What do you all the Christians on here think about the Catechism?

[meltedchocolate]

I have been told the Free Church (scotland) use it a lot but hadnt heard of it myself up until last wee. I have it infront of me now and think i may read through it.

What do all the Christians on here think of it?

I suspect if the Free church have one, there must be a number of different catechisms, since the Roman Catholics also have one.... I can't imagine they could possibly be the same!

I grew up Church of Scotland, and am now Anglican, and I've never seen a catechism in either of those.

the catechism (i thought) is what you learn when you get confirmed. os it's a list of all the things we believe as a christian.

i'm church of england and i remember learning it for confirmation. at the conf service, the Bish asked us each one question from it. i remember panicking so very much but he asked me a stupidly easy one in the end. phew!

it's in the back of the book of common prayer for CofE

Was that a while back nickelbabe? I never had to learn it for my CofE confirmation - that was about 18 years back. We had to go to classes for a number of weeks, and covered lots of things, but there weren't any test questions during the service.

confirmation service? Is that the same as going forward to become a member?

I would imagine it varies between churches. I was brought up on a RC catechism, which we learned parrot-fashion, as children.

Confirmation is used in a lot of CofE churches where someone has been baptised as a child and wants to "confirm" their belief with a public dedication.
Other churches (including some CofE) use adult baptism to do this - confirmation is sort of for if you were baptised as a child but don't want to do that again.
You mentioned catechisms, it's the "one baptism for the forgiveness of sin" bit.

Becoming a "member" is more comon in free churches although used in CofE too. It's about dedicating yourself to that church and in putting yourself forward for it, you are welcomed into the church community, go on the church roll, pay a regular collection (tithed?), might lead home groups, services, music groups, take part in stuff like rosters etc willingly.

Jojoyoy, that's not actually correct. I quote from the C of E website:

"What we now call confirmation was originally part of a wider ceremony of Christian initiation and only became a separate rite when bishops were no longer able to preside at all baptisms.

As a separate rite, confirmation marks the point in the Christian journey at which the participation in the life of God?s people inaugurated at baptism is confirmed by the bishop by the laying on of hands, and in which those who have been baptised affirm for themselves the faith into which they have been baptised and their intention to live a life of responsible and committed discipleship. Through prayer and the laying on of hands by the confirming bishop, the Church also asks God to give them power through the Holy Spirit to enable them to live in this way.

When confirmation is part of a combined rite including adult baptism it has a slightly different significance. In this case, as in the traditional Western service of initiation mentioned above, the confirmation element signifies the gift of the Holy Spirit following on from baptism in water. The biblical model for this is Christ?s own baptism in which, the gospels tell us, the Spirit descended on Him when He came up out of the water after having been baptised by John the Baptist (Matthew 3:16-17, Mark 1:9-11, Luke 3:21-22, John 1:32-33)."

More info here

(sorry for getting your name wrong )

I haven't been baptised at all yet. I know i should soon.

The Catachism that i have is 'The shorter Catechism' by Roderick Lawson.

I borrowed it from my sister after hearing her and my brother having a conversation about it.

I wondered what you thought about the book itself?

I dont go to the Free Church by the way - it is my brother that does.

Amuminscotland: i think that's the other thread isn't it!! i got confirmed 21 years ago.
i don't think every church did it even then, to be honest.
ours wasn't high church, but was quite a strict one. i think it must have been more tradition than anything.
i know they don't do it now in our church, because we had one a few months ago and they didn't have to do anything like that.