Acts 2:42 says of the new believers, ` They spent their time in learning from the apostles'. 13:1; refers to teachers in the Church which was established at Antioch in Syria.

The new believers who had responded to the preaching of the apostles and who had accepted baptism needed further instruction. The word 'catechesis' is from the Greek verb which means to instruct orally or to inform by teaching.

In a Jewish congregation, it was necessary to show in greater how Jesus was the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. The Jewish Scriptures were studied and expounded to understand how they p to Jesus as Christ, Lord, Son of God, Servant of God, Son of Man those who had not known Jesus in person during his ministry, teaching about what he had done and said was needed. Through frequent repetition, accounts of his teaching, his actions, his healings, the co which he faced, settled into oral units of instruction which were even incorporated into the written gospels. In passages such as Mark 1: 2:1-3:6, 4:1-34, 4:35-5:43, we can find such units. Accounts o; final days in the life of Jesus, leading to his death and Resurrect were particularly important.

The power of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church and in the life of the individual Christian needed deeper understanding and explanation. In the power of the Holy Spirit the apostles were able to heal the sick and proclaim the Good News with extraordinary fearlessness; in the individual a new kind of character, a Christ-like character, ought to be the consequence of receiving the gift of the Spirit.