Lesson 1 Introduction to the Catechism and the Ten Commandments Questions 1-18

A. Carefully read and think about Questions 1-18 in the Small Catechism

B. Write down at least 5 Important Things that you discovered in your reading

C. Agree-Disagree Questions: Read and think about each of the following Agree-Disagree statements. Answer each statement and write a brief reason to support the answer you gave.

___ 1. The Christian religion is primarily a system of belief that teaches people what they must do to achieve their salvation and receive eternal life as their reward from God.

___ 2. We learn about Christianity from the Bible, which is the collection of 66 sacred books that God directed his chosen human writers to record His words.

___ 3. The Bible has two major parts: the first is the 39 books of the Old Testament originally written in the Hebrew and Aramaic languages; the second is the 27 books of the New Testament originally written in the Greek language.

___ 4. When we say that the Bible is “inspired” we mean that God moved the human writers to record every thought and word that He wanted people to know about His will.

____ 5. When we describe the Bible as “inerrant” we mean that the Bible is incorrect and not trustworthy in a number of its teachings.

___ 6. When we describe the Bible as “sufficient” we mean that in the Bible God tells us everything we could possibly want to know about Him and His will.

___ 7. In order to properly understand the Bible, we must use our minds to grasp what it says and we depend on God the Holy Spirit to accept its teachings.

___ 8. It is alright for people to reject a certain teaching of the Bible if that teaching does not seem reasonable or make sense to them.

___ 9. The two main teachings God gives us in the Bible are the Law and the Gospel.

___ 10. One of the major differences between the Law and the Gospel if that in the Law God gives us commands to obey and in the Gospel God gives us gifts to receive.

___ 11. The Small Catechism is a book of religious instruction written by Doctor Martin Luther and based entirely on the Bible’s teachings.

___ 12. In the Small Catechism, ten major parts of the Bible’s teachings are summarized.

___ 13. God has given us His moral Law in two ways. He has written it in people’s hearts and He has also written it in the Bible.

___ 14. In the 1st of the 10 Commandments, God teaches us to love Him with our whole being.

___ 15. In the 4th through the 10th Commandments, God teaches us to love ourselves and to not be overly concerned about others.

D. Reflection Questions

Identify two benefits of having a clear, orderly, written summary of the Bible’s teachings such as we find in the Small Catechism.
In your opinion, why it is important that God reveals Himself and His will to people through the medium of the Bible?
What things do God’s commands that the people He created live lives of love toward Him and toward other people tell us about the kind of God that He is?

←Previous