THE CATECHISM

CONCERNING THIS CATECHISM

This Catechism is a teaching resource expressing the basic Christian beliefs cast in the traditional
question and answer form for ease of reference. Each answer can be used as an introduction to
deeper and wider understanding. It includes a commentary on the Apostles Creed. The Catechism
can be regarded as an introductory statement to the Church’s belief or practice.
A further use of this Catechism is to provide a summary of the teaching of the Church for an
enquirer. It may also be used selectively in liturgical worship as an instruction to be learned by
every person before she/he may be brought to be confirmed by the Bishop.

CATECHISM

HUMAN NATURE
1. What are we by nature?
We are part of God’s creation, made in the image of God.
2. What does it mean to be created in the image of God?
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.
3. Why then do we live apart from God and out of harmony with creation?
From the beginning, human beings have misused their freedom and made wrong choices, and as
such we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
4. Why do we not use our freedom as we should?
Because we rebel against God, and we put ourselves in the place of God.
5. What help is there for us?
Our help is in God when we put our trust in Him.
6. How did God first help us?
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.
7. How do we become aware of God?
By God’s initiative in our thinking and understanding. By experiencing and reflecting on the
wonder and mystery of creation, birth and death, love, guilt and the need to find meaning and
worth beyond ourselves.
8. Where do we learn about God?
Christians learn about God in the Bible, in the teaching of the Church summed up in the Apostles
Creed and through sharing in the living community of faith.
9. What do we learn about God?
God is eternal, maker of the earth, pain bearer, life giver, source of all that is and shall be; father
of us all. We learn that God is one, yet revealed as Father, Son and Holy Spirit-the Holy Trinity.
GOD THE FATHER
10. What do we learn about God as creator from the revelation to Israel?
We learn that there is one God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth, of all that is,
seen and unseen.
11. What does this mean in our understanding of the Universe?
This means that the universe is good, that it is the work of a single loving God who creates,
sustains and directs it.
12. What does this revelation of God mean in relation to our place in the Universe?
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.
13. What does God’s revelation mean for human life?
It means that all people are worthy of respect and honour, because all are created in the image of
God and all can respond to the love of God.
14. How was this revelation handed down to us?
This revelation was handed down to us through a community created by a covenant with God.

THE OLD COVENANT

15. What is meant by a covenant with God?
A covenant is a relationship initiated by God to which a body of people responds in faith.
16. What is the Old Covenant?
The Old Covenant is the one given by God to the Israelites.
17. What did God promise them?
God promised that they would be his people to bring all the nations of the world to him
18. What response did God require from the chosen people?
God required the chosen people to be faithful; to do justice, to love mercy and to walk humbly
with their God.
19. Where is the Old Covenant to be found?
God’s Covenant with the Israelites people is to be found in the books which we call the Old
Testament.
20. Where in the Old Testament is God’s will for us shown most clearly?
God’s will for us is shown most clearly in the Ten Commandments.

COMMANDMENTS
21. The Ten Commandments
What are the Ten Commandments? The Ten Commandments are the laws given to Moses and the
people of Israel.
22. Recite the Ten Commandments
i. You shall have no other gods before me.
ii. You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of things that is in heaven
above, or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth.
iii. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
iv. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
v. Honour your father and your mother
vi. You shall not kill.
vii. You shall not commit adultery
viii. You shall not steal
ix. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.
x. You shall not covet.
23. What do we learn from these commandments?
We learn two things: our duty to God, and our duty to our neighbours.
24. What is our duty to God? Our duty is:
i. To believe and trust in God;
ii. To love and obey God and to bring others to know Him;
iii. To put nothing in the place of God;
iv. To show respect to God in thought, word, and deed;
v. And to set aside regular times for worship, prayer, and the study of God’s Words.
25. What is our duty to our neighbour? Our duty to our neighbours is:
i. To love them as ourselves.
ii. To do to other people as we wish them to do to us.
iii. To love, honour, and help our parents and family.
iv. To honour those in authority and to meet their just demands.
v. To show respect for the life God has given us.
vi. To work and pray for peace.
vii. To bear no malice, prejudice or hatred in our hearts and to be kind to all the creatures of God.
viii. To use all our bodily desires as God intended;
ix. 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.
x. To speak the truth and not to mislead others by our silence or lies.
xi. 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.
26. What is the purpose of the Ten Commandments?
The Ten Commandments were given to define our relationship with God and our neighbours.
27. Since we do not fully obey them, are they useful at all?
Since we do not fully obey them we see more clearly our sins and our need for redemption.

SIN AND REDEMPTION

28. What is sin?
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.
29. How does sin have power over us?
Sin has power over us because we lose our liberty when our relationship with God is distorted.
30. What is redemption?
Redemption is the act of God which sets us free from the power of evil, sin and death.
31. How did God prepare us for redemption?
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.
32. What is meant by the Messiah?
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 neighbours, and creation.
33. Who do we believe is the Messiah?
The Messiah, or Christ is Jesus of Nazareth, the only begotten Son of God.

GOD THE SON

34. What do we mean when we say Jesus is the only begotten Son of God?
We mean that Jesus is the only perfect image of the Father, and shows us in full the nature of
God.
35. What is the nature of God revealed in Jesus?
God is love.
36. What do we mean when we say that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and became
incarnate of the Virgin Mary?
We mean that by God’s own act, His Divine Son received our human nature from the Virgin Mary,
His mother.
37. Why did he take our human nature?
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.
38. What is the great importance of Jesus’ suffering and death?
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.
39. What is the significance of Jesus’ resurrection?
By His resurrection, Jesus overcame death and opened for us the way of eternal life.
40. What do we mean when we say that ‘He descended to the dead’?
We mean that He went to the place of the dead and offered them also the benefit of redemption.
41. What do we mean when we say that He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand
of the Father?
We mean that Jesus took our human nature into heaven where He now reigns with the Father
and intercedes for us.
42. How can we share in his victory over sin, suffering and death?
We share in His victory when we believe in Him and are baptized into the new Covenant and
become living members of Christ.