Contents
1.1 The self-revelation of God in creation and history ￫
1.1.1 God reveals Himself as the Creator ￫
1.1.2 God reveals Himself in the history of Israel ￫
1.1.3 God reveals Himself in His Son ￫
1.1.4 God reveals Himself in the time of the church ￫
1.2.1 Content and structure of Holy Scripture ￫
1.2.2.1 The origin of the Old Testament canon ￫
1.2.2.2 The books of the Old Testament ￫
1.2.3 The later writings of the Old Testament ￫
1.2.4.1 The origin of the New Testament canon ￫
1.2.4.2 The books of the New Testament ￫
1.2.5 The significance of Holy Scripture for doctrine and faith ￫
1.2.5.1 Interpretation of Holy Scripture through the Holy Spirit ￫
1.2.5.2 Jesus Christ–the centre of Scripture ￫
1.2.5.3 Personal use of the Holy Scriptures ￫
1.3 Present-day revelations of the Holy Spirit ￫
1.4 Faith as mankind's response to the revelations of God ￫
1.4.1 Belief in God, the Father ￫
1.4.2 Belief in God, the Son ￫
2.2 The origin of the early church creeds ￫
2.2.2 The Creed of Nicaea-Constantinople ￫
2.3 The early church creeds and their significance for the New Apostolic Church ￫
2.4.1 The First Article of Faith ￫
2.4.2 The Second Article of Faith ￫
2.4.3 The Third Article of Faith ￫
2.4.4 The Fourth Article of Faith ￫
2.4.5 The Fifth Article of Faith ￫
2.4.6 The Sixth Article of Faith ￫
2.4.7 The Seventh Article of Faith ￫
2.4.8 The Eighth Article of Faith ￫
3.1.1 One God in three persons ￫
3.1.7 God, the Gracious and Righteous One ￫
3.2 God–Father, Son, and Holy Spirit ￫
3.2.1 References to the triune God in the Old Testament ￫
3.2.2 References to the triune God in the New Testament ￫
3.2.3 The development of the doctrine of the Trinity ￫
3.2.4 The unity of the three divine persons ￫
3.3.1.1 The invisible creation ￫
3.3.1.1.2 The significance of the invisible realm for the life of human beings ￫
3.3.1.2 The visible creation ￫
3.3.2 Man in the image of God ￫
3.3.4 Man as an entity consisting of body, soul, and spirit ￫
3.4.1 The only begotten Son of God ￫
3.4.3 Jesus Christ, true Man and true God ￫
3.4.4 References to Jesus Christ in the Old Testament ￫
3.4.5 Jesus Christ–the Redeemer ￫
3.4.6 Majestic titles of Jesus ￫
3.4.6.1 Messiah–Christ–Anointed One ￫
3.4.6.4 Immanuel–Servant of God–Son of David ￫
3.4.7 The ministries of Christ–King, Priest, and Prophet ￫
3.4.7. 1 Jesus Christ–the King ￫
3.4.7.2 Jesus Christ–the Priest ￫
3.4.7.3 Jesus Christ–the Prophet ￫
3.4.8 New Testament references to the person and activity of Jesus Christ ￫
3.4.8.1 The conception and birth of Jesus ￫
3.4.8.2 Jesus' baptism in the Jordan ￫
3.4.8.3 Jesus' temptation in the wilderness ￫
3.4.8.4 Jesus' teaching activity ￫
3.4.8.6 Jesus' parables and images ￫
3.4.8.8 Jesus and His Apostles ￫
3.4.9 Jesus' passion and sacrificial death ￫
3.4.9.1 Jesus institutes Holy Communion ￫
3.4.9.3 Jesus before the high council ￫
3.4.9.4 Jesus before Pilate and Herod ￫
3.4.9.5 Jesus' crucifixion and sacrificial death ￫
3.4.9.6 Old Testament references to Jesus' suffering and sacrificial death ￫
3.4.9.7 Jesus' references to His suffering and death ￫
3.4.9.8 References to Jesus' sacrificial death in the letters of the Apostles ￫
3.4.10 Jesus Christ's activity in the realm of the dead ￫
3.4.11 The resurrection of Jesus Christ ￫
3.4.11.1 The significance of Jesus Christ's resurrection for salvation ￫
3.4.11.2 The appearances of the Risen One ￫
3.4.11.3 The resurrection body of Jesus Christ ￫
3.4.12 The ascension of Jesus Christ ￫
3.4.13 Jesus Christ as the head of the church ￫
3.4.14 Jesus Christ as the head of the creation ￫
3.4.15 The promise of Jesus Christ's return ￫
3.5.1 The Holy Spirit as a divine person ￫
3.5.1.1 The Holy Spirit in unity with the Father and the Son ￫
3.5.1.2 The Holy Spirit and the incarnation of the Son of God ￫
3.5.2 The Holy Spirit as a power–the gift of the Holy Spirit ￫
3.5.3 Evidence of the Holy Spirit's activity in the time of the Old Testament ￫
3.5.3.2 The activity of the Holy Spirit in the prophets of the Old Testament ￫
3.5.4 Jesus Christ's promise to send the Holy Spirit ￫
3.5.4.1 The Helper and Comforter ￫
3.5.4.3 The power from on high ￫
3.5.5 The Holy Spirit and the church ￫
3.5.5.1 The outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost ￫
3.5.5.2 The activity of the Holy Spirit in the sacraments ￫
3.5.5.3 The activity of the Holy Spirit in the Apostle ministry ￫
4 Mankind in need of redemption ￫
4.1 Evil–the powers opposed to God ￫
4.1.1 Evil as a power opposed to God ￫
4.2.1 The consequences of the fall into sin for mankind ￫
4.2.1.2 Sinful mankind is still loved by God ￫
4.2.2 The consequences of the fall into sin for the creation ￫
4.4.1 Hope for salvation in the Old Testament ￫
4.4.2 Jesus Christ–Saviour and Mediator of Salvation ￫
4.4.3 The preparation of the bridal congregation ￫
4.5.1 Election in the Old Testament ￫
4.5.2 Election in the New Testament ￫
4.5.3 God's free election by grace ￫
4.6.1 God's blessing in the creation ￫
4.6.2 God's blessing in the old covenant ￫
4.6.3 God's blessing in the new covenant ￫
4.7 The functions of the law ￫
4.7.2 The law as a guide to righteous conduct ￫
4.7.3 The law as a guide for recognising sin ￫
5.1 Living in faith according to God's commandments ￫
5.2 God's commandments–an expression of His love ￫
5.2.2 Love for our neighbour–love for our fellow human being ￫
5.2.3 Love for our neighbour–love in the congregation ￫
5.3.1 The term "commandment" ￫
5.3.1.2 The Ten Commandments in the Old Testament ￫
5.3.1.3 The Ten Commandments in the New Testament ￫
5.3.2.1 God–Lord and Benefactor ￫
5.3.2.2 God leads out of bondage ￫
5.3.2.3 Worship and the fear of God ￫
5.3.2.4 The prohibition against worshipping other gods ￫
5.3.2.5 The prohibition of images ￫
5.3.2.6 Violations of the First Commandment ￫
5.3.3 The Second Commandment ￫
5.3.3.2 Forms of taking the name of God in vain ￫
5.3.3.3 The threat of punishment ￫
5.3.3.4 Hallowing God's name–prayer and conduct of life ￫
5.3.4.1 Reasons for the Third Commandment in Israel ￫
5.3.4.2 The Sabbath in Israel ￫
5.3.4.3 Jesus Christ and the Sabbath ￫
5.3.4.4 From Sabbath to Sunday ￫
5.3.4.5 Keeping Sunday holy–in divine service ￫
5.3.4.6 Working on Sundays–between duty and sanctification ￫
5.3.4.7 The structure of the Sunday ￫
5.3.5 The Fourth Commandment ￫
5.3.5.1 The Fourth Commandment according to the understanding of the Old Testament ￫
5.3.5.2 Jesus Christ and the Fourth Commandment ￫
5.3.5.3 The Fourth Commandment in the letters of Apostle Paul ￫
5.3.5.4 The broadening of the Fourth Commandment in Christian tradition ￫
5.3.5.5 The Fourth Commandment in modern life ￫
5.3.6.1 The prohibition against killing in the Old Testament ￫
5.3.6.2 The prohibition against killing in the New Testament ￫
5.3.6.3 The significance of the Fifth Commandment today ￫
5.3.6.4 Specific questions concerning the Fifth Commandment ￫
5.3.7.4 Holy conduct in marriage ￫
5.3.8 The Seventh Commandment ￫
5.3.8.1 Theft in general legal systems ￫
5.3.8.2 The prohibition against theft in the Old Testament ￫
5.3.8.3 The prohibition against theft in the New Testament ￫
5.3.8.4 Various forms of theft ￫
5.3.9 The Eighth Commandment ￫
5.3.9.2 Examples of false witness in the time of the Old Testament ￫
5.3.9.3 Examples of false witness in the time of the New Testament ￫
5.3.9.4 False witness today–prohibition against lying and fraud ￫
5.3.9.5 Further violations of the Eighth Commandment ￫
5.3.9.6 False and true witness in the spiritual sense ￫
5.3.10 The Ninth and Tenth Commandments ￫
5.3.10.1 Different counting methods and versions ￫
5.3.10.2 Covetousness–the cause of sin ￫
5.3.10.3 Coveting the spouse of one's neighbour ￫
6 The church of Jesus Christ ￫
6.1 Concerning the term "church" ￫
6.2.1 Old Testament references to the church of Jesus Christ ￫
6.2.2 The beginning of the church of Christ ￫
6.2.3 Images for the church of Jesus Christ in the New Testament ￫
6.2.3.6 Further images for the church ￫
6.3 The church of Jesus Christ–a mystery ￫
6.4 Belief in the one, holy, universal, and apostolic church ￫
6.4.1 Distinguishing features of the church ￫
6.4.1.2 The church is "holy" ￫
6.4.1.3 The church is "universal" ￫
6.4.1.4 The church is "apostolic" ￫
6.4.2 The manifestation of the church of Christ in history ￫
6.4.2.1 The church of Jesus Christ at the time of the early Apostles ￫
6.4.2.2 The church of Jesus Christ after the death of the early Apostles ￫
6.4.2.3 The church of Jesus Christ after the reoccupation of the Apostle ministry ￫
6.4.3 The church of Jesus Christ and ministry ￫
6.4.4 The church of Jesus Christ and the sacraments ￫
6.4.5 The church of Jesus Christ and the future ￫
6.5 The church of Jesus Christ and the churches as institutions ￫
7.2 Source of ministry in the church ￫
7.3.1 Old Testament references ￫
7.3.2 Foundation of the ministry in the New Testament ￫
7.4.1 Characteristics of the Apostle ministry ￫
7.4.2 Equipping and sending of the Apostles ￫
7.4.3 Peter–the head of the early Apostles ￫
7.4.4 New Testament references to the activity of the Apostles ￫
7.5 The development of the ministries from the Apostle ministry ￫
7.5.1 Continuity of the Apostle ministry ￫
7.5.2 Interruption in the activity of the Apostles ￫
7.5.3 The reoccupation of the Apostle ministry ￫
7.6 The ministries in the New Apostolic Church ￫
7.6.2 The function of the apostolate ￫
7.6.3 The self-conception of the Apostles ￫
7.6.4 The authority of the Apostle ministry ￫
7.6.5 The Apostles in the church of Jesus Christ ￫
7.6.6 The Chief Apostle ministry ￫
7.6.7 The District Apostle ministry ￫
7.8 The exercise of a ministry ￫
7.9.1 The priestly ministries ￫
8.1.1 Definition of the term ￫
8.1.2 The biblical basis for Holy Baptism with water ￫
8.1.2.1 Old Testament references to Holy Baptism with water ￫
8.1.2.2 Holy Baptism with water in the New Testament ￫
8.1.3 The necessity of Holy Baptism with water for salvation ￫
8.1.3.1 Holy Baptism with water as an act of God ￫
8.1.3.2 The washing away of original sin ￫
8.1.4 The proper dispensation of Holy Baptism with water ￫
8.1.5 Prerequisites for receiving Holy Baptism with water ￫
8.1.6 The effects of Holy Baptism with water ￫
8.1.7 Faith and Holy Baptism with water ￫
8.1.8 Holy Baptism with water and Holy Sealing ￫
8.1.9 Holy Baptism with water and following Christ ￫
8.1.10 Holy Baptism with water and the Apostle ministry ￫
8.2.1 Designations for the sacrament ￫
8.2.2 Old Testament references to Holy Communion ￫
8.2.3 Jesus' miracles of feeding and Holy Communion ￫
8.2.5 The institution of Holy Communion by Jesus Christ ￫
8.2.6 Holy Communion in the first epistle to the Corinthians ￫
8.2.7 The significance of bread and wine ￫
8.2.8 Holy Communion as a meal of remembrance ￫
8.2.9 Holy Communion as a meal of profession ￫
8.2.10 Holy Communion as a meal of fellowship ￫
8.2.11 Holy Communion as an eschatological meal ￫
8.2.12 The real presence of the body and blood of Christ in Holy Communion ￫
8.2.13 The real presence of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ in Holy Communion ￫
8.2.14 The relationship between forgiveness of sins and Holy Communion ￫
8.2.15 Holy Communion and the Apostle ministry ￫
8.2.16 The words of consecration in Holy Communion ￫
8.2.17 The celebration and receiving of Holy Communion ￫
8.2.18 The prerequisites for partaking in Holy Communion ￫
8.2.19 The manner in which Holy Communion is received ￫
8.2.20 The effects of Holy Communion ￫
8.2.21 Eligibility for partaking in Holy Communion ￫
8.2.22 Communion celebrations of the churches ￫
8.3.1 Concerning the term "sealing" ￫
8.3.2 The promise of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament ￫
8.3.3 Jesus' anointing with the Holy Spirit ￫
8.3.4 The outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost ￫
8.3.5 Further attestations of Holy Sealing in the New Testament ￫
8.3.6 The proper dispensation of Holy Sealing ￫
8.3.7 Prerequisites for receiving Holy Sealing ￫
10 The doctrine of future things ￫
10.1 The return of Jesus Christ ￫
10.1.1 The promise of the return of Jesus Christ ￫
10.1.2 Events associated with the return of Jesus Christ ￫
10.1.3 The bridal congregation ￫
10.2 The marriage of the Lamb ￫
11 From the history of Christianity ￫
11.1 The early Christian congregations ￫
11.2 Christianity after the death of the early Apostles ￫
11.2.1 The Church Fathers and the ecumenical councils ￫
11.2.2 Christianity–the state religion and its spread ￫
11.2.3 Aspects of Christianity in medieval Europe ￫
11.2.5 Catholicism and Protestantism in upheaval ￫
11.2.6 Christianity at the beginning of the nineteenth century ￫
11.3 The reoccupation of the Apostle ministry in the Catholic Apostolic Church ￫
11.3.1 The development of a church led by Apostles ￫
11.3.2 The calling of additional Apostles ￫
11.3.3 The continuation of the Apostle ministry in the New Apostolic Church ￫
12 Divine service, acts of blessing, and pastoral care ￫
12.1.1 General remarks concerning divine service ￫
12.1.2 Divine service in the Old Testament ￫
12.1.3 Divine service in the New Testament ￫
12.1.4 Further development of Christian divine service ￫
12.1.5 Divine service as an encounter with God ￫
12.1.5.1 The Apostles' doctrine ￫
12.1.6 Proclamation of the word ￫
12.1.6.1 Concerning the term "sermon" ￫
12.1.6.2 The proclamation of the word in the New Testament ￫
12.1.6.3 The proclamation of the word today ￫
12.1.6.3.1 Main content of the proclamation of the word ￫
12.1.6.3.2 The objective of the proclamation of the word ￫
12.1.6.3.3 Levels within the proclamation of the word ￫
12.1.7.1 The Lord's Prayer in divine service ￫
12.1.7.2.1 "Our Father in heaven" ￫
12.1.7.2.2 "Hallowed be Your name" ￫
12.1.7.2.3 "Your kingdom come" ￫
12.1.7.2.4 "Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" ￫
12.1.7.2.5 "Give us this day our daily bread" ￫
12.1.7.2.6 "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors" ￫
12.1.7.2.7 "And do not lead us into temptation" ￫
12.1.7.2.8 "But deliver us from the evil one" ￫
12.1.7.2.9 "For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever" ￫
12.1.8 Forgiveness of sins in the divine service ￫
12.1.8.1 God–the One who forgives ￫
12.1.8.2 God's patience–the sacrificial service in the Old Testament ￫
12.1.8.3 The sacrifice of Christ–foundation for the forgiveness of sins ￫
12.1.8.4 Prerequisites for obtaining forgiveness of sins ￫
12.1.8.5 Repentance and remorse ￫
12.1.8.6 Sin that is not forgiven ￫
12.1.8.7 Proclamation and authority ￫
12.1.8.8 Effects of the forgiveness of sins ￫
12.1.9 Dispensation of the sacraments in the divine service ￫
12.1.10 The closing benediction ￫
12.1.11 Acts of blessing in the sequence of the divine service ￫
12.1.12 Ordinations, appointments, reinstatements, retirements ￫
12.1.13 Divine services for the departed ￫
12.1.14 Music in the divine service ￫
12.2.2.1 Age of confirmation and prerequisites ￫
12.2.2.2 Confirmation vow and confirmation blessing ￫
12.2.3 Weddings, wedding anniversaries, and engagements ￫
12.2.3.1 The wedding blessing ￫
12.2.3.2 Blessing at wedding anniversaries ￫
12.2.3.3 Engagement blessing ￫
12.2.4 Dedication of church buildings ￫
12.4.1 Instruction of children ￫
12.4.1.1.1 Pre-Sunday School ￫
12.4.1.1.3 Religious Instruction ￫
12.4.1.1.4 Confirmation Instruction ￫
12.4.2.1 The situation of young people ￫
12.4.2.3 Offers in youth care ￫
12.4.3 The pastoral care visit￫
12.4.5 Support in death and grieving ￫
12.4.5.1 Caring for the terminally ill and dying ￫
12.4.5.2 Support for the bereaved ￫
12.5.8 Structure of divine services on religious holy days ￫
13 New Apostolic Christians and their life of faith ￫
13.1.1 Prayers in the Old Testament ￫
13.1.4 The prayer of the early Christians ￫
13.1.5 The prayer of New Apostolic Christians ￫
13.2 Willingness to offer and sacrifice ￫
13.2.1 From Old Testament sacrificial service to devoting one's life to God ￫
13.2.2 Jesus Christ–the model of willingness to sacrifice ￫
13.2.3 Willingness to offer and sacrifice based on faith, gratitude, and love ￫
13.2.4 Sacrifice and blessing ￫
13.3.1 Marriage as a divine institution ￫
13.3.2 Marriage and the wedding blessing ￫
13.3.3 Sex and family planning in marriage ￫
13.3.4 Parental responsibilities ￫
13.3.5 Responsibilities of the children ￫
13.4 Discharging one's obligations at work and in society ￫
13.5 The New Apostolic Church as part of society ￫
13.5.1 Position regarding the state ￫