the Lord blessed the Seventh day and hallowed it 5. Honour thy Father and thy Mother that thy dayes may be long in the Land which the Lord thy God giveth thee 6. Thou shalt do no Murther 7. Thou shalt not commit Adultery 8. Thou shalt not Steal 7. Thou shalt not bare false witneses against thy Neighbour 10. Thou shalt not covet thy Neighbours house thou shalt not covet thy Neighbours Wife nor his Servant nor his Maid nor his Ox nor his Ass nor any thing that is his Q. What dost thou chiefly learn by these Commandments A. I learn two things my duty towards God and my duty towards my Neighbour Q. In which of these Commandments do you learn you duty towards God A. In the four first commonly called the first Table Q. In which of them do you learn your duty towards your Neighbour A. In the six last commonly called the second Table Q. What is your duty towards God A. My duty towards God is to believe in him to fear him and to love him with all my heart with all my mind with all my soul and all my strength to worship him to give him thanks to put my whole trust in him to call upon him to honour his holy name and his word and to serve him truly all the dayes of my life Q. In which of the four first Commands do you learn to believe in God to fear him and to love him with all your heart with all your mind with all your soul and with all your strength A. This part of my duty towards God I learn in the first of the Commandements Thou shalt have no other Gods but me in which precept I am bound first to believe that there is a God secondly I am to believe that there is but one God thirdly I am to believe in the true everliving God and to have him for my God and when I have thus chosen him to be my God it can be no less than my duty to stand in awe of so glorious a Majesty and to be fearful of displeasing him and also to love him above all things and for himself alone and to love him not faintly or languidly but sincerely and cordially with my whole mind with all my soul and with all my strength Q. Is this all that you learn from this Command A. No every Command besides that duty it positively enjoyns also forbids the contrary vice as likewise that command which forbids a vice also enjoyns the contrary vertue so that by this command I not only learn to believe in God to fear him and to love him but also I am forbidden infidelity not to believe the one true God or those Laws he hath delivered to the world careless presumption not fearing to offend him hatred of him or of whatsoever he commands Q. In which of these four first commands do you learn to worship this true everliving God to give him thanks to put your whole trust in him and to call upon him A. This part of my duty towards God I learn in the second Commandment Thou shalt not worship any graven Image wherein as I am expressly forbidden the making any graven Image or the worshipping of them when made so also I am implicitely enjoyned to worship that supream infinite Majesty of Heaven and Earth uprightly and sincerely with all bodily worship and external forms of address to adore him with all humility and reverence in all my wants to call upon him who is a ready help in time of need and when he hath fulfilled my desires to give him hearty thanks for his mercies in all straits and dangers to put my whole trust in him who is a sure rock of defence in a word in all respects to pay him that homage reverence and adoration as his greatness and goodness requires from me Q. Wherefore are you bound to worship no Idol nor any representation of God but onely the true God A. Because he is a jealous God and will not suffer the least contempt that is offered to his honour to pass by unpunished Q. In which of these commands dost thou learn to honour his Holy name A. This part of my duty towards God I learn in the third command Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain wherein I am bound to honour Gods Holy Name by not abusing of it in my daily communication not using it rashly foolishly or vainly in my common discourse not cursing either my neighbour or any of his possessions in Gods name not swearing by his name falsly or at all unless it be in a just cause before 〈◊〉 lawful Magistrate for the deciding of some controversie As also by this precept I am obliged to honour Gods name by esteeming highly of it and speaking of it with reverence and sobriety and at all times and upon all occasions praising magnifying exalting and honouring the most holy and reverend name of God his Attributes or any thing whereby he hath made himself known unto us Q. What punishment do you incur if you are failing in your duty in this respect A. God will proceed against me as against a malefactor or guilty person and although possibly in this life I may escape without chastifinent yet in another I cannot but expect to be severely punished Q. In which command do you learn to serve God truly all the dayes of your life A. This part of my duty towards God I learn in the last of these four commands Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath Day wherein I am bound to devote that time to the worship and service of God which the Church by her authority hath set apart for that purpose Q. Are you not then bound to observe the Sabboth day that is the seventh day on which God rested from the works of his creation A. I am bound to observe one day in seven as a Sabboth that is a day of rest but the primitive Christians instead of the Jewish Sabboth which was to be abolished after the Resurrection of Christ made choice of the first day of the week on which he arose from the grave to be observed as the Christian Sabboth and also honoured it with the title of the Lords day Q. What are the duties required for the right observation of this day A. They are two Sanctification and Rest Q. How must this day be Sanctified A. In must be sanctified by setting it apart to the Worship and service of God Q. What is that service of God which on this day must be performed A. It may be reduced to these three heads either that publique service we are obliged to perform in the Church or that charitable service we are to do towards our neighbour or that private service we are to perform at our own houses Q. Wherein consists that publique service of God we are bound to perform on this day A. It consists in meeting together at the house of Prayer the Church and unanimously joyning together
duty of Catechizing yet they perform it so slightly and remisly that it is almost as good left undone possibly they will Catechise the six Sundays in Lent that is they will hear the younger sort by rote repeat over those arswers contained in the Catechism and when they are able to rehearse them readily they believe them sufficiently instructed in the Catechistical points although they understand very little of the true sense and meaning of what is contained therein and the truth of this is plain from hence if you do but propound to them one question out of order is it is not placed in the Catechism or vary but a very little in the words of the question from what it is in the Book they are not able to give an account of it I wish these persons would heartily consider that Canonical obedience they promised when entrusted with A PLAIN and BRIEF EXPLANATION OF THE CHVRCH CATECHISM Q. VVHat is your name A. N. or M. Q. Why begin you your Catechism with this Question A. Because this name was given me when I was made a Christian so that whensoever I call to mind this my name I may remember that I am a Christian and what those duties are that this my Holy Profession binds me to observe and do Q. Who gave you this name A. My Godfathers and Godmothers in my Baptism wherein I was made a member of Christ the child of God and an inheritour of the Kingdom of Heaven Q. When was this name given you A. At my Baptism and therefore it is call'd my Christian name because it was given me when I was made a Christian a member of Christ Q. Was you then made a Christian A. Yes this favour was not bestowed upon me at my first birth but at my second when at my Baptism I was washed in the Laver of Regeneration then I was made a Christian admitted into the number of Christs visible members Q. In what condition was you then in before your Baptism A. I was in a weak and infirm capacity the powers and faculties of my soul being in no mean degree impaired and corrupted Q. How came you into this miserable estate A. By the fall of the first man Adam God made a Covenant with Adam and in him with all mankind wherein God on his part promised to confer on mankind divers mercies and Adam on his part promised an exact unsinning unerring obedience but Adam by eating the forbidden Fruit contrary to the express command of his Maker became disobedient and so broke the bond of the Covenant and hereby brought both himself and the whole Race of mankind into this wretched miserable estate Q. By what means was you raised out of this wretched estate A. By the meritorious sufferings of Christ the second Adam who by taking upon him our nature and therein performing exact unerring obedience according to the conditions of the first Covenant and tasting death upon the Cross for every man hath hereby satisfied for the sins of Adam and for the sins of all mankind and by this means delivered me with the rest of mankind out of this desperate condition Q. How come you to have a right to those benefits purchased by Christ A. By Baptism which is the Seal of the second Covenant at the setting on of which Seal these three Priviledges are bestowed to become a member of Christ a child of God and an inheritor of the Kingdom of Heaven Q. Are all them that are Baptized members of Christ A. All that are Baptized in the name of Christ and profess the Christian Religion may be term'd members of his visible Body but those only who both by profession and practice are sincere Christians belong to his mystical Body that is are united to him live in him and are informed by his Spirit these are indeed Gods real Children by Adoption and Grace and shall in the end be made inheritors of the Kingdom of Heaven Q. What did your Godfathers and Godmothers promise for you A. They did promise and vow three things in my name first that I should renounce the Devil and all his works the pomps and vanities of this wicked world and all the sinful lusts of the flesh secondly that I should believe all the Articles of the Christian Faith And thirdly that I should keep Gods holy will and Commandments and walk in the same all the days of my life Q. Why are you bound according to the first part of your Batismal promise to renounce the Devil and all his works A. Because these are enemies to God and hateful in his sight and before I renounce all that God hates it is impossible that I should be so nearly united to him as to be his true child and member Q. What is the Devil A. The Devil is an evil Spirit who once was an Angel of light but for his Pride and Rebellion was thrown from Heaven into the horrid Regions of Darkness Q. What are the works of the Devil A. The works of the Devil are all manner of sin and wickedness even whatsoever contradicts the Will and Commands of God and defiles our own Souls Q. Why are these stiled the works of the Devil A. Because he was the first Author of Sin Rebellion and Disobedience he in the beginning acted it against God learnt it our first Parents and makes it his whole employment daily to infuse it into the hearts of all mankind Q. What do you mean by the pomps and vanities of this wicked world A. By these I mean all manner of secular honours pleasures and preferments all those perishing delights and transient vanities which this world may present unto us to withdraw our hearts from intending the due performance of that promise we made at our Baptism Q. What are the sinful lusts of the flesh A. The sinful lusts of the flesh are all those abominations and impieties which our rebellious flesh lusteth after and provoketh us to run into Q. The next thing which you say that your Sureties promised for you is to believe all the Articles of the Christian Faith what is it to believe or what is Faith viz. that Faith which on your behalf was promised at your Baptism A. Faith is such an hearty perswasion of the truth of Gods promises and of every thing else that he hath spoken as makes us obedient in all things to his commands Q. What is the object of this Faith or what is it that we are bound to believe A. I am to believe that Form of sound words and wholesom Doctrine which Christ and his Apostles delivered to the World and that we have epitomized and briefly summ'd up in that Confession of Faith commonly called the Apostles Creed Q. Why is this Confession of Faith called the Apostles Creed A. It is so called either because the Apostles were the Authors of it it being composed by them or else because it is an abridgment of the Doctrine delivered by the Apostles Q. How must your
life from the same Root Q. What is the second benefit that belong to be Members of the Church A. Forgiveness of Sins Q. What is Sin A. Sin is the transgression of the Law of God Q. What is the punishment due unto sin A. Eternal death the wages of sin is death Q. Is not all mankind lyable to this punishment in regard as the Scripture affirms all have sinned and come short of the Glory of God A. All mankind was once in a state of death and dammnation Q. How then came this benefit of the forgiveness of sins to be made over to them A. The Son of God by his active obedience fulfilling every title of the Law and by his passive obedience suffering the wrath of God due to us for the breach of the Law hath made full satisfaction on our behalf reconciled us to God by vertue of which reconciliation our sins are forgiven Q. To whom doth this favour belong A. To the Members of the Church Q. Shall all those that are Members of the Church partake of this benefit A. All those that by Baptism are received into the Church by that Sacrament receive the remission of those sins which they were guilty of before they were baptized and hence it is that in the Nicene Creed we profess to believe one Baptism for the remissioâ— of sins also after they be thus made Members of Christ they receive remission of their future sins by repentance Q. What is the third benefit that bâ—longs to the Members of this Church A. The Resurrection of the Body Q. Can the body then arise out of thâ— Grave when as it is mouldred in crumbs and dust A. It shall most certainly arise â—gain and he re-united to the Soâ— when together they shall render an account of all their actions performed iâ— this life Q. Shall the very same bodies arise that now we bare about with us A. They shall be the same for substance but not for qualities whereas they are now Earthly Mortal and Corruptible bodies they shall then be Spiritual Immortal and incorruptible Q. How can this possibly be that the same body which is devoured by Worms should again be raised A. This is performed by Gods infinite and unlimited power who shall call to the dead arise ye dead and come away to judgement and the dead shall hear his voice and obey it Q. VVhat necessity is there that the same body should arise A. The same body must arise and no other to magnifie Gods justice that so the same individual body that was a copartner in sin may be punished that which did partake in righteous actions and sufferings may be rewarded Q. Shall all bodies in general arise A. The bodies both of the Godly and wicked of the just and unjust all that ever lived shall arise and live again to eternal Ages Q. When shall this general resurrection be A. At the last and great day of accounts when the Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout and with the voice of the Arch-angel and with the Trumpet of God Q. What is the fourth benefit that belongs to the Members of this Church A. The life everlasting Q. To whom doth this belong A. To all in general for although the life everlasting is frequently used to signifie that reward which in another life is bestowed upon the righteous yet the wicked shall live eternally Q. What shall then be the difference betwixt the godly and the ungodly in this respect A. The godly shall live to all eternity in unspeakable joys and never fading glories and the wicked shall live eternally or they shall remain alive in Soul Body to endure the Torments to be inflicted upon them by the justice of God for all the sins committed by them whilst they were in the body Q. Do you think that it is enough barely to believe all these Articles of your Faith A. As I am bound to believe them so it is my duty to frame my practice answerable to this my belief so that I must not only know what these words signifie but likewise I must perform such actions as are agreeable thereto Q. Is this all that your Baptismal vow and promise requires from you A. No it not only enjoyns me to believe all the Articles of the Christian Faith but also I am thereby bound to keep Gods holy Will and Commandments and to walk in the same all the dayes of my life Q. When was these Commandments given A. God speak them to Moses upon Mount Sinai who wrote them upon Tables of Stone made them known to the people of Israel for the regulating of their manners Q. If these Commandments are part of Moses his Law then certainly they were abrogated by the coming of Christ A. This Law was before Moses was although not literally recorded and it shall continue after him to the end of the World and therefore it is called the Moral Law because it is to be a perpetual rule of good manners to mankind Q. To whom did God make it known before Moses A. He did implant it in mans nature by Creation and for this reason St. Paul calls it the Law of Nature but when mans light and knowledge was decayed and impaired by the fall of Adam God again renewed this Law to his Servant Moses and likewise our blessed Lord in his first Sermon that most excellent Sermon he preached on the Mount reinforces this Law and rescues it from those corrupt glosses the Scribes and Pharises had put upon it Q. How many Commandements doth this moral law contain A. Ten. Q. Which be they A. The same which God spake in the twentieth Chapter of Exodus saying I am the Lord thy God which brought thee out of the Land of Aegypt out of the house of Bondage 1. Thou shalt have none other gods but me 2. Thou shalt not make to thy self any graven Image nor the likeness of any thing that is in Heaven above or in the Earth beneath or in the waters under the Earth thou shalt not how down to them nor worship them For I the Lord thy God am a jealous God and visit the iniquities of the Fathers upon the Children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me and shew mercy unto thousands unto them that love me and keep my Commandments 3. 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 4. Kemmember that thou keep holy the sabbath-Sabbath-day six dayes shalt thou labour and do all that thou vast to do but the Seventh day is the Sabboth of the Lord thy God in it thou shalt do no manner of work thou and thy son and thy daughter thy man-servant and thy maid-servant the Cattel and the Stranger that is within thy Gates for in six dayes the Lord made Heaven and Earth the Sea and all that in them is and rested the Seventh day wherefore
in the publick prayers of the Church in hearing the word of God read and preached in Catechising and in receiving the Holy Sacrament of Christs most precious body and blood and in all these offices behaving our selves with all reverence decency and humility Q. Wherein consists that service we are on this day bound to performe towards our neighbour A. It consists in forgiving offences reconciling such of them as are at variance exhorting and edifying one another in love giving of alms and visiting the sick Q. What is that private service we are bound to performe to God on this day A. Reading good and profitable books meditating instructing our families in the principles of religion together with the performance of our private devotions which is every dayes duty Q. What is that rest which on this is required A. It is a rest from our common affairs and all servile works and labours unless of charity and necessity Q. Is this all the rest required on this day A. No we must not onely rest our selves but also we must suffer our Servants our Cattel and all that belongs unto us to rest on this day Q. What is your Duty towards your Neighbour which you learn in the second Table or in the sixth following command A. My Duty towards my Neighbour is to Love him as my self and to do to all men as I would they should do unto me to Love Honour and Succour my Father and Mother to honour and obey the King and all that are put in Authority under him to submit my self to all my Governours Teachers spiritual Pastors and Masters to order my self lowly and reverently to all my betters to hurt no body by Word or Deed to be true and just in all my Dealings to bear no malice nor hatred in my Heart to keep my Hands from picking and stealing and my Tongue from evil speaking lying and slandering to keep my Body in temperance soverness and chastity not to covet nor desire other mens goods but to learn and labour truly to get my own living and to do my Duty in that state of life into which it shall please God to call me Q. Who is your Neighbour A. Every man without exception unless the Church of God by its power hath for some notorious offence cut him off from her communion Q. Are we then bound to love our enemies those that hate us and persecute us A. These we are also to love and hereto we are strictly bound by our Blessed Saviours express command But I say unto you love your Enemies bless them that curse you pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you Q. In which of these six commands do you learn to love your neighbour as jour self A. This general duty I learn in all of them wherein is contained that kindness mercy and compassion which one man ought to entertain towards another it being the great design of this Table to maintain amity friendship amongst brethren Q. In which of these commands do you learn to do unto all men as you would they should do unto you A. This duty towards my neighbour I likewise learn from them all in general which teach me to give to all their just due and right not to detract from my neighbour by word nor deed neither to injure him either in body goods or name Q. In which of these commands dost thou learn to love honour and succour thy Father and Mother to honour and obey the King and all that are put in authority under him to submit your self to all your teachers governours spiritual pastors and Masters to order your self lowly and reverently to all your betters A. This part of my duty towards my neighbour I learn in the first precept of this Table or of the fifth in order honour thy Father and thy Mother Q. How can you learn thus much by this precept when as it onely enjoyns you to honour your father and mother A. These terms Father and Mother are very comprehensive under which are included all that are above us in what relation soever whether natural civil or Ecclesiastical Q. What is that duty which this command requires from you towards your natural relations that is your parents A. It is first to love them with so cordial an affection as so near a relation requires Secondly to honour them as those from whom I received my being who take care and provide for me in all respects next under my Creator Thirdly to succour them if providence should ever cast them into distress in every respect according to the best of my ability Q. What is that duty which this command requires from you towardes your civil relations that is the King who is the Father of his Country and all that are put in authority under him A. It is to give them that honour which is due unto them such as their eminent places and qualities require heartily to obey all their just commands patiently to suffer the penalties of their Laws when inflicted never upon any account whatsoever to rebell against them but quietly to submit my self to every ordinance of man for the Lords sake Q. What is that duty which this command requires from you towards your Ecclesiastical relations that is towards your Teachers spiritual Fathers Pastors A. It is to obey those good instructions they give me to follow their good examples patiently submitting to all those censures which for my extravagancies they inflict upon me and to endeavour by my true penitency to be absolved from them Q. So then I perceive there is a general duty by this command required of you towardes all your Superiours A. Yes this Law enjoyns me to order my selfe lowly and reverently to all my betters that is to give unto them that due subjection reverence honour and respect that their several qualities and employments challenge from me Q. In which of these commands dost thou learn to hurt no body by word nor deed to be true and just in all thy dealings to beare no malice nor hatred in thy heart A. This part of my duty towards my-Neigbour I learn in the second command of this Table or in the sixth of them all thou shalt do no murther wherein I am forbidden to offer any violence to my Neighbour either by word or deed not to take away his life either by open force or private treachery or any other way neither to harbour any murtherous malicious or envyous thoughts against him nor to utter any reviling railing bitter speeches In general here is forbidden all cruelty or unmercifulness either to men or beast Q. In which of these commands dost thou learn to keep thy hands from picking and stealing A. This part of my duty towards my Neighbour I learn in the fourth command of this second Table or in the eighth of them all thou shalt not steal wherein I am forbidden picking stealing secret purloyning open robberies violence plundering and rapacity or any other way