# Introduction It is an ancient tradition in the Christian church to teach the doctrine of the Scriptures through a question and answer format. Historically, these catechisms have followed the pattern of the doctrine of God, the doctrine of man, the doctrine of Christ and redemption, and expositions of the ancient creeds, the Ten Commandments, and the Lord's Prayer. This catechism is taken from the Westminster Shorter Catechism, and follows its pattern. The Shorter Catechism was originally written for children and others of a weaker mental capacity, but is still difficult to the modern young reader. My intention with this effort is to make something close to a first grade reading level that young readers can read on their own, while providing opportunity for parents to help them with more difficult portions. *And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased, And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?* Matthew 21:15-16 # A Very First Catechism **Q.** 1. What is life for? **A.** To be with God and to love him. **Q.** 2. How can we know about God? **A.** We can read the Bible. **Q.** 3. What is God? **A.** God is a Spirit. He is wise, holy, good, and true. **Q.** 4. Does God change? **A.** God does not change. **Q.** 5. How many gods are there? **A.** There is only one real God. **Q.** 6. How many persons are in God? **A.** There are three persons in God. The persons are called the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. These three are one God. **Q.** 7. Did God make you and all things? **A.** God made all things in six days. **Q.** 8. Who were the first people that God made? **A.** Adam and Eve were the first people that God made. **Q.** 9. Did God make all things good or bad? **A.** God made all things good, but sin made them bad. **Q.** 10. What is sin? **A.** Sin is not obeying God's rules. **Q.** 11. How did Adam and Eve sin? **A.** They sinned when they ate the fruit that God said not to eat. **Q.** 12. Are all people sinners? **A.** Yes, all people are sinners because they come from Adam and Eve. **Q.** 13. How does sin make us bad? **A.** Sin makes us hate God and his rules. **Q.** 14. Can God be with sinners? **A.** No, God must punish sinners and sin. **Q.** 15. How does God punish sinners? **A.** Sinners are punished by the death of their bodies on earth and their souls in hell. **Q.** 17. How can we be one of God's people? **A.** God's Holy Spirit can give us faith in Jesus. **Q.** 18. How did God the Son, who is named Jesus, become a man? **A.** Jesus became a man by being born in a body and taking on a soul like ours. **Q.** 19. How did Jesus help us on earth? **A.** Jesus did everything the Father asked him to do, and died for us. **Q.** 20. Did Jesus stay dead? **A.** No, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day and went to heaven. **Q.** 21. What does Jesus do for us now? **A.** Jesus prays for us in heaven and loves us. **Q.** 22. How did Jesus take our punishment? **A.** Jesus took our punishment by taking our sin as if he sinned, and obeying God for us. **Q.** 23. Did Jesus make us part of God's family? **A.** Because of what Jesus did for us, we can be the children of God. **Q.** 24. Can we obey God all the time now? **A.** We cannot obey God all the time now, because there is still sin in us. Jesus can help us to sin less. **Q.** 25. What happens when we die? **A.** When we die, all sin is taken away from us. Our souls go to be with God in heaven. Our bodies rest in the grave. **Q.** 26. Will our bodies stay in the grave? **A.** On the last day, our bodies will rise from the grave and will be made new. We will get our new bodies. **Q.** 27. What does God want from us? **A.** God wants us to obey his word and his rules. **Q.** 28. What are God's rules called? **A.** God's rules are called the moral law. **Q.** 29. Where can we read the moral law? **A.** In the ten rules called the ten commandments. **Q.** 30. Are the ten commandments all of the moral law? **A.** No, the ten commandments give the main ideas of the moral law. **Q.** 31. What do we learn from the ten commandments? **A.** The ten commandments teach us to love the Lord our God, with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our strength, and with all our mind, and to love others as ourselves. **Q.** 32. Do we obey God's rules so that God will love us? **A.** No, we obey his ten rules because God loves us and frees us from sin. **Q.** 33. What is rule one? **A.** You shall have no other gods before the real God. **Q.** 34. Are there other gods beside the real God? **A.** No, but we can make up other gods in our minds. **Q.** 35. What is rule two? **A.** You shall not make any idols, and you shall not bow down to them or serve them. **Q.** 36. Why should we not make idols? **A.** Because God is a Spirit and has no body. **Q.** 37. What is rule three? **A.** You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. **Q.** 38. What does it mean to take God's name in vain? **A.** It means not caring about God or the things he says and does. **Q.** 39. What is rule four? **A.** Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. **Q.** 40. What day is the Sabbath? **A.** The Sabbath day is the first day of the week, Sunday. **Q.** 41. How do we keep the Sabbath holy? **A.** We keep the Sabbath holy by going to church and thinking about God the whole day. **Q.** 42. What is rule five? **A.** Honor your father and your mother. **Q.** 43. How do we honor our father and mother? **A.** By obeying and loving them. **Q.** 44. What is rule six? **A.** You shall not kill. **Q.** 45. What does it mean to not kill? **A.** It means that we should not hurt ourselves or anyone else. **Q.** 46. What is rule seven? **A.** You shall not commit adultery. **Q.** 47. What does this rule tell us? **A.** It tells us to have clean thoughts and to keep our promises. **Q.** 48. What is rule eight? **A.** You shall not steal. **Q.** 49. What does it mean to not steal? **A.** It means we should not take things that do not belong to us. We should be content with the things we have. **Q.** 50. What is rule nine? **A.** You shalt not lie. **Q.** 51. Why should we not lie? **A.** Because God is true and wants us to tell the truth. **Q.** 52. What is rule ten? **A.** You shall not covet. **Q.** 53. What does covet mean? **A.** To covet means to want something that God has not given to us. **Q.** 54. Are all sins the same? **A.** No, some sins are worse than others. **Q.** 55. Does God punish every sin? **A.** God will punish every sin on earth and in hell. **Q.** 56. How can we be free from punishment for sin? **A.** By faith in Jesus. **Q.** 57. What is faith in Jesus? **A.** Faith in Jesus Christ is to trust him to save us, as God says in his word. **Q.** 58. What did God give us to help our faith? **A.** God gave us his word in the Bible, the sacraments, and prayer. **Q.** 59. What does Sacrament mean? **A.** A Sacrament is a sign that teaches us about Jesus. **Q.** 60. What are the Sacraments? **A.** The Sacraments are Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. **Q.** 61. What is Baptism? **A.** Baptism is washing with water in church. It teaches us that God's Spirit cleans our soul from sin. **Q.** 62. Who should be baptized? **A.** Grown ups who have faith in Jesus should be baptized, and their children. **Q.** 63. Why are children baptized? **A.** Because God says that they belong to him. **Q.** 64. What should a person do after baptism? **A.** They should have faith in Jesus and obey God. **Q.** 65. What is the Lord’s Supper? **A.** The Lord’s Supper is eating bread and drinking wine with others in church. It teaches us that Jesus gave his body and blood to clean our soul from sin. **Q.** 66. Who can have the Lord's Supper? **A.** Anyone who is baptized, has real faith in Jesus and is sorry for their sin can take the Lord's Supper. **Q.** 67. What is prayer? **A.** Prayer is talking to God, asking him for help, and telling him sorry for our sins. **Q.** 68. Where did God teach us how to pray? **A.** The special prayer that Jesus teaches us is called The Lord’s Prayer. **Q.** 69. What does the start of the Lord’s Prayer teach us? **A.** "Our Father who is in heaven” teaches us to love God as our father. We should pray with and for others. **Q.** 70. What is part one of The Lord's Prayer? **A.** "Holy be your name.” We pray that God would help us keep all things he does very special. **Q.** 71. What is part two of The Lord's Prayer? **A.** "Your kingdom come.” We pray that the devil may be stopped, that God's people would be safe, and that we can be in heaven soon with God. **Q.** 72. What is part three of The Lord's Prayer? **A.** "Your will be done in earth as it is in heaven.” We pray that God would help us obey him like the angels do in heaven. **Q.** 73. What is part four of The Lord's Prayer? **A.** "Give us this day our daily bread.” We pray that God would give us everything that we need. **Q.** 74. What is part five of The Lord's Prayer? **A.** "And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” We pray that God would forgive us for all our sins because of what Jesus did for us, and that God would help us forgive others. **Q.** 75. What is part six of The Lord's Prayer? **A.** "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” We pray that God would keep us from sinning, and help us when we do sin. **Q.** 76. What does the end of the Lord’s Prayer teach us? **A.** "For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen,” teaches us to trust in God's power only, and to show that God hears us, we say, "Amen."