The Anglican Church
"one holy catholic
apostolic",
but
not Roman Catholic
Things Roman Catholics need to know
about the Anglican Church
By The Rev. William Guerard
Many times I have talked with people
who were raised in the Roman Catholic Church, and who, for one reason or
another, were thinking about joining the Anglican Church. They often say things like, "It's just
like the Catholic Church, well sort of, right?" or "Your liturgy is
almost like the Catholic Church, and I feel so comfortable here." or "I know you don't accept the Pope,
but is there any other difference between churches?"
The purpose of this booklet is to
save you and me some time by addressing the issues that usually come up in such
conversations. I also want to raise
some issues that all too often don't come up, but should.
This booklet is not intended as a
tool for proselytizing people away from the Roman Catholic Church. Roman Catholics and Anglicans both stand
within strong, historic traditions of Christian faith. Those traditions share many beliefs in
common that are central to all of Christianity. But they also have some important differences that you need to
understand before making any decision about which church you will be part
of.
My resource for laying out the
teaching of the Roman Catholic Church is Catechism of the Catholic Church,
Second Edition, published in 1997 by Libreria Editrice Vaticana. References will be listed as "CCC"
followed by a paragraph number.
I hope you will find this booklet
helpful, not only in searching out what kind of church you want to belong to,
but more importantly, in understanding how Jesus Christ is calling you to
follow Him. May God give you the full
guidance of His Holy Spirit in this search, the most important search of your
life!
Yours
in Christ,
Fr.
Bill Guerard
An
Introduction to the Anglican Church:
So, where did the Anglican Church
come from? We are part of the Anglican
Communion, a worldwide community of some 80 million members who trace their
origin to the Church of England.
The Anglican Communion began its
story as a church apart from the Roman Catholic Church during the Reformation,
that period in the 16th century when several groups separated from the “Holy
Roman Empire”. Like the Lutherans in
Germany, the Church of England separated from Rome over doctrines and practices
of the Roman Catholic Church that they felt had no basis in Scripture. The reformers wanted to restore the church
to the doctrine and practice that was reflected in the book of Acts and the
apostolic letters of the New Testament.
What
about Henry VIII? King Henry VIII
was instrumental in separating the Church of England from Rome. Although his reasons were admittedly
selfish, they raised the same questions that the reformers in Europe were
asking about the use of power by the church.
Henry’s first marriage was to
Catherine of Aragon, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. The parents arranged the marriage to form an
alliance between Spain and England.
There was just one problem.
Catherine had been previously married to Henry’s older brother, Arthur,
who then died. Since the law of the
Church forbade Henry to marry his brother’s wife, the royal parents obtained a
dispensation from Pope Julius II. The marriage was approved by the Church.
However, the marriage did not
produce the much needed male heir to the throne. In their 21 year marriage, Catherine and Henry had three sons and
two daughters, but only one daughter lived past infancy. A cloud of death seemed to hang over the
marriage.
Henry had grave doubts as to whether
they had done the right thing, and whether the Pope had the right to overrule
Church law. After polling the best
biblical scholars of Europe, he determined that the marriage would never be
blessed by God, and should never have taken place.
Henry requested an annulment from
the Pope, which under the circumstances, would normally have been given. But at that time the Pope was Clement VII
who was a virtual prisoner of Emperor Charles V. Charles hated Henry, and
was putting pressure on the Pope not to do anything for England. The annulment was denied.
Henry was outraged, not only because
he was refused the annulment, but because he felt the decision was made on the
basis of politics rather than church doctrine.
Did
Henry VIII create the Church of England?
In a political sense, yes, since only the king had the power to declare
a nation’s independence from the Pope.
But in a spiritual sense, no. It was Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of
Canterbury and author of the first Book of Common Prayer, who
established the beliefs, the form of worship, and much of the structure of the
Church of England according to the pattern of the European Reformers.
The Anglican Church came to America
with the settlers who came here from England.
When we became independent from England, the name “Episcopal Church in
the U. S. A.” (ECUSA) was adopted by the Anglicans in the United States. For 200 years the Episcopal Church has been
the American branch of the Anglican Communion.
However, in recent years the leadership of the Episcopal Church has
departed from the biblical teaching of the Anglican Communion. St. George’s continues to follow the
teaching of the Anglican Communion, not the Episcopal Church in the U.S.
Hierarchy of
Truth:
Every group of people have to ask
themselves where their primary source of guidance comes from. Whether it is a nation, a business, or a
church, there are some major sources of truth that give the group direction,
and a point of reference for dealing with problems or questions. The very first question that Roman Catholics
ask about the Anglican Church is usually “What about the Pope?”
In the Anglican heritage, the three
primary sources of truth are Scripture, Tradition, and Reason, in that order.
In the Roman Catholic Church they are Tradition, Scripture and the Magisterium.
(CCC 82, 95) We differ not only in the
order, but in the definition of each.
Scripture, for the Anglican
Church, refers to the books of the Old and New Testaments, while the Roman
Catholic Church includes the Apocryphal books as Scripture. We do read from the Apocrypha in the
Anglican Church, but these books are not used to establish church teaching.
Tradition, for the Anglican
Church means the liturgical customs and institutional forms of the church that
have been found helpful in giving expression to the Faith described in the
Scriptures. Tradition, in that sense,
is not another body of teaching added to Scripture, but the customs by which
the church arranges its life around the teaching that is found in the Scripture
alone. The Tradition of the Anglican
Church is contained in the Book of Common Prayer. It is our belief that nothing shall be
taught in the church as a matter of faith that cannot be proven from
Scripture.
In the Roman Catholic Church,
Tradition is much more far-reaching, including many other volumes of teachings
and pronouncements by the Church down through the centuries. This “tradition” of teaching is given the
same authority as the Scriptures. (CCC
82)
The Magisterium of the Roman
Catholic Church, referring to the Pope and the bishops in communion with him
(CCC 85, 86) is described as "infallible" (CCC 2034, 2035) and has
become another source of authority equal to that of Scripture (CCC 891).
This has no parallel at all in the
Anglican Church. We do not recognize
any person or council as being "infallible." Since it is clear in Scripture that the
Apostle Peter was not infallible himself (Gal. 2:11), how can the papacy that
succeeds from him claim to have suddenly become infallible? Nor is the doctrine of papal infallibility
an ancient part of the Christian faith.
It was not declared as a doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church until the
Vatican Council of 1870.
What we have been given is reason,
the uniquely human capacity to understand and discern what is true and what is
false, and the Holy Spirit to guide us in applying our reasoning. The whole church engages in the process of
reasoning together, under the leadership of our bishops. Together we discover how best to apply the
teaching of Scripture to our present-day situation in those areas where
Scripture gives no clear command. But
our decisions never have the same authority as Scripture.
Especially troubling to Anglicans is
to hear the Pope described as having “...full, supreme and universal power over
the Church....” (CCC 882) Again, it is
clear from Scripture that Peter never “ruled” over the Church in such a
way. Rather, what we see in the time of
the first Apostles is a collaborative leadership in which the Holy Spirit moved
upon the whole Church and worked out doctrinal decisions in a fellowship of
Apostolic leaders.
How much
Catechism is needed?
One difference that you will
notice between the Anglican Church and the Roman Catholic Church is the size
and number of volumes of doctrine that is presented. The Catechism of the Catholic Church is a volume of some
688 pages, not including the index and glossary. Do we really need a book as big as the Scripture to tell us how
to read Scripture.
The Catechism of the Anglican Church
is included at the end of this booklet.
A major feature of our Catechism is simplicity. It is intended only to lay out a basic
framework for understanding the Christian Faith. Within that framework, and in the constant study of Scripture,
the Christian believer will work out a life of discipleship with the Holy
Spirit being his/her Guide and Counselor, and the fellowship of the Church
being a support and encouragement. The
Catechism in intentionally brief (only 18 pages) so that the emphasis remains
upon our relationship with Christ and learning how to find in Him the answers
that we need, not how to look them up in a book of church doctrine.
We believe that engaging the
individual believer in the search for truth is as important as finding the
answer- that learning how to walk daily with Christ is as essential as reaching
the destination, the Kingdom of God.
Christianity is not a religion, but a relationship with Jesus Christ.
The Role Of
“Holy Mother Church”:
The Church is described as “mother”
in the Catholic Catechism (CCC169) . It
is made clear that this refers only to the Roman Catholic Church (CCC816,
834-838, 882-883) which alone is the place where salvation is found and the
sacraments truly celebrated. Let me
quote from paragraph 834, “All Christian churches everywhere have held and hold
the great Church that is here at Rome to be their only basis and
foundation...”
I can only say that this is a
misreading of history. The primacy of
Rome has been constantly debated in every generation.
In the Anglican Church, we do not
speak of “the Church” apart from all of the members who make it up. It is not an institution composed of clergy,
and it is not our “mother”. The church
is not an “it” at all. The Church is
the whole Body of Christ gathered for worship.
We are the Church. We
recognize that the Church exists in many forms as people come together in the
name of Christ. They choose different
forms of prayer, and have different ways of organizing their leadership. These are not the defining marks of the true
Church. Rather, it is faith in Jesus
Christ as Lord and Savior which is the first distinctive of the true Church.
The Virgin
Mary:
The next major area of difference
between the Churches is the role of Mary in faith and worship.
Let’s begin at paragraph 149 in the
Catechism, that “The Church venerates in Mary the purest realization of faith.”
In the Anglican Church we teach that Jesus Christ is the purest
realization of the faith. He is the one
and only Mediator between man and God. (1 Tim. 2:5) That is why we have no altar to Mary. The only altar in our church is dedicated to Jesus Christ.
We do not teach the “Immaculate
Conception”, the belief that Mary was born without sin (CCC 411). We do believe in the virgin birth of Jesus,
but we believe it is a mistake to try to apply the same state to Mary. Scripture tells us nothing about Mary being
immaculately conceived. What we are
told is that she was a woman of faith whom God chose for an extraordinary
purpose.
The statement that Mary was “full of
grace” (CCC 490-491, 721-722) is a strange way to render the passage from Luke
1:28. “Highly favored” is a more correct
translation on which all major versions of scripture agree. Indeed, Mary was “favored” by being chosen
to be the mother of Christ. It is
misleading to describe her as “full of grace” from which she becomes a
dispenser of grace to us (CCC 773, 829, 969).
Jesus alone is the dispenser of grace.
We do not teach that Mary was
“perpetually virgin” (CCC 499-500). It
is clear that the Scripture speaks of Jesus’ brothers and sisters, (Luke 8:19,
Matt. 13:35, Mark 6:1) We do not find
any reason for saying that these were actually “cousins” or that Mary never had
a normal physical relationship with her husband. The writers of the New Testament knew the difference between
brothers and cousins. The word they
chose means “brother”, a biological sibling.
Jesus identifies with us fully
because He lived a fully human life in a family of brothers and sisters, with
parents who had a fully human marriage.
Neither do we teach the assumption
of Mary into heaven (CCC 966-969). We
find no witness to this in Scripture.
To refer to Mary as “Mediatrix” is deeply troubling to Anglicans. We honor her as a saint, indeed as foremost
of the saints, but we find no grounds for elevating her to a superhuman role
(CCC 2030).
What about
Purgatory?
Purgatory, as an intermediate state
of purification between earth and heaven (CCC 1030-1032) is not a doctrine of
the Anglican Church. What we teach is
what the Scripture says, that “It is given to all men to die once. Then comes judgment.” (Heb. 9:27) Perhaps the clearest evidence of this is the
man who died on the cross beside Jesus.
He had lived a badly sinful life and was being punished for it. In his last moment of life he turned to
Jesus and asked for mercy. Jesus’
response to him was, “Today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43) Jesus does not say to him, “After you spend
some time in purgatory paying for your sins, and if someone in the church will
say enough prayers to get you through, maybe then I’ll see you.”
The ministry of the Church is to the
living, not the dead. Our urgency about
sharing the Gospel is born of the knowledge that after our loved ones die there
is no more opportunity to minister to them.
We had better do it now.
What about
Indulgences and Masses for the Dead?
One of the major issues of the
Reformation was the practice by the Roman Catholic Church of selling
indulgences. This is based on the
concept of the Church having a “treasury of merit” which it can dispense on
behalf of the faithful who, for whatever reason, feel that a simple act of
repentance is not enough to cover their sins (CCC 1471- 1479).
The Anglican Church does not have
any practice of offering “indulgences” or “special dispensations”. We believe that whenever a Christian is
convicted of sin, he or she must confess it to God, repent, and then receive
God’s full forgiveness which is given by virtue of Christ’s death on the
cross.
Is missing
Church a sin?
If it is because you are ignoring
God’s call on your life, yes. On this
much Anglicans and Roman Catholics agree.
But the Anglican Church does not teach “holy days of obligation” (CCC
2042-2043, 2180-2181). The purpose of
worship is not to become an obligation, but to be an opportunity for us to
rejoice in God with our brothers and sisters in Christ. If someone is missing from worship, we
should call to find out what is wrong and see how we can help, not accuse them
of sin.
Are priests
allowed to marry?
In the Anglican Church, everyone
is allowed to marry. We do not require priests or bishops to be celibate as the
Roman Catholic Church does (CCC 1580- 1583).
The reason is this.
We know for
certain that Peter was married (Matt. 8:14), that Paul, though unmarried,
taught all should be free to marry or remain single as the Lord led them (1
Cor. 7:28, 1 Tim. 4:1-5), and that the requirements of a bishop in the early
church involved his wife and children (1 Tim. 3:2). Marriage is neither a requirement for ordination nor a barrier to
it.
“I’m
divorced. Do I need an annulment?”
To annul a marriage is to say
that there never was a “real” marriage in the first place. This presents some serious problems.
If you were married in the church, was the sacrament defective? At what point should someone in the church
have told you “You don’t have a ‘real’ marriage so you shouldn’t be living
together.” When there have been
children from the marriage, if the parents were never really married, are the
children illegitimate?
The Anglican Church does not
offer annulments, and we do not excommunicate people for divorce. In the Anglican Church we recognize that
sometimes marriages fail for a variety of reasons. Rather than try to go back and undo the marriage, we try to help
the couple understand what went wrong, find reconciliation with God and
forgiveness of one another, in the recognition that we are all sinners in
constant need of God’s grace. These are
the things that should be dealt with before a divorced person considers
remarriage.
What about
confession?
Sacramental confession is offered in
the Anglican Church but not required.
The General Confession that we pray together on Sunday is considered to
be a full and sufficient act of confession to prepare us to receive
communion.
If a person is troubled by a
particular sin, it is a good thing to seek the counsel of a priest. The Sacrament of confession in the Book
of Common Prayer is available for this purpose.
What about
ordination of women?
The Anglican Church does allow
the ordination of women as priests and bishops. This is a recent change in the church (1977) and is still being
debated in some areas where women’s ordination is not accepted.
What about
Transubstantiation?
The doctrine of transubstantiation
was once a hotly debated point of difference between our churches because it
originated in the metaphysical language of early “Enlightenment” Europe. It was an attempt to use semi-scientific
terms to describe the exact mechanism by which bread becomes flesh and wine
becomes blood. How real is real? If it still looks like bread, what part of
it is “really” flesh? It was a concept
that the reformers found unhelpful and confusing, placing a magical aura around
the role of the priest.
The Anglican Church teaches that
Christ is truly present in the Eucharist, both through the elements of bread and
wine, and in the hearts of His faithful people. Today, the Catholic Catechism describes the presence of Christ in
the Eucharist in language that any Episcopalian would be comfortable with (CCC
1322-1405). I don’t believe we have a
conflict over this any more. Our
problem today lies in the role of the clergy, and their power to
consecrate. (see below, “Ecumenism”)
Ecumenism:
You should know that ever since the
proclamation of Pope Leo XIII in 1896, the official position of the Roman
Catholic Church has been that ordination in the Anglican Communion is not
valid. As I write this, I am aware that
the Roman Catholic Church does not regard me as a priest who possesses the
“true charism” of the church. This
means that in the eyes of the Roman Catholic Church our celebrations of Holy
Communion are not valid. (CCC1400)
This is an obstacle between
Anglicans and Roman Catholics that remains immovable, since it was pronounced
with papal authority, and has therefore become a doctrine for all Roman
Catholics. We can be neighbors. We can have prayer services together. We may even come to recognize that we are
all serving the same Lord and must be in the same Church. Yet there remains this wall between us. It is a dilemma!
Other
Differences:
“Last Rites” is not a term that we
use in the Anglican Church. We do offer
the sacrament of Unction, that is,
the anointing of the sick with prayers for healing. The emphasis is on healing, not dying.
When we say the Lord’s
Prayer (Our Father) we always include the final doxology, “For thine is the
kingdom, the power, and the glory.....)
It is one of the variations that appear in scripture according to the
earliest manuscripts that we have of the New Testament. In this case, it’s a judgment call. Some manuscripts include the doxology
(Matthew 6:13) while others do not. In
the Anglican Church we have always found it to be helpful to end the prayer on
a note of praise.
Although Confirmation can now be administered by priests in the Roman
Catholic Church, Confirmation in the Anglican Church is administered only by
bishops.
Conclusion:
I hope this gives you an idea of
what the Anglican Church is about. The
best way to get to know us is to join us on Sunday morning for worship. There is much that we have in common, most
importantly, Jesus Christ. The Catholic
Catechism offers a definition of the Faith that is beautiful, and to which any
Anglican could say “Amen!”
“To become a child in relation to
God is the condition for entering the kingdom.
For this we must humble ourselves and become little. Even more: to become “children of God” we
must be “born from above” or “born of God.”
Only when Christ is formed in us will the mystery of Christmas be
fulfilled in us. Christmas is the
mystery of this marvelous exchange.”
Catechism of the Catholic Church,
par. 526
An
Outline of the Faith
commonly
called the Catechism
(The
Book of Common Prayer, p. 845)
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 Holy Spirit?
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 lifelong 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.