BALTIMORE CATECHISM

[Note: This post also appears on SFWILLIE'S BLOG.]

Catholic parochial school kids of my generation all learned their religion from the Baltimore Catechism. This book presents, in question and answer format, the basic beliefs and practices of Roman Catholics.

Here’s an excerpt:

LESSON FIRST
ON THE END OF MAN

1. Q. Who made the world?
A. God made the world.

2. Q. Who is God?
A. God is the Creator of heaven and earth, and of all things.

3. Q. What is man?
A. Man is acreature composed of body and soul, and made to the image and likeness of God.

4. Q. Is this likeness in the body or in the soul?
A. This likeness is chiefly in the soul.

It is a comprehensive, if not necessarily in-depth, reference to what Catholics believe, and what Catholics are supposed to do.

Wikipedia has a brief explanation plus links to the complete texts of all four versions. In this blog I use Baltimore Catechism #2.

The nuns made us memorize the damn thing, word for word, for instance, “Tonight’s homework is to memorize Catechism questions 145 through 148.”

So, when you see the Baltimore Catechism quoted in this blog, it represents actual Catholic teachings and beliefs.

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