# Need Critique of Catechism for children



## non dignus (Nov 13, 2007)

This catechism is designed for very young children to fit on a single 8" by 11" sheet of paper.
How can wording be improved?
How can logical order be improved?
Thanks



*Catechism for Shorties*

Q. 1. Who made you? A. God made me and all things.
Q. 2. Who is God? A. God is Spirit, eternal and almighty.
Q. 3. Where is God? A. God is everywhere and knows all things.
Q. 4. Why did God make all things? A. For His own glory.
Q. 5. How do we give Him glory? A. By loving Him and his word.
Q. 6. What is His word? A. The Holy Bible.
Q. 7. What is the nature of God? A. He is one God in the three Persons.
Q. 8. Who are the three Persons? A. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Q. 9. Who is the Son of God? A. Jesus Christ.
Q. 10. Is Christ His last name? A. No. Christ means anointed one.
Q. 11. Is Jesus Christ God? A. Yes. He is both God and man.
Q. 12. Is the Father also a man? A. No. 
Q. 13. Is the Holy Spirit God? A. Yes.
Q. 14. Are there then three Gods? A. No, there is only one God.
Q. 15. How do you know this? A. By hearing and reading His word, the Bible.
Q. 16. Where did we get the Bible? A. Men wrote it as the Holy Spirit led them.

Q. 17. What is heaven? A. That good place where we enjoy God forever.
Q. 18. Did God create all things good? A. Yes, but we are fallen.
Q. 19. What does it mean that man fell? A. All men sinned against God.
Q. 20. What is sin? A. Not obeying God’s law.
Q. 21. What is God’s law? A. What He commands.
Q. 22. Does God hate sin? A. Yes.
Q. 23. Do all people sin? A. Yes. All people from Adam sin, but not Jesus.
Q. 24. What do sinners deserve? A. The anger and punishment of God.
Q. 25. Can sinners go to heaven? A. No, their sins must first be taken away.
Q. 26. What if their sins are not taken away? A. They go to hell.
Q. 27. What is hell? A. That bad place where people are punished forever.

Q. 28. What is the gospel? A. The good news that God saves sinners.
Q. 29. What happens when we are saved? A. Our sins are taken away.
Q. 30. Who saved us from our sins? A. Jesus Christ, when He died on the cross.
Q. 31. Is Jesus still dead? A. No. He came back to life on the third day.
Q. 32. What also happens when we are saved? A. With hearts of faith we believe.
Q. 33. What is faith? A. Knowing and trusting Jesus Christ alone for salvation. 
Q. 34. Why did Christ save us? A. Because He loved us before the world began.
Q. 35. Do we deserve His love? A. No. We were born in sin, hating God.

Q. 36. How do you give thanks to God? A. By praying and keeping His commands.
Q. 37. Why are you thankful? A. Because Christ died for me.
Q. 38. Does God still love us even if we sin? A. Yes, He will never leave us.
Q. 39. How do you know you belong to God? A. Because I was baptized.
Q. 40. What is baptism? A. His mark upon me by the washing of water.
Q. 41. What does baptism show you? A. Christ washing away my sins by His blood.
Q. 42. Why are we baptized? A. Because God has called us into His church.
Q. 43. Who should be baptized? A. Only believers and their children.


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## Reformed Covenanter (Nov 13, 2007)

> Q. 25. Can sinners go to heaven? A. No, their sins must first be taken away.



Say something about imputed righteousness.


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## non dignus (Nov 13, 2007)

Daniel Ritchie said:


> > Q. 25. Can sinners go to heaven? A. No, their sins must first be taken away.
> 
> 
> 
> Say something about imputed righteousness.



Thanks! Actually there are another 40 questions for the back side that includes active and passive obedience for older children.


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## Semper Fidelis (Nov 13, 2007)

I'm just curious - do you not like the organization of the Catechism for young children? 
Catechism for Young Children

I think it does a pretty good job of organizing the categories and questions in a logical manner. You might find it easier to adapt something that's already pretty good rather than trying to create a new one.


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## Reformed Covenanter (Nov 13, 2007)

> Q. 37. Why are you thankful? A. Because Christ died for me.



Change to "Because, if I am saved, Christ died for me."


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## cih1355 (Nov 13, 2007)

You could ask questions concerning how the death of Jesus took away our sins and the importance of Christ's resurrection. Jesus was punished for our sins. He received the punishment that we deserved. Jesus rose from the dead to demonstrate that His sacrifice was acceptable to God.


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## panta dokimazete (Nov 13, 2007)

Daniel Ritchie said:


> > Q. 37. Why are you thankful? A. Because Christ died for me.
> 
> 
> 
> Change to "Because, if I am saved, Christ died for me."




...or, Christ died to save His people. (...or His children)


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## Reformed Covenanter (Nov 14, 2007)

jdlongmire said:


> Daniel Ritchie said:
> 
> 
> > > Q. 37. Why are you thankful? A. Because Christ died for me.
> ...




Well said.


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## non dignus (Nov 14, 2007)

SemperFideles said:


> I'm just curious - do you not like the organization of the Catechism for young children?
> Catechism for Young Children



I do like it. But this one is shorter and more basic. It fits on two sides of an 8.5 by 11 sheet of printer paper for easy manageability.

This is the other side for older children:


Q. 44. How many sacraments are there? A. Two, Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
Q. 45. What is the Lord’s Supper? A. A sign and seal of the new covenant.
Q. 46. What is Christ’s command in it? A. That we eat His flesh and drink His blood.
Q. 47. How do we do this? A. By the eating of bread and drinking of wine.
Q. 48. What are we doing in this? A. We remember the sacrifice of Christ.
Q. 49. Is Christ present in the sacraments? A. Yes, He is present to build our faith.
Q. 50. Is He inside the bread and the wine? A. No, they remain bread and wine.
Q. 51. Do we really partake of His body and blood? A. Yes, our souls do spiritually.
Q. 52. Who should partake of the Lord’s Supper? A. Only true believers.

Q. 53. What is good about Jesus’ birth? A. He was born of a virgin.
Q. 54. Why is this good? A. He is not a son of Adam, but the Son of God.
Q. 55. What does this mean? A. He was born without sin to be our Savior.
Q. 56. What is special about Jesus’ life? A. He only did the good, and never sinned.
Q. 57. Did Jesus really have to die for sins? A. Yes, only his death could save us.
Q. 58. Why was Jesus buried? A. To show that He really was dead.
Q. 59. Why was He resurrected? A. To prove He really is Christ, without sin.

Q. 60. What is justification? A. To be declared righteous before God.
Q. 61. What is righteousness? A. To have no sin and always do the good.
Q. 62. How are you justified? A. By grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.
Q. 63. What is grace? A. God’s love toward me even though I don’t deserve it.
Q. 64. What is the great exchange? A. Christ took my sin and gave me His goodness.
Q. 65. When did this happen? A. When He died on the cross.
Q. 66. When were you justified? A. When I first believed in Christ.
Q. 67. What do you believe? A. That Christ saved me and rose bodily from the dead.

Q. 68. What is sanctification? A. Becoming more and more like Christ everyday.
Q. 69. How? A. The Holy Spirit helps me to live for Christ and die to sin.
Q. 70. Do God’s people still sin? A. Yes, we fight daily against our own sin.
Q. 71. What is Christ’s promise therein? A. If we confess our sins, He will forgive us.
Q. 72. What is confession? A. When we admit our sins to God in prayer.
Q. 73. Can we ever lose our salvation? A. No.
Q. 74. Why do we pray? A. To thank Him for grace and call on Him in our distress.
Q. 75. How does God want us to pray? A. We must pray according to His will.
Q. 76. What is His will? A. The Ten Commandments and all His commands.
Q. 77. What should we pray for? A. We must pray for everything we need.

Q. 78. Can you love God by yourself? A. No. I must be a member of the local church.
Q. 79. What is the church? A. The people whom God elected.
Q. 80. What is election? A. That God chose us before the world began.
Q. 81. Why did God choose you? A. Not for any good in me, but because He is God.
Q. 82. But don’t you choose to believe? A. No, faith is an irresistible gift from God. 
Q. 83. Did God elect every person in the world? A. No, only His bride, the church.
Q. 84. Is everyone in the church elect? A. No. Some do not have true faith.
Q. 85. Does Christ shun the non-elect? A. No. All men in Adam shun Christ.
Q. 86. When will we see our Lord Jesus Christ? A. When we die or when He returns.
Q. 87. Why do we die? A. To stop sinning, go to our Lord, and enjoy Him forever. 


Thanks to all for the feedback.


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## BrianLanier (Nov 14, 2007)

non dignus said:


> This catechism is designed for very young children to fit on a single 8" by 11" sheet of paper.
> How can wording be improved?
> How can logical order be improved?
> Thanks
> ...



God "know[ing] all things" is not part of the question, "*where* is God?", but rather, 'What does God know?'.


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