From The Book of Common Prayer 1979
Actually shamelessly stolen in text format from Br. Thomas Bushnell, n/BSG/. His site is high priority for Episcopalian information. The catechism is divided into 18 sections which are indexed below for quick reference.
Title Page
Concerning the Catechism
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
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 practices; 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.
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 the prophets
of Israel.
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.
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.
See pages 317 and 350.
Q. What are the Ten Commandments?
A. The Ten Commandments are the laws give 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 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 filly obey them, we see more clearly our sin
and our need for 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.
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.
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
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 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.
See pages 53, 96, 326, 327, and 864
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.
Q. What 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 Holy Spirit?
A. We recognize truths to be taught by the Holy Spirit when they
are in accord with the 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.
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.
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 the 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 minsitry 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.
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.
See page 364.
Q. What are the principle kinds of prayer?
A. The principle 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.
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 toward 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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