Page 1
The ACNA Catechism, “To Be A Christian” – a parallel outline
1 Compiled by the Rev. Matthew Brench, December 2019
This outline compares the 2014 and 2020 editions of the Anglican Catechism, To Be A Christian,
released by the Anglican Church in North America. An “Overview of Changes” document is available
on the ACNA catechism website - http://anglicanchurch.net/?/main/catechism - but it only provides
broad references to what has changed. What follows here is a section-by-section comparison of the
two versions released.
As the official overview states, many of the questions and answers have had subtle to substantial
changes. Only occasional differences will be noted below; the Q&A equivalencies are in general
content, not precise wording.
Part One: Beginning with Christ
2014 edition 2020 edition
1 2
2 1
3 3
4 4
5 “mend your broken relationship” 5 “save yourself”
6 & 7 #7 “Why does God save you?”
8 6
9 8
10 9
11 10
12 11
13 12
14 13
15 14
16 15
17 16
18 17
Part Two: Believing in Christ
Concerning the Creeds
2014 2020
19 18
20 19
21 20
22 “acknowledge” 21 “received”
23 “acknowledge” 22 “receive and believe”
24 23
25 24
Page 2
The ACNA Catechism, “To Be A Christian” – a parallel outline
2 Compiled by the Rev. Matthew Brench, December 2019
Concerning Holy Scripture
2014 2020
26 25
27 26
28 27
29 28
30 29
31 30
32 31
33 32
34 33
35 Folded into #34 below
36 34
37 35 “What are the Apocrypha?”
“I believe in God, The Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth”
2014 2020
38 36
39 37
40 38
41 39
42 40
43 41
44 42
45 43
46 44 #45 “Did God make creation good?”
47 46
48 47
“I believe in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord”
2014 2020
49 48
50 49
51 50
52 51
53 52
Page 3
The ACNA Catechism, “To Be A Christian” – a parallel outline
3 Compiled by the Rev. Matthew Brench, December 2019
“He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary”
2014 2020
54 53 #54 “What happened at his conception?”
#55 Why is it important to say he was born?”
55 56
56 57 #58 “What do his two natures say about his ministry?”
57 59
58 60 #61 “How do his sufferings help you?”
59 62
“Was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead.”
2014 2020
60 “what dioes his crucifixion mean” 63 “what happened at…” #64 “What did he accomplish on the Cross?”
#65 “What does his death mean for you?”
61 66
62 67
63 68
“On the third he rose again; he ascended into heaven, as is seated at the right hand…”
2014 2020
64 69
65 70
66 71
67 72
68 73
69 74
70 75
Page 4
The ACNA Catechism, “To Be A Christian” – a parallel outline
4 Compiled by the Rev. Matthew Brench, December 2019
“He will come again to judge the living and the dead.”
2014 2020
71 76
72 “When should you expect…” 77 “Can we know when…”
73 “what should be your attitude…” 78 “how should you anticipate…”
74 79
75 78
76 80
77 81
78 Mostly omitted
79 “…judge yourself” 82 “…rightly live in the fear of God”
80 83
“I believe in the Holy Spirit”
2014 2020
81 84
82 85
83 86
84 “… relate to you” 87 “…strengthen you”
85 88
86 89
87 90
88 91
The Holy Catholic Church; The Communion of Saints
2014 2020
89 92
90 “New Testament” 93 “Holy Scripture”
91 94
92 95
93 96
94 97
95 98
96 99
97 100
98 101
99 102
100 “How is the communion of saints practiced?” 103 “How do you participate in…”
101 104
Page 5
The ACNA Catechism, “To Be A Christian” – a parallel outline
5 Compiled by the Rev. Matthew Brench, December 2019
Concerning the Sacraments
In the 2014 edition this section is found amidst the exposition of the Creed; in the 2020 edition this section is moved
to a position after the Creed is finished. Also note that the ordering of this section is changed in the 2020 edition:
Sacraments, those ordained by Christ, other sacraments, Baptism, Communion, Confirmation, Ordination, Marriage,
Absolution, Anointing of the Sick.
2014 2020
102 121
103 122
104 “sacraments of the Gospel” 123 “sacraments ordained by Christ”
105 Baptism 126
106 Baptism 127
107 Baptism 128
108 Baptism 129
109 Baptism 130
110 Communion 131
111 Communion 132
112 Communion 133
113 Communion 134
114 Communion 135
115 Communion 136
116 Other Sacraments 124
117 Other Sacraments 125
118 Confirmation 137
119 Confirmation 138 #139 “What is the work of all Christians?”
120 Absolution 149
121 Absolution 150 #151 “What is necessary to receive the grace…?”
122 Ordination 140
123 Ordination 141
124 Ordination 142
125 Bishops 143
126 Priests 144
127 Deacons 145
128 Marriage 146
129 Marriage 147
130 Marriage 148
131 Anointing of the Sick 152
132 Anointing of the Sick 153
Page 6
The ACNA Catechism, “To Be A Christian” – a parallel outline
6 Compiled by the Rev. Matthew Brench, December 2019
The Forgiveness of Sins
2014 2020
133 105
134 106
135 107
136 108
137 109
138 113
139 110
140 112
141 111
The Resurrection of the Body, and the Life of the world to come
2014 2020
142 114 #115 “Why will you die?”
143 Folded into later question & answers.
144 116
145 117
146 118
147 119
148 120
Part Three: Being Christ’s
Concerning Prayer
2014 2020
149 154
150 155
151 Folded into others
152 156
153 157
154 158
155 159
Page 7
The ACNA Catechism, “To Be A Christian” – a parallel outline
7 Compiled by the Rev. Matthew Brench, December 2019
The Lord’s Prayer
2014 2020
156 160
157 161
158 162
159 163
160 164
161 omitted
The Address
2014 2020
162 165
163 166
164 167
165 168
166 169
167 170
168 171
The First Petition
169 172
170 173
171 174
172 175 #176 “How does God hallow his name?”
173 177
174 Folded into #177 above
175 Folded into #177 above
The Second Petition
2014 2020
176 178
177 179
178 180
179 181
180 182
Page 8
The ACNA Catechism, “To Be A Christian” – a parallel outline
8 Compiled by the Rev. Matthew Brench, December 2019
The Third Petition
This, and certain subsequent sections, saw a level of revision that individual Q&A’s don’t correspond to one another.
In these instances, groupings of parallel Q&A’s are placed in single cells below.
2014 2020
181 183
182 God is God’s will accomplished in heaven? 183 Where can you find God’s will?
184 How is God’s will accomplished on earth? 185 What more do you seek…?
184 “What is God’s will?” 185 “What do you pray for as you seek…”
186 “How can you do…” 187 Why ‘on earth as it is in heaven’…?
The Fourth Petition
2014 2020
186 189
187 198
188 190
189 191
190 192
The Fifth Petition
2014 2020
191 193
192 194
193 195
194 196
195 197
196 198
197 Mostly omitted
198 199
199 200
200 201
The Sixth Petition
2014 2020
201 202
202 203
203 204
204 205
205 206
206 207 #208 “How does the Church help you resist?”
Page 9
The ACNA Catechism, “To Be A Christian” – a parallel outline
9 Compiled by the Rev. Matthew Brench, December 2019
The Seventh Petition
2014 2020
207 209
208 210
209 211
210 213
211 214
212 215
213 216
214 “How did God address…” 217 “How did overcome…”
215 212
216 218
217 219
218 Mostly omitted
219 220
Doxology and Amen
2014 2020
220 221
221 222
222 Mostly omitted
223 223
Page 10
The ACNA Catechism, “To Be A Christian” – a parallel outline
10 Compiled by the Rev. Matthew Brench, December 2019
Prayer
2014 2020
#224 “What is a rule of prayer?” #225 What can hinder your prayers
#226 What natures a fruitful life of prayer
224 227
225 228
226 229
227 230
228 231
229 232
230 233 #234 types of prayer in the Lord’s Prayer
#235 “What is praise?”
231 omitted
232 omitted
233 236
234 237 #238 “What is confession?”
#239 Types of prayer not included in the Lord’s Prayer
235 omitted
236 omitted
237 240 #241
238 Folded into #240 above
239 242
240 243
241 225
Liturgy
2014 2020
242 244
243 245
244 246 #247 “What is the role of Scripture in the Prayer Book?”
245 248
246 249
247 “Who observes…” 250 “How is the Daily Office observed?”
248 “Why do Anglicans…” 251 “Why do we pray the Daily Office?”
249 omitted
250 Folded into #257
Page 11
The ACNA Catechism, “To Be A Christian” – a parallel outline
11 Compiled by the Rev. Matthew Brench, December 2019
Rule of Life
2014 2020
251 252
252 253 #254 “What’s included in a Rule of Life?” #255 “Why is prayer an essential part…?”
253 Folded into the above Q&A’s
254 See #241
255 See #226
Part IV: Behaving Christianly
The Ten Commandments
2014 2020
#256 “Recite the Ten Commandments.” #257 “What are the Ten Commandments?”
#258 “What is God’s Law?”
256 Folded into other q&a’s in this section
257 259
258 Folded into #259 above
259 264
260 “What is our Lord’s understanding of…” 260 “How did Jesus summarize…” #261 “How did Jesus fulfill the Law?” #262 “How can you obey God’s Law?”
261 263
262 See last section of the catechism
263 See last section of the catechism
264 See last section of the catechism
265 See last section of the catechism, especially #365
266 See last section of the catechism, especially #366
#265 How do they help you resist evil? #266 How do they help you grow in Christ?
#267 How should you keep them?
The First Commandment
2014 2020
267 268 #269 What does it mean that the Lord is God?
268 270
269 273
270 271
271 272
Page 12
The ACNA Catechism, “To Be A Christian” – a parallel outline
12 Compiled by the Rev. Matthew Brench, December 2019
The Second Commandment
2014 2020
272 274
273 275
274 276
275 277
276 “carved images” 278 “images”
277 “carved images” 279 “images” #280 What does this teach about hope?
278 281
279 282
280 omitted
The Third Commandment
2014 2020
281 283 #284 Why is God’s name sacred?
282 285 #286 “How can you avoid…”
283 284
#287 How might you use his name profanely? #288 How might you use his name carelessly?
285 289
The Fourth Commandment
2014 2020
286 290
287 291
288 “Why should you…” 292 “How did Israel…”
289 “Where do you learn about the holiness of time?” 298 What does the Sabbath teach…
290 293
291 sabbath as God’s eternal gift to you 292 a sabbath rest remains
293 how do you celebrate this sabbath
294 promise for the future 295 how do you keep it
296 what sabbath teaches about work
294 297 #299 how it helps you grow in Christ
Page 13
The ACNA Catechism, “To Be A Christian” – a parallel outline
13 Compiled by the Rev. Matthew Brench, December 2019
The Fifth Commandment
2014 2020
295 300
296 301 #302 How should parents treat their children?
297 303
298 304 #305 What blessings result?
299 Omitted, see last section of the catechism
300 306
The Sixth Commandment
2014 2020
301 307
302 308 (and 310)
309 Why does God prohibit murder? 314 How do we understand the value of life?
303 315
304 311
305 312
306 310
307 313
308 316
The Seventh Commandment
2014 2020
309 317 #318 “What did Jesus teach about adultery?”
310 Folded into other questions
322 What is marriage?
311 323
324 Why does God forbid adultery? 325 What else did Jesus teach about…
312 what does marriage illustrate? 313 what does it mean to be faithful in…
See Marriage questions in the Sacraments section
314 326
327 How does a single person keep this? 328 Are some called to celibacy?
315 329
316 320
317 321
Page 14
The ACNA Catechism, “To Be A Christian” – a parallel outline
14 Compiled by the Rev. Matthew Brench, December 2019
The Eighth Commandment
2014 2020
318 330
319 331 What is stealing? #332 Why did God forbid stealing?
320 336
321 333
322 334
335 What did Jesus teach about stealing?
323 337
324 338
The Ninth Commandment
2014 2020
325 339
326 340
327 How Jesus suffered from false witness 328 Jesus bore true witness
329 How false witness is borne in court
341 Why does God forbid it? 342 How is it given in public life?
343 How is it given in respect to church teaching? 344 What else does this forbid?
345 What speech to practice instead
330 346
347 Must we speak the whole truth? 348 How this makes you more like Christ
The Tenth Commandment
2014 2020
331 349
332 350
351 What are you forbidden from coveting? 352 Why forbid it?
353 Why do you covet?
333 355
334 “is especially dangerous” 354 “lead to other sins”
335 “What should you do instead…?” 356 How can you keep it?
Page 15
The ACNA Catechism, “To Be A Christian” – a parallel outline
15 Compiled by the Rev. Matthew Brench, December 2019
Need for Atonement, Healing, and Joy or Justification & Sanctification
This section was publicized as being noteworthy in the 2020 edition, but it is very similar to the 2014 original.
2014 2020
336 357
337 358
338 361
339 359 #360 How does God enable you to live in his forgiveness?
340 362
341 363
342 364
343 365 #366 How does the Lord’s Supper help?
344 367
345 368
