Our Christian name

When we were born into the human family, we at once had a name in it, our surname.  And so, as soon as we are born at our Baptism into God’s Christian Family, the Church, we are given a new name in it, our Christian name.  When anyone is baptised it is only their Christian name(s) which is used, not the surname as well.  And by that name we are known in the Christian Family all our life.  So, if you get married, the priest will address you at your marriage by your Christian name.  When members of the Church die and the Eucharist is offered for the repose of their souls, they are prayed for by their Christian names, just as the Saints in Heaven are known, and prayed to, by their Christian names.

SUMMARY

1. At my birth I became a member of the human family which is evil in many ways, and I was also born with the seeds of evil in my own soul.  So from my birth I needed a new start which God gave me in Baptism.

2. At my Baptism I became a member of God’s Christian Family, and my soul was closely united with Jesus himself.  Jesus calls this great change a New Birth or Regeneration.

Reference

Church of England (1662) The Book of Common Prayer.  A Catechism.  Available from:
http://www.cofe.anglican.org/worship/liturgy/bcp/texts/catechism.html   (Accessed 23 August 2010) (Internet).