Church in Wales - Doctrine and Practice

Doctrine and Practice

Central to the teaching of the Church in Wales is the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The basic teachings of the church, or catechism, include:

• Jesus Christ is fully human and fully God. He died and was resurrected from the dead.
• Jesus continues to provide the way to eternal life for those who believe.
• The Old and New Testaments were written by people "under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit". The Apocrypha are additional books that are used in Christian worship, but not for the formation of doctrine.
• The two great and necessary sacraments are Holy Baptism and Holy Eucharist
• Other sacramental rites are confirmation, holy orders, matrimony, reconciliation of a penitent, and anointing of the sick.
• Belief in heaven, hell, and Jesus's return in glory.

The balance of Scripture, tradition and reason as authority for faith and practice is traced to the work of Richard Hooker, a sixteenth century apologist. In Hooker's model, Scripture is the primary means of arriving at doctrine and things stated plainly in Scripture are accepted as true. Issues that are ambiguous are determined by tradition, which is checked by reason.