THE CH CHURCH CATECHISM: AN INSTRUCTION TO BE LEARNED BY EVERY PERSON BEFORE CONFIRMATION. Who gave you this name? My godfathers and godmothers, in my baptism, wherein I was made a member of Christ, the child of God, and an inheritor of the kingdom of Hea ven. What did your godfathers and godmothers then for you? They did promise and vow three things in my name: first, that I should renounce the devil and all his works, the pomps and vanity of this wicked world, and all the sinful lusts of the flesh. Secondly, that I should believe all the articles of the Christian faith; and thirdly, that I should keep God's holy will and commandments, and walk in the same all the days of my life. A PARAPHRASE ON THE CHURCH CATECHISM. WHAT is your name? By whom was this name given you? By godfathers and godmothers;* who, at the time when I was baptized or christened, gave me this name, not merely as a distinctive appellation by which I was to be known in my family, but as a proof that I had been adopted and received into the Christian covenant, and into Christ's church. What promise did your godfathers and godmothers at that time make in your name? They then solemnly promised in my name, that I should, in the first place, reject all manner of sin and wickedness; that I should not to be led away from the performance of my duties by the splendour of wealth and honours; that I should not be seduced by the vanities and frivolities of the world, nor Sponsors, or godfathers and godmothers, are spiritual guardians, appointed by the church; and whose duty it is, to see that the child for whom they engaged is religiously brought up, in case the natural parents should be incapable of performing that duty themselves. tReceiving an additional name is no part of the sacrament of baptism. It rests merely on ancient usage: it may even be changed before confirmation.-See Watson's Clergyman's Law, c. 44-377. Dost thou not think that thou art bound to believe, and to do all they have promised for thee? Yes, verily; and by God's help so I will; and I heartily thank our Heavenly Father, that he hath called me to this state of salvation, through Jesus Christ, our Saviour. And I pray unto God to give me his grace, that I may continue in the same unto my life's end. Rehearse the articles of the belief. I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth and in Jesus Christ his only son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary; suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried: He descended into hell, the third day he rose again from the dead, He ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen. What dost thou chiefly learn in these articles of thy belief? First, I learn to believe in God the Father, who hath made me, and all the world. Secondly, in God the Son, who hath redeemed me and all mankind. Thirdly, In God the Holy Ghost, who sanctifieth me, and all the elect people of God. yield to the solicitations of unlawful desires. In the second place, they promised that I should believe the articles of the Christian faith; and, thirdly, that in all my actions I should constantly endeavour to perform the will of God; and that I should not violate his commandments, but continue in the practice of every duty, to the end of my life. Do you not think that you are in duty bound to believe, and to do all that they have promised? : Certainly and I do most gratefully and fervently return thanks to our heavenly Father, for calling me to a hope of salvation, through Jesus Christ the Saviour; and I pray unto him, to bestow upon me the grace of his Holy Spirit, that I may continue in this hope to the end of my life. Repeat the articles of the Christian faith. * I believe in God, the all-powerful Father of the universe, creator of heaven and earth, and in his only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and born of the Virgin Mary. I believe that in the time of Pontius Pilate (the Roman governor of Judea), Jesus Christ was crucified, that he died and was buried, that he descended into hell, that on the third day he rose again from the dead; that he ascended into heaven, * The belief, or apostle's creed, is so called, because it is a compendium of the doctrines they taught: it was composed, for the most part, in times not very remote from the apostolic age. See Warner's Notes on the Common Prayer. We are not to understand by this expression, that the soul of our Saviour passed, after death, into the regions appointed for the punishment of the wicked: the original word hades strictly signifies the invisible state or region. All that was intended to be taught by the expression in the creed " he descended into hell," is that when our Saviour died, as his body was laid in the grave, so his spirit went into the state and place where the souls of men continue from the time of their death, until the resurrection.-See Archbishop Secker's 9th Lecture on the Catechism, and also the Note on the First Sunday after Trinity. |