A Short Catechism
The source for this document is http://name.umdl.umich.edu/N00034.0001.001
Project Note
This is licensed under Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND. This license allows reusers to copy and distribute the material in any medium or format in unadapted form only, for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator.
The source of this document is the Early English Books Online (EEBO-TCP) website. Those books were transcribed in a character for character manner and can be very cumbersome to read since there was no standard spelling during that time. Many spelling variations such as "unlesse", "vnlesse", and "vnles" regularly appear.
This project was conceived to clean up those books as much as possible and make them more accessible to the interested reader, leading to the creation of a massive list of variant spellings and their corrections. This was used to clean up the text, but is of course only as complete as the list itself. Because of the nature of the original transcription, some words have missing characters or places where the original language (e.g., Greek) was not transcribed. This effort does not change that. Be aware that the original transcription can also be faulty and in some cases entire sentences may be missing.
Although this is no substitute for a properly compared, proofed, and scholarly edition, I believe that the result is a document which is far more accessible, particularly for searching for terms using standard spelling. The document has been cleaned and presented in what I hope is a pleasing and useful format for the vast majority of Christian brothers and sisters who just want access to read these spiritually nourishing works.
However, a word of warning: The Puritans were a very diverse group of people and their age was characterized with godliness, but also much upheaval, disputation and strife. They disagreed on many doctrines and some of these works contain less orthodox or Scriptural views than others. The reader is strongly advised to read with discernment, particularly if it is unknown whether author is trustworthy.
This project took a huge amount of time and skill to bring to fruition. I would particularly like to thank David Jonescue for the initial list of Puritans he found on EEBO and the concept behind this project as well as the continuous, unceasing efforts toward seeing this complete. Without his labor, this would not be available. Alex Sarrouf was invaluable in providing the initial list of over 7,000 spelling variations he had identified and corrected, as well as continuing to review more than 16,000 additions to that list for any typos.
Logan West
(with David Jonescue and Alex Sarrouf)
www.puritansearch.org
A SHORT CATECHISM Composed By Mr. JAMES NOYES Late Teacher of the Church of Christ IN NEWBURY For the use of the Children there.
CAMBRID •• Printed by S. G. and •••• 1661.
A SHORT CATECHISM By way of Question and Answer .
Quest. HOw do the Scriptures prove themselves to be true?
Answ. By the holiness of the matter by the majesty of the style, by the accomplishment of the Prophesies, by the efficacy of their power on the hearts of men; besides the holy Ghost beareth witness, helping us to discern the Truth of them.
Quest. What is the sum of the Scriptures?
Ans. A Doctrine of a godly life.
Qu. Whe • ein consists a godly life?
Q. What is Faith?
A. Faith is an effectual assent to the Doctrine of the Scriptures, especially concerning the Grace of God in Christ.
Q. What doth the Scripture reveal concerning God?
A. His Nature and his Acts.
Q. What is revealed concerning his Nature?
A. His Essence and his Persons.
Q. How is the Essence of God made manifest?
A. By his Names and Attributes.
Q. What are his Attributes?
A. His Independency, Unity, Immutability, Eternity, Infiniteness, Omnipresence, Omnipotency, Wisdom, Omnisciency, Holiness, Blessedness, Sovereignty, Goodness, Mercy Meekness, Clemency, Justice, and Verity.
Q. How many Persons are there in the Godhead?
A Three: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; and everyone of these is God, and yet there is but one God.
Qu. How many fold are the Acts of God?
Ans. Twofold: Eternal and Temporal.
Quest. What are the Eternal acts of God?
A. His Decrees.
Quest. How many fold are his Decrees?
Ans. Twofold: General and particular.
Quest. What is the general Decree of God?
Ans. An Eternal act of God, whereby he did determine to make the World, and dispose of all things therein.
Qu. What are the particular Decrees of God?
A Election and Reprobation.
Q. Wha • is E • ection?
A. An Eternal act of God whereby he did determine to glorify himself in saving a certain number of persons through Faith in Christ.
Q. What is Reprobation?
A. An Eternal act of God, whereby he did determine to glorify himself in condemning a certain number of persons for their sins.
Q. What are the temporal acts of God?
A. Creation, Preservation, and Government.
Q. How many fold is his Government?
A. Twofold: general and special.
Q. What is the general Government?
A. A temporal act of God, whereby he doth dispose of all Creatures according to a general Providence.
Q. What is the special Government of God?
A. A temporal act of God, whereby he doth dispose of the reasonable Creature according to a special Covenant.
Q. How many Covenants hath God made with man?
A. Two: the Covenant of the Law, and the Covenant of the Gospel.
Q. What is the Covenant of the Law?
A. A promise of life on perfect and personal obedience.
Q. What is the Covenant of the Gospel?
A. A promise of life upon Faith in Christ.
Q. What is the occasion of the Covenant of the Gospel?
A. Adams sin.
Q. How many kinds of sin are there?
A. Two: Original and Actual.
Q. What is Original sin?
A A being contrary to God's Law.
Q What is actual sin?
A. A doing contrary to God's Law.
Q. What are the effects of sin?
A. Guilt and Punishment.
Q. What is guilt?
A. A liableness to punishment.
Q. What is punishment?
A. An infliction of evil for sin; namely, Death Temporal and Eternal.
Q How may we escape Eternal death?
A. By the Covenant of the Gospel only.
Q. Can we not escape death by the Covenant of the Law?
A. No▪ because we cannot perform the condition of it, which is perfect obedience: yea, by reason of the Fall of Adam we cannot do any good thing.
Q. Can we perform the condition of the Covenant of the Gospel?
A. Yes: because God hath shown us in his Scriptures, that he will help us through Faith in Christ to perform the condition of it.
Q. What is Christ?
A. The Eternal Son of God, and both God and Man.
Q. What are we to consider in Jesus Christ?
A. His Natures, his personal Union, and his Offices.
Q How many Natures hath Christ?
A. Two: the Nature of God, and Nature of Man; otherwise called the Divine Nature, and Human.
Q. What is the Personal Union of Christ?
A. The Subsistence of the Human nature in the second Person of the Deity.
Q. What are the Offices of Christ?
A. His Mediatorship, Kingship, Priesthood, and Prophetship.
Q. What is the work of Christ's Office?
A. Redemption.
Q. What is Redemption?
A. A deliverance of the Elect from sin and misery, by the price of Christ's Obedience.
Q. How many fold is Christ's obedience?
A. Twofold: active and Passive.
Q. What is his active Obedience?
Q. What is his passive Obedience?
A. His suffering the Will of God, even to the death of the Cross.
Q. What is the application of Redemption?
A. A giving of the Spirit, in and with the graces of the Spirit.
Q. What are the graces of the Spirit?
A. Vocation, Justification, Adoption, and Glorification.
Q. What is Vocation?
A. A grace of the Spirit, whereby God doth give Faith and Repentance unto his Elect ones.
Q. What is Faith?
A. A sight of the grace of the Gospel, whereby we come to cleave to God in Christ above all things for salvation.
Or else a belief that God will pardon our sins in the way of Repentance for Christ's sake.
Q. What is repentance?
A. An overcoming purpose to forsake sin, with sorrow for sin.
Q. What is Justification?
A. A grace of the Spirit, whereby God doth accept and pronounce all those that are called, to be just unto eternal life.
Q. What is adoption?
A A grace of the Spirit, whereby God doth accept and pronounce all those that are called, to be his children, and heirs unto eternal life.
Q. What is Glorification?
A. A grace of the Spirit, whereby God doth translate a man out of the misery of sin into blessedness.
Q. How is the application of Redemption made known?
A. By the experiencing of the graces of the Spirit, and by the witness of the Spirit helping us to discern the truth of them.
Q. What is the subject of Redemption?
A. The Church.
Q. What are the means of applying Redemption?
A. They are especially public Ministry and private Duties.
Q. What are the Ministerial acts?
A. Preaching of the Word, Prayer, administration of the Sacraments, and Discipline.
Qu. What is a Sacrament?
A. A visible sign instituted by God for the confirmation of the Covenant.
Qu. How many Sacraments are there?
A. Two: Baptism, and the Lord's Supper.
Qu. What is the thing signifying in Baptism?
A Water, & the washing with water.
Qu. What is the thing signified.
A. The blood of Christ washing away our sins unto eternal life.
Qu. What is the thing signifying in the Lord's Supper?
A. The Bread and Wine: the Bread broken, the Wine poured out, the giving and receiving of it.
Qu. What is the thing signified in the Lord's Supper?
A. The Body of Christ broken on the Cross, his Blood shed for our sins, offered to sinners in the way of believing, and received by Faith, for assurance of eternal life.
Quest. What is Discipline?
A▪ A Correction of scandalous professors by Church censures.
Q What is the season of attending the public Ministry?
A. Especially on the first day of the week, or Lord's-day.
Q. When is R • demption consummated?
A. In the Resurrection at the last Judgment, at the second Coming of Christ.
Q. How many Commandments are there?
A. Ten.
Q. Into how many Tables are the Commandments divided?
Q. What doth the first Table contain?
A. Our Duties towards God, or Duties of Religious Worship, in the four first Commandments.
Q. What doth the second Table contain?
A. Our Duties towards the Creature, in the six last.
Q. What is contained in the first Commandment?
A. Natural Worship, in Faith, Hope, • ove, Fear, Hearing the Word, and • rayer.
Qu. What is Hope?
A. A cleaving to God as our chiefest good for blessedness.
Qu. What is love?
A. A cleaving to God as the chiefest good▪ and deserving all glory.
Qu. What is Fear?
A. An admiring and adoring of God's Holiness, and all his Perfections.
Qu. What is contained in the second Commandment?
A. Instituted Worship in Ministry, Sacraments and Discipline.
Qu. What is contained in the third Commandment?
A. A due manner of Worship, in reverence, devotion and alacrity
Qu. What is contained in the fourth Commandment?
A. The due time of Worship, as all due seasons▪ Morning and Evening, especially on the Lord's-day.
Qu. What is contained in the fifth Commandment?
A. A due respect to the good name or dignity of our Neighbor, in humility, gratitude and obedience.
Qu. What is humility?
A. A grace which moderateth the love of excellency.
Qu. What is gratitude?
A. A grace which disposeth us to recompense benefits.
Qu. What is obedience?
A. A grace which disposeth us to honor all such as are in authority, by being subject.
Qu. What is contained in the sixth Commandment?
A. A due respect to the life of our Neighbor, in goodness, mercy, meekness, and patience.
Qu. What is goodness?
A. A grace which disposeth us to show kindness to all.
Qu. What is mercy?
A. A grace which disposeth us to relieve all such as are in misery.
Qu. What is meekness?
A. A grace which moderateth anger and revenge.
Qu. What is patience?
A. A grace which moderateth grief in affliction.
Quest. What is contained in the seventh Commandment?
A. A due respect to the purity of our Neighbor, in temperance, chastity, modesty, gravity.
Qu. What is temperance?
A. A grace which moderateth affection to all sensual pleasures.
Qu. What is chastity?
A. A grace which regulateth the lusts of the flesh.
Qu. What is modesty?
A. A grace which restraineth us from wantonness.
Qu. What is gravity?
A. A grace which inclineth us to purity.
Qu. What is contained in the eighth Commandment?
A. A due respect to the goods • f our Neighbor, in righteousness, libera ••• y, and frugality.
Qu. What is righteousness?
A. A grace which inclineth us to give all men their due.
Qu. What is liberality?
A. A grace which inclineth us to communicate our goods freely to our neighbor.
Quest What is frugality?
A. A grace which inclineth us to be provident and diligent in our Calling.
Qu. What is contained in the ninth Commandment?
A. A due respect to the innocence of our Neighbor, in verity and fidelity.
Qu. What is verity?
A. A grace which inclineth us to speak the truth for our neighbors good.
Qu. What is fidelity?
A. A grace which inclineth us to keep our Promises.
Qu. What is contained in the tenth Commandment?
A. A due respect to the prosperity of our Neighbor, in rejoicing in his prosperity, and accepting our own portion with contentation.
Qu. What is Contentation?
A. A grace which inclineth us to accept our own portion, whether good or • vil, with thanksgiving.