Basic Facts Every Christian Should Know
One of our young people and his friend from another church interviewed a number of pastors in the Kokomo (IN) area. To their surprise, a number of them could not recite the Ten Commandments.
Another one of our young people participated in an after-school Christian ministry where the leader asked if anyone could recite the Ten Commandments. She was the only one who could do so (the leader was surprised, because on other occasions, no one was able to perform that feat). You would think the leader would have changed his lesson plan and taught the kids the commandments then and there (I wonder if he knew them), but his question was merely a jumping point for a lesson about the loss of absolute truth.
We live in a day and age where speakers complain about believers not knowing the basic facts, yet these leaders do nothing to remedy the problem. Complaining about the problem, or revealing it, is not enough: we should, instead, fix the problem. And we should not move on until we have done so.
In the past, I’ve taught the Ten Commandments and Persons of the Trinity during our morning service, conducted a combined Sunday school for grades 1-8 to teach these basics and more, and offered similar material during our Sunday evening service. I have taught much of this material during AWANA or, in recent years, to our summer youth group.
As I was studying 2 Peter (1:12-13) in preparation for one of my sermons, I realized that I had not properly “reinforced” these teachings in recent years. Peter wrote:
Therefore, I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them, and have been established in the truth which is present with you. I consider it right, as long as I am in this earthly dwelling, to stir you up by way of reminder.
All Christians need to know and review the basic “facts.” Most of us agree that, by and large, learning concepts is better than mere memorization of information. But not always. Rote memory has gotten a bum wrap: Learning by rote is an excellent way to lay a foundation—especially if you contemplate what you have learned!
I do not want to place the bar too high; instead, I will list what I consider the bare essentials for every Christian to know by rote—basic Christian facts that correspond to learning multiplication tables in math. You might use this information as a list for your own personal achievement, and for instructing your children at home, teaching Sunday school or other classes for children, teens, and yes—adults!
The temptation is to get too deep in analyzing these very important subjects. A superficial rote memorization, though, lays a foundation that can be expanded upon later. Detail-constrained people and the TMI crowd are not the best at teaching these basics!
1. The order of the books of the Bible
Like learning the alphabet before reading, knowing the order of the books of the Bible is foundational to deep Bible study. If you are fortunate enough to have children who have been taught the New Testament and the Old Testament songs, you have an “easy way” to learn the arrangement. Breaking the task into manageable “chunks” is helpful.
Let’s begin with the New Testament. You want to be able to think through the order, so here is a list you might use.
New Testament
- The Historical Books (Matthew-Acts)
- Paul’s Epistles (Romans-Philemon)
- Hebrews
- General Epistles (James-Jude)
- Revelation (Remember, it is not Revelations.)
The list of Paul’s epistles can be the most difficult. Remember, all the “T’s” are together (1 & 2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus); an acrostic for Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians is “Gentiles Eat Pork Chops.”
Learn each section before moving on to the next. Always review from the beginning. (“Matthew, Mark….”)
Old Testament
We again have some useful divisions
- The Torah (Genesis-Deuteronomy)
- The Historical Books (Joshua-Esther)
- The Poetical Books (Job-Song of Solomon)
- The Major Prophets (Isaiah-Daniel; note that Lamentations is an appendix to the book of Jeremiah.)
- The Twelve Minor Prophets (Hosea-Malachi)
You can create an acrostic for the twelve Minor Prophets, or you might compromise and look them up in the index if you cannot seem to conquer this challenge. If you know the order of the Old Testament books except for the Minor Prophets, you can get by. Here is an acrostic I use:
Howard Johnson Ate Olives (Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah)
January May Need Heat (Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk)
Zoos Have Zebra Mammals (Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi).
The book most people cannot locate is Nahum. Odds are if you can locate Nahum without consulting an index, you know your Bible order!
2. The Ten Commandments
These are found in Exodus 20, but they are not numbered. I reduce them down to bare bones paraphrases for easy memory. I am more concerned that people still know their commandments at age seventy-three than I am about perfection of wording at age twelve. The secret is to think through them in three sections:
Four commands relating to God:
- No other gods
- No images
- Do not misuse God’s name.
- Remember the Sabbath Day.
Then the authority we recognize first in life, our parents:
- Honor your parents
Then we think of five sins, from worst to least:
- Do not murder.
- Do not commit adultery.
- Do not steal.
- Do not lie.
- Do not covet.
Thinking through the commandments really helps. When explaining meanings to children, they will often ask about adultery. A kid-friendly way to explain this is, “If you are married, do not look for anybody else.” With coveting, I’ll explain it is wanting something too much—so much that you make yourself unhappy or you are willing to do something wrong to get it.
3. The Three Points of the Gospel
These are derived from I Corinthians 15:1-6. When memorizing this, I encourage folks to emphasize, “for our sins.” The fact that Christ died is history, but the fact that He died for our sins is theology and salvation!
- Christ died for our sins.
- He was buried.
- He rose again on the third day.
4. The Three Points of the Great Commission
These are derived from Matthew 28:19-20. I summarize “teaching all things” as “discipleship.” The points, then, are these:
- Evangelism
- Baptism
- Discipleship
5. The storyline of the major events in the entire Bible
These include Creation, the Fall, the Flood, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Judges, King David, Solomon, divided kingdom, Babylonian Captivity, return to Jerusalem under Ezra, birth of John the Baptist, life of Jesus, Pentecost, inclusion of the Gentiles. The best way to get this is by reading through the Bible. Attending Sunday school and attentiveness during sermons over the years helps to refresh these, too. Children’s story Bibles help rehearse the main narratives.
6. Persons Who make up the one Triune God
- Father
- Son
- Holy Spirit
Please do not teach “God, Jesus, and Holy Spirit” as the Trinity. This is not quite accurate. By calling only the Father “God,” you are implying that the Son and Spirit are something less than God. By naming Jesus as part of the Trinity, you are including His human nature, which had a beginning (remember, God has been triune eternally). God the Son has always existed, but the human nature of Jesus began in Mary’s womb.
7. The importance of the nation of Israel
This is a topic of controversy. Although all Christians would acknowledge the importance of Israel in the past (the nation producing the Messiah, the Bible, and the Apostles), most of Christendom believes that God is done with Israel forever. We disagree and assert that this is an important issue.
At present the existence of the nation of Israel is an indication of God’s faithfulness and thus an evidence of the truth of the Bible. The only thing that makes sense of Israel’s existence is God’s end-time plans for Israel (her future conversion and exaltation during the Kingdom Age). See Romans 11.
(Note: I recognize that many SI readers do not believe in an exalted Israel in the future. Please feel free to nix this one if your views differ from mine.)
8. The Solas
These are the five Biblical “alones” reclaimed during the Reformation. I prefer to condense them to two statements:
Scripture Alone. We are not saying that the Bible is the only authority, but rather, the Bible is the only infallible and thus the final authority. (Other authorities—like governments, parents, or church leaders—are fallible but to generally be respected; clear Scripture, however, can trump these authorities.)
Salvation by God’s grace alone through Christ alone by faith alone to God’s glory alone.
9. Minimal verses every Christians should understand and have memorized
John 3:16, I John 1:9 and the “Romans Road” verses (Romans 3:10, 3:23, 5:8, 6:23 and 10:9). It might be good to also include Ephesians 2:8-9.
John 3:16 is a simple salvation verse. I John 1:9 is a verse every Christian needs to know—confessing our sins to God and dealing with guilt is an important part of a godly walk. The Romans Road verses can be used for personal assurance but are especially well suited to lead someone to faith in Christ. The Ephesians verses are, in a sense, a clarification of what Romans 6:23 means—salvation is a gift. A gift really is a gift!
We are never done learning as Christians, so please do not stop with the above! This is meant to be a starting point, not an ending one. Just as we learn our multiplication tables and then move on to division, fractions, and decimals, so the basic Christian “facts” are a foundation upon which to build.
For SI readers, an addendum: Those of us in leadership (whether lay leaders or clergy) must repeatedly re-lay this foundation. We should never assume our folks have this foundation. I would challenge skeptics (optimists who believe their people know all these facts) to give an anonymous test to their Sunday school class, youth group—or attenders at a morning service. But be prepared for disappointment! I believe the overwhelming majority of Christians do not know their basic Christian facts by rote. They might pick up the Ten Commandments if given a multiple-choice quiz, but can they list them? Not many can.
Ed Vasicek was raised as a Roman Catholic in in Cicero, Illinois. During his senior year in high school (in 1974), Cicero Bible Church reached out to him, and he received Jesus Christ as his Savior by faith alone. Ed later felt a call to ministry and enrolled at Moody Bible Institute (B.A., Pastoral Studies/Greek). After graduating, he served as pastor of Victory Bible Church of Chicago (a branch work of Cicero Bible Church) and married Marylu Troppito. In 1983, the couple moved to Kokomo where Ed began pastoring Highland Park Church, where he still serves. Ed and Marylu have two adult children, Hannah and Luke. Ed loves to write. He has written over 500 weekly columns for the opinion page of the Kokomo Tribune, published articles in Pulpit Helps magazine, and populated his church’s website with an endless barrage of papers. You can access them at www.highlandpc.com.
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[Charlie]Thanks so much Charlie. I think you are right about the “specialization.” But there are other ways to specialize, namely, to attract people who want to love God with both their hearts AND minds. If they are yet unsaved seekers or mature saints, how truth is communicated and the level to which it is developed will draw some at all spiritual levels while repelling others at a variety of levels as well.[Ed Vasicek]If I’m reading you correctly, I think you’re saying something similar to what I read in John Frame a few years back. (The following is probably a mixture of his ideas and mine since then.) It was a light-bulb moment for me. He said that in a healthy church, there are going to be people of all levels of spirituality, from the unsaved guy at 0, to the super-mature Christian (whoever he is) at 10. But because sometimes it’s difficult for people of these different levels to relate to each other (especially people who think they’re near 10….hmm….), churches tend to focus on one spectrum. You might have a church that focuses on the 7 to 10 group, as they see it. Nobody would feel welcome in this Church unless they are already in substantial agreement with the doctrine, order of worship, and lifestyle choices of the people present. People are attracted to the church b/c of its stand on issues. Evangelism is seldom talked about and in reality almost non-existent. New members come from those who have “improved” their theology from other churches.[Aaron Blumer]Aaron, you think a lot like me. I agree with people who think like me! This is the challenge, is it not? Not forsaking the ideal while adjusting to the real.It is our idealism that makes us aspire, but it is our idealism that causes us to refuse to adjust to what ISEd, you reminded me that I’ve got a whole article stewing (on one of about 20 “back burners”) on this topic. You’re so right.
On the other hand, you have the churches who have decided to focus on the 0-4 or so of the spectrum. They want to attract unbelievers, lots of them. Then, when some of these unbelievers make professions of faith, the operating ideal is “Keep It Simple Stupid.” The church is intentionally designed so as not to exclude people, no matter how they live. Instead of being fully discipled, people are trained in how to perpetuate the growth cycle by bringing their friends and others to the church or simply plugged into a program. Teaching focuses almost exclusively on “life issues,” how to handle marriage, money, kids, etc.
So, it seems a difficult thing for a church to really serve the 0-10 spectrum well. Especially in towns where there are a lot of churches, perceived market forces tend to form niche churches. In Greenville, I know churches at which a single mom with kids would be out of place, or even a single person would feel awkward. There are some Reformed churches where the inability to quote the Shorter Catechism or an unfamiliarity with John Calvin may result in a stern look. There are some megachurches where the mention of either would educe a panicked look. All that to say, Ed, I really appreciate any pastor who has his eye on the whole spectrum and who plots and plans to get people from one level of maturity to the next.
Thom Rainer has done some interesting work on the formerly unchurched who either came to the Lord and began to attend church and grow with little background; most of them wanted a church that took a stand and had convictions. His book, “Surprising Insights from the Unchurched” looks at the success stories (mature disciples who were reached by a church) and works backwards.
But Frame is right, too. Let’s face it, the man is a genius.
Intentional or not, birds of a feather do flock together. For example, churches that supposedly accommodate everyone often repel those looking for more than simple answers or are turned off by glitz. You can’t help it. If you aim to reach and please everyone, you will please no one. Often that aim is not intentional or stated, but it is there.
Os Guiness’ book titled “Fit Bodies, Fat Minds” highlights the type of evangelical Christianity that is popular but often shallow (imperfectly, I might opine). But I would still suggest that even in the deeper churches, we still find a lack of rote knowledge of basic facts. Surprising numbers of people might know which “lapsarian” they are, but cannot recite the commandments.
"The Midrash Detective"
[Susan R] For starters, I completely agree that rote learning has its place. As to curriculum, when I was more active teaching at church, I wrote my own. I’ve had to do that to some degree at home as well for our homeschool Bible classes.Susan, I am arguing that many of our church have excellent Sunday School teachers, but the kids still do not memorize the 10 commandments or accurately name the Persons of the Trinity. Of course some of our teachers had done the God, Jesus, Spirit “version” of the Trinity, but I have harped on that one!HOW do we hold parents accountable, outside of creating a German POW camp?As Dr. Bauder said recently, the tools of the NT pastor/teacher are those of persuasion, not coercion. We tend to think of accountability as having a punitive element, that is, if you aren’t meeting certain criteria, there is punishment of a sort..
You are talking about good Sunday School teachers. I am talking about rote memorization about basic Christian facts. These are two different concerns.
"The Midrash Detective"
I absolutely agree that often times curriculum can be a problem, but it doesn’t have to be. Even much of what is considered the “best” in our circles is lacking. I use curriculum as a starting point. Just because the curriculum does not say “have each student memorize” does not mean that it should not or can not be done. I think this is where the responsibility lands back on the parents and teachers. If they value basic Bible knowledge, they will have no problem adding the requirement to the curriculum. In my own experience, for what it’s worth, noone ever made me memorize the Ten Commandments or other similar basic Bible knowledge. As the material was taught and reviewed in Sunday School and then reviewed again at home with my parents, I just learned them. Maybe it was because I had a good teacher and parents who actually looked at the handful of papers I brought home. You know they don’t just send those papers home because the recycle bin at the church is full. :)
In regard to accountability, it does not have to be negative. I don’t think the problem is always that people don’t want to be taught, it is that there is no teacher. I’m thinking of an individual who is saved as an adult and begins to attend church with his or her family. How would they know what basic Bible knowledge is and that it would be helpful to memorize. Hopefully the church would have some kind of discipleship class or process, but it is quite possible that the church is failing in this area. If the leadership of the church, whether that be the pastor or individual teachers would simply present the challenge to memorize, understand, and apply the basics, I think many would participate. The children will generally follow the example of the parents.
I believe many parents are quite hesitant to teach their children the Bible because they feel inadequate. They think they have to prepare a sermon and the task seems overwhelming. In addition, their children actually know them. It’s hard for a parent to teach the Ten Commandments when the children know they are breaking them all the time. This is not an excuse, simply an observation.
[Ed Vasicek]I think these concerns are directly related. The quality of the teacher will directly affect the content the amount of learning accomplished in class. Same with the SS Superintendent- they should be making sure the teachers are meeting the standards the church has set.
Susan, I am arguing that many of our church have excellent Sunday School teachers, but the kids still do not memorize the 10 commandments or accurately name the Persons of the Trinity. Of course some of our teachers had done the God, Jesus, Spirit “version” of the Trinity, but I have harped on that one!
You are talking about good Sunday School teachers. I am talking about rote memorization about basic Christian facts. These are two different concerns.
One of my SS classes always did memory work as part of class without me sending home any work, since I had mostly bus kids (ages 7-9). I had baseball charts for each child, and memorizing the books of the Bible was a single, then they got a double by reciting The 10 Commandments, a triple was Psalm 1, and the home run was the Romans Road. It was fun, but it was work.
[Susan R]Bless you, Susan! May your tribe increase! Woo hoo![Ed Vasicek]I think these concerns are directly related. The quality of the teacher will directly affect the content the amount of learning accomplished in class. Same with the SS Superintendent- they should be making sure the teachers are meeting the standards the church has set.
Susan, I am arguing that many of our church have excellent Sunday School teachers, but the kids still do not memorize the 10 commandments or accurately name the Persons of the Trinity. Of course some of our teachers had done the God, Jesus, Spirit “version” of the Trinity, but I have harped on that one!
You are talking about good Sunday School teachers. I am talking about rote memorization about basic Christian facts. These are two different concerns.
One of my SS classes always did memory work as part of class without me sending home any work, since I had mostly bus kids (ages 7-9). I had baseball charts for each child, and memorizing the books of the Bible was a single, then they got a double by reciting The 10 Commandments, a triple was Psalm 1, and the home run was the Romans Road. It was fun, but it was work.
"The Midrash Detective"
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