Short and Easy Questions for Children, at First Beginning (1825)

Bound with one recent accession here at the PCA Historical Center–of a copy of the Shorter Catechism, printed in 1825–there is a brief catechism titled Short and Easy Questions for Children, at First Beginning. The earliest example that I can find of this catechism is from 1770:

The A, B, C. With the shorter catechism : appointed by the General Assembly, to be a directory for catechising such as are of a weaker capacity. To which is added, some short and easy questions and answers for children at first beginning.  Glasgow: Printed by John Robertson, 1770. 24 p.; 8 vo.

As an exercise for another day, it will be interesting to compare this catechism with the previously mentioned Children’s Catechism authored by Joseph P. Engles (1840).   Here below is the text of Short and Easy Questions for Children, at First Beginning.

Short and Easy Questions for Children at First Beginning.

Q. Who created you?
A. God.

Q.  Of what were you made?
A.  Of the dust of the earth.

Q.  What doth that teach you?
A.  Humility.

Q.  For what end were you made?
A.  To glorify God.

Q.  Are there more Gods than one?
A.  One only.

Q.  How many persons are there in the Godhead?
A.  Three

Q.  What are these?
A.  The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

Q.  In what estate was man created?
A.  In a holy and happy estate.

Q.  Did he continue in that holy and happy estate?
A.  No.

Q.  How fell he from it?
A.  By breaking covenant with God.

Q.  How many covenants are there?
A.  Two.

Q.  What are these?
A.  The covenant of works and the covenant of grace.

Q.  With whom was the covenant of works made?
A.  With the first Adam.

Q.  What was the condition of the covenant of works?
A.  Man’s perfect obedience.

Q.  With whom was the covenant of grace made?
A.  With Christ the second Adam.

Q.  What is the condition of the covenant of grace?
A.  The righteousness of Christ.

Q.  Whom did Adam represent in the covenant of works?
A.  All mankind descending from him by ordinary generation.

Q.  Did Adam keep the covenant of works made with him?
A.  No.

Q.  How did he break it?
A.  By eating the forbidden fruit.

Q.  Did all mankind break that covenant in Adam?
A.  Yes.

Q.  What estate are we then born in?
A.  A sinful and miserable estate.

Q.  Is there any way to be saved from that sinful and miserable estate?
A.  Yes.

Q.  Who is the Saviour of sinners?
A.  The Lord Jesus Christ.

Q.  Whose Son is he?
A.  The eternal Son of God.

Q.  Which person of the Godhead is Christ?
A.  The second person.

Q.  Who sanctifies sinners?
A.  The Holy Ghost.

Q.  Which of the persons of the Godhead is he?
A.  The third person.

Q.  How many natures hath Christ?
A.  Two.

Q.  What are these?
A.  The nature of God, and the nature of man.

Q.  Had he both these natures from eternity?
A.  He was God but not man from eternity.

Q.  When became he man?
A.  In the fulness of time.

Q.  What hath Christ done for us in our nature?
A.  He fulfilled the law and satisfied the justice of God.

Q.  When did he that?
A.  In his life and at his death.

Q.  What sort of life did he live?
A.  A sorrowful life.

Q.  What sort of a death did he die?
A.  The cursed death of the cross.

Q.  How many offices hath Christ?
A.  Three.

Q.  What are these?
A.  The office of a prophet, of a priest, and of a king.

Q.  Do you need a Saviour in all these offices?
A.  Yes.

Q.  What need have you of him as a prophet?
A.  To cure my ignorance.

Q.  What need have you of him as a priest?
A.  To atone for my guilt.

Q.  What need have you of him as a king?
A.  To deliver me from bondage.

Q.  How many commandments are there?
A.  Ten.

Q.  How are they divided?
A.  Into two tables.

Q.  How many are in the first?
A.  Four.

Q.  What do they contain?
A.  Our duty to God.

Q.  How many are in the second?
A.  Six.

Q.  What do they contain?
A.  Our duty to man.

Q.  Are you able to keep the commandments of God?
A.  No.

Q.  How many sacraments are there?
A.  Two.

Q.  What are these?
A.  Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

Q.  Who appointed these sacraments?
A.  Christ, the king and head of the church.

Q.  For what end did he appoint them?
A.  To be seals of the covenant of grace.

Q.  In whose name were you baptized?
A.  In the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

Q.  What doth your baptism teach you?
A.  That I am filthy and polluted by nature, and that there is cleansing virtue in the blood of Christ for me.

Q.  What comes of the wicked after death?
A.  They are sent to hell.

Q.  What sort of place is hell?
A.  A place of everlasting punishment.

Q.  What comes of the righteous after death?
A.  They go to heaven.

Q.  What sort of a place is heaven?
A.  A glorious place, where the redeemed will be for ever praising God.