Westminster Shorter Catechism
Q. 1. What is the chief
end of man?
A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him
forever.
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, in his
being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.
Q. 5. Are there more
Gods than one?
A. There is but one only, the living and true God.
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. 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.
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 towards 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 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.
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.
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.
Q. 17. Into what estate
did the fall bring mankind?
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 the miseries of
this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell forever.
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.
Q. 21. Who is the
Redeemer of God’s elect?
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, forever.
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 Holy Ghost, in the womb of the virgin Mary, and born of her,
yet without sin.
Q. 23. What offices doth
Christ execute as our Redeemer?
A. Christ, as our Redeemer, executeth the offices of a prophet,
of a priest, and of a king, both in his estate of humiliation and
exaltation.
Q. 24. How doth Christ
execute the office of a prophet?
A. Christ executeth the office of a prophet, in revealing to us,
by his Word and Spirit, the will of God for our salvation.
Q. 25. How doth Christ
execute the office of a priest?
A. Christ executeth the office of a priest, in his once offering
up of himself a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice, and
reconcile us to God, and in making continual intercession for us.
Q. 26. How doth Christ
execute the office of a king?
A. Christ executeth the office of a king, in subduing us to
himself, in ruling and defending us, and in restraining and
conquering all his and our enemies.
Q. 27. Wherein did
Christ’s humiliation consist?
A. Christ’s humiliation consisted in his being born, and
that in a low condition, made under the law, undergoing the
miseries of this life, the wrath of God, and the cursed death of
the cross; in being buried, and continuing under the power of
death for a time.
Q. 28. Wherein
consisteth Christ’s exaltation?
A. Christ’s exaltation consisteth in his rising again from
the dead on the third day, in ascending up into heaven, in
sitting at the right hand of God the Father, and in coming to
judge the world at the last day.
Q. 29. How are we made
partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ?
A. We are made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ,
by the effectual application of it to us by his Holy Spirit.
Q. 30. How doth the
Spirit apply to us the redemption purchased by Christ?
A. The Spirit applieth to us the redemption purchased by Christ,
by working faith in us, and thereby uniting us to Christ in our
effectual calling.
Q. 31. What is effectual
calling?
A. Effectual calling is the work of God’s Spirit, whereby,
convincing us of our sin and misery, enlightening our minds in
the knowledge of Christ, and renewing our wills, he doth persuade
and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ, freely offered to us in
the gospel.
Q. 32. What benefits do
they that are effectually called partake of in this life?
A. They that are effectually called do in this life partake of
justification, adoption, and sanctification, and the several
benefits which in this life do either accompany or flow from
them.
Q. 33. What is
justification?
A. Justification is an act of God’s free grace, wherein he
pardoneth all our sins, and accepteth us as righteous in sight,
only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and received
by faith alone.
Q. 34. What is adoption?
A. Adoption is an act of God’s free grace, whereby we are
received into the number, and have a right to all the privileges,
of the sons of God.
Q. 35. What is
sanctification?
A. Sanctification is the work of God’s free grace, whereby
we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God, and are
enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto
righteousness.
Q. 36. What are the
benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from
justification, adoption, and sanctification?
A. The benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from
justification, adoption, and sanctification, are, assurance of
God’s love, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Ghost,
increase of grace, and perseverance therein to the end.
Q. 37. What benefits do
believers receive from Christ at death?
A. The souls of believers are at their death made perfect in
holiness, and do immediately pass into glory; and their bodies,
being still united in Christ, do rest in their graves, till the
resurrection.
Q. 38. What benefits do
believers receive from Christ at the resurrection?
A. At the resurrection, believers, being raised up in glory,
shall be openly acknowledged and acquitted in the day of
judgment, and made perfectly blessed in the full enjoying of God
to all eternity.
Q. 39. What is the duty
which God requireth of man?
A. The duty which God requireth of man, is obedience to his
revealed will.
Q. 40. What did God at
first reveal to man for the rule of his obedience?
A. The rule which God at first revealed to man for his obedience,
was the moral law.
Q. 41. Wherein is the
moral law summarily comprehended?
A. The moral law is summarily comprehended in the ten
commandments.
Q. 42. What is the sum
of the ten commandments?
A. The sum of the ten commandments is, to love the Lord our God
with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our strength, and
with all our mind; and our neighbor as ourselves.
Q. 43. What is the
preface to the ten commandments?
A. The preface to the ten commandments is in these words, I am
the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of
Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
Q. 44. What doth the
preface to the ten commandments teach us?
A. The preface to the ten commandments teacheth us, that because
God is the Lord, and our God, and Redeemer, therefore we are
bound to keep all his commandments.
Q. 45. Which is the
first commandment?
A. The first commandment is, Thou shalt have no other gods
before me.
Q. 46. What is required
in the first commandment?
A. The first commandment requireth us to know and acknowledge God
to be the only true God, and our God; and to worship and glorify
him accordingly.
Q. 47. What is forbidden
in the first commandment?
A. The first commandment forbiddeth the denying, or not worshipping and glorifying, the true God as God, and our God; and
the giving of that worship and glory to any other, which is due
to him alone.
Q. 48. What are we
specially taught by these words before me in
the first commandment?
A. These words before me in the first commandment teach
us, that God, who seeth all things, taketh notice of, and is much
displeased with, the sin of having any other God.
Q. 49. Which is the
second commandment?
A. The second commandment is, Thou shalt not make unto thee
any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven
above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water
under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor
serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the
iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and
fourth generation of them that hate me; and showing mercy unto
thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
Q. 50. What is required
in the second commandment?
A. The second commandment requireth the receiving, observing, and
keeping pure and entire, all such religious worship and
ordinances as God hath appointed in his Word.
Q. 51. What is forbidden
in the second commandment?
A. The second commandment forbiddeth the worshipping of God by
images, or any other way not appointed in his Word.
Q. 52. What are the
reasons annexed to the second commandment?
A. The reasons annexed to the second commandment are, God’s
sovereignty over us, his propriety in us, and the zeal he hath to
his own worship.
Q. 53. Which is the
third commandment?
A. The third commandment is, Thou shalt not take the name of
the Lord thy God in vain: for the Lord will not hold him
guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
Q. 54. What is required
in the third commandment?
A. The third commandment requireth the holy and reverent use of
God’s names, titles, attributes, ordinances, Word, and
works.
Q. 55. What is forbidden
in the third commandment?
A. The third commandment forbiddeth all profaning or abusing of
anything whereby God maketh himself known.
Q. 56. What is the
reason annexed to the third commandment?
A. The reason annexed to the third commandment is, that however
the breakers of this commandment may escape punishment from men,
yet the Lord our God will not suffer them to escape his righteous
judgment.
Q. 57. Which is the
fourth commandment?
A. The fourth commandment is, Remember the Sabbath day to keep
it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: but the
seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt
not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy
manservant, nor thy maidservent, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger
that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven
and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the
seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and
hallowed it.
Q. 58. What is required
in the fourth commandment?
A. The fourth commandment requireth the keeping holy to God such
set times as he hath appointed in his Word; expressly one whole
day in seven, to be a holy Sabbath to himself.
Q. 59. Which day of the
seven hath God appointed to be the weekly Sabbath?
A. From the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ,
God appointed the seventh day of the week to be the weekly Sabbath; and the first day of the week ever since, to continue to
the end of the world, which is the Christian Sabbath.
Q. 60. How is the Sabbath to be sanctified?
A. The Sabbath is to be sanctified by a holy resting all that
day, even from such worldly employments and recreations as are
lawful on other days; and spending the whole time in the public
and private exercises of God’s worship, except so much as is
to be taken up in the works of necessity and mercy.
Q. 61. What is forbidden
in the fourth commandment?
A. The fourth commandment forbiddeth the omission, or careless
performance, of the duties required, and the profaning the day by
idleness, or doing that which is in itself sinful, or by
unnecessary thoughts, words, or works, about our worldly
employments or recreations.
Q. 62. What are the
reasons annexed to the fourth commandment?
A. The reasons annexed to the fourth commandment are, God’s
allowing us six days of the week for our own employments, his
challenging a special propriety in the seventh, his own example,
and his blessing the Sabbath day.
Q. 63. Which is the
fifth commandment?
A. The fifth commandment is, Honor thy father and thy mother:
that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God
giveth thee.
Q. 64. What is required
in the fifth commandment?
A. The fifth commandment requireth the preserving the honor, and
performing the duties, belonging to everyone in their several
places and relations, as superiors, inferiors, or equals.
Q. 65. What is forbidden
in the fifth commandment?
A. The fifth commandment forbiddeth the neglecting of, or doing
anything against, the honor and duty which belongeth to everyone
in their several places and relations.
Q. 66. What is the
reason annexed to the fifth commandment?
A. The reason annexed to the fifth commandment is, a promise of
long life and prosperity (as far as it shall serve for God’s
glory and their own good) to all such as keep this commandment.
Q. 67. Which is the
sixth commandment?
A. The sixth commandment is, Thou shalt not kill.
Q. 68. What is required
in the sixth commandment?
A. The sixth commandment requireth all lawful endeavors to
preserve our own life, and the life of others.
Q. 69. What is forbidden
in the sixth commandment?
A. The sixth commandment forbiddeth the taking away of our own
life, or the life of our neighbor, unjustly, or whatsoever
tendeth thereunto.
Q. 70. Which is the
seventh commandment?
A. The seventh commandment is, Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Q. 71. What is required
in the seventh commandment?
A. The seventh commandment requireth the preservation of our own
and our neighbor’s chastity, in heart, speech, and behavior.
Q. 72. What is forbidden
in the seventh commandment?
A. The seventh commandment forbiddeth all unchaste thoughts,
words, and actions.
Q. 73. Which is the
eighth commandment?
A. The eighth commandment is, Thou shalt not steal.
Q. 74. What is required
in the eighth commandment?
A. The eighth commandment requireth the lawful procuring and
furthering the wealth and outward estate of ourselves and others.
Q. 75. What is forbidden
in the eighth commandment?
A. The eighth commandment forbiddeth whatsoever doth, or may,
unjustly hinder our own, or our neighbor’s wealth or outward
estate.
Q. 76. Which is the
ninth commandment?
A. The ninth commandment is, Thou shalt not bear false witness
against thy neighbor.
Q. 77. What is required
in the ninth commandment?
A. The ninth commandment requireth the maintaining and promoting
of truth between man and man, and of our own and our
neighbor’s good name, especially in witness-bearing.
Q. 78. What is forbidden
in the ninth commandment?
A. The ninth commandment forbiddeth whatsoever is prejudicial to
truth, or injurious to our own, or our neighbor’s, good
name.
Q. 79. Which is the
tenth commandment?
A. The tenth commandment is, Thou shalt not covet thy
neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s
wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor
his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor’s.
Q. 80. What is required
in the tenth commandment?
A. The tenth commandment requireth full contentment with our own
condition, with a right and charitable frame of spirit toward our
neighbor, and all that is his.
Q. 81. What is forbidden
in the tenth commandment?
A. The tenth commandment forbiddeth all discontentment with our
own estate, envying or grieving at the good of our neighbor, and
all inordinate motions and affections to anything that is his.
Q. 82. Is any man able
perfectly to keep the commandments of God?
A. No mere man, since the fall, is able in this life perfectly to
keep the commandments of God, but doth daily break them in
thought, word, and deed.
Q. 83. Are all
transgressions of the law equally heinous?
A. Some sins in themselves, and by reason of several
aggravations, are more heinous in the sight of God than others.
Q. 84. What doth every
sin deserve?
A. Every sin deserveth God’s wrath and curse, both in this
life, and that which is to come.
Q. 85. What doth God
require of us, that we may escape his wrath and curse, due to us
for sin?
A. To escape the wrath and curse of God, due to us for sin, God
requireth of us faith in Jesus Christ, repentance unto life, with
the diligent use of all the outward means whereby Christ
communicateth to us the benefits of redemption.
Q. 86. What is faith in
Jesus Christ?
A. Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace, whereby we receive
and rest upon him alone for salvation, as he is offered to us in
the gospel.
Q. 87. What is
repentance unto life?
A. Repentance unto life is a saving grace, whereby a sinner, out
of a true sense of his sin, and apprehension of the mercy of God
in Christ, doth, with grief and hatred of his sin, turn from it
unto God, with full purpose of, and endeavor after, new
obedience.
Q. 88. What are the
outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicateth to us the
benefits of redemption?
A. The outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicateth to
us the benefits of redemption are, his ordinances, especially the
Word, sacraments, and prayer; all which are made effectual to the
elect for salvation.
Q. 89. How is the Word
made effectual to salvation?
A. The Spirit of God maketh the reading, but especially the
preaching, of the Word, an effectual means of convincing and
converting sinners, and of building them up in holiness and
comfort, through faith, unto salvation.
Q. 90. How is the Word
to be read and heard, that it may become effectual to salvation?
A. That the Word may become effectual to salvation, we must
attend thereunto with diligence, preparation, and prayer; receive
it with faith and love, lay it up in our hearts, and practice it
in our lives.
Q. 91. How do the
sacraments become effectual means of salvation?
A. The sacraments become effectual means of salvation, not from
any virtue in them, or in him that doth administer them; but only
by the blessing of Christ, and the working of his Spirit in them
that by faith receive them.
Q. 92. What is a
sacrament?
A. A sacrament is a holy ordinance instituted by Christ; wherein,
by sensible signs, Christ, and the benefits of the new covenant,
are represented, sealed, and applied to believers.
Q. 93. Which are the
sacraments of the New Testament?
A. The sacraments of the New Testament are, baptism, and the
Lord’s Supper.
Q. 94. What is baptism?
A. Baptism is a sacrament, wherein the washing with water in the
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, doth
signify and seal our ingrafting into Christ, and partaking of the
benefits of the covenant of grace, and our engagement to be the
Lord’s.
Q. 95. To whom is
Baptism to be administered?
A. Baptism is not to be administered to any that are out of the
visible church, till they profess their faith in Christ, and
obedience to him; but the infants of such as are members of the
visible church are to be baptized.
Q. 96. What is the
Lord’s Supper?
A. The Lord’s Supper is a sacrament, wherein, by giving and
receiving bread and wine, according to Christ’s appointment,
his death is showed forth; and the worthy receivers are, not
after a corporal and carnal manner, but by faith, made partakers
of his body and blood, with all his benefits, to their spiritual
nourishment, and growth in grace.
Q. 97. What is required
for the worthy receiving of the Lord’s Supper?
A. It is required of them that would worthily partake of the
Lord’s Supper, that they examine themselves of their
knowledge to discern the Lord’s body, of their faith to feed
upon him, of their repentance, love, and new obedience; lest,
coming unworthily, they eat and drink judgment to themselves.
Q. 98. What is prayer?
A. Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God, for things
agreeable to his will, in the name of Christ, with confession of
our sins, and thankful acknowledgment of his mercies.
Q. 99. What rule hath
God given for our direction in prayer?
A. The whole Word of God is of use to direct us in prayer; but
the special rule of direction is that form of prayer which Christ
taught his disciples, commonly called the Lord’s Prayer.
Q. 100. What doth the
preface of the Lord’s Prayer teach us?
A. The preface of the Lord’s Prayer, which is, Our Father
which art in heaven, teacheth us to draw near to God with all
holy reverence and confidence, as children to a father, able and
ready to help us; and that we should pray with and for others.
Q. 101. What do we pray
for in the first petition?
A. In the first petition, which is, Hallowed be thy name,
we pray that God would enable us, and others, to glorify him in
all that whereby he maketh himself known; and that he would
dispose all things to his own glory.
Q. 102. What do we pray
for in the second petition?
A. In the second petition, which is, Thy kingdom come, we
pray that Satan’s kingdom may be destroyed; and that the
kingdom of grace may be advanced, ourselves and others brought
into it, and kept in it; and that the kingdom of glory may be
hastened.
Q. 103. What do we pray
for in the third petition?
A. In the third petition, which is, Thy will be done in earth,
as it is in heaven, we pray that God, by his grace, would
make us able and willing to know, obey, and submit to his will in
all things, as the angels do in heaven.
Q. 104. What do we pray
for in the fourth petition?
A. In the fourth petition, which is, Give us this day our
daily bread, we pray that of God’s free gift we may
receive a competent portion of the good things of this life, and
enjoy his blessing with them.
Q. 105. What do we pray
for in the fifth petition?
A. In the fifth petition, which is, And forgive us our debts,
as we forgive our debtors, we pray that God, for
Christ’s sake, would freely pardon all our sins; which we
are the rather encouraged to ask, because by his grace we are
enabled from the heart to forgive others.
Q. 106. What do we pray
for in the sixth petition?
A. In the sixth petition, which is, And lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us from evil, we pray that God would
either keep us from being tempted to sin, or support and deliver
us when we are tempted.
Q. 107. What doth the
conclusion of the Lord’s Prayer teach us?
A. The conclusion of the Lord’s Prayer, which is, For
thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen,
teacheth us to take our encouragement in prayer from God only,
and in our prayers to praise him, ascribing kingdom, power, and
glory to him; and, in testimony of our desire, and assurance to
be heard, we say, Amen.