Q. 1. Who made you?
A. God.
Q. 2. What else did God make?
A. God made all things.
Q. 3. Why did God make you and all things ?
A. For his own glory.
Q. 4. How can you glorify God?
Q. 5. Why ought you to glorify God?
A. Because he made me and takes care of me.
Q. 6. Are there more gods than one?
A. There is only one God.
Q. 7. In how many persons does this one God exist?
A. In three persons.
Q. 8. What are they?
A. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
Q. 9. What is God?
A. God is a Spirit, and does not have a body like people.
Q. 10. Where is God?
A. God is everywhere.
Q. 11. Can you see God?
A. No; I cannot see God, but he always sees me.
Q. 12. Does God know all things?
A. Yes; nothing can be hidden from God.
Q. 13. Can God do all things?
A. Yes; God can do all his holy will.
Q. 14. Where do you learn how to love and obey God?
A. In the Bible alone.
Q. 15. Who wrote the Bible?
A. Holy men who were taught and moved by the Holy Spirit.
Q. 16. Who were our first parents?
A. Adam and Eve.
Q. 17. Of what were our first parents made?
A. God made the body of Adam out of the ground, and formed Eve from the body of Adam.
Q. 18. What did God give Adam and Eve besides bodies?
A. He gave them souls that could never die.
Q. 19. Do you have a soul as well as a body?
A. Yes; I have a soul that can never die.
Q. 20. How do you know that you have a soul?
A. Because the Bible tells me so.
Q. 21. In what condition did God make Adam and Eve?
A. He made them holy and happy.
Q. 22. What is a covenant?
A. An agreement between two or more persons.
Q. 23. What covenant did God make with Adam?
A. The covenant of works, also known as the Adamic Covenant.
Q. 24. What was Adam bound to do by the covenant of works?
A. To obey God perfectly.
Q. 25. What did God promise in the covenant of works?
A. To reward Adam with life if he obeyed him.
Q. 26. What did God threaten in the covenant of works?
A. To punish Adam with death if he disobeyed.
Q. 27. Did Adam keep the covenant of works?
A. No; he sinned against God.
Q. 28. What is sin?
A. Sin is any lack of conformity unto, or transgression of the law of God.
Q. 29. What is meant by “want of conformity”?
A. Not being or doing what God requires.
Q. 30. What is meant by transgression?
A. Doing what God forbids.
Q. 31. What was the sin of our first parents?
A. Eating the forbidden fruit, and disobeying a command of God.
Q. 32. Who tempted them to this sin?
A. The devil tempted Eve, and she gave the fruit to Adam.
Q. 33. What befell our first parents when they had sinned?
A. Instead of being holy and happy, they became sinful and miserable.
Q. 34. Did Adam act for himself alone in the covenant of works?
A. No; he represented all his posterity.
Q. 35. What effect did the sin of Adam have on all mankind?
A. All mankind are born in a state of sin and misery.
Q. 36. What is that sinful nature which we inherit from Adam called?
A. Original sin.
Q. 37. What does every sin deserve?
A. The wrath and curse of God.
Q. 38. Can any one go to heaven with this sinful nature?
A. No; our hearts must be changed before we can be fit for heaven.
Q. 39. What is a change of heart called?
A. Regeneration.
Q. 40. Who can change a sinner's heart?
A. The Holy Spirit alone.
Q. 41. Can any one be saved through the covenant of works?
A. None can be saved through the covenant of works.
Q. 42. Why can none be saved through the covenant of works?
A. Because all have broken it, and are condemned by it
Q. 43. With whom did God the Father make the covenant of grace[2]?
A. With Christ, his eternal Son.
Q. 44. Whom did Christ represent in the covenant of grace?
A. His elect people.
Q. 45. What did Christ undertake in the covenant of grace?
A. To keep the whole law for his people, and to suffer the punishment due to their sins.
Q. 46. Did our Lord Jesus Christ ever commit the least sin?
A. No; he was holy, harmless, and undefiled.
Q. 47. How could the Son of God suffer?
A. Christ, the Son of God, became man that he might obey and suffer in our nature.
Q. 48. What is meant by “the atonement”?
A. Christ's satisfying divine justice, by his sufferings and death, in the place of sinners.
Q. 49. What did God the Father undertake in the covenant of grace?
A. To justify and sanctify those for whom Christ should die.
Q. 50. What is justification?
A. It is God declaring sinners to be righteous, and treating them as if they had never sinned. Sinners are given Christ’s perfect righteousness, even though they don’t deserve it.
Q. 51. What is sanctification?
A. It is God's making sinners holy in heart and conduct.
Q. 52. For whom did Christ obey and suffer?
A. For those whom the Father had given him.
Q. 53. What kind of life did Christ live on earth?
A. A life of poverty and suffering.
Q. 54. What kind of death did Christ die?
A. The painful and shameful death of the cross.
Q. 55. Who will be saved?
A. Only those who repent of sin, believe in Christ, and lead holy lives. This is done in and by the power of God alone.
Q. 56. What is it to repent?
A. To be sorry for sin, and to hate and forsake it because it is displeasing to God.
Q. 57. What is it to believe or have faith in Christ?
A. To trust in Christ alone for salvation.
Q. 58. Can you repent and believe in Christ by your own power?
A. No; I can do nothing good without the help of God's Holy Spirit.
Q. 59. How can you get the help of the Holy Spirit?
A. God has told us that we must pray to him for the Holy Spirit.
Q. 60. How long ago is it since Christ died?
A. More than nineteen hundred years.
Q. 61. How were pious persons saved before the coming of Christ?
A. By faith in God, and believing in a Savior to come.
Q. 62. How did they show their faith?
A. By offering sacrifices on God's altar.
Q. 63. What did these sacrifices represent?
A. Christ, the Lamb of God, who was to die for sinners.
Q. 64. What offices does Christ hold?
A. Christ has three offices.
Q. 65. What are they?
A. The offices of a prophet, of a priest, and of a king.
Q. 66. How is Christ a prophet?
A. Because he teaches us the will of God.
Q. 67. How is Christ a priest?
A. Because he died for our sins and pleads with God for us.
Q. 68. How is Christ a king?
A. Because he rules over us and defends us.
Q. 69. Why do you need Christ as a prophet?
A. Because I am ignorant.
Q. 70. Why do you need Christ as a priest?
A. Because I am guilty.
Q. 71. Why do you need Christ as a king?
A. Because I am weak and helpless.
Q. 72. How many commandments did God give on Mount Sinai?
A. Ten commandments.
Q. 73. What are the ten commandments sometimes called?
A. The Decalogue, or The Law.
Q. 74. What do the first four commandments teach?
A. Our duty to God.
Q. 75. What do the last six commandments teach?
A. Our duty to our fellow men.
Q. 76. What is the sum of the ten commandments?
A. To love God with all my heart, and my neighbor as myself.
Q. 77. Who is your neighbor?
A. All my fellow men are my neighbors.
Q. 78. Is God pleased with those who love and obey him?
A. Yes; he says, "I love them that love me."
Q. 79. Is God displeased with those who do not love and obey him?
A. Yes; "God is angry with the wicked every day."
Q. 80. What is the first commandment?
A. The first commandment is, You shall have no other gods before me.
Q. 81. What does the first commandment teach us?
A. To worship God alone.
Q. 82. What is the second commandment?
A. The second commandment is, You shall not make for yourself a 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 or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God….
Q. 83. What does the second commandment teach us?
A. To worship God in a proper manner, and to avoid idolatry.
Q. 84. What is the third commandment?
A. The third commandment is, 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.
Q. 85. What does the third commandment teach me?
A. To reverence God's name, word, and works.
Q. 86. What is the fourth commandment?
A. The fourth commandment is, Remember the Sabbath day to keep 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…. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
Q. 87. What does the fourth commandment teach us?
A. To keep the Sabbath holy, and set apart.
Q. 88. What day of the week is the Christian Sabbath?
A. The first day of the week, called the Lord's day.
Q. 89. Why is it called the Lord's day?
A. Because on that day Christ rose from the dead.
Q. 90. How should the Sabbath be spent?
A. In prayer and praise, in hearing and reading God's Word, and in doing good to our fellow men.
Q. 91. What is the fifth commandment?
A. The fifth commandment is, Honor your father and your mother.
Q. 92. What does the fifth commandment teach me?
A. To love and obey our parents.
Q. 93. What is the sixth commandment?
A. The sixth commandment is, You shall not murder.
Q. 94. What does the sixth commandment teach us?
A. To avoid angry passions and violence.
Q. 95. What is the seventh commandment?
A. The seventh commandment is, You shall not commit adultery.
Q. 96. What does the seventh commandment teach us?
A. To be faithful to our future spouses, and to be pure in heart, language, and conduct.
Q. 97. What is the eighth commandment?
A. The eighth commandment is, You shall not steal.
Q. 98. What does the eighth commandment teach us?
A. To be honest and hard-working.
Q. 99. What is the ninth commandment?
A. The ninth commandment is, You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
Q. 100. What does the ninth commandment teach us?
A. To tell the truth, and to avoid exaggerating.
Q. 101. What is the tenth commandment?
A. The tenth commandment is, You shall not covet your neighbor's house, you shall not covet your neighbor's wife…or his ox, or his donkey, or any thing that is your neighbor's.
Q. 102. What does the tenth commandment teach us?
A. To be content with our lot in life and the things we have been given.
Q. 103. Can any man keep these ten commandments perfectly?
A. No mere man, since the fall of Adam, ever did or can keep the ten commandments perfectly.
Q. 104. Of what use are the ten commandments to us?
A. They show us our need of a Savior, and they teach us our duty as believers.
Q. 105. What is prayer?
A. Prayer is asking God for things which he has promised to give.
Q. 106. In whose name should we pray?
A. Only in the name of Christ.
Q. 107. What has Christ given us to teach us how to pray?
A. The Lord's Prayer.
Q. 108. Repeat 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 this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Q. 109. How many petitions are there in The Lord's Prayer?
A. Six.
Q. 110. What is the first petition?
A. "Hallowed be your name."
Q. 111. What do we pray for in the first petition?
A. That God's name may be honored by us and all men.
Q. 112. What is the second petition?
A. "Your kingdom come."
Q. 113. What do we pray for in the second petition?
A. That the gospel may be preached in all the world, and believed and obeyed by us and all men.
Q. 114. What is the third petition?
A. "Your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven."
Q. 115. What do we pray for in the third petition?
A. That men on earth may serve God as the angels do in heaven.
Q. 116. What is the fourth petition?
A. "Give us this day our daily bread."
Q. 117. What do we pray for in the fourth petition?
A. That God would give us all things needful for our bodies and souls.
Q. 118. What is the fifth petition?
A. "And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors."
Q. 119. What do we pray for in the fifth petition?
A. That God would pardon our sins for Christ's sake, and enable us to forgive those who have injured us.
Q. 120. What is the sixth petition?
A. "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."
Q. 121. What do we pray for in the sixth petition?
A. That God would keep us from sin.
Q. 122. How many sacraments are there?
A. Two.
Q. 123. What are they?
A. Baptism and the Lord's Supper.
Q. 124. Who appointed these sacraments?
A. The Lord Jesus Christ.
Q. 125. Why did Christ appoint these sacraments?
A. To distinguish his disciples from the world, and to comfort and strengthen them.
Q. 126. What sign is used in baptism?
A. The washing with water.
Q. 127. What does this signify?
A. That we have been cleansed from sin by the blood of Christ.
Q. 128. In whose name are we baptized?
A. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
Q. 129. Who are to be baptized?
A. Repentant believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Q. 130. What does your baptism represent?
A. Your new life in Christ and a living testimony of your new birth experience.
Q. 131. What is the Lord's Supper?
A. The eating of bread and drinking of wine in remembrance of the sufferings and death of Christ.
Q. 132. What does the bread represent?
A. The body of Christ, broken for our sins.
Q. 133. What does the wine represent?
A. The blood of Christ, shed for our salvation.
Q. 134. Who should partake of the Lord's Supper?
A. Only those who repent of their sins, believe in Christ for salvation, and love their fellow men.
Q. 135. Did Christ remain in the tomb after his crucifixion?
A. No; he rose from the tomb on the third day after his death.
Q. 136. Where is Christ now?
A. In heaven, interceding for sinners.
Q. 137. Will he come again?
A. Yes; at the last day Christ will come to judge the world.
Q. 138. What to people when they die?
A. The body returns to dust, and the soul goes into the world of spirits, either heaven or hell.
Q. 139. Will the bodies of the dead be raised to life again?
A. Yes; "The trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised."
Q. 140. What will become of the wicked in the Day of Judgment?
A. They shall be cast into hell.
Q. 141. What is hell?
A. A place of dreadful and endless torment.
Q. 142. What will become of the righteous?
A. They will live forever with Christ the Lord.
Q. 143. What is heaven?
A. A glorious and happy place, where the righteous shall be forever with the Lord.
[1] I modified and adapted this catechism from the original document, which can be located here: http://www.reformed.org/documents/index.html?mainframe=http://www.reformed.org/documents/cat_for_young_children.html (Accessed 4 July 2011).
[2] By “covenant of grace” is meant the gracious covenants that God made with humanity following the curse in the Garden. These gracious covenants are all fulfilled finally and completely in Christ Jesus, and include: The Abrahamic Covenant, The Mosaic Covenant, The Davidic Covenant, and The New Covenant. The New Covenant is an eternal and perfect covenant that will never be broken.
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