Three Forms of Unity
and the
l Apostles’
Creed
l Nicene
Creed
l Athanasian
Creed
l Creed of
Reprinted: 1996, 1999, 2002
by the Protestant Reformed Churches
in
INTRODUCTION TO THE
The
The Catechism
OR
METHOD OF INSTRUCTION IN THE
CHRISTIAN RELIGION
AS THE SAME IS TAUGHT IN THE REFORMED
CHURCHES AND
SCHOOLS IN
ccc
LORD’S DAY 1
Question 1. What is thy only comfort in
life and death?
Answer. That I with body and soul,1 both in life
and death, am not my own,2 but belong
unto my faithful Savior Jesus Christ;3 who, with His precious blood,4 hath fully satisfied for all my sins,5 and delivered me from all the power of the devil;6 and so preserves me7 that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a
hair can fall from my head;8 yea, that
all things must be subservient to my salvation,9 and therefore,
by His Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life,10 and makes me
sincerely willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto Him.11
Q. 2. How many things are necessary for thee to
know, that thou, enjoying this comfort, mayest live
and die happily?
A. Three:12
the first, how great my sins and miseries are;13 the second, how I may be delivered from all my sins and miseries;14 the third, how I shall express my gratitude to God
for such deliverance.15
THE FIRST PART —
OF THE MISERY OF MAN
LORD’S DAY 2
Q.
3. Whence knowest thou thy misery?
A. Out of the law of God.1
Q. 4. What doth the law of
God require of us?
A. Christ teaches us that briefly, Matt. 22:37-40, Thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with
all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy
strength. This is the first and the great commandment; and the second is like
unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as
thyself. On these two commandments hang
all the law and the prophets.2
Q. 5. Canst thou keep all
these things perfectly?
A. In no wise;3 for I am prone by nature to
hate God and my neighbor.4
LORD’S DAY 3
Q. 6. Did God then create man
so wicked and perverse?
A. By no means; but God created man good,1 and after His own image,2 in true righteousness and holiness, that he might
rightly know God his Creator, heartily love Him, and live with Him in eternal
happiness to glorify and praise Him.3
Q. 7. Whence then proceeds this depravity of human nature?
A. From the fall and disobedience of our first
parents, Adam and Eve,
in Paradise;4 hence our
nature is become so corrupt, that we are all conceived and born in sin.5
Q. 8. Are we then so
corrupt that we are wholly incapable of doing any good, and inclined to all
wickedness?
A. Indeed we are,
6 except we are regenerated by
the Spirit of God.7
LORD’S DAY 4
Q. 9. Doth not God
then do injustice to man, by requiring from him in His law that which he cannot
perform?
A. Not at all; 1 for God made man capable of performing it;2 but man, by the
instigation of the devil,3 and his own
wilful disobedience,
deprived himself and all his posterity of those divine gifts.4
Q. 10. Will God suffer
such disobedience and rebellion to go unpunished?
A. By no means; but is terribly displeased5 with our original as well as actual sins; and will
punish them6 in His just
judgment temporally and eternally, as He hath declared, Cursed is every one
that continueth not in all things which are written
in the book of the law to do them.7
Q. 11. Is not God then
also merciful?
A. God is indeed merciful,8 but
also just;9 therefore His justice requires
that sin which is
committed against the most high majesty of God be also punished10 with extreme, that is, with everlasting punishment11 of body and soul.
THE SECOND PART —
OF MAN’S DELIVERANCE
LORD’S DAY 5
Q. 12. Since
then, by the righteous judgment of God, we deserve temporal and eternal punishment, is there no way by which we may escape that
punishment and be again received into favor?
A. God will have His
justice satisfied;1 and therefore we must make this full
satisfaction, either by ourselves or by another.2
Q. 13. Can we ourselves
then make this satisfaction?
A. By no means; 3 but on the contrary we daily increase our debt.4
Q.
14. Can there be found anywhere one who is a mere creature, able to
satisfy for us?
A. None; for, first, God
will not punish any other creature for the sin which man hath committed;5 and further,
no mere creature can sustain the burden of God’s eternal wrath against sin, so
as to deliver others from it.6
Q. 15. What sort of a
mediator and deliverer then must we seek for?
A. For one who is very
man, 7 and perfectly righteous; and yet more powerful than
all creatures; that is, one who is also very God.8
LORD’S DAY 6
Q. 16. Why
must He be very man, and also perfectly righteous?
A. Because the justice of
God requires that the same human nature which hath sinned should likewise make satisfaction for sin;1 and one who is himself a
sinner cannot satisfy for others.2
Q. 17. Why must He in one
person be also very God?
A. That He might, by the power of His Godhead,
sustain in His human nature the burden of God’s wrath;3 and might obtain for, and restore to us, righteousness and life.4
Q. 18. Who then is that
Mediator, who is in one person both very God and a real righteous man?
A. Our Lord Jesus Christ,5 who of God is made unto us
wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.6
Q. 19. Whence knowest thou this?
A. From the holy gospel, which God Himself first
revealed in
LORD’S DAY 7
Q. 20. Are all men then, as they
perished in Adam, saved by Christ?
A. No,1 only those who are ingrafted into Him, and receive all His benefits, by a true
faith.2
Q. 21. What is true faith?
A. True faith is not only a certain knowledge, 3 whereby I hold for truth all that God has revealed to
us in His Word, but also an assured confidence,4 which the Holy Ghost5 works by the
gospel in my heart;6
that not only to others, but to me also,
remission of sin,7 everlasting righteousness, and salvation8 are freely
given by God, merely of grace, only for the sake of Christ’s merits.9
Q. 22. What is then necessary
for a Christian to believe?
A. All things promised
us in the gospel,10
which the articles of our catholic undoubted Christian faith briefly teach us.
Q. 23. What are these
articles?
A. I. I believe in God the Father, Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth;
II. And in Jesus
Christ, His only begotten Son, our Lord;
III. Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of
the Virgin Mary;
IV. Suffered under Pontius Pilate; was
crucified, dead, and buried;
He descended into hell;
V. The third day He rose again from the dead;
VI. He ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
VII. From thence He shall come to judge the quick
and the dead.
VIII. I believe in the Holy Ghost.
IX. I believe an holy catholic church; the communion of
saints;
X. The forgiveness of sins;
XI. The resurrection of the body;
XII. And the life everlasting. Amen.
LORD’S DAY 8
Q. 24. How are these articles
divided?
A. Into three parts:
the first is of God the Father and our creation; 1 the second, of God the Son and our redemption; 2 the third, of God the Holy Ghost and our
sanctification.3
Q. 25. Since there is but one only divine essence,4 why speakest thou of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost?
A. Because God hath so revealed Himself in His Word,5
that these three distinct persons are the one only true and eternal God.
OF GOD THE FATHER
LORD’S DAY 9
Q. 26. What believest
thou when thou sayest, “I believe in God the Father,
Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth”?
A. That the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
(who of nothing made heaven and earth, with all that is in them;1 who likewise
upholds and governs the same by His eternal counsel and providence2 ) is, for the sake of Christ His Son, my God and my Father;
on whom I rely so entirely, that I have no doubt but He will provide me with
all things necessary for soul and body;3 and
further, that He will make whatever evils He sends upon me, in this valley of
tears, turn out to my advantage;4 for He is able to do it, being Almighty God,5 and
willing, being a faithful Father.6
LORD’S DAY 10
Q. 27. What dost thou mean by
the providence of God?
A. The almighty and everywhere present power of God,1 whereby,
as it were by His hand, He upholds and governs heaven, earth, and all
creatures;2 so that herbs and grass, rain and drought,3 fruitful and barren years, meat and drink,4 health and sickness,5
riches and poverty,6 yea, and all
things come, not by chance, but by His fatherly hand.7
Q. 28. What advantage is it to us to know that God
has created, and by His providence doth still uphold all things?
A. That we may be patient in adversity;8
thankful in prosperity;9 and that in all things which may hereafter befall us,
we place our firm trust in our faithful God and Father,10 that nothing
shall separate us from His love;11 since all
creatures are so in His hand, that without His will they cannot so much as
move.12
OF GOD THE SON
LORD’S DAY 11
Q. 29. Why is the Son of God
called Jesus, that is, a Savior?
A. Because He saveth us,
and delivereth us from our sins;1 and likewise, because we
ought not to seek, neither can find salvation in
any other.2
Q. 30. Do such then believe in Jesus the only
Savior, who seek their salvation and welfare of saints, of themselves, or
anywhere else?
A. They do not; for though they boast of Him in
words, yet in deeds they deny Jesus the only deliverer and Savior;3 for one of
these two things must be true, either that Jesus is not a complete Savior, or
that they who by a true faith receive this Savior must find all things in Him
necessary to their salvation.4
LORD’S DAY 12
Q. 31. Why is He called Christ, that is, anointed?
A. Because He is ordained of God the Father, and anointed with the Holy Ghost,1 to be our chief Prophet and Teacher,2 who has fully revealed
to us the secret counsel and will of God concerning our redemption; and to be
our only High Priest,3 who by the one sacrifice of His body has redeemed us,
and makes continual intercession with the Father for us;4 and also to be
our eternal King,5 who governs us by His Word and Spirit, and who
defends and preserves us6
in (the enjoyment of) that salvation He has
purchased for us.
Q. 32. But why art thou
called a Christian?
A. Because I am a member of Christ by faith,7
and thus am partaker of His anointing;8 that
so I may confess His name,9 and present myself a living sacrifice of thankfulness to Him;10 and also that
with a free and good conscience I may fight against sin and Satan in this life,11 and afterwards reign with Him eternally over all
creatures.12
LORD’S DAY 13
Q. 33. Why is Christ called
the only begotten Son of God, since we are also the children of God?
A. Because Christ alone is the eternal and natural
Son of God;1
but we are children
adopted of God, by grace, for
His sake.2
Q. 34. Wherefore callest thou Him our Lord?
A. Because He hath redeemed us, both soul and body,
from all our sins, not with gold or silver, but with His precious blood,3
and hath delivered us from all the power of the devil; and thus hath made us
His own property.
LORD’S DAY 14
Q. 35. What is the meaning of these words — “He
was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary”?
A. That God’s eternal Son, who is and continueth true and eternal God,1 took upon Him the very nature of man, of the flesh
and blood of the Virgin Mary,2 by the
operation of the Holy Ghost;3 that He
might also be the true seed of David,4 like
unto His brethren in all things, sin excepted.5
Q. 36. What profit dost thou
receive by Christ’s holy conception and nativity?
A. That He is our Mediator,6 and, with His innocence and
perfect holiness, covers in the sight of God my
sins,7 wherein I was conceived and brought forth.
LORD’S DAY 15
Q. 37. What dost thou
understand by the words, “He suffered”?
A. That He, all the time that He lived on earth, but
especially at the end of His life, sustained in
body and soul the wrath of God against the sins of all mankind;1 that
so by His passion, as the only propitiatory sacrifice,2 He might redeem our body and soul from everlasting
damnation, and obtain for us the favor of God, righteousness and eternal life.
Q. 38. Why did He suffer
under Pontius Pilate as judge?
A. That He, being innocent, and yet condemned by a
temporal judge,3 might thereby free us from the severe
judgment of God to which we were exposed.4
Q. 39. Is there anything more
in His being crucified than if He had died some other death?
A. Yes [there is]; for thereby I am assured that He
took on Him the curse which lay upon me; for the death of the cross was
accursed of God.5
LORD’S DAY 16
Q.
40. Why was it necessary for Christ to humble Himself even unto
death?
A. Because, with respect to the justice and truth of
God,1 satisfaction
for our sins could be made no otherwise than by the death of the Son of God.2
Q. 41. Why was
He also “buried”?
A. Thereby to prove that He was
really dead.3
Q. 42. Since then Christ died
for us, why must we also die?
A. Our death is not a satisfaction for our sins, but
only an abolishing of sin, and a passage into eternal life.4
Q. 43. What further benefit
do we receive from the sacrifice and death of Christ on the cross?
A. That by virtue thereof our old man is crucified,
dead, and buried with Him;5 that so the
corrupt inclinations of the flesh may no more reign in us;6 but that we may offer ourselves unto Him a sacrifice
of thanksgiving.7
Q. 44. Why is there added,
“He descended into hell”?
A. That in my greatest temptations, I may be assured,
and wholly comfort myself in this, that my Lord Jesus Christ, by His
inexpressible anguish, pains, terrors, and hellish agonies, in which He was
plunged during all His sufferings, but especially on the cross, hath delivered
me from the anguish and torments of hell.8
LORD’S DAY 17
Q. 45. What doth the
resurrection of Christ profit us?
A. First, by His resurrection He has overcome death,
that He might make us partakers of that
righteousness which He had purchased for us by His death;1 secondly, we are also by His power raised up to a new life;2 and lastly,
the resurrection of Christ is a sure pledge of our blessed resurrection.3
LORD’S DAY 18
Q. 46. How dost thou
understand these words, “He ascended into heaven”?
A. That Christ, in sight of His disciples, was taken
up from earth into heaven;1 and that He continues there for our interest,2 until He comes again to judge the quick and the dead.
Q. 47. Is not Christ then
with us even to the end of the world, as He hath promised?
A. Christ is very man and very God; with respect to
His human nature, He is no more on earth;3 but
with respect to His Godhead, majesty, grace, and spirit, He is at no time
absent from us.
Q. 48. But if His human nature is not present
wherever His Godhead is, are not then these two natures in Christ separated
from one another?
A. Not at all, for since the Godhead is illimitable
and omnipresent,4 it must necessarily follow that the same is
beyond the limits of the human nature He assumed,5 and yet is nevertheless in this human nature and
remains personally united to it.
Q. 49. Of what advantage to
us is Christ’s ascension into heaven?
A. First, that He is our advocate in the presence of
His Father in heaven;6
secondly, that we have our flesh in heaven as a sure pledge that He, as the
Head, will also take up to Himself, us, His members;7 thirdly, that He sends us His Spirit as an earnest,8 by whose power we seek the things which are above,
where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God, and
not things on earth.9
LORD’S DAY 19
Q. 50. Why is it added, “and sitteth at the right hand of God”?
A. Because Christ is ascended into heaven for this
end, that He might appear as Head of His church,1 by whom the Father governs all things.2
Q. 51. What profit is this
glory of Christ, our Head, unto us?
A. First, that by His Holy Spirit He pours out
heavenly graces upon us His members;3 and then that
by His power He defends and preserves us against all enemies.4
Q. 52. What comfort is it to
thee that “Christ shall come again to judge the quick and the dead”?
A. That in all my sorrows and persecutions, with
uplifted head I look for the very same person who before offered Himself for my
sake to the tribunal of God, and has removed all curse from me, to come as
judge from heaven;5
who shall cast all His and my enemies into everlasting condemnation,6 but shall
translate me with all His chosen ones to Himself, into heavenly joys and glory.7
OF GOD THE HOLY GHOST
LORD’S DAY 20
Q.
53. What dost thou believe concerning the Holy Ghost?
A. First, that He is true and co-eternal God with the
Father and the Son;1 secondly, that He is also given me,2 to make me, by a true faith, partaker of Christ and
all His benefits,3 that He may comfort me4 and abide with me for ever.5
LORD’S DAY 21
Q.
54. What believest thou concerning the
“holy catholic church” of Christ?
A. That the Son of God, from the beginning to the end of the world,1 gathers,2 defends, and preserves
to Himself3 by His Spirit
and Word,4 out of the whole human
race,5 a church
chosen to everlasting life,6 agreeing in
true faith; and that I am, and for ever shall remain, a living member thereof.7
Q. 55. What do you understand
by “the communion of saints”?
A. First, that all and every one who believes, being
members of Christ, are, in common, partakers of Him and of all His riches and
gifts;8 secondly, that every one must know it to be his duty,
readily and cheerfully to employ his
gifts, for the advantage and salvation of other members.9
Q. 56. What believest thou concerning “the forgiveness of sins”?
A. That God, for the sake of Christ’s satisfaction,10 will no more remember my sins,11 neither my corrupt nature, against which I have to
struggle all my life long; but will graciously impute to me the righteousness
of Christ, that I may never be condemned before the tribunal of God.12
LORD’S DAY 22
Q.
57. What comfort doth the “resurrection of the body” afford thee?
A. That not only my soul after this life shall be
immediately taken
up to Christ its Head;1 but also, that this my body, being raised by the
power of Christ, shall be reunited with my soul, and made like unto the
glorious body of Christ.2
Q. 58. What comfort takest thou from the article of “life everlasting”?
A. That since I now feel in my heart the beginning of
eternal joy,3 after this
life I shall inherit perfect salvation,4 which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither
hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive,5 and that, to
praise God therein for ever.
LORD’S DAY 23
Q.
59. But what doth it profit thee now that thou believest
all this?
A. That I am righteous in
Christ, before God, and an heir of eternal life.1
Q. 60. How art thou righteous
before God?
A. Only by a true faith in Jesus Christ;2 so that, though my conscience accuse me that I have
grossly transgressed all the commandments of God, and kept none of them,3 and am still inclined to all evil;4 notwithstanding, God, without any merit of mine,5 but only of mere grace,6 grants7 and imputes
to me8 the perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness
of Christ;9 even so, as if I never had had nor committed any
sin: yea, as if I had fully accomplished
all that obedience which Christ has accomplished for me;10 inasmuch as I embrace such benefit with a believing
heart.11
Q. 61. Why sayest thou that thou art righteous by faith only?
A. Not that I am acceptable to God on account of the worthiness
of my faith,12 but because only the satisfaction, righteousness, and
holiness of Christ is my righteousness before God;13 and that I cannot receive and apply the same to myself any other way than by
faith only.14
LORD’S DAY 24
Q.
62. But why cannot our good works be the whole or part of our
righteousness before God?
A. Because that the righteousness which can be
approved of before the tribunal of God must be absolutely perfect, and in all
respects conformable to the divine law;1 and also, that our best works in this life are all
imperfect and defiled with sin.2
Q. 63. What!
Do not our good works merit, which yet God will reward in this and in a
future life?
A. This reward is not of merit, but of grace.3
Q. 64. But doth not this
doctrine make men careless and profane?
A. By no means; for it is impossible that those who
are implanted into Christ by a true faith should not bring forth fruits of
thankfulness.4
OF THE SACRAMENTS
LORD’S DAY 25
Q. 65. Since then we are made partakers of Christ
and all His benefits by faith only, whence doth this faith proceed?
A. From the Holy Ghost, who works faith in our hearts1 by the preaching of the gospel, and confirms it by the use of the sacraments.2
Q. 66. What are the
sacraments?
A. The sacraments are holy, visible signs and seals,
appointed of God for this end, that by the use thereof He may the more fully
declare and seal to us the promise of the gospel, namely, that He grants us
freely the remission of sin and life eternal, for the sake of that one
sacrifice of Christ accomplished on the cross.3
Q. 67. Are both Word and sacraments, then, ordained
and appointed for this end, that they may direct our faith to the sacrifice of
Jesus Christ on the cross as the only ground of our salvation?
A. Yes, indeed; for the Holy Ghost teaches us in the
gospel, and assures us by the sacraments, that
the whole of our salvation depends upon that one sacrifice of Christ which He
offered for us on the cross.4
Q. 68. How many sacraments
has Christ instituted in the new covenant, or testament?
A. Two, namely, holy baptism and the holy supper.5
OF HOLY BAPTISM
LORD’S DAY 26
Q. 69. How art thou
admonished and assured by holy baptism that the one sacrifice of Christ upon
the cross is of real advantage to thee?
A. Thus: That
Christ appointed this external washing with water,1 adding thereto
this promise,2 that I am as certainly washed by His blood and Spirit
from all the pollution of my soul, that is, from all my sins,3 as I am washed
externally with water, by which the filthiness of the body is commonly washed
away.
Q. 70. What is it to be
washed with the blood and Spirit of Christ?
A. It is to receive of God the remission of sins
freely, for the sake of Christ’s blood, which He shed for us by His sacrifice upon the cross;4 and also to be renewed by the Holy Ghost, and
sanctified to be members of Christ, that so we may more and more die unto sin
and lead holy and unblamable
lives.5
Q. 71. Where has Christ promised us that He will
as certainly wash us by His blood and Spirit as we are washed with the water of
baptism?
A. In the institution of baptism, which is thus
expressed: Go ye, therefore, and
teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost.6 He
that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved; but he that believeth not,
shall be damned.7 This promise
is also repeated where the scripture calls baptism the washing of regeneration8 and the washing away of sins.9
LORD’S DAY 27
Q. 72. Is then the external
baptism with water the washing away of sin itself?
A. Not at all; for the blood of Jesus Christ only,
and the Holy Ghost, cleanse us from all sin.1
Q. 73. Why then doth the Holy Ghost call baptism
“the washing of regeneration,” and “the washing away of sins”?
A. God speaks thus not without great cause, to wit,
not only thereby to teach us that, as the filth of the body is purged away by
water, so our sins are
removed by the blood and Spirit
of Jesus Christ;2
but especially that by this divine pledge and sign He may assure us that we are
spiritually cleansed from our sins as really as we are externally washed with
water.3
Q. 74. Are infants also to be
baptized?
A. Yes; for since they, as well as the adult, are
included in the covenant4 and church of God;5 and since redemption from sin by the blood of Christ,
and the Holy Ghost, the author of faith, is promised to them6 no less than to the adult; they must therefore by
baptism, as a sign of the covenant, be also admitted into the Christian church,
and be distinguished from the children of unbelievers7 as was done in the old covenant or testament by circumcision,8
instead of which baptism is instituted in the new covenant.9
OF THE HOLY SUPPER
OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
LORD’S DAY 28
Q. 75. How art thou
admonished and assured in the Lord’s Supper that thou art a partaker of that one
sacrifice of Christ, accomplished on the cross, and of all His benefits?
A. Thus: That
Christ has commanded me and all believers to eat of this broken bread and to
drink of this cup in remembrance of Him,
adding these promises: first,
that His body was offered and broken on the cross for me, and His blood shed
for me, as certainly as I see with my eyes the bread of the Lord broken for me
and the cup communicated to me; and further, that He feeds and nourishes my
soul to everlasting life, with His crucified body and shed blood, as assuredly
as I receive from the hands of the minister, and taste with my mouth the bread
and cup of the Lord, as certain signs of the body and blood of Christ.1
Q. 76. What is it then to eat
the crucified body and drink the shed blood of Christ?
A. It is not only to embrace with a believing heart all the sufferings and death of Christ, and thereby to obtain the pardon of sin and life eternal;2 but also, besides that, to become more and more united to His sacred body by the Holy Ghost, who dwells both in Christ and in us;3 so that we, though Christ is in heaven and we on earth,4 are notwithstanding flesh of his flesh, and bone of his bone;5 and that we live and are governed forever by one Spirit, as members of the same body are by one soul.6