CHAPTER XIX.

THE CATECHISM.

As the Church, acting agreeably to the spirit of the Divine will, exhibited in God's command to his people of old-that they should instruct their children in those doctrines and precepts, which contained their own religious faith-hath enjoined you to take heed to the same duty on your part; she hath provided a beautiful summary of Christian faith, and Christian practice, termed the Catechism; and appointed it to be taught to your children. It is concise and clear; and being conducted by way of question and answer, is admirably adapted for familiar instruction. Its conciseness however, admits of explanation, as the mind of the child expands, and opens to enquiry and information. It may therefore aid in the fulfilment of this your parental

1 Deut. vi. 6, 7, 8, and 9. "And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates."-How clearly are we here encouraged to instil into the mind, early, the principles, which our own hearts and consciences know to be the only sure and safe guide to immortal beings on their way through a world of trial, to a world of rest. What, though the doctrines taught be beyond the capacity of the learner. It is so with all acquirement. If nothing be taught till the principles upon which the instruction is grounded be understood by the learner, there must be an end of teaching. Or shall we neglect that care in heavenly things which we so anxiously give to earthly things? Shall we teach all other knowledge, and leave unheeded that which alone maketh wise unto salvation?

duty, if we pursue together our reflections upon the Catechism itself.

The first question is put easily and familiarly; and its answer is admirably calculated to make a child understand more clearly the reason of those obligations which rest upon him as a Christian.

What is your Name?

A Christian is no sooner reminded of the name1 given to him in his baptism, than he is reminded of the new duties which then devolved upon him, as

66

a member of Christ," and of the new privileges to which he is so entitled. The answer is framed with a view to instruct him on both these points. The members of the body act only as the mind, or head directs them; having no will of their own, only a power of obeying the will: so the members of the Church, which is the body of Christ, not doing their own will, but having power to do the will of another, follow the will of Christ their head. The expression implies so intimate an union, that his will is supposed to be the spring of all our actions, and all our motives. By this union He sympathizes with us; even as the head of the body with its members.

" In

1 In former ages, and even to this day among savage tribes, when a captive taken in war has his forfeit life granted to him, and is received as an adopted child into the family of his conqueror, he receives a new name. He then solemnly pledges himself to regard the welfare of the family as his own; to respect his adopted parents as his own; to consider himself born anew, with new feelings, views, and affections-all centering in an adaptation of his whole character to the laws and regulations of the family of which he has now become a member. And as he bears this name of his adoption till his death, he bears about him, so long as life shall last, a perpetual memento at once of his new duties and his new privileges.

all our afflictions, He is afflicted3 ;" and we partake of his relation to God, by becoming through Him children of God. Now as children inherit their father's possessions, so heaven is the promised inheritance of the children of God; though we remember that the disobedient become disinherited, and lose their privilege. The child easily thus comprehends why he must obey the laws of his Father who is in heaven, if he would gain his promised inheritance there. Every child values his birthright; and this feeling is strong, in proportion as the inheritance is connected with ample domains, high honour, and if so it happen, with a noble name. Once then let the youthful mind be impressed with the nature of that inheritance which is in prospect for the faithful members of Christ, and dutiful children of God-riches which fail not, honour which dimmeth not, glory which fadeth notand the most ambitious may find ample motive to hold fast without wavering that profession of his faith, as a member of Christ here on earth, which gives him hope of being hereafter an heir together with Him of his kingdom in heaven.

The mention of the name, with the statement that it was given at our baptism, is immediately succeeded by an enumeration of the duties annexed to the name. And these are stated under three heads.

The baptized person was pledged to renounce all evil, in thought, word, and deed, to which the human heart is by nature prone, and by which, when unregenerate, it is led captive. He was also bound to believe in that dispensation of the gospel, which God has been pleased to reveal to mankind, through Christ

3 Is. lxiii. 9.

Jesus. He likewise vowed to obey-" keeping God's holy will and commandments;" not merely as an occasional act, but as a habit; "walking in the same all the days of his life '."

Thus, again, the Church guards us against any misunderstanding as to the nature of baptismal regeneration. It is "a state of salvation;" but it is a state in which we remain, or from which we fall, as we either disregard or avail ourselves of that promised strength, by which alone we are enabled to hold it fast, and without which we must forfeit it. The Christian humbly looks to Heaven for help to fulfil the conditions of his new birth; and he trusts to gain that help because he is permitted by his new privileges freely to ask it of his gracious and loving Father, through the Lord Jesus Christ. How wisely does the Church thus teach her sons to take their stand between a presumptuous assurance on the one hand, and an unqualified self-degradation on the other. What if she encourage them to a holy course, even to the end? she leads them to the saving truth, that their help standeth only in the Lord, and is the gracious gift of the Father, through their union with Jesus Christ his Son.-"No man cometh to the Father," saith the Lord of Life, "but through me." As then your child is thus united to Christ by baptism, and through Him united to the Father and the Holy Ghost, yours is no visionary hope that he "may continue in the same unto his life's end 2."

Refer to pages 68 and 91.

2 Rom. viii. 32. "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" And did God's help ever fail you? Was not that help as

O! that end of life! How powerfully is your parental care for the spiritual welfare of your child stimulated by the thought-what may the end be! Could the future be opened to you, and assurance given that then all would be well: could you be certified that there would be peace at the last; how would you reconcile yourself to all your own anxious toil, and all of suffering to which even he might be called, as his probation! How light would these things be in the scale, weighed against a death of peace!

CHAPTER XX.

THE CREED.

WE gather from the writings of the apostles, and especially of St. Paul, that various summaries of

unfailing as your prayers were unceasing? It is impossible for any to retrace their past lives, and not recall the continuance of God's help in carrying them through the difficulties of it. You, yourself— cannot you retrace, in your course, God's constant gracious providence over you and your concerns? Difficulties past, dangers escaped, trials lightened, troubles drawn off-" dispersed," as our Liturgy beautifully expresses it-do not they rise up to memory, and enable you to impress the lessons of piety you are now inculcating upon the mind of your child, by the lessons of experience which you have yourself been taught. Surely you may bid your child not to fear that God's help will be vouchsafed to him as it has been to you. "For me, my child! God has never forsaken me! He has always heard and answered my prayer, if not by granting success, by granting peace under disappointment, and hope under affliction. His grace has been always vouchsafed to my supplications. So it will be with you. He is the same God to us both. He is the heavenly Father of you, as of me.”