1.
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.
2.
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 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.
3. 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.
4.
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 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.
5
. 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.
6
. The 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.
7
. 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.
8
. 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.
9
. 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.
10.
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 knows 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.
11.
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.
12.
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.
13.
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.
14.
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, i
