a
bishop.
Q. What is required of those to be confirmed?
A. It is required of those to be confirmed that they have been baptized, are
sufficiently instructed in the Christian Faith, are penitent for their sins, and are ready
to affirm their confession of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
Q. What is Ordination?
A. Ordination is the rite in which God gives authority and the grace of the Holy
Spirit to those being made bishops, priests, and deacons, through prayer and the laying on
of hands by bishops.
Q. What is Holy Matrimony?
A. Holy Matrimony is Christian marriage, in which the woman and man enter into a
life-long union, make their vows before God and the Church, and receive the grace and
blessing of God to help them fulfill their vows.
Q. What is Reconciliation of a Penitent?
A. Reconciliation of a Penitent, or Penance, is the rite in which those who repent
of their sins may confess them to God in the presence of a priest, and receive the
assurance of pardon and the grace of absolution.
Q. What is Unction of the Sick?
A. Unction is the rite of anointing the sick with oil, or the laying on of hands,
by which God's grace is given for the healing of spirit, mind, and body.
Q. Is God's activity limited to these rites?
A. God does not limit himself to these rites; they are patterns of countless ways
by which God uses material things to reach out to us.
Q. How are the sacraments related to our Christian hope?
A. Sacraments sustain our present hope and anticipate its future fulfillment.
The Christian Hope
Q. What is the Christian hope?
A. The Christian hope is to live with confidence in newness and fullness of life,
and to await the coming of Christ in glory, and the completion of God's purpose for the
world.
Q. What do we mean by the coming of Christ in glory?
A. By the coming of Christ in glory, we mean that Christ will come, not in weakness
but in power, and will make all things new.
Q. What do we mean by heaven and hell?
A. By heaven, we mean eternal life in our enjoyment of God; by hell, we mean
eternal death in our rejection of God.
Q. Why do we pray for the dead?
A. We pray for them, because we still hold them in our love, and because we trust
that in God's presence those who have chosen to serve him will grow in his love, until
they see him as he is.
Q. What do we mean by the last judgment?
A. We believe that Christ will come in glory and judge the living and the dead.
Q. What do we mean by the resurrection of the body?
A. We mean that God will raise us from death in the fullness of our being, that we
may live with Christ in the communion of the saints.
Q. What is the communion of saints?
A. The communion of saints is the whole family of God the living and the dead,
those whom we love and those whom we hurt, bound together in Christ by sacrament, prayer,
and praise.
Q. What do we mean by everlasting life?
A. By everlasting life, we mean a new existence, in which we are united with all
the people of God, in the joy of fully knowing and loving God and each other.
Q. What, then, is our assurance as Christians?
A. Our assurance as Christians is that nothing, not even death, shall separate us
from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen. |
