THE SHORTER CATECHISM. Quest. 1. WHAT is the chief end of man? joy him for ever.b Ans. Man's chief end is to glorify God," and to en Q. 2. What rule hath God given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him? A. The word of God, which is contained in the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him. Q. 3. What do the scriptures principally teach? A. The scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man. Q. 4. What is God? A. God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable,i in his being, wisdom,' power, holiness," justice, goodness, and truth. m 1. a 1 Cor. x. 31. Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. Rom. xi. 36. For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen. b Ps. lxxiii. 25. Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee. Ver. 26. My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever. Ver. 27. For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish: thou hast destroyed all them that go a-whoring from thee. Ver. 28. But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all thy works. 2. 2 Tim. iii. 16. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. Eph. ii. 20. And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone. dI John i. 3. That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. Ver. 4. And these things write we unto you, that our joy may be full. 3. 2 Tim. i. 13. Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. 2 Tim. iii. 16. [See in letter.] 4. John iv. 24. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. 8 Job xi. 7. Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? Ver. 8. It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know? Ver. 9. The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea. h Ps. xc. 2. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting thou art God. i James i. 17. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. k Exod. iii. 14. And God said unto Q. 5. Are there more Gods than one? A. There is but One only, the living and true God.P Q. 6. How many persons are there in the Godhead? A. There are three persons in the Godhead; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory. q Q. 7. What are the decrees of God? A. The decrees of God are, his eternal purpose, according to the counsel of his will, whereby, for his own glory, he hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass.* Q. 8. How doth God execute his decrees? A. God executeth his decrees in the works of creation and providence. Q. 9. What is the work of creation? A. The work of creation is, God's making all things of nothing, by the word of his power, in the space of six days, and all very good." Q. 10. How did God create man? A. God created man male and female, after his own image, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, with dominion over the creatures.* Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. 1 Ps. cxlvii. 5. Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite. m Rev. iv. 8. And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. n Rev. xv. 4. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest. • Exod. xxxiv. 6. And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Ver. 7. Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, and transgression, and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. 5. P Deut. vi. 4. Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord. Jer. x. 10. But the Lord is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting King: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation. 6. 91 John v. 7. For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. Matt. xxviii. 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. r 7. Eph. i. 4. According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. Ver. 11. In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. Rom. ix. 22. What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction; Ver. 23. And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory? 9. Gen. i. throughout. Heb. xi. 3. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God; so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. 10. Gen. i. 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. Ver. 27. So God created man Q. 11. What are God's works of providence? A. God's works of providence are, his most holy, wise," and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures, and all their actions. Q. 12. What special act of providence did God exercise toward man in the estate wherein he was created? A. When God had created man, he entered into a covenant of life with him, upon condition of perfect obedience; forbidding him to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, upon the pain of death." Q. 13. Did our first parents continue in the estate wherein they were created? A. Our first parents, being left to the freedom of their own will, fell from the estate wherein they were created, by sinning against God." Q. 14. What is sin? A. Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God.b Q. 15. What was the sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were created? A. The sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were created, was their eating the forbidden fruit. in his own image: in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. Ver. 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. Col. iii. 10. And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him. Eph. iv. 24. And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. 11. Ps. cxlv. 17. The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works. W Ps. civ. 24. O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches. Isa. xxviii. 29. This also cometh forth from the Lord of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working. * Heb. i. 3. Who, being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. y Ps. ciii. 19. The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all. Matt. x. 29. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. Ver. 30. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Ver. 31. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows. 12. Gal. iii. 12. And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them. Gen. ii. 17. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. 13. Gen. iii. 6. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat; and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat. Ver. 7. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig-leaves together, and made themselves aprons. Ver. 8. And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. Ver. 13. And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. Eccl. vii. 29. Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions. 14. b 1 John iii. 4. Whosoever com Q. 16. Did all mankind fall in Adam's first transgression? A. The covenant being made with Adam, not only for himself, but for his posterity; all mankind, descending from him by ordinary generation, sinned in him, and fell with him, in his first transgression.d Q. 17. Into what estate did the fall bring mankind? e A. The fall brought mankind into an estate of sin and misery. Q. 18. Wherein consists the sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell? A. The sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell, consists in the guilt of Adam's first sin, the want of original righteousness, and the corruption of his whole nature, which is commonly called Original Sin; together with all actual transgressions which proceed from it. Q. 19. What is the misery of that estate whereinto man fell? A. All mankind by their fall lost communion with God, are under his wrath and curse, and so made liable to all miseries in this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell for ever.i mitteth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. 15. Gen. iii. 6. [See in letter a] Ver. 12. The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. 16. a Gen. ii. 16. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; Ver. 17. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. Rom. v. 12. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. 1 Cor. xv. 21. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. Ver. 22. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 17. Rom. v. 12. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. 18. Rom. v. 12. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. Ver. 19. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners; so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Rom. v. from Verse 10 to the 20. Eph. ii. 1. And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Ver. 2. Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Ver. 3. Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. James i. 14. But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Ver. 15. Then, when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Matt. xv. 19. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. 19. Gen. iii. 8. And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. Ver. 10. And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. Ver. 24. So he drove out the man: and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden cherubims and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. Eph. ii. 2. Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Ver. 3. Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the chil Q. 20. Did God leave all mankind to perish in the estate of sin and misery? A. God having, out of his mere good pleasure, from all eternity, elected some to everlasting life, did enter into a covenant of grace, to deliver them out of the estate of sin and misery, and to bring them into an estate of salvation by a Redeemer.1 Q. 21. Who is the Redeemer of God's elect? m A. The only Redeemer of God's elect is the Lord Jesus Christ," who, being the eternal Son of God, became man," and so was, and continueth to be, God and man in two distinct natures, and one person, for ever." Q. 22. How did Christ, being the Son of God, become man? A. Christ, the Son of God, became man, by taking to himself a true body, and a reasonable soul, being conceived by the power of the dren of wrath, even as others. Gal. iii. 10. For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. i Lam. iii. 39. Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins? Rom. vi. 23. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Matt. xxv. 41. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. "Ver. 46. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. 20. Eph. i. 4. According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. Rom. iii. 20. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. Ver. 21. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Ver. 22. Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe; for there is no difference. Gal. iii. 21. Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. Ver. 22. But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the pro mise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. 21. m 1 Tim. ii. 5. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Ver. 6. Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. John i. 14. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. Gal. iv. 4. But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law. Rom. ix. 5. Whose are the fathers, and of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen. Luke i. 35. And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing, which shall be born of thee, shall be called the Son of God. Col. ii. 9. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. Heb. vii. 24. But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Ver. 25. Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. 22. P Heb. ii. 14. Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil. Ver. 16. For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Heb. x. 5. T |