The Shorter Catechism Explained from Scripture

To the Masters and Governors of Families Belonging to My Congregation

Some authors dedicate their books to lords and ladies, or other distinguished persons, and I could no doubt find such patrons if I chose to look. But my deepest affection belongs to you, to whom I am so closely bound, and my greatest ambition is to serve your souls. Your warm and steady love toward me and my ministry through an unsettled age, of which you have given many clear proofs, deserves a far greater expression of my gratitude than the dedication of this book can offer.

When God brought you under my ministry, He entrusted me with the care of your souls. When God brought others into your households, He entrusted you with the care of their souls. This is a weighty responsibility, and to be guilty of someone's spiritual ruin is a terrifying thing. How blessed we will be if, on the great day of reckoning, we are found faithful to our own souls and to those in our care. Far too many people, even in our own nation and city, are perishing and walking blindly into hell for lack of knowledge and instruction. No method of instruction conveys a clearer or more precise understanding of the principles of religion than catechizing, which means that ministers and heads of households who neglect it are committing a serious act of unfaithfulness toward those in their charge. We should all take care that we are not held accountable for this failure when our Lord appears. It is not enough to bring your children and servants to receive public instruction; you are also duty-bound to instruct them privately and to examine them in their catechisms at home.

I know of no catechism richer in clarity and sound doctrine than the Shorter Catechism of the reverend Assembly. Because many of its answers contain things that beginners will find difficult to understand, I have taken considerable care in this work to unpack each answer, breaking it down through a series of questions and answers and supporting its truths with both reason and Scripture. I have tried to do this as plainly and accessibly as possible, so that everything here will be as clear and useful as it can be to those who are either learning or reading it. I have also briefly addressed some of the major theological controversies of our time, offering arguments in defense of the truth and not leaving objections entirely unanswered.

I have done this especially so that all of you, and particularly the younger and less experienced among those in your care, might be equipped with some defense against the errors that are spreading so widely. You are aware that some have committed the entire work, as far as we have progressed, to memory, and others besides themselves can speak to how much they have benefited from doing so.

Not everyone, however, has that kind of memory, and I have no intention of insisting that this explanation must be memorized without the book. What I do strongly advise is this: those of you who are heads of households should set aside time twice a week, or at least once, to examine your children and servants in the Assembly's Catechism, following Mr. Lye's excellent method of questioning, a man whom God has made remarkably effective in spreading understanding among the young. After they have given you the catechism answers from memory, you should then read, or have one of them read, a portion of this explanation corresponding to those answers, going only as far as you can cover well in a single sitting. If each person who can read has a copy of this explanation in hand, both in your homes and in your gatherings, following along with whoever is reading or answering aloud, they will attend more closely and understand more fully what is being read or answered. I am convinced this approach will be of enormous benefit to them, and that those who pursue it diligently will, through God's grace, gain in a short time a real proficiency in the most valuable knowledge there is. It is a treasure, and I cannot imagine why anyone would be content to go without it, especially when it can be obtained with less effort than people expend in pursuing things of far lesser worth.

This explanatory catechism was written primarily, if not exclusively, for you and for the use of those in my own congregation. If it also finds a welcome reception and proves useful to other households, I will rejoice all the more, because the more widely these modest labors are of service, the more they will bring glory to my great Master, and the greater comfort they will bring to me, especially in my dying hour. I will take my leave of you now, though I am not departing from you, with the parting words of the apostle Paul: "And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified" (Acts 20:32).

Your soul's earnest well-wisher, THOMAS VINCENT.

To the Young Members of My Congregation

To leave you out of this dedication would be to wrong you twice over: first, because this book was written chiefly for your benefit, and second, because it would betray the deep affection I have for you, an affection that binds me to do everything in my power for your souls. Your love in return is a powerful bond, but the strongest obligation of all is the close relationship we share. I can write to you not merely as my hearers, but to many of you as my own children. And I want to say, in the words of the apostle (which I offer not to my own credit, but to the praise and glory of God, through whose blessing alone my comparatively modest ministry has borne this fruit): "Though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you have not many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel" (1 Cor 4:15). My aim, like that of a father toward his children, is to feed you with knowledge and understanding of the most excellent things imaginable. You could possess the deepest insight into the secrets and mysteries of nature that any philosopher ever had, Solomon himself included. You could master every language spoken under heaven and speak with the tongues of men and angels.

Yet all human knowledge, even at its greatest height and fullest development, would not deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as the knowledge of Jesus Christ and the mysteries of salvation, which I long to open up for you. You have seen the light of the moon and the faint brightness of the stars when the curtain of night is drawn across the sky, yet all those lights vanish and fade into darkness when the sun rises in its full glory. That is precisely what human knowledge looks like when set beside the beams of divine light that stream from the Sun of Righteousness. What I want to hold out to you is the light of the knowledge of God's will, His ways, and His glory, as seen in the face of Jesus Christ.

The whole of Scripture is filled with this light, but just as some parts of the moon shine more brightly than others, so some parts of the holy Scriptures are more radiant than the rest. Those are the parts that contain the chief things to be known and believed, done and practiced, in the pursuit of salvation. These things have been admirably gathered together by the late reverend Assembly into the questions and answers of their Shorter Catechism. I have spent several years instructing some of you from this catechism, and so that you might better understand what you were learning, I began writing an explanation of it more than four years ago. At first you received it in handwritten form, and then, at your request, I sent it to the press sheet by sheet as you worked through it. The printer's repeated failures caused many interruptions and delays in the project, so now that the whole is finished, I have printed it all together at once, so that we will no longer be held up on that account. I present it to you as the fruit of much study and as a token of my deepest love. And now, dear young ones, do not begrudge the effort required to learn what has cost me so much effort to compose for you. Those of you who lack the time or the memory for learning it by heart, I encourage to read it frequently, and where it is not read aloud in your households, to read it through on your own. How profitable this will prove, experience will show in a short time, through God's blessing. By it you may come to surpass most people your age in knowledge, and that you may be filled with this knowledge, as with every grace, is the prayer I offer for you to the Father of lights, from whom comes every good and perfect gift.

Yours in the sincerest bonds, THOMAS VINCENT.

Question 1: What Is the Chief End of Man?

Answer: Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.

What do we mean by the chief end of man? The chief end of man is what man should primarily aim for, desire, seek, and work to obtain as his greatest good and happiness. It is the goal to which his life and actions should be directed and oriented, which is the glorifying of God and the enjoyment of God forever.

Can men have any chief end other than glorifying and enjoying God? Men should have no chief end other than the glorifying of God, though they may pursue subordinate ends alongside it. 1. Men should be diligent in their particular callings so that they can provide for themselves and their families: "Do your own business and work with your hands, that you may have lack of nothing" (1 Thess 4:11-12). 2. Men may eat, drink, and sleep in order to nourish and refresh their bodies. It is entirely legitimate to pursue these things in such actions as secondary or lesser goals. But in these and all other actions, men should primarily and above all seek the glory of God: "Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Cor 10:31). 3. Men may reasonably desire and work toward enjoying a portion of the world's good things as far as they are necessary and useful. But they should choose God as their chief good and desire the eternal enjoyment of Him as their greatest portion: "Whom have I in heaven but thee, and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee, or in comparison with thee, my flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever" (Ps 73:25-26).

What does it mean to glorify God? 1. To begin with what glorifying God is not: it does not mean adding anything to God's glory, or making Him more glorious than He already is. God cannot receive even the slightest addition to His essential glory, because He is eternally and infinitely perfect and glorious (Ps 48). "Your Father in heaven is perfect" (Matt 16:2). "You are my Lord; my goodness does not extend to you." 2. On the positive side, to glorify God means to make His glory visible, not merely in the passive way that all creatures do simply by existing, but actively and intentionally. People glorify God when the driving purpose behind their lives and actions is His glory and honor: "that you should show forth the praises of him who has called you" (1 Pet 2:9). (1.) This happens inwardly when they hold God in the highest esteem, place their deepest confidence in Him, and direct their strongest affections toward Him. This is glorifying God in your spirit: "Glorify God in your spirits, which are God's" (1 Cor 6:20). (2.) It happens outwardly when they acknowledge God according to what He has revealed about Himself, when they declare His praise with their lips: "He who offers praise glorifies me" (Ps 50:23). It also happens when they sincerely work, through their actions, to exalt God's name, advance the interests of His kingdom in the world, and render the worship and obedience He has prescribed in His Word: "O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together" (Ps 34:4); "Fear God and give glory to him, and worship him who made heaven and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters" (Rev 14:7).

What does it mean to enjoy God? To enjoy God is to rest in Him as the highest good, with contentment and delight: "Return to your rest, O my soul" (Ps 119:7).

How is God enjoyed in this life? God is enjoyed here on earth when people settle themselves on the Lord and hold fast to Him by faith: "But cleave to the Lord your God" (Josh 23:8). 2. When they taste the Lord's goodness and delight themselves in His gracious presence and the felt expressions of God's special love toward them: "O taste and see that the Lord is good" (Ps 34:8); "Because the love of God is shed abroad in your heart by the Holy Spirit" (Rom 5:5).

How will God be enjoyed by His people hereafter? God will be enjoyed hereafter by His people when they are admitted into His glorious presence, receive an immediate sight of His face, and experience the full sense of His love in heaven, there fully and eternally resting in Him with perfect and inconceivable delight and joy: "Now we see through a glass darkly; but then face to face" (1 Cor 13:12); "There remains therefore a rest for the people of God" (Heb 4:9); "In your presence is fullness of joy, and at your right hand are pleasures forevermore" (Ps 16:11).

Why are the glorifying of God and the enjoying of God joined together as the one chief end of man? Because God has inseparably joined them together, so that people cannot truly pursue one without the other. Those who enjoy God most in His house on earth are also those who most glorify and enjoy Him: "Blessed are they that dwell in your house; they will be still praising you" (Ps 84:4). And when God is most fully enjoyed by the saints in heaven, He will be most highly glorified: "He will come to be glorified in His saints" (2 Thess 1:10).

Why should people make the glorifying of God their chief aim in everything they do? 1. Because God made them, created them for this very purpose, and gave them a soul capable of fulfilling it in a way that no animal can. "Know that the Lord is God; it is He who made us, and not we ourselves" (Ps 100:3). "The Lord made all things for Himself" (Prov 16:4). "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name" (Ps 103:1). 2. Because God sustains them and provides for them so that they might glorify Him. "O bless our God, O you people, who holds our soul in life" (Ps 66:8-9). "O come, let us worship before the Lord, for we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand" (Ps 95:6-7). 3. Because God has redeemed them and bought them with His precious blood, so that they might glorify Him. "You are not your own, for you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's" (1 Cor 6:19-20). 4. Because He has given them His Word to direct them, His Spirit to help them, and has promised them His kingdom to encourage them in glorifying Him. "He declares His word to Jacob, His statutes and His judgments to Israel; He has not dealt so with any other nation. Praise the Lord" (Ps 147:19-20). "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness" (Rom 8:26). "Heirs of the kingdom which He has promised to those who love Him" (Jas 2:5).

Why should people chiefly desire and seek the enjoyment of God forever? Because God is the highest good, and human happiness finds its fullest expression in the enjoyment of Him. As Jesus said, "There is none good but one, and that is God" (Matt 19:17). The psalmist captures this beautifully: "Many are asking, 'Who can show us any good?' Lord, let the light of your face shine on us. You have filled my heart with greater joy than when grain and new wine abound" (Ps 4:6-7). 2. Because our enjoyment of God in this life is incomplete and inconsistent, and we cannot reach true happiness until we come to the full enjoyment of Him in heaven. As Paul writes, "We know in part; but when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away" (1 Cor 13:9-10). And again: "Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me" (Phil 3:12). The psalmist adds, "In your presence there is fullness of joy" (Ps 16:11).

Question 2: What Rule Has God Given to Direct Us in How We May Glorify and Enjoy Him?

Answer: The Word of God, contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the only rule directing us in how we may glorify and enjoy Him.

Why is the Word contained in the Old and New Testaments called the Word of the Lord? Because it did not originate from the minds of the men who wrote it, but from the direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit, who moved them to write. As Paul states, "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God" (2 Tim 3:16). Peter confirms this: "Prophecy of Scripture did not come by the will of men, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit" (2 Pet 1:21).

How do you prove that the Word in the Scriptures is the Word of God? 1. Because of the majesty of the Scriptures. God is frequently portrayed speaking through the prophets, and His majesty is expressed in terms that simply cannot be found in any human writing: "Thus says the high and holy one who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place" (Isa 57:15). And again: "Who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality, dwelling in light that no one can approach" (1 Tim 6:15-16). The style and manner of Scripture carries a majesty that no other writing can match. It prescribes duties that only God has the authority to require. It condemns sins that only God has the right to prohibit. It announces punishments that only God has the power to inflict. It makes promises of rewards that only God has the ability to give. And all of this is delivered with such sovereign authority that it clearly points to God as the author of Scripture.

2. Consider also the holiness and purity of Scripture: "which God promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy scriptures" (Rom 1:2), and "the words of the Lord are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace, purified seven times" (Ps 12:6). From beginning to end, Scripture is holy. There is nothing earthly or impure about it. This is especially true of its laws, which command everything that is holy and forbid everything that is corrupt or unclean. This makes it clear that Scripture is the word of the holy God, and that the holy men who wrote it were moved throughout by the Holy Spirit.

3. Because the scriptures are internally consistent and harmonious: The Old Testament and the New Testament agree with each other. The types and figures of the law align with the realities they foreshadowed in the gospel. The prophecies cohere with one another. The scriptures show harmony in their moral teaching, harmony in their historical accounts, and harmony in their overarching purpose. Given that the scriptures were written by so many different people, across so many different ages and places, and yet agree so thoroughly that no irreconcilable contradiction can be found among them, it is clear that all these writers were moved by the same Spirit of God. This consistency is itself evidence that the scriptures are the word of God.

4. Because of the profound mysteries the scriptures reveal: We read in the scriptures of the Trinity of persons in the Godhead, the incarnation of the Son of God, and the mystical union between Christ and His people. Mysteries like these were beyond the inventive reach of even the wisest and most learned human minds, let alone the unlearned fishermen through whom they were actually revealed. This fact makes it plain that these men were not speaking their own words. They were taught by the direct inspiration of the Spirit.

5. Because of the antiquity of the scriptures: They were written, in part, before any other human writings existed, and they contain a history of the most ancient events imaginable, including the creation of the world, the flood, and other primordial realities. These are things that no human being could have known, because only God was there. That alone is sufficient reason to conclude that God must be their author.

6. Because of the power and effectiveness of the Scriptures. (1.) The Scriptures have the power to convict, awaken, and wound the conscience: "The word of God is living and active, sharper than a two-edged sword" (Heb 4:12). (2.) The Scriptures have the power to convert and transform the heart: "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul" (Ps 19:7). (3.) They have the power to raise people out of spiritual death and numbness: "Hear, and your soul shall live" (Isa 55:3); "Your word has given me life" (Ps 119:50). (4.) They have the power to bring joy and comfort in the deepest suffering: "The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart" (Ps 19:8). When the Scriptures are opened and applied, they produce effects so powerful that they exceed anything nature can accomplish on its own, and can only be brought about by the One who authored them. God would not so consistently honor and own these writings if they were not truly His.

7. Because of the purpose and design of the Scriptures. (1.) The Scriptures are designed to give all glory to God. Their aim is not to elevate any human being, but to humble and empty all people while lifting up God's name and grace in the world. Consider the breathtaking wisdom behind the plan for humanity's recovery and salvation through Jesus Christ, devised after the fall into sin and misery: no human mind could have conceived it. This shows not only that the plan itself originated with the infinitely wise God, but also that the Scriptures which reveal it are His book.

8. Because the scriptures are confirmed by miracles. We read of many miracles throughout scripture, especially those performed by Jesus Christ and His disciples to confirm that their teaching came from God: healing people born blind, raising the dead, calming the sea with a single word, and many more. These miracles came directly from the hand of God, and the accounts we have were faithfully passed down to us, as we can see from the writings of godly men about them that have survived to this day. The many copies of these accounts, which could not have been fabricated without the forgery being detected, all agree in their testimony. And just as surely as God performed those miracles, so surely is God the author of the scriptures that those miracles confirm.

9. Because the scriptures were confirmed by the blood of martyrs. In the early centuries of the church, many thousands of Christians sealed their testimony to the truth of the scriptures with their lives. These were people who would easily have discovered any deception, had there been one buried in the text. The extraordinary patience and steadfastness they displayed in their sufferings stands as evidence of their faith, and when considered alongside the other arguments, it forms a weighty case for the divine authority of the scriptures.

10. Because of the testimony of the Holy Spirit, working in and through the scriptures upon the hearts of believers: "Ye have an unction from the holy One, and ye know all things" (1 John 2:20), and again, "The same anointing teacheth you all things and is truth and is no lie" (1 John 2:27). Without this testimony and teaching of the Spirit, every other argument will ultimately fail to bring anyone to a saving faith.

Why was the word of God committed to writing? 1. The history and doctrine of God's word could be reliably passed down to future generations. If the word revealed to holy men so many ages ago had been entrusted only to human memory, handed down from one generation to the next by oral tradition, many truths would likely have been lost by now, even assuming those entrusted with it were completely faithful. Human memory is simply too weak and unreliable for that task. There was no more secure way to make God's grace known to future ages than by committing His word to writing: "This second epistle I write unto you by way of remembrance" (2 Pet 3:1). 2. The gospel could spread more effectively across different nations through written Scripture. Reports passed along by others would not have been as readily believed as the writings of the prophets and apostles themselves, to whom God's word was directly revealed. Written Scripture also gives the church a permanent standard for faith and life, by which all doctrines can be tested and all conduct can be guided. As a result, corrupt beliefs and corrupt practices, which human minds and hearts are deeply prone to, can be checked and prevented. People would have far more room to justify such corruption if there were no clear scriptural statements against them: "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them" (Isa 8:20).

Which books belong to the Old Testament, and which belong to the New Testament? The Old Testament consists of the books in the first part of the Bible, beginning with Genesis and ending with Malachi. The New Testament consists of the books in the latter part of the Bible, beginning with Matthew and ending with Revelation.

Why are the books in the first part of the Bible called the scriptures of the Old Testament? The Scriptures of the Old Testament reveal God's covenant of grace in its earlier form. In this earlier arrangement, Christ, the one who established the covenant and served as its mediator, is presented through types and symbolic figures. It also required many burdensome practices and the physical ordinances of the ceremonial law.

Why are the Scriptures in the latter part of the Bible called the Scriptures of the New Testament? The Scriptures of the New Testament reveal God's covenant of grace in its fulfilled form, without types or symbolic figures. Christ Himself is now revealed as one who came in the flesh, having previously been foreshadowed by those symbols. Having fulfilled the ceremonial law, He abolished it and freed His people from that burden and bondage, now calling them to a more spiritual form of worship in its place.

Are the Apocryphal books the Word of God? Although these books contain much that is true and useful, just as other worthy writings do, they are not recognized as canonical Scripture or as part of the Word of God, for four reasons. 1. They were not written in Hebrew, nor were they acknowledged as canonical by the Jewish people of old, to whom the keeping of God's revealed word had been entrusted. 2. These books contain statements that are false and inconsistent with the Word of God. 3. They lack the power and majesty that characterizes canonical Scripture. 4. The author of Ecclesiasticus, the finest of all the Apocryphal books, asks the reader's pardon if anything in the book is mistaken, which he could never have done had he been guided by God's infallible Spirit in writing it.

Do the Scriptures derive their authority from the church, as Roman Catholics claim? No. First, the church on whose testimony they claim Scripture depends is itself an apostate and corrupt church, the seat of antichrist. Second, the true church of Christ depends on Scripture for its very existence, which means Scripture cannot in turn depend on the church for its authority: "You are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone" (Eph 2:19-20). Third, if Scripture's authority did depend on the church, then the church would have to be infallible entirely on its own, apart from Scripture, otherwise our faith in Scripture based on the church's testimony could never be certain. But the church, apart from Scripture, is not infallible.

Why is Scripture called the rule that directs us in how we may glorify and enjoy God? Because every doctrine we are bound to believe must be measured and judged by it, and every duty we are bound to practice as a means toward achieving the chief end of man must be shaped and conformed to this rule: "As many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them" (Gal 4:16).

Why is Scripture called the only rule? Because Scripture alone is sufficient to direct us in how we may glorify and enjoy God.

Is natural reason, without the light of Scripture, sufficient to direct us? 1. Natural reason can, through the innate sense of a deity impressed on the human mind and the evidence of a deity visible in creation and providence, demonstrate that God exists, that He is infinite in His being, power, wisdom, and goodness, and that He is to be glorified and worshipped by His creatures. 2. But natural reason cannot fully or salvifically reveal what God is. (1.) It cannot reveal His love and mercy toward sinners through His Son. (2.) It cannot reveal how He should be glorified and worshipped. (3.) It cannot direct us in how we are to enjoy Him either in this life or the next.

Should we not use the unwritten traditions of the Roman Catholic Church as a rule for our guidance? The unwritten traditions of the Roman Catholic Church should not be used as a rule for our guidance. 1. Because no unwritten tradition could have been passed down from the apostles' time to ours by word of mouth without serious risk of error and corruption. We therefore cannot be certain that the traditions Rome calls apostolic have not been distorted, and yet they must be reliable if we are to use them as our rule. 2. Because we have good reason to believe that, given how deeply corrupted the Roman Catholic Church has become, its traditions have been corrupted as well. Historians document the widespread corruption, ignorance, and moral failure of certain generations within that church, particularly during the ninth and tenth centuries and beyond. We cannot reasonably expect pure traditions to have survived that era intact. 3. Because several of Rome's traditions directly contradict the plain word of God, much like the traditions of the Pharisaic elders that our Savior condemned, along with all human impositions: "Ye have made the commandments of God of none effect by your traditions: But in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men" (Matt 15:8-9). 4. Because while the Thessalonians were rightly bound to hold fast to certain unwritten traditions for a time (since the history of Christ and much of the gospel had come to them initially only through the spoken testimony of the apostles), the entire history of Christ and everything necessary for salvation was eventually committed to writing in the books of the New Testament. This was done for the benefit of both present and future generations of the church, precisely so that the gospel would not be corrupted through unwritten traditions. All unwritten traditions should therefore be rejected.