The Baltimore Catechism Study Course
Lesson 1 — On the End of Man
Lesson 1 · Questions 1–12
Here, “end” means purpose or ultimate goal; “man” refers to humanity. Read the original lesson, follow the sources, and take time to reflect.
01 · Read
The original lesson
Original questions and answers, unchanged. Open this passage in our full source archive →
Who made the world?
God made the world.
Who is God?
God is the Creator of heaven and earth, and of all things.
What is man?
Man is a creature composed of body and soul, and made to the image and likeness of God.
Is this likeness in the body or in the soul?
This likeness is chiefly in the soul.
How is the soul like to God?
The soul is like God because it is a spirit that will never die, and has understanding and free will.
Why did God make you?
God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in the next.
Of which must we take more care, our soul or our body?
We must take more care of our soul than of our body.
Why must we take more care of our soul than of our body?
We must take more care of our soul than of our body, because in losing our soul we lose God and everlasting happiness.
What must we do to save our souls?
To save our souls we must worship God by faith, hope, and charity; that is, we must believe in Him, hope in Him, and love Him with all our heart.
How shall we know the things which we are to believe?
We shall know the things which we are to believe from the Catholic Church, through which God speaks to us.
Where shall we find the chief truths which the Church teaches?
We shall find the chief truths which the Church teaches in the Apostles' Creed.
Say the Apostles' Creed.
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified; died, and was buried. He descended into hell: the third day He arose again from the dead: He ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
Help with historical wording
“Creature” means a created being. “Holy Ghost” means Holy Spirit; “sitteth” means sits; “from thence” means from there.
For questions 4 and 7–8, read CCC 362–366, especially paragraph 364 on bodily dignity. For the Creed’s “He descended into hell,” read CCC 632–635, especially paragraph 633 on the abode of the dead.
02 · Go to the sources
Companion readings
Choose a reading to explore a question more deeply. These selections accompany the lesson; they are not part of its original text.
Augustine · Confessions
Book I, opening paragraph · E. B. Pusey translation · Alongside question 6
Great art Thou, O Lord, and greatly to be praised; great is Thy power, and Thy wisdom infinite. And Thee would man praise; man, but a particle of Thy creation; man, that bears about him his mortality, the witness of his sin, the witness that Thou resistest the proud: yet would man praise Thee; he, but a particle of Thy creation. Thou awakest us to delight in Thy praise; for Thou madest us for Thyself, and our heart is restless, until it repose in Thee.Read the complete selected passage in our source archive →
Catechism of the Catholic Church
These original explanations connect the lesson to precise paragraphs in the current Catechism. Vatican content is cited externally rather than reproduced because republication permission has not been established.
Body and soul · Questions 3–5 and 7–8
Catholic teaching describes the human person as a unity of body and spiritual soul. The body shares in the dignity of the person; it is not disposable packaging. The soul is created by God and does not cease to exist at bodily death. These distinctions explain why the lesson speaks both of bodily life and of an immortal soul.
Authoritative external reference: CCC 362–366 · Holy See ↗The desire for God · Question 6
The Catechism connects the desire for God with humanity's origin and purpose: people are created by God and for communion with God. Question 6 asks about that ultimate purpose. Seeking truth, praying, and learning to love are ways to respond to this vocation.
Authoritative external reference: CCC 27 · Holy See ↗Faith, hope, and charity · Question 9
Faith, hope, and charity orient Christian life toward God. Faith receives what God reveals; hope trusts Christ's promises and the help of grace; charity loves God and neighbor. They belong together: believing is meant to shape action, and hope draws strength from God's help rather than self-sufficiency.
Authoritative external reference: CCC 1813–1817 and 1822 · Holy See ↗Transmission and interpretation of faith · Question 10
The faith entrusted to the apostles is received by the whole Church. The Magisterium has the task of authentically interpreting Scripture and Tradition, while serving the word of God. This helps explain question 10's reference to the Church's teaching role without treating that role as authority to invent a different Gospel.
Authoritative external reference: CCC 84–86 · Holy See ↗The Apostles’ Creed · Questions 11–12
A creed gathers the central beliefs of the Church into a shared profession of faith. The Apostles' Creed is associated with the baptismal faith of the Roman Church. Learning it is a way to understand the faith into which Christians are baptized, as well as to recognize the structure of the lesson's final answer.
Authoritative external reference: CCC 194–197 · Holy See ↗Christ’s descent to the dead · Question 12
The Creed's reference to Christ descending into hell means that he truly entered the realm of the dead as Savior before his Resurrection. In this context, hell refers to the abode of the dead. The Catechism distinguishes this from freeing the damned or abolishing the state of damnation.
Authoritative external reference: CCC 632–635 · Holy See ↗
Scriptural foundations
Read the full selections below in the public-domain King James Version. USCCB links are comparison references only because its modern Bible translation requires permission for digital republication.
Genesis 1:1–31 · KJV
Creation and God’s image · Questions 1–4
1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. 6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. 7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. 8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. 9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. 10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good. 11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 13 And the evening and the morning were the third day. 14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: 15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. 16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. 17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, 18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. 19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day. 20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. 21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. 23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day. 24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. 25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. 29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. 30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. 31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
Read the full chapter in our library →Matthew 22:34–40 · KJV
Love of God and neighbor · Questions 6 and 9
34 But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. 35 Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, 36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Read the full chapter in our library →1 Corinthians 13:1–13 · KJV
Faith, hope, and love · Question 9
1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. 4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, 5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; 6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; 7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. 8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. 9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. 10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. 11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. 13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
Read the full chapter in our library →Matthew 28:16–20 · KJV
The disciples’ commission · Question 10
16 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. 17 And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Read the full chapter in our library →
Further reading in Baltimore No. 2
- Lesson 10 · Questions 103–111 · Read full text here →
Grace and the divine virtues · Alongside question 9
- Lesson 8 · Questions 85–87 · Read full text here →
Christ’s descent · Alongside question 12
03 · Recall
Review the original questions
Try answering before revealing the source text. There is no score or passing threshold.
3. What is man?
Show answer to question 3
Man is a creature composed of body and soul, and made to the image and likeness of God.
6. Why did God make you?
Show answer to question 6
God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in the next.
9. What must we do to save our souls?
Show answer to question 9
To save our souls we must worship God by faith, hope, and charity; that is, we must believe in Him, hope in Him, and love Him with all our heart.
11. Where shall we find the chief truths which the Church teaches?
Show answer to question 11
We shall find the chief truths which the Church teaches in the Apostles' Creed.
04 · Pray
The Apostles’ Creed
Original text from question 12
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified; died, and was buried. He descended into hell: the third day He arose again from the dead: He ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
If you are exploring Catholic belief and are not ready to profess it, you may read attentively and note your questions.
05 · Continue
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God and his perfections: original readings, study notes, and Scripture.
Sources and editorial details
The historical text was compared with the Gutenberg electronic transcription. This prototype and its reading selections have not received theological review or ecclesiastical approval. Reading aids and selections were prepared with AI assistance.
Read the complete Baltimore source archive · Check the external reference edition ↗ · Sources and approach
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Transcription license
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