The Catechism for Boys and Girls is a simple catechism designed to teach the fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith to children. Each question and answer covers essential biblical truths organized into six parts.
Part I: God, Man, and Sin
God made me.
God made all things.
For his own glory.
By loving him and doing what he commands.
Because he made me and takes care of me.
There is only one God.
In three persons.
The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
God is everywhere.
No; I cannot see God, but he always sees me.
Yes; nothing can be hidden from God.
Yes; God can do all his holy will.
In the Bible alone.
Holy men who were taught by the Holy Spirit.
Adam and Eve.
God made Adam’s body out of the ground, and Eve’s body out of a rib from Adam. He made their souls directly.
He gave them souls that could never die.
He made them holy and happy.
No; they sinned against God.
Eating the fruit that God had forbidden them to eat.
Because they did not believe what God had said.
The devil tempted Eve, and she gave the fruit to Adam.
Instead of being holy and happy, they became sinful and miserable.
Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God.
Not being or doing what God requires.
Doing what God forbids.
The wrath and curse of God.
Eating the forbidden fruit.
All mankind.
All mankind fell with Adam in his first transgression.
In a state of sin and misery.
Original sin.
Adam’s guilt imputed to us and a corrupt nature dwelling in us.
Part II: The Ten Commandments
The moral law.
In the Ten Commandments.
Our duty toward God.
Our duty toward our fellow men.
You shall have no other gods before me.
To worship God alone.
You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
To worship God in the right way, and to avoid idolatry.
You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
To reverence God’s name, word, and works.
Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
To keep the Sabbath holy.
The first day of the week, called the Lord’s Day.
Because on that day Christ rose from the dead.
In prayer and praise, in hearing and reading God’s Word, and in doing good to our neighbors.
Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
To love and obey our parents and all others whom God places over us.
You shall not murder.
To avoid all injuries to life, and to take proper care of our own life and the lives of others.
You shall not commit adultery.
To be pure in heart, language, and conduct.
You shall not steal.
To be honest and not to take the things of others.
You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
To tell the truth and not to speak evil of others.
You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
To be content with what we have.
No mere man, since the fall of Adam, ever kept the ten commandments perfectly.
They teach us our duty, and show us our need of a Savior.
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.
All my fellow men are my neighbors.
Yes; he says, ‘I love those who love me.’
Yes; ‘God is angry with the wicked every day.’
Death.
Part III: Salvation
Unless they repent and believe in Christ, they are.
Yes; God provided a way of escape through Jesus Christ.
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.
Christ, as our Redeemer, executes the offices of a prophet, of a priest, and of a king.
Christ executes the office of a prophet in revealing to us, by his word and Spirit, the will of God for our salvation.
Christ executes 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.
Christ executes 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.
He sent his only Son Jesus Christ to be their Savior.
He obeyed the law for us, died on the cross for our sins, rose from the dead, and now reigns in heaven.
For those whom the Father had given him.
The elect.
He calls them into a state of grace by the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit convinces them of their sin and misery, enlightens their minds in the knowledge of Christ, and renews their wills, thereby persuading and enabling them to embrace Jesus Christ.
I must repent of my sins and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
To be sorry for sin, and to hate and forsake it because it is displeasing to God.
To trust in Christ alone for salvation from sin and its penalty.
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.
He gives them justification, adoption, and sanctification.
Justification is God’s free grace, whereby he pardons all our sins and accepts us as righteous in his sight, for the sake of Christ’s righteousness alone, which is given to us and received by faith alone.
Adoption is God’s free grace, whereby we are received into the family of God and given all the privileges of his children.
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.
By the Holy Spirit’s dwelling in our hearts.
Grace is the undeserved love and favor of God.
The Word of God, the sacraments, and prayer.
We must read and hear it with attention, faith, and reverence.
Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
Baptism is a sacrament wherein the washing with water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost doth signify and seal our engrafting into Christ, and partaking of the benefits of the covenant of grace, and our engagement to be the Lord’s.
To believers and their children.
The Lord’s Supper is a sacrament wherein, by giving and receiving bread and wine according to Christ’s appointment, his death is shown 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.
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.
The Lord Jesus Christ.
On the night when he was betrayed.
For the continual remembrance of his sacrifice, the strengthening of our faith, and our growth in grace.
Until Christ comes again.
No; it is only a means of grace.
Yes; if they are truly repentant and believing.
Prayer is asking God for things which he has promised to give, for Christ’s sake, and thanking him for his mercies.
Only in the name of Christ.
The Lord’s Prayer.
Part IV: The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
Six.
Hallowed be thy name.
That God’s name may be honored by us and all men.
Thy kingdom come.
That the gospel may be spread abroad, and that Christ may rule in our hearts and return to reign.
Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
That men on earth may serve God as the angels do in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
That God may feed and take care of us in this life.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
That God may forgive our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
That God would keep us from sin.
Only one.
Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Yes; the Bible says it is the gift of God.
Part V: Word, Church, and Ordinances
The whole company of God’s people.
A particular church.
Elders and deacons.
Teaching elders and ruling elders.
The Lord Jesus Christ.
The government and correction of the members of the church.
For the glory of God and the good of his people.
The Word of God, the sacraments, and prayer.
By the Holy Spirit’s making it a means of convincing and converting sinners and building them up in holiness.
With diligence, preparation, and prayer; faith, love, and obedience.
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.
Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
To believe in Jesus Christ, to repent of their sins, and to keep all God’s commandments.
Part VI: The Last Things
The soul returns to God who gave it, and the body turns to dust.
All the dead shall be raised, and all men shall stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
They shall be cast into hell.
A place of dreadful and endless torment.
They shall be received into heaven.
A glorious and happy place where the righteous shall be forever with the Lord.
Yes; I am a sinner by nature and by practice.
Yes; Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners.
By repenting of my sins and believing on the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior.