Affirmation of Jesus as the Messiah or anointed one of Israel was central to the faith of early Christians, but the rendering of this title using the Greek word Christ or christos (rather than a translation) may prevent modern Christians from seeing how all pervasive that ascription was. This installment in commentary on the 1979 Catechism offers background and insight in the significance of understanding Jesus as the Messiah.

The 1979 Catechism’s section on the Old Covenant concludes with where this covenant is found and how to best know God’s will. This post turns to why language of the Old Testament is still appropriate for the location of the Old Covenant and why the Ten Commandments are the clearest explanation of God’s will to us.

The questions and answers in the 1979 Catechism about the Old Covenant continue with a discussion of what God has promised and what is expected of people. This post looks at the particular way of construing the Old Covenant from the Catechism makes use of a distinctly prophetic interpretation and how that connects to Jesus for Christians.

Our exploration of the Catechism comes to the third section dealing with the Old Covenant. This first entry in this section talks about the multiple covenants presented in the Old Testament as well as the different kinds of covenants represented throughout the Bible.

Turning to the second section of the Catechism, on God the Father, we look at the first two questions which deal with God as creator. This post looks at the background of Christian monotheism and why this is important for affirming the possibility of universal redemption and restoration of creation.