Introduction
Two thousand years ago in Israel, the man who is God incarnate and Israel’s Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, led his followers into a life-giving relationship with himself and his divine Father, and was executed by the Roman governor. Risen from the dead, he charged his followers to make disciples throughout the whole world, promising that he would be with them, and equipping them for their mission with his Holy Spirit. Founded upon God’s revelation to Israel in the Old Testament, the New Testament presents the essential witness and teaching of Jesus’ first disciples, the apostles, who proclaimed his truth with his authority. The faith of Christians today, as in every age, is shaped and defined by this apostolic account of Jesus Christ.
Within a century of Jesus’ earthly ministry, Christian congregations could be found throughout the Roman world, from Spain to Persia and from North Africa to Britain. By this time, the catechumenate for those wishing to become Christians had become established Christian practice. From the Greek katēcheō (“instruct”), the catechumenate was a period of one-to-three-years’ instruction (catechesis) leading to Baptism at Easter. This ancient pattern of Christian disciple-making continued for some centuries before falling into disuse as nominal Christianity increasingly became a universal aspect of Western culture.
The Reformation era of the sixteenth century saw a vigorous renewal of catechesis for both adults and children among both Protestants and Catholics. But catechesis has been in serious decline since the eighteenth century, and much of the discipline of discipling has been abandoned altogether in today’s churches.
This catechism (a text used for instruction of Christian disciples) is designed as a resource manual for the renewal of Anglican catechetical practice. It presents the essential building blocks of classic catechetical instruction: the Apostles’ Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Ten Commandments (or Decalogue). To these is added an initial section especially intended for those with no prior knowledge of the Gospel. Each section is presented in the question and answer form that became standard in the sixteenth century because of its proven effectiveness. Each question and answer offers essential teaching together with biblical references for group or individual study.
In one respect, this catechism breaks new ground for Anglicans. The historic 1662 Catechism in the English Book of Common Prayer is brief and specifically designed to prepare young people for confirmation and church membership. However, this present work is intended as a more comprehensive catechetical tool for adult (or near-adult) inquirers, and for all Christians seeking deeper grounding in the full reality of Christian faith and life.
As such, this catechism attempts to be a missional means by which God may bring about both conversion to Christ and formation in Christ (or regeneration and sanctification, to use older words). This vision of comprehensive usefulness has been before the minds of the writing team from the beginning.
Our guidelines in drafting have been as follows:
1. Everything taught should be compatible with, and acceptable to, all recognized schools of Anglican thought, so that all may be able confidently to use all the material.
2. Everything taught should be expressed as briefly as possible, in terms that are clear and correspond to today’s use of language. There should be as little repetition as possible, though some overlap is inevitable.
3. All the answers and questions should be as easy to explain and to remember as possible.
We offer this catechism to the Church with the prayer that it may serve to build up the Body of Christ by helping many to come to full Christian faith and faithfulness in today’s increasingly post-Christian world.
On behalf of the Committee for Catechesis
of the Anglican Church in North America
The Reverend Canon J. I. Packer