Baltimore Catechism No. 1

Question 1

Who is God?

Answer 1

God is the Creator of heaven and earth, and of all things.

Question 2

What is man?

Answer 2

Man is a creature composed of body and soul, and made to the image and likeness of God.

Question 3

Why did God make you?

Answer 3

God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in heaven.

Question 4

What must we do to save our souls?

Answer 4

To save our souls, we must worship God by faith, hope, and charity; that is, we must believe in Him, hope in Him, and love Him with all our heart.

Question 5

How shall we know the things which we are to believe?

Answer 5

We shall know the things which we are to believe from the Catholic Church, through which God speaks to us.

Question 6

Where shall we find the chief truths which the Church teaches?

Answer 6

We shall find the chief truths which the Church teaches in the Apostles’ Creed.

Question 7

What is God?

Answer 7

God is a spirit infinitely perfect.

Question 8

Had God a beginning

Answer 8

God had no beginning; He always was and He always will be.

Question 9

Where is God?

Answer 9

God is everywhere.

Question 10

If God is everywhere, why do we not see Him?

Answer 10

We do not see God, because He is a pure spirit and cannot be seen with bodily eyes.

Question 11

Does God see us?

Answer 11

God sees us and watches over us.

Question 12

Does God know all things?

Answer 12

God knows all things, even our most secret thoughts, words, and actions.

Question 13

Can God do all things?

Answer 13

God can do all things, and nothing is hard or impossible to Him.

Question 14

Is God just, holy, and merciful?

Answer 14

God is all just, all holy, all merciful, as He is infinitely perfect.

Question 15

Why can there be but one God?

Answer 15

There can be but one God, because God, being supreme and infinite, cannot have an equal.

Question 16

How many Persons are there in God?

Answer 16

In God there are three Divine Persons, really distinct, and equal in all things-the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

Question 17

Is the Holy Ghost God?

Answer 17

The Holy Ghost is God and the third Person of the Blessed Trinity.

Question 18

What is the Blessed Trinity?

Answer 18

The Blessed Trinity is one God in three Divine Persons.

Question 19

Are the three Divine Persons one and the same God?

Answer 19

The three Divine Persons are one and the same God, having one and the same Divine nature.

Question 20

Which are the chief creatures of God?

Answer 20

The chief creatures of God are men and angels.

Question 21

What are angels?

Answer 21

Angels are bodiless spirits created to adore and enjoy God in heaven.

Question 22

Describe Adam and Eve when they came from the hand of God

Answer 22

Adam and Eve were innocent and holy when they came from the hand of God.

Question 23

Did Adam and Eve remain faithful to God?

Answer 23

Adam and Eve did not remain faithful to God; but broke His command by eating the forbidden fruit.

Question 24

What befell Adam and Eve on account of their sin?

Answer 24

Adam and Eve on account of their sin lost innocence and holiness, and were doomed to misery and death.

Question 25

What evil befell us through the disobedience of our first parents?

Answer 25

Through the disobedience of our first parents we all inherit their sin and punishment, as we should have shared in their happiness if they had remained faithful.

Question 26

Was any one ever preserved from original sin?

Answer 26

The Blessed Virgin Mary, through the merit of her Divine Son, was preserved free from the guilt of original sin, and this privilege is called her Immaculate Conception.

Question 27

Is original sin the only kind of sin?

Answer 27

Original sin is not the only kind of sin; there is another kind of sin, which we commit ourselves, called actual sin.

Question 28

What is actual sin?

Answer 28

Actual sin is any willful thought, word, deed or omission contrary to the law of God.

Question 29

What is mortal sin?

Answer 29

Mortal sin is a grievous offense against the law of God.

Question 30

What is venial sin?

Answer 30

Venial sin is a slight offense against the law of God in matters of less importance; or in matters of great importance it is an offence committed without sufficient reflection or full consent of the will.

Question 31

Which are the chief sources of sin?

Answer 31

The chief sources of sin are seven: Pride, Covetousness, Lust, Anger, Gluttony, Envy, and Sloth; and they are commonly called capital sins.

Question 32

Did God abandon man after he fell into sin?

Answer 32

God did not abandon man after he fell into sin, but promised him a Redeemer, who was to satisfy for man's sin and reopen to him the gates of heaven.

Question 33

Who is the Redeemer?

Answer 33

Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is the Redeemer of mankind.

Question 34

What do you believe of Jesus Christ?

Answer 34

I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the second Person of the Blessed Trinity, true God and true man.

Question 35

What do you mean by the Incarnation?

Answer 35

By the Incarnation I mean that the Son of God was made man.

Question 36

How was the Son of God made man?

Answer 36

The Son of God was conceived and made man by the power of the Holy Ghost, in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Question 37

On what day was the Son of God conceived and made man?

Answer 37

The Son of God was conceived and made man on Annunciation day-the day on which the angel Gabriel announced to the Blessed Virgin Mary that she was to be the Mother of God.

Question 38

What did Jesus Christ Suffer?

Answer 38

Jesus Christ suffered a bloody sweat, a cruel scourging, was crowned with thorns, and was crucified.

Question 39

Why did Christ suffer and die?

Answer 39

Christ suffered and died for our sins

Question 40

On what day did Christ rise from the dead?

Answer 40

Christ rose from the dead, glorious and immortal, on Easter Sunday, the third day after His death.

Question 41

After Christ had remained forty days on earth, whither did He go?

Answer 41

After forty days Christ ascended into heaven, and the day on which He ascended into heaven is called Ascension day.

Question 42

Who is the Holy Ghost?

Answer 42

The Holy Ghost is the third Person of the Blessed Trinity.

Question 43

On what day did the Holy Ghost come down upon the Apostles?

Answer 43

The Holy Ghost came down upon the Apostles ten days after the Ascension of our Lord; and the day on which He came down upon the Apostles is called Whitsunday, or Pentecost. Whit'sun-day, white Sunday.

Question 44

Who sent the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles?

Answer 44

Our Lord Jesus Christ sent the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles.

Question 45

Why did Christ send the Holy Ghost?

Answer 45

Christ sent the Holy Ghost to sanctify His Church, to enlighten and strengthen the Apostles, and to enable them to preach the Gospel.