First
Catechism & Westminster Catechism
Biblical
Truth for God’s Children
Kindergarten Questions 1-34
1.
Q. Who made you?
A.
God.
2.
Q. What else did God make?
A.
God made all things.
3.
Q. Why did God make you and all
things?
A.
For his own glory.
4.
Q. How can you glorify God?
A.
By loving him and doing what he
commands.
5.
Q. Why are you to glorify God?
A.
Because he made me and takes care
of me.
6.
Q. Are there more gods than one?
A.
There is only one true God.
7.
Q. How many persons is this one
true God?
A.
Three.
8.
Q. Name
these three persons.
A.
The Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit.
9.
Q. What is God?
A.
God is a Spirit and has no body as
we do.
10.
Q. Where is God?
A.
God is everywhere.
11.
Q. Can you see God?
A.
No – I cannot see God, but he
can always see me.
12.
Q. Does God know all things?
A.
Yes – nothing can be hid from
God.
13.
Q. Can God do all things?
A.
Yes – God can do all his holy
will.
14.
Q. Where
do you learn how to love and obey God?
A.
In the Bible alone.
15.
Q. Who wrote the Bible?
A.
Chosen men who wrote by the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
16.
Q. Who were our first parents?
A.
Adam and Eve.
17.
Q. How
did God make our first parents?
A.
God made Adam’s body out of the
ground, and Eve’s body out of a rib from Adam.
18.
Q. What
did God give Adam and Eve besides bodies?
A.
He gave them spirits that will
last forever.
19.
Q. Do you have a spirit as well as
a body?
A.
Yes – and my spirit is going to
last forever.
20.
Q. How
do you know your spirit will last forever?
A.
Because the Bible tells me so.
21.
Q. In
what condition did God make Adam and Eve?
A.
He made them holy and happy.
22.
Q. What
is a sacred covenant?
A.
A relationship that God sets up
with us and guarantees by his word.
23.
Q. What covenant did God make with
Adam?
A.
The covenant of life.
24.
Q. What
did God require Adam to do in the covenant of life?
A.
To obey him perfectly.
25.
Q. What
did God promise in the covenant of life?
A.
To reward Adam with life if he
obeyed him.
26.
Q. What did God threaten in the
covenant of life?
A.
To punish Adam with death if he
disobeyed him.
27.
Q. Did Adam keep the covenant of
life?
A.
No – he sinned against God.
28.
Q. What
is sin?
A.
Any thought, word or deed that
breaks God’s law by omission or commission.
29.
Q. What is a sin of omission?
A.
Not being or doing what God
requires.
30.
Q. What is a sin of commission?
A.
doing
what God forbids.
31.
Q. What does every sin deserve?
A.
The wrath and curse of God.
32.
Q. What was the sin of our first
parents?
A.
Eating the forbidden fruit.
33.
Q. Who
tempted them to this sin?
A.
Satan tempted Eve first, and then
he used her to tempt Adam.
34.
Q. How
did Adam and Eve change when they sinned?
A.
Instead of being holy and happy,
they became sinful and miserable.
First
Grade Questions 34-72
35.
Q. Did
Adam act for himself alone in the covenant of life?
A.
No – he represented the whole
human race.
36.
Q. What did Adam’s sin do to you?
A.
It made me guilty and sinful.
37.
Q. How sinful are you by nature?
A.
I am corrupt in every part of my
being.
38.
Q. Can you go to heaven with this
sinful nature?
A.
No – my heart must be changed
before I can be fit for heaven.
39.
Q. What is the changing of your
heart called?
A.
The new birth, or regeneration.
40.
Q. Who is able to change your
heart?
A.
The Holy Spirit alone.
41.
Q. Can
you be saved through the covenant of life?
A.
No – because I broke it and am
condemned by it.
42.
Q. How did you break the covenant
of life?
A.
Adam represented me, and so I fell
with him in his first sin.
43.
Q. How, then, can you be saved?
A.
By the Lord Jesus Christ in the
covenant of grace.
44.
Q. Who
was represented by Jesus in the covenant of grace?
A.
His elect people.
45.
Q. How
did Jesus fulfill the covenant of grace?
A.
He kept the whole law for his
people, and then was punished for all their sins.
46.
Q. Did Jesus ever sin?
A.
No – he lived a sinless life.
47.
Q. How could the Son of God suffer?
A.
The Son of God became a man so
that he could obey and suffer.
48.
Q. For whom did Christ obey and
suffer?
A.
For all who were given to him by
the Father.
49.
Q. What kind of life did Christ
live on earth?
A.
A life of poverty and suffering.
50.
Q. What kind of death did Jesus
die?
A.
The painful and shameful death of
the cross.
51.
Q. What is meant by the atonement?
A.
Christ satisfied God’s justice
by his suffering and death in the place of sinners.
52.
Q. What
did God the Father guarantee in the covenant of grace?
A.
To justify and sanctify all those
for whom Christ died.
53.
Q. How can God justify you?
A.
By forgiving all my sins and
declaring me righteous.
54.
Q. How can God sanctify you?
A.
By making me holy in heart and
conduct.
55.
Q. What must you do to be saved?
A.
I must repent of my sins, believe
in Christ and live a new life.
56.
Q. How do you repent of your sins?
A.
By being sorry enough for my sin
to hate it and forsake it.
57.
Q. Why must you hate and forsake
your sin?
A.
Because it displeases God.
58.
Q. What does it mean to believe in
Christ?
A.
To trust in him alone for my
salvation.
59.
Q. Can
you repent and believe by your own power?
A.
No – I cannot do anything good
unless the Holy Spirit enables me.
60.
Q. How can you get the help of the
Holy Spirit?
A.
God will give the Holy Spirit to
those who ask him.
61.
Q. How
long ago did Christ die?
A.
About two thousand years.
62.
Q. How were sinners saved before
Christ came?
A.
By believing in a messiah to come.
63.
Q. How did they show their faith?
A.
By offering the sacrifices God
required.
64.
Q. What did these sacrifices
represent?
A.
Christ, the Lamb of God, who would
come to die for sinners.
65.
Q. How
many offices did the Lord Jesus fulfill as the promised Messiah?
A.
He fulfilled three offices.
66.
Q. What are they?
A.
The offices of prophet, priest,
and king.
67.
Q. How is Christ your prophet?
A.
He teaches me the will of God.
68.
Q. How is Christ your priest?
A.
He died for my sins, and prays for
me.
69.
Q. How is Christ your king?
A.
He rules over me and defends me.
70.
Q. Why do you need Christ as your
prophet?
A.
Because I am ignorant by nature.
71.
Q. Why do you need Christ as your
priest?
A.
Because I am guilty of breaking
God’s law.
72.
Q. Why do you need Christ as your
king?
A.
Because I am weak and helpless.
Second
Grade Questions 73-104
73.
Q. How
many commandments did God write down on the stone tablets?
A.
Ten commandments.
74.
Q. What
do the first four commandments teach you?
A.
What it means to love and serve
God.
75.
Q. What
do the last six commandments teach you?
A.
What it means to love and serve my
neighbor.
76.
Q. What is the sum of the Ten
Commandments?
A.
To love God with all my heart, and
my neighbor as myself.
77.
Q. Who is your neighbor?
A.
Everybody is my neighbor.
78.
Q. Is God pleased if you love and
obey him?
A.
Yes – he loves those who love
him.
79.
Q. Is
God displeased with those who refuse to love and obey him?
A.
Yes – God is angry with the
wicked every day.
80.
Q. What
is the first commandment?
A.
“You shall have no other gods
before me.”
81.
Q. What
does the first commandment teach you?
A.
To worship the true God, and him
alone.
82.
Q. What is the second commandment?
A.
“You shall not make for yourself
any carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that
is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not
bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord
your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the
children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing
mercy to thousands, to those who love me and keep my commandments.”
83.
Q. What
does the second commandment teach you?
A.
To worship God only as he commands
– without any statues or pictures.
84.
Q. What is the third commandment?
A.
“You shall not take the name of
the Lord your God in vain, for the
Lord will not hold him guiltless
who takes his name in vain.”
85.
Q. What
does the third commandment teach you?
A.
To reverence God’s name,
especially in keeping my vows.
86.
Q. What is the fourth commandment?
A.
“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 nor daughter,
nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your
gates. For in six days the Lord
made the havens 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.
87.
Q. What
does the fourth commandment teach you?
A.
To work six days and to keep a
holy Sabbath.
88.
Q. What
day of the week is the Christian Sabbath?
A.
The first day of the week, which
is the Lord’s Day.
89.
Q. Why is it called the Lord’s
Day?
A.
Because on that day our Lord rose
from the dead.
90.
Q. How should you keep the Lord’s
Day?
A.
I should rest from my daily work
and faithfully worship God.
91.
Q. What is the fifth commandment?
A.
“Honor your father and your
mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord
your God is giving you.
92.
Q. What
does the fifth commandment teach you?
A.
To love and obey my parents and
all others that God appoints to teach and govern me.
93.
Q. What is the sixth commandment?
A.
“You shall not murder.”
94.
Q. What
does the sixth commandment teach you?
A.
Not to take anyone’s life
unjustly.
95.
Q. What is the seventh commandment?
A.
“You shall not commit
adultery.”
96.
Q. What
does the seventh commandment teach you?
A.
To be pure in heart, language, and
conduct.
97.
Q. What is the eighth commandment?
A.
“You shall not steal.”
98.
Q. What does the eighth commandment
teach you?
A.
Not to take anything owned by
another person.
99.
Q. What is the ninth commandment?
A.
“You shall not give false
testimony against your neighbor.”
100.
Q. What
does the ninth commandment teach you?
A.
To tell the truth at all times.
101.
Q. What is the tenth commandment?
A.
“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.”
102.
Q. What
does the tenth commandment teach you?
A.
To be content with whatever God
chooses to give me.
103.
Q. Can
you keep the Ten Commandments perfectly?
A.
No – since the fall of Adam, the
only one who has been able to do this is Jesus.
104.
Q. Of
what use are the Ten Commandments to you?
A.
They teach me what is pleasing to
God, and how much I need a savior.
Third
Grade Questions 105-145
105.
Q. What is prayer?
A.
Prayer is asking God for the
things he has promised in the Bible – and giving thanks for what he has given.
106.
Q. In whose name are we to pray?
A.
In the name of Christ only.
107.
Q. What
did Christ give us to teach us about prayer?
A.
The Lord’s Prayer.
108.
Q. What is the Lord’s Prayer?
A.
“Our father in heaven, hallowed
be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven
our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”
109.
Q. How
many things do we pray for in the Lord’s Prayer?
A.
Six.
110.
Q. What do we pray first?
A.
“Hallowed be your name.”
111.
Q. What
does it mean to pray, “Hollowed be your name”?
A.
We are asking God to enable us and
all creation to honor his name.
112.
Q. What do we pray second?
A.
“Your kingdom come.”
113.
Q. What
does it mean to pray, “Your kingdom come”?
A.
We are asking God to bring more
and more people to believe and obey his gospel.
114.
Q. What do we pray third?
A.
“Your will be done on earth as
it is in heaven.”
115.
Q. What
does it mean to pray, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”?
A.
We are asking God to make us able
and willing to serve him as the angels do in heaven.
116.
Q. What do we pray fourth?
A.
“Give us today our daily
bread.”
117.
Q. What
does it mean to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread”?
A.
We are asking God to provide us
with all that we really need.
118.
Q. What do we pray fifth?
A.
“Forgive us our debts, as we
also have forgiven our debtors.”
119.
Q. What
does it mean to pray, “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our
debtors”?
A.
We are asking God to forgive our
sins for Christ’s sake, and to make us willing to forgive others.
120.
Q. What do we pray sixth?
A.
“And lead us not in to
temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”
121.
Q. What
does it mean to pray, “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from
the evil one?”
A.
We are asking God to keep us from
being tempted, or to make us strong enough to resist if we are tempted.
122.
Q. How many sacraments are there?
A.
Two.
123.
Q. What are they called?
A.
Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
124.
Q. Who appointed these sacraments?
A.
The Lord Jesus Christ.
125.
Q. Why did Christ appoint these
sacraments?
A.
To mark us off from the world, and
to give us comfort and strength.
126.
Q. What sign is used in baptism?
A.
Washing with water.
127.
Q. What
does this washing with water represent?
A.
128.
Q. In whose name are you baptized?
A.
In the name of the Father, and of
the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
129.
Q. Who
are to be baptized?
A.
Believers and their children.
130.
Q. Why are we baptized even as
little infants?
A.
Because God’s command to Abraham
is obeyed in our baptism.
131.
Q. What did Jesus say about little
children?
A.
“Let the little children come to
me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as
these.”
132.
Q. What does your baptism call you
to be?
A.
A true follower of Christ.
133.
Q. What
sign is used in the Lord’s Supper?
A.
Eating bread and drinking wine in
remembrance of the suffering and death of Jesus.
134.
Q. What does the bread represent?
A.
Christ’s body sacrificed for our
sins.
135.
Q. What does the wine represent?
A.
Christ’s blood shed for our
sins.
136.
Q. Who
may rightly partake of the Lord’s Supper?
A.
Those who repent of their sins,
believe in Christ and live a new life.
137.
Q. Did
Christ remain in the tomb after he was buried?
A.
No – he came back out of his
tomb on the third day.
138.
Q. Where is Jesus now?
A.
At the right hand of the Father,
praying for us.
139.
Q. Will the Lord Jesus come again?
A.
Yes! He will return to judge the
world on the last day.
140.
Q. What will happen to us when we
die?
A.
Our bodies will return to dust,
while our spirits return to God.
141.
Q. Will
the bodies of all the dead be raised again?
A.
Yes – some will be raised to
everlasting life and others to everlasting death.
142.
Q. What
will God do to the unbelievers on the last day?
A.
He will cast them into the lake of
fire, along with Satan and his angels.
143.
Q. What will the lake of fire be
like?
A.
It will be an awful place, where
the lost will suffer for their sins forever.
144.
Q. What
will God do for believers on the last day?
A.
He will give them a home in the
new heaven and the new earth.
145.
Q. What
will the new heaven and the new earth be like?
A.
It will be a glorious and happy
place, where the saved will be with Jesus forever.
Published by
Great Commission Publications,
The
Fourth
Grade Questions 1-20
1.
What is the chief end of man?
2.
What rule has God given to direct
us how we may glorify and enjoy him?
3.
What do the Scriptures principally
teach?
A.
The Scriptures principally teach,
what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man.
4.
What is God?
5.
Are there more Gods than one?
6.
How many persons are there in the
Godhead?
7.
What are the decrees of God?
8.
How does God execute his decrees?
A.
God executes his decrees in the
works of creation and providence.
9.
What is the work of creation?
10.
How
did God create man?
11.
What are God’s works of
providence?
12.
What
special act of providence did God exercise towards man in the estate wherein he
was created?
13.
Did
our first parents continue in the estate wherein they were created?
14.
What
is sin?
15.
What
was the sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were
created?
16.
Did
all mankind fall in Adam’s first transgression?
17.
Into
what estate did the fall bring mankind?
18.
Wherein
consists the sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell?
19.
What
is the misery of that estate whereinto man fell?
20.Did God leave
all mankind to perish in the estate of sin and misery?
Fifth
Grade Questions 21-40
21.
Who
is the Redeemer of God’s elect?
22.How did Christ,
being the Son of God, become man?
23.What offices
does Christ execute as our Redeemer?
24.How does Christ
execute the office of a prophet?
25.How does Christ
execute the office of a priest?
26.How does Christ
execute the office of a king?
27.Wherein did
Christ’s humiliation consist?
28.Wherein
consists Christ’s exaltation?
29.How are we made
partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ?
30.How does the
Spirit apply to us the redemption purchased by Christ?
31.
What
is effectual calling?
A.
Effectual calling is the work of
God’s Spirit, whereby, convincing us of our sin and misery, enlightening our
minds in the knowledge of Christ, and renewing our wills, he does persuade and
enable us to embrace Jesus Christ, freely offered to us in the gospel.
32.What benefits
do they that are effectually called partake of in this life?
33.What is
justification?
34.What is
adoption?
35.What is
sanctification?
36.What are the
benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from justification, adoption,
and sanctification?
37.What benefits
do believers receive from Christ at death?
38.What benefits
do believers receive from Christ at the resurrection?
39.What is the
duty which God requires of man?
40.What did God at
first reveal to man for the rule of his obedience?
Sixth
Grade Questions 41-62
41.
Wherein
is the moral law summarily comprehended?
A.
The moral law is summarily
comprehended in the Ten Commandments.
42.What is the sum
of the Ten Commandments?
43.What is the
preface to the Ten Commandments?
44.What does the
preface to the Ten Commandments teach us?
45.Which is the
first commandment?
46.What is
required in the first commandment?
47.What is
forbidden in the first commandment?
A.
The first commandment forbids the
denying, or not worshiping and glorifying, the true God as God, and our God; and
the giving of that worship and glory to any other, which is due to him alone.
48.What are we
specially taught by these words before me in the first commandment?
49.Which is the
second commandment?
50.What is
required in the second commandment?
51.
What
is forbidden in the second commandment?
52.What are the
reasons annexed to the second commandment?
53.Which is the
third commandment?
54.What is
required in the third commandment?
55.What is
forbidden in the third commandment?
56.What is the
reason annexed to the third commandment?
A.
The reason annexed to the third
commandment is, that however the breakers of this commandment may escape
punishment from men, yet the Lord our God will not suffer them to escape his
righteous judgment.
57.Which is the
fourth commandment?
58.What is
required in the fourth commandment?
59.Which day of
the seven has God appointed to be the weekly Sabbath?
60.How is the
Sabbath to be sanctified?
61.
What
is forbidden in the fourth commandment?
62.What are the
reasons annexed to the fourth commandment?
Seventh
Grade Questions 63-87
63.Which is the
fifth commandment?
64.What is
required in the fifth commandment?
65.What is
forbidden in the fifth commandment?
66.What is the
reason annexed to the fifth commandment?
67.Which is the
sixth commandment?
68.What is
required in the sixth commandment?
69.What is
forbidden in the sixth commandment?
70.Which is the
seventh commandment?
71.
What
is required in the seventh commandment?
72.What is
forbidden in the seventh commandment?
73.Which is the
eighth commandment?
74.What is
required in the eighth commandment?
75.What is
forbidden in the eighth commandment?
76.Which is the
ninth commandment?
77.What is
required in the ninth commandment?
A.
The ninth commandment requires the
maintaining and promoting of truth between man and man, and of our own and our
neighbor’s good name, especially in witness-bearing.
78.What is
forbidden in the ninth commandment?
79.Which is the
tenth commandment?
80.What is
required in the tenth commandment?
81.
What
is forbidden in the tenth commandment?
82.Is any man able
perfectly to keep the commandments of God?
83.Are all
transgressions of the law equally heinous?
84.What does every
sin deserve?
85.What does God
require of us, that we may escape his wrath and curse, due to us for sin?
86.What is faith
in Jesus Christ?
87.What is repentance unto life?
Eight
Grade Questions 88-107
88.What are the
outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits of
redemption?
A.
The outward and ordinary means
whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits of redemption are, his
ordinances, especially the Word, sacraments, and prayer; all which are made
effectual to the elect for salvation.
89.How is the Word
made effectual to salvation?
90.How is the Word
to be read and heard, that it may become effectual to salvation?
91.
How
do the sacraments become effectual means of salvation?
92.What is a
sacrament?
93.Which are the
sacraments of the New Testament?
94.What is
baptism?
95.To whom is
Baptism to be administered?
96.What is the
Lord’s Supper?
97.What is
required for the worthy receiving of the Lord’s Supper?
98.What is prayer?
99.What rule has
God given for our direction in prayer?
100.
What does the preface of the
Lord’s Prayer teach us?
101.
What do we pray for in the first
petition?
102.
What do we pray for in the second
petition?
103.
What do we pray for in the third
petition?
104.
What do we pray for in the fourth
petition?
105.
What do we pray for in the fifth
petition?
106.
What do we pray for in the sixth
petition?
107.
What does the conclusion of the
Lord’s Prayer teach us?