A very breefe manner of Instruction, to the principles of Religion.
WHat meaneth this woord, Catechisme?
It is as much as to say, a Christian Instruction.
What is the cheefe part of a Christian mans duetie?
To knowe God.
By what meanes may we best knowe God?
By his worde, and by his workes.
By what meanes, is Gods will best made knowne vnto vs?
By these two parts of his word, namelie, the Lawe and the Gospell.
What learnest thou by the Lawe?
I learne three thinges.
VVhich be they?
First, I learne my miserable, wretched and wofull estate, and my corrupt and most dampnable condicion by nature.
Secondly, I learne thereby, both what [Page] Gods will is I should doo, and what I ought to doo. And what Gods will is I should not doo, and so, what I ought not to doo.
Thirdly, I am thereby taught, to flie to Christ for my saluation. Because I see nothing but condemnation in the Law, and the dexteritie, and righteousnesse thereof. And this is the summe and effect of Gods Lawe in generall.
Shew mee then the breefe sum of Gods Lawe in speciall?
You meane the commaundements of almightie God, that he gaue vnto Moses in the mount.
Yea the same, how many be there?
There be ten commaundements.
If you can, I pray you declare them?
Yes that I can, they be the same which God spake in the xx. Chapter of Exodus, saying: Heare O Israel, I am the Lord thy God, that brought thee out of the land of Egipt, out of the house of bondage.
- 1. Thou shalt haue none other Gods but mee.
- 2. Thou shalt not make to thy selfe any [Page] grauen Image, nor the lykenesse of any thing that is in heauen aboue, or in the earth beneath, nor in the waters vnder the earth, thou shalt not bowe downe to them nor worship them, for I the Lord thy God am a gealous God, and visite the sinnes of the Fathers vpon the chyldren, to the third and sowrth generatiō of them that hate mee: & shew mercie vnto thousandes, in them that loue mee and keepe my commaundements.
- 3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vaine, for the Lord will not holde him guiltlesse that taketh his name in vaine.
- 4. Remember thou keepe holy the Sabbaoth day: sixe daies shalt thou labour & doo all that thou hast to doo, but the seuēth day is the Sabaoth of the Lord thy God, in it thou shalt doo no manner of worke, thou and thy sonne, and thy daughter, thy man seruant, and thy maide seruant: thy thy cattaile, & the straunger that is within thy gates. For in sixe dayes the Lord made heauen and earth, the sea and all that in them is, and rested the seuēth day, [Page] wherfore the Lord blessed the seuenth day and hallowed it.
- 5. Honour thy Father and thy Mother, that thy dayes may be long in the lande, which the Lord thy God giueth thee.
- 6. Thou shalt doo no murder.
- 7. Thou shalt not commit adulterie.
- 8. Thou shalt not steale.
- 9. Thou shalt not beare false witnesse against thy neighbour.
- 10. Thou shalt not couet thy neighbors house, thou shalt not couet thy neighbors wife, nor his seruaunt, nor his maide, nor his oxe, nor his asse, nor any thing that is his.
How many Tables be there in these ten commaundements?
There be two Tables.
How many commaundements are there in the first Table?
There be fowre.
How many in the second Table?
There be sixe.
How many of these are commaunded to be done, and how many are forbidden not to be donne?
There be two commaundements to bee doone: and eight forbidden to bee done.
Which be they that be commaunded to be done, and which not to be done?
The 4. and 5. commaūded to be done, The 1 2. 3 of the first Table, And the 6.7. 8.9.10. of the second Table not to be done.
Rehearse them?
1. The sowrth and last cōmaundemēt of the first Table, is commaunded to be done, namely: Remember thou keepe holie the Sabboth day, &c.
2. So is the fift commaundement, being the first of the second Table, namelie: Honour thy father and thy Mother, &c.
3. All the rest are forbidden, and are discerned by these notes or tytles. As
4. Thou shall
- 1. Haue none As in the
- 2. Not As in the
- 3. Doo no As in the
- thou shal 1. Haue none other Gods, &c.
- thou shal 2. Not make to thy selfe any grauen Image, &c.
- thou shal 3. Not take the name of y e Lord, &c.
- [Page]4. 6. Doo no murder.
- 5. 7. Commit no adulterie.
- 6. 8. Steale not.
- 7. 9. Beare no false witnesse, &c.
- 8. 10. Court not thy neighbours house, nor his wife, &c.
So thou seest how fewe God cōmaunds to doo?
Yea, and yet we doo them not. And how many forbidden, &c. and yet we doo them.
But what learnest thou by this?
I learne and see hereby, two speciall things to be remembred.
- 1. First Gods fatherlie care, loue & goodnesse towardes vs, in both warning vs, and teaching of vs: Both what he would haue done, and what he would not haue done. What we should doo, and what we should not doo.
- 2. Secondly againe, I see first how fraile and vntoward we are, either to doo that he commaundeth, or to forbeare that hee forbiddeth: such is our corrupt and sinful state and naughtie nature, and euill inclined [Page] disposition.
Then thou hast profited somthing hereby.
Yea, I thanke God I know and haue learned, both how gratiously and mercifullie God hath dealt with vs in this, and all other his holy Scriptures. And how far we are from dooing his holy will, and how prone, ready, and foreward we are to doo the contrarie: euen our owne will and heart lusts and delights. And yet by this meanes I hope heereafter by Gods grace, to be put in minde & remembrance to haue more care to doo Gods will, and lesse delight in mine owne will, then euer I had before.
God graunt it to thee and vs all, to haue such grace for Christes sake.
Amen.
Seeing we be in such a daungerous state of dampnation, what meanes haue we to obtaine Gods mercie and pardon for our sinnes?
Ouely by faith in Christ Iesus.
And nothing else but faith?
No, no other thing but faith in Christ, ioyned with true repentaunce & Christiā [Page] loue & charity. And then folowes a zelous minde to the truth, ane a harty and an vnfeined purpose to amend, whatsoeuer is amisse before God and man, &c.
Rehearse the sum and effect of that faith, perticularly and distinctly.
1. I beleeue in God y e Father almightie, maker of heauen and earth.
2. And in Iesus Christ his onely sonne our Lord, which was cōceiued by the holy Ghost, borne of the Uirgin Marie, suffered vnder Pontius Pilate, was crucified dead and buried.
3. He descended into hell.
4. The third day he rose againe from the dead.
5. He ascended into heauen, and sitteth on the right hand of God y e Father almighty.
6. From thence he shall come to iudge the quicke and the dead.
7. I beleeue in the holie Ghost.
8. The holie Catholique Church.
9. The Communion of Saintes.
10. The forgiuenesse of sinnes.
11. The resurrection of the body.
12. And the lyfe euerlasting.
How many Articles be there?
Twelue.
Howe many partes is the Creede to be deuided into?
Into three in generall.
- 1. As to God the Father and our creation, by him.
- 2. To God the sonne, and our redemption in him.
- 3. To God the holy Ghost, & our sanctificatiō and regeneration & new birth in him.
Is there any moe diuisions vsed?
Yea, by some two other.
VVhich be they?
1. One of the Cotholique Church, and the Communion of Saintes.
2. The other of these three Articles, specially to be noted, as the sum, comfort, and effect of all our faith, &c.
And they be
- 1 The forgiuenes of sinnes,
- 2 The resurrectiō of y e body.
- 3 And the life euerlasting.
Are these the cheefe partes of our Creede or Articles of our Faith, both generall, speciall and perticular?
Yea, this is the summe of our faith in the blessed Trinity, our creation, redemption, and sanctification, and regeneration, and new byrth wrought by Gods spirite, in the hearts of euerie faithfull creature, of the true Church of Christ.
How is this Faith obtained, encreased, and established?
By three speciall meanes.
- 1. By our humble and heartie Prayer to God.
- 2. By hearing of the word, and receiuing of the Sacraments.
- 3. By the working of Gods holy spirit in our harts, in hearing of the same word, & receiuing of the same Sacraments, &c.
What is the cheefest prayer, to obtaine all thinges at Gods hand by?
The same which Christ hath taught vs, saying: when you pray, pray on this manner, &c. Luk. II.
O Our Father which art in Heauen.
1. Halowed be thy name.
2. Thy kingdome come.
3. Thy will be doone in earth as it is in heauen.
[Page]4. Giue vs this day our dayly bread. &c.
5. And forgiue vs our trespasses as wee forgiue. &c.
6. And lead vs not into temptation.
But deliuer vs from euill. &c.
How many partes are contained in the prayer.
There be three partes in generall.
- 1. The preface.
- 2. Sixe peticion.
- 3. The conclusion.
But two partes speciall, &c.
- 1. The preface is, Our Father wich art in heauen.
- 2. The sixe peticions, be deuided into two partes in speciall.
The fyrst contayneth three peticions.
The second cōtaineth other three peticions.
The 1. cōtaining y e glorie of God.
The 2 cōtaining y e necessity of mē.
The fyrst three bee,
- 1. Hallowed be thy name.
- 2. Thy kingdom come.
- 3. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heauē.
This consernes the glorie of God.
[Page]The other three,
- 1. 4. Giue vs this day our daylie bread.
- 2. 5. And forgiue vs our trespasses, as we forgiue them that, &c.
- 3. 6. And leade vs not into temptation, &c.
These concernes the necessity of men.
Then I perceiue this beginning, Our Father which art in heauē: is but a preface or an entrance into the prayer, or a preparing Gods eare and our heartes therevnto, And so the end but a conclusion, yeelding all power and glorie to God?
You saye verie truelie.
I see also, that you vnderstand both, what thou speakest, and also what thou prayest for?
Yea, that I doo I thanke God, & I giue you thankes also, for your freendly and Christian endeuour. And the Lord giue me grace to vse this prayer and all other, a right. And so hartelie, reuerently, faithfully, and vnfeinedly, as may be to Gods glorie and my comfort.
Amen. The Lord graunt it to all men &c.