First.
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF GOD.
1. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.
2. Thou shalt not take the name of th Lord, thy
God, in vain [for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in
vain].
3. Thou shalt sanctify the holy-day. [Remember
the Sabbath-day to keep it holy.]
4. Thou shalt honor thy father and mother [that
thou mayest live long upon the earth].
5. Thou shlt not kill.
6. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
7. Thou shalt not steal.
8. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy
neighbor.
9. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house.
10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor
his man-servant, nor his maidservant, nor his cattle [ox, nor his ass], nor
anything that is his.
Secondly.
THE CHIEF ARTICLES OF OUR FAITH.
1. I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of
heaven and earth.
2. And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord;
who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary; suffered under
Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried; He descended into hell; the
third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on
the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge
the quick and the dead.
3. I believe in the Holy Ghost, the holy
Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the
resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
Thirdly.
THE PRAYER, OR "OUR FATHER," WHICH
CHRIST TAUGHT
Our Father who art in heaven.
1. Hallowed be Thy name.
2. Thy kingdom come.
3. Thy will be done on earth as it is in
heaven.
4. Give us this day our daily bread.
5. And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive
those who trespass against us.
6. And lead us not into temptation.
7. But deliver us from evil. [For Thine is the
kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever.] Amen.
These are the most necessary parts which one
should first learn to repeat word for word and which our children should be
accustomed to recite daily when they arise in the morning when they sit down to
their meals, and when they retire at night; and until they repeat them, they
should be given neither food nor drink. Likewise every head of a household is
obliged to do the same with respect to his domestics, ma-servants and
maid-servants and not to keep them in his house if they do not know these
things and are unwilling to learn them. For a person who is so rude and unruly
as to be unwilling to learn these things is not to be tolerated, for in these
three parts everything that we have in the Scriptures is comprehended in short,
pain, and simple terms. For the holy Fathers or apostles (whoever they were)
have thus embraced in a summary the doctrine, life, wisdom, and art of
Christians, of which they speak and treat, and with which they are occupied.
Now, when these three arts are apprehended, it
behooves a person also to know what to say concerning our Sacraments, which
Christ Himself instituted, Baptism and the holy body and blood of Christ,
namely, the text which Matthew [28, 19 ff.] and Mark [16, 15 f.] record at the
close of their Gospels when Christ said farewell to His disciples and sent them
forth.
OF BAPTISM.
Go ye and teach all nations, baptizing them
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. He that
believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be
damned.
So much is sufficient for a simple person to know
fro the Scriptures concerning Baptism. In like manner, also, concerning the
other Sacrament in short, simple words, namely the text of St. Paul [1 Cor. 11,
23 f.].
OF THE SACRAMENT
Our Lord Jesus Christ, the same night in
which He was betrayed, took bread; and when He had given thanks, He brake it,
and gave it to His disciples and said, Take, eat; this is My body, which is
given for you: this do in remembrance of Me.
After the same manner also He took the cup, when
He had supped, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;
this cup is the new testament in My blood, which is shed for you for the
remission of sins: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of Me.
Thus, ye would have, in all, five parts of the
entire Christian doctrine which should be constantly treated and required [of
children] and heard recited word for word. For you must not rely upon it that
the young people will learn and retain these things from the sermon alone. When
these parts have been well learned, you may, as a supplement and to fortify
them. lay before them also some psalms or hymns, which have been composed on
these parts, and thus lead the young into the Scriptures, and make daily
progress therein.
However, it is not enough for them to comprehend
and recite these parts according to the words only, but the young people should
also be made to attend the preaching, espeially during the time which is
devoted to the Catechism, that they may hear it explained and may learn to
understand what every part contains, so as to be able to recite it as they have
heard it, and, when asked, may give a correct answer, so that the preaching may
not be without profit and fruit. For the reason why we exercise such diligence
in preaching the Catechis so often is that it may be inculcated on our youth,
not in a high and subtile manner, but briefly and with the greatest simplicity,
so as to enter the mind readily and be fixed in the memory.
Therefore we shall now take up the abovementioned
articles one by one and in the plainest manner possible say about them as much
as is necessary.
