THE SHORTER CATECHISM, Agreed upon by the Affembly of Divines at Westminster: Examined and Approved anno 1648, by the General Affembly of the CHURCH of SCOTLAND &c. Question 1. WHAT is the chief end of man? Anfwer. Man's chief end is, to glorify God a, and to enjoy Him for ever b. Q. 2. What rule bath God given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy Him? A. The word of God, which is contained in the fcriptures of the Old and New Teftaments c, is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy Him d. Q.3. What do the fcriptures principally teach? A. The fcriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man e. 1. I 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 thro' him, and to him are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen. ¿Pfal. lxxiii. 25. Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I defire befides thee. v. 26. My flesh and my heart faileth : but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever. v. 27. For lo, they that are far from thee shall perish thou haft destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee. v. 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. Q. 4. 2.2 Tim. iii. 16. All fcripture is given by infpiration 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, Jefus Chrift himself being the chief corner-ftone. 1 di John .3. That which we have feen and heard, declare we unto you, that ye alfo may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son And these things Jefus Chrift. v. 4. write we unto you, that your joy may be full. 3. e 2 Tim. i, 13. Hold faft the form 1 Q4. What is God? A. God is a fpiritf, infinite g, eternal b,and unchangeable i, in his being k, wisdom /, power m, holiness n, juftice, goodness and truth o. Q5: Are there more gods than one? A. There is but one only, the living and true God p. & 6. How many perfons are there in the Godhead? A. There are three perfons in the Godhead; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghoft; and thefe three are one God, the fame in fubftance, equal in power and glory q. Q.7. What are the decrees of God? A. The decrees of God are, his eternal purpofe according form of found words, which thou haft heard of me, in faith and love which is in Chrift Jefus. 2 Tim. iii, 16. (See in letter c.) 4. John iv. 24. God is a fpirit, and they that worship him, must worship him in fpirit and in truth. g Job xi. 7. Cant thou by fearching find out God? cant thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? v. 8. It is as high as heaven, what canft thou do? deeper than hell, what canft thou know? v. 9. The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the fea. ↳ Pfal. xc. 2. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadft formed the earth and the world: even from everlasting to everlasting thou art God. Jamesi. 17. Every good gift and evary perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variablenefs, neither fhadow of turning. k Exod. iii. 14. And God faid unto Mofes, I AM THAT I AM; and he faid, Thus fhalt thou fay unto the children of Ifrael, I AM hath fent me unto you. /Pfal. cxlvii. 5. Great is our Lord; and of great power: his understanding is infinite. Rev. iv. 8. And the four beasts to had each of them fix wings about him, and they were full of eyes within: and they reft not day and night, faying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was and is, and is to come. n Rev. XV. Who shall not fear 4. thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy; for all nations fhall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifeft. • Exod. xxxiv. 6. And the Lord paffed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-fuffering, and abundant in goodness, and truth, v. 7. Keeping mercy for thoufands, forgiving iniquity and tranfgreffion, and fin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; vifiting the ini quity of the father upon the children, and upon the childrens children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. 5. Deut. vi. 4. Hear, O Ifrael, the Lord our God is one Lord. Jer, x. 10. But the Lord is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlafting King; at his wrath the earth fhall tremble, and the nations fhall not be able to abide his indignation. 6. q 1 John v. 7. For there are three to the counfel of his will, whereby, for his own glory, he hath fore-ordained whatsoever comes to pafs r. 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 fix days, and all very good f Q. 10. How did God create man? A. God created man male and female, after his own image, in knowledge, righteousness, and holinefs, with dominion over the creatures t. Q. 11. What are God's works of providence? A. God's works of providence are, his moft holyv, wife w, three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the holy Ghoft: and thefe three are one. Mat. 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 Ghoft. 7. Eph. i. 4. According as he hath chofen us in him, before the foundation of the world, that we fhould be holy, and without blame before him in love. v. 11. In whom alfo we have obtained an inheritance, being predeftinate 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 fhew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much long-fuffering the veffels of wrath fitted to def.ruction; v. 23. And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the veffels 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, fo that things which are feen were not made of things which do appear. and 10. Gen. i. 26. And God faid, Let us make man in our own image, after our likenefs: and let them have dominion over the fish of the fea, 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. v. 27. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him: male and female created he them. v. 28. And God blessed them, and God faid unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply and replenish the earth, and fubdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the fea, 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. Pfal. cxlv. 17. The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works. Pfal. civ. 24. O Lord, how ma nitola and powerful preferving, and governing all his creatures, and all their actions y. Q. 12. What special act of providence did God exercife toward man in the estate wherein he was created? A. When God had created man, he entered into a covenant Xof life with him, upon condition of perfect obedience: forbidding him to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, upon pain of death z. Q. 13. Did our first parents continue in the estate wherein they were created? A. Our firft parents, being left to the freedom of their own will, fell from the eftate wherein they were created, by finning against God a. Q. 14. What is fin? A. Sin is any want of conformity unto, or tranfgreffion of, the law of God b. nifold are thy works! in wisdom haft thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches. Ifa. xxviii. 29. This alfo cometh forth from the Lord of hofts, who is wonderful in counfel, and excellent in working. Heb.i. 3. Who being the bright nefs of his glory, and the exprefs image of his perfon, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our fins, fat down on the right hand of the majesty on high. y Pfal. ciii. 19. The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom ruleth over all. Mat. x. 29. Are not two fparrows fold for a farthing? and one of them fhall not fall on the ground without your Father. v. 30. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. v. 31. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many fparrows. 12. z Gal. iii. 12. And the law is not of faith: but, the man that doth them, fhall live in them. Gen. ii. 17. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of Q. 15. it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou fhalt furely die. 13. a Gen. iii. 6. And when the woman faw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be defired to make one wife; fhe took of the fruit thereof and did eat, and gave also to her husband with her, and he did eat. v. 7. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they fewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. v. 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 prefence of the Lord God, amongst the trees of the garden. v. 13. and the Lord God faid unto the woman, What is this that thou haft done? and the woman faid, The ferpent beguiled me, and I did eat. Eccl. vii. 29. Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have fought out many inventions. 14. 1 John iii. 4. Whofoever com #Q. 15. What was the fin whereby our first parents fell from the eftate wherein they were created? A The fin whereby our firft parents fell from the eftate wherein they were created, was their eating the forbidden fruit c. Q. 16. Did all mankind full in Adam's first tranfgreffion? A. The covenant being made with Adam, not only for himfelf, but for his posterity, all mankind defcending from him by ordinary generation, finned in him, and fell with him in his first tranfgreffion d. Q17.Into what eftate did the fall bring mankind? A The fall brought mankind unto an eftate of finand miferye. Q18. Wherein confifts the finfulness of that estate whereinto man fell? A. The finfulness of that estate, whereinto man fell, confifts in the guilt of Adam's firft fin, the want of original righteouf- X nefs, and the corruption of his whole nature, which is commonly called original fin; together with all actual tranfgreffions which proceed from it f Q19. What is the mifery of that eftate whereinto man fell? comitteth fio, tranfgreffeth alfo the law; for fin is the tranfgreffion of the law. 15. c Gen. iii. 6. (See in letter a.) v. 12. The woman whom thou gav eft to be with me, fhe gave me of the tree, and I did eat. X16.d Gen. ii. 16. And the Lord God commanded the man, faying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayeft freely cat. v. 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 fhalt furely die. Rom. v. 12. Wherefore, as by one man fin entered into the world, and death by fin; and fo death paffed upon all men, for that all have finned. 1 Cor. xv. 21. For fince by man came death, by man came alfo the refurrection of the dead. V. 22. For as in Adam all die, so in Chrift fhall all be made alive, A. All 17. e Rom. v. 12. Wherefore, as by one man fin entred into the world, and death by fin; and fo death paffed upon all men, for that all have finned. 18. / Rom. v. 12. Wherefore, as by one man fin entred into the world, and death by fin; and fo death paffed upon all men for that all have finned. v. 19. For as by one man's difobedience many were made finners: fo by the obedience of one, fhall many be made righteous. Rom. v. rom ver. 1o. to the 20. Eph. ii. And you hath he quickened who were dead in trefpaffes and fins. v. 2. Wherein in times 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 difobedience: v. 3. Among whom alio we all вь |