St. Nikolai’s Orthodox Catechism: What Is the Christian Faith?
St. Nikolai's catechism is a concise eight-chapter summary of Orthodox Christian doctrine, the sacraments, liturgical life, and moral teaching. Drawing on Scripture, Holy Tradition and the Fathers, it explains the Nicene Creed, the seven mysteries, the commandments, the church year, and sacred objects. Its aim is pastoral: to ground believers in faith and practice so parishioners can live a devout, liturgical, and sacramental Christian life.
Note: This article is an automatically generated transcript of an audio lecture. It was transcribed and lightly reworded for readability using automated tools, so it does not reproduce the speaker’s exact words. For the original, listen to the recording linked below.
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Key takeaways:
- Defines Christian faith as Christ's revealed knowledge accessible only by faith
- Catechism is organized in eight chapters covering creed, mysteries, commandments, and church life
- Baptism's three immersions signify death to sin and rising to life in the Trinity
- Chrismation arms the baptized by the Holy Spirit and requires consecrated chrism
- Consecrated icons and relics function as channels of God's healing and grace
St. Nikolai's life, preaching, and catechism
The subject here is the Orthodox Catechism, which St. Nikolai himself wrote.
He was exceedingly devoted as a preacher and a talented prophet and pedagogue. His spiritual and intellectual gifts were numerous; he wrote thousands and thousands of pages in more than thirty books and preached constantly for decades wherever he could get an audience.
From large black churches in Harlem to the Anglican and Catholic cathedrals of Europe, from his heart and mouth flowed a mighty river of life-giving words. Those words were recognized not just by Orthodox Christians but by Catholics and Protestants as well. St. Nikolai labored to build up Orthodox Christians in their faith, helping them lay a solid foundation of faith and good works upon which to erect a meaningful life of devotion to God.
In the volumes of his collected sermons and in the Prologue from Ohrid, we find him expounding on the Orthodox faith. He does so as well in his work on the Incarnation, a beautiful, extended commentary on John 1:1–18, the Gospel we read at Pascha.
He also wrote a book called The Lord's Prayer, a devout interpretation and three lessons on the Orthodox faith. But our focus is on his great catechism, what's called the Faith of the Saints, a catechism in which we discover a general overview of the entire Orthodox Christian faith that he wrote to establish Orthodox Christians solidly in a basic understanding of Holy Orthodoxy.
Let me tell you about the Catechism a little bit. It's divided into eight chapters, entitled chapter 1, The Origin and Sources of the Orthodox Faith; chapter 2, The Orthodox Christian Creed, Nicaea; chapter 3, The Seven Holy Mysteries; chapter 4, God's Ancient Law, the Ten Commandments; chapter 5, The New Law of God — the two greatest commandments, the Lord's Prayer, Christian character, the Beatitudes, and individual and social virtues; chapter 6, The Eastern Orthodox Church Year; chapter 7, On Sacred Objects; and chapter 8, A Selection from Tradition, The Sayings of the Saints, Church Hymns and Prayers for the Departed.
So let me tell you a little bit. I've picked out what I found particularly interesting in all those chapters.
The mystery of Christianity
Let me start with the introduction. The mystery of Christianity, he says. He begins the Catechism with this question. "What is the Christian faith?" And he answers this way. "The Christian faith is Christ's knowledge of the most important mysteries of being and life. Knowledge which men can accept only by believing Him and will never be able to get by their own efforts." That's his definition of the Christian faith.
Christ's knowledge of the most important, that means having the mind of Christ, of the most important mysteries of being and life, knowledge which men can accept only by believing Him, only through faith, and will never be able to get by their own efforts.
Most parishioners at this parish are familiar with this kind of language because His Grace Bishop Irenei, who is our bishop in London and who has taught here at St. Andrew quite regularly since 2012 — I think the first time I brought him here — always begins his lectures with this sentence: the Christian life is a mystery. This is how he always starts: the Christian life is a mystery.
Here, in Bishop Irenei's words and in St. Nikolai's first word in the Catechism, we see that the Christian faith is not moralism; it's not about being a good person. I really grind my teeth when I hear that kind of language. It's not about moralism, it's not being a good person, or primarily an intellectual endeavor.
The Christian faith is entering into a mystery of being and living. And the door into that mystery, he says, is faith in Jesus — believing Him — without which there is no access.
The mysteries elucidated by St. Nikolai include the invisible world, the dwelling place of God Himself, angels and the human soul, the world's creation and destiny, God's providence, man's sin and salvation through the incarnation of God, the kingdom of heaven as the aim of man's life, the resurrection of the dead, the last judgment, and eternal life.
All of those are mysteries. None of them are discovered by human logic, but are revealed. The saint posits this question in the Catechism: did not some other religious teachers and thinkers and philosophers try to elucidate those mysteries? And this is how he answers it: indeed, many did try. If you know anything about St. Nikolai, he spent the early years of his life reading very broadly in non-Christian sources. He is particularly schooled in Indian, meaning country of India, mystical literature.
But they only tried with all their limited human powers, by intense thinking and by hard study of the world and human nature. Yet all their efforts resulted in diverse theories and guesses, which were contradictory to each other. The Christian faith is not discovered by studying human history and the world, but by entering into a mystery. It's revealed from God.
The saint then asks, what then does the superiority of Christ's knowledge over theirs consist in? And he answers it this way: in Christ's authority as an eyewitness. He testified, he being Christ, he testified, "I speak that which I have seen." And again, "no man has ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man who is in heaven." To the religious teachers of his time, he said, "you are from beneath, I am from above. You are of this world, I am not of this world." To a master teacher of Israel, he spoke these words, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, we speak that which we know, and testify to that which we have seen." And again, he writes, "I am the living bread which came down from heaven."
And many such things he spoke with the authority of an eyewitness of all the mysteries of heaven and earth, so much so that the people were astonished at his teaching, for, "never did a man speak like this man."
St. Nikolai continues: the Christian faith should not be compared with other religions. And strictly speaking, it ought not to be called a religion at all in the pagan meaning of the word, for it is not a religion among religions, but it is the faith in Christ and Christ's revelation. It is God's personal, unique, and final revelation to men for the sake of men's enlightenment and salvation. Another revelation of God shall not be given, and another Messiah besides Jesus Christ should not be expected to the end of the world.
You see his radical Christocentricity in his life. Christ is everything to him personally and pedagogically. He writes, "There is a modern tendency to put the Christian faith on a level with other religions." He said this in 1950. "We should fight against such a tendency by our profound knowledge of our own Orthodox faith, by practicing it in daily life and sticking to it, and second, by charitable and wise efforts, never by force, to lift up the peoples of lower and even the lowest beliefs to the height of our perfect faith."
Chapter 1: origin and sources of the faith
This is how he introduces the Christian faith at the beginning of his Catechism. Chapter 1 is devoted to the origin and sources of the Orthodox faith. In this chapter of the Catechism, St. Nikolai describes both the content of Holy Scripture and the content of Holy Tradition, and he gives a short introduction to each of the books of the Old and New Testament.
He calls the Psalter the greatest prayer book in the whole Bible. He defines the word gospel. He describes what comprises tradition: the creed, the mysteries, canons, conciliar decrees and teachings, liturgies and other church services, teachings of the Holy Fathers, lives of the saints and martyrs, and all pious usages and signs and symbols that express our faith, hope and love.
That's chapter 1 on the origin and sources of the faith.
The Creed, article by article
Chapter 2 is the creed on the creed, what we call in the Church the symbol of faith. The symbol of faith, the Nicene Creed, is a condensed expression of the Christian faith, which he explains in a typical pedagogical style under 12 articles. I'm going to mention only a few of the interesting affirmations.
In the third article, which is on the incarnation of Christ, he posits this question: "What have all other men to do with Adam's sin?" And he answers, "They all inherited that sin from their first sinful ancestors, just as we may inherit some disease from our parents. Even so, we inherited the sin from the first progenitors of mankind."
In the fourth article of the creed on Jesus's crucifixion and death, he poses this question: "Who could the eternal justice of God allow that Jesus should die?" I should say why: why would the eternal justice of God allow that Jesus should die a cruel death, being wholly innocent? He answers the question: "He died for no sin of his own, but for our sins. The eternal justice of God required such an innocent and priceless sacrifice for Adam's sin and ours."
I chose those two questions and their answers because there is a lot in contemporary Orthodox apologetics that is instinctively, in a hyper way, reflexively anti-Western. If Catholics and Protestants have made an aspect of the faith central — for instance, detailed conversations about the relevance of the justice of God as the foundation for Jesus's crucifixion as a means of saving us — some contemporary Orthodox don't want to talk about the justice of God at all. It's an instinctive overreaction.
I'm quoting him here because notice that St. Nikolai has no problem talking about the justice of God in relationship to his own soteriology and what Jesus did on the cross for us. He says, "The eternal justice of God required such an innocent and priceless sacrifice for Adam's sin and for ours." We ought not be allergic to certain theological concepts as though they're Western impositions when our own saints talk this way, unless we think we know better. We should be careful of the pendulum swing and the zeal of converts to discover orthodoxy and overreact to Western notions.
On the fifth article of the Creed, which is on the resurrection, he poses this question: "What did Christ do in hell when he descended there?" This is the first thing he says, "By his presence, he made Satan tremble." I love that. "The one who made all human beings tremble, the one who tortured us, first thing he does is make him tremble, makes him shake in his satanic knees. He made Satan tremble and flee before his countenance. Myriads of human souls, however, which were languishing there, rejoiced at his coming. He preached his victory over Satan and death, and as many as joyfully adhered to him were liberated."
On the eighth article of the Creed, on the Holy Spirit, he poses this question: "Why did God not reveal himself clearly as the Holy Trinity in the Old Testament?" And he answers this way: "Just as a man does not reveal his innermost secrets to servants and strangers but to his children, even so God did not reveal the mystery of his being to a people of strangers who were the servants and slaves of the law, but reserved this revelation for his children of love in the New Testament."
He continues, "How has the Holy Trinity been revealed in the New Testament?" and answers, "Just as clearly as men could bear while being in their own bodies. The archangel Gabriel announced to the Holy Virgin, 'The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee. Therefore, that Holy One which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.' Thus, all three are mentioned in Luke 1.35, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Father, and the Holy Son."
Again: "When Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River, the heaven opened and the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came down from heaven which said, 'Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I am well pleased.'" Father, Son, and Holy Spirit at the Jordan. And again, St. John the Evangelist distinctly says, "There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one," 1 John 5.7.
And again, the Lord Jesus gave order to his disciples, "Go into all the world and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit," the Trinity in the baptismal formula.
In the ninth article of the Creed on the Church, he poses this question: "What is the Church?" And he answers, "An exceptional community in human history, for it is God's family, created by the Word and Blood of Jesus Christ, and guided and vivified by God the Holy Spirit."
He then asks, "In what does the Church differ from all other secular communities and organizations concerning membership?" And he answers, "The dead are also counted as members of the Church," which is not the case in any secular community.
Another question: "Are all the independent Orthodox churches equal?" The answer: "They are all equal among themselves. Therefore, they call themselves sister churches." Yet the Balkan nations — of course he's from Serbia — and the Russians called the Church of Constantinople the Mother Church, because they received Christianity from Constantinople.
Question: "Why is the Church called holy?" And he answers, "Because she was made holy by the holiness of her founder, Jesus Christ, by his holy words, by his holy deeds, by his holy sacrifice, and because of the holy mysteries. Also, because her aim is to make men holy. And finally, because she has produced and is still producing a great number of saints and a host of martyrs." That's an incredible word right there on the mystery of the Church and what she accomplishes.
On the 11th article of the Creed, which is on the resurrection of the dead, St. Nikolai asks this question: "Why shouldn't the souls of the righteous, after departing from this life, enjoy right away the final bliss in the kingdom of heaven?" He answers, "Because they are awaiting the rest of us. The memory of whom they have lost and for whom they are in anxiety, making constant intercession." Isn't that something? Are the souls of the saints and the faithful departed in this life in paradise and in bliss? Yes, but also not in the final form.
He uses language I doubt many of you would have used. If someone asked you, what's the condition of the saints in heaven, would you have answered, 'in anxiety for us'? That is exactly taken from the Apocalypse, chapter 6, verses 9-11: the souls under the altar, the martyrs, crying out day and night for us. 'How long, O Lord, holy and true, will you continue to allow this persecution to continue?' 'The blood of thy saints on the earth.' No, they haven't been glorified finally because they're waiting for us. It's going to happen together.
On the twelfth and last article of the Creed, which is on the life of the age to come, St. Nikolai poses this question: "Why should not God, in his infinite mercy, save the stubborn sinners, evildoers, and atheists? Why should God not save everyone?" He answers, "Because they don't want to be saved." What a simple, beautiful answer. They reject God's call. They despise Christ's cross.
They trample underfoot God's law. They persecute the church, insult the priests and the faithful. In a word, they take the side of Satan against God, and they never repent. In St. Paul's words in 2 Thessalonians, they 'believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.'
He poses another question: "Can sinners repent after death?" And he answers, "No, for only in this world are men able to choose either to be the willing servants of Christ or of Satan. After death, everyone will join his master, whom he chose and followed in this life. The Lord Jesus said of his servants, 'Where I am, there also my servants will be.'" It's a beautiful word. John 12, 26.
All of that is on chapter 2 from the Creed. Really beautiful commentary on the Creed.
The seven holy mysteries
Chapter 3 is dedicated to the seven holy mysteries. I have a few words to read to you from that. He posits this question: "What is the meaning of the thrice repeated immersion and emersion of the person baptized? Why do we baptize according to the apostolic paradigm of three immersions and emersions? Three times up and down."
And he answers, "Three immersions mean death to the sins against the Holy Trinity. And three risings or emersions mean life in the Holy Trinity."
He then posits this question: "What is holy chrismation?" And he answers, "It is a divine mystery through which a baptized person is armed."
I must stop right there before I go on any further. I love that image of being armed. Chrismation is a divine mystery through which a baptized person is armed by the Holy Spirit with strength and wisdom to keep the right faith and to live a holy life. Baptism with water means purification. Chrismation means sanctification by the Holy Spirit. Beautiful word about the power of chrismation.
Then he posits this question: "Does a priest perform holy chrismation?" He says this, of course, because where he was writing, surrounded by many Catholic countries, this is the action only of a bishop. Bishops confirm and anoint with chrism in the Latin West traditionally and not priests. His answer is: "Yes, but not without the bishop's part in it. The bishops prepare and consecrate the chrism without which a priest cannot perform chrismation."
Priests can make holy water, but they can't make holy chrism. They have to receive the holy chrism from the bishop, which is his stamp on their using it to seal people with this mystery after baptism.
He asks: How should we receive Holy Communion? How often should we receive Holy Communion? His answer: "At least four times a year during the four fasts, but it's recommended to receive it frequently, depending on a communicant's preparedness and always in times of sickness." Beautiful word.
At least during the fasts we confess, focus on repenting, and do good. The fasts climax with the liturgies at the end of each fast, during which we should communicate. He says we should receive frequently, but that is up to the person's zeal and preparedness in keeping themselves at a high level.
On the mystery of holy matrimony he asks, "Did the New Testament bring any change concerning the bearing of children?" I found this question and answer fascinating. "Yes, the bearing of children in the pre-Christian marriage aimed to replenish the earth, whereas the Christian marriage has for its aim to replenish Christ's church on earth and in heaven, and finally to replenish paradise." I love that. Super beautiful.
This comment points out that the bearing and raising of children is a key means to advance the cause of making disciples of the nations. Sometimes we think that means only evangelizing those from the outside. St. Ambrose of Milan says that there are two ways for the church to prosper and to fill the earth with the faith of Christ. One is to preach the gospel and catechize unbelievers or pagans and bring them into the church, and the second is for Christian families to have children and to raise their children in the love of God. He said of the two, the latter is more effective. That's St. Ambrose of Milan.
Because you have 18 years to teach discipleship or not. It's also revelatory if we don't teach discipleship. If our kids live with us for 18 years and never learn how to love God, maybe we have some repenting to do. That was chapter 3 on the Holy Mysteries.
The Ten Commandments
Chapter 4 is on God's ancient law, the Ten Commandments. He says there are three laws of God: the most ancient, the ancient, and the new or ultimate. The most ancient law of God was unwritten; it was impressed in human hearts and consciences.
God issued a written law through Moses about fifteen centuries before Christ. This written law we call God's ancient law. Neither of these two laws could have saved mankind from the three chief evils—Satan, sin, and death. They were only preparatory laws for the new and ultimate law of God given by our Lord Jesus Christ.
On the second commandment he poses a question I thought was interesting: "When we kiss an icon, what do we kiss?" He answers, "With our lips, we kiss the picture of the saint. But with our minds and our hearts, we kiss the very saint as a living and holy person in the heavenly church." It's personal. It's personal.
On the third commandment he writes, "What are we forbidden by this commandment of God not to use his name in vain? Why are we forbidden?" He says, "We are forbidden to use bad and disgraceful language while speaking of God. To use God's name to confirm our stories of no importance. 'Oh, I swear to God, I swear to God,' we don't do that. Or even lies sometimes. We're forbidden to use slandering language, blasphemy and cursing, or to break a vow given to God with an oath."
He then asks, "How ought we to use the name of God?" and answers, "Rarely, except in worship and always with great reverence. For it is the most holy name by which demons are frightened, persons and things blessed, diseases cured, and the lips pronouncing it sanctified." That's how precious the name of Jesus is.
I thank God I learned this as an Orthodox Christian and learned to combat blasphemy. When you hear it, it's good to make your cross and say, 'Great is the name of Jesus Christ.' I tried to teach my kids that as they were growing up, wherever we were, and I did it by modeling it. If we were in a movie and someone blasphemed, I would say out loud, 'Great is the name of Jesus Christ,' and I'd make my cross.
If we don't respond that way to the casual, insulting use of our Savior's sweet name—the name that is the sweetest in all human existence—if we are callous toward it, we must not love it. We must not love and cherish his name. But we who say his name all the time and call upon him in prayer, 'Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me,' must guard it. We have to be careful with it. At least when you hear it used poorly, make your cross and say, 'Great or sweet is the name of Jesus Christ.' It's a beautiful response, I think, to that kind of blasphemy.
On the fourth commandment, about how to keep Sunday as a holy day, he answers by rejoicing in Christ's victory over death. The number one thing to do on Sunday to honor the Lord's Day is to rejoice in his holy resurrection. This is why we never kneel and prostrate on Sundays, because we're celebrating the resurrection every single Sunday.
That's why it's called Kyriaki, the day of the Lord, the day of his resurrection. By rejoicing in Christ's victory over death, by abstaining from our usual weekday work, by praying at home and in the church, and by reading the Bible and other spiritual books, he gives the concept found in so many of the fathers that Sunday is the market day of the soul, not of the body. The market day of the soul.
Sunday is also a time for reviewing our deeds and thoughts during the past six weekdays, for offering hospitality and giving alms, and for resting and inwardly praising God, the Holy Virgin, the angels, and the saints. What a prescription for how to use your Sundays.
On the fifth commandment he poses the question, "How ought we to honor our parents?" and answers, "We ought to respect them, to obey their counsels, to heed their experiences, to be thankful for them and love them as they love us, to support them in their old age, and after their death, to remember them in prayer and to do charitable acts in their memory." What a beautiful thing. That last part is particularly Orthodox: we remember our parents and do charitable acts in their memory, for them, in their name.
My mom's two-year memorial is this Saturday. We're at my house preparing right now, making the koliva for her and thinking what good things we can do in her name.
On the sixth commandment he asks, "How are we to think of killing in war?" Remember, this is the man who lived through World War I and World War II. He says, "There are different kinds of war. In the Old Testament, a war is often spoken of as God's war. By this is meant a war for justice, as against flagrant injustices. In such a war, it is justifiable to kill and it is meritorious to be killed." Fascinating text.
The new law, church year, and sacred objects
Chapter five is on the new law of God, the two great commandments, prayer, the Lord's Prayer, beatitudes, and individual and social virtues.
In chapter six he devotes the chapter to the Eastern Orthodox Church year, including feast days, fast days, and seasons, and especially to commemoration and memorial days. These are the days on which we remember the departed, all the what we call soul Saturdays of the year, especially the soul Saturday before the great judgment and just before the beginning of Lent.
He also ends by chapter seven, speaking about the sacred objects, the cross, the sign of the cross, icons and relics. I'll just make this last quote from him, from that chapter. The question is, "Are icons no more than a pictorial representation of Christ and his saints, and no more than a token of our venerating them?" And then he answers this: "They are much more than that. Consecrated icons are channels of God's powerful grace, healing, restoration, enlightenment, encouragement, and warning."
The Lord God so loves his faithful saints and martyrs as the inner circles of his family, that he gives power even to their images when venerated and also to their names when invoked.
St. Nikolai’s Orthodox Catechism is a beautiful summary of the faith, and it would be excellent for catechumens today to read through.
