Below are most of them. There are several more... Please note that these are out of context with the Shorter Catechism Questions that they "Explain"
Q. 8. Are there not several in scripture who are called gods?
A. Yes; angels, magistrates, and the idols of the heathen nations.
Q. 10. Why are magistrates so called? Ex. 22:28.
A. Because they are God’s deputies for government and justice among men, Rom. 13:4
Q. 21. Does the civil magistrate, then, hold his office of Christ as Mediator?
A. No; but of him as God Creator, otherwise all civil magistrates, Heathen, as well as Christian, would be church officers; which would be grossly Erastian.
Q. 36. What is the doctrine of our Confession concerning the tolerating of those who publish and maintain erroneous opinions or practices?
A. That “for their publishing of such opinions, or maintaining of such practices, as are contrary to the light of nature, or the known principles of Christianity, whether concerning faith, worship, or conversation, or to the power of godliness, they may lawfully be called to account, and proceeded against by the censures of the church, and by the power of the civil magistrates.”68
Q. 28. When is a civil oath taken upon a lawful occasion?
A. When it is required by a lawful magistrate, for the ending of strife and debate, and the impartial administration of justice.
Q. 43. May not the supreme magistrate require an allegiance of his subjects, or an oath of fidelity to obey his just and lawful commands?
A. It appears evidently from scripture that he may, Eccl. 8:2 — “I counsel thee to keep the king’s commandment, and that in regard of the oath of God,” 1 Chron. 29:24.
Q. 42. Ought not magistrates to punish those who are guilty of the open and presumptuous breach of the Sabbath?
A. Undoubtedly they should; and they have the example of Nehemiah for a precedent, worthy of their imitation in this matter, chap. 13:21.
Q. 43. What is the most effectual way for the civil magistrate to
suppress Sabbath profanation?
A. To be impartial in the execution of the laws against Sabbath breaking, especially upon those who are of a more eminent rank and station, because they ought to be exemplary to others, Neh. 13:17 — “Then I contended with the NOBLES of Judah; and said unto them, What evil thing is this that ye do, and profane the Sabbath day?”
Q. 16. What are the several relations in which duties are mutually to be performed, according to this commandment?
A. They are such as subsist between parents and children; magistrates and subjects; ministers and people; husbands and wives; masters and servants; and likewise between those who have a greater or less degree of gifts and graces.
Q. 22. What are the duties of magistrates towards their subjects?
A. To establish good laws, 2 Kings 18:4, and see them impartially executed, Rom. 13:3, 4; to protect their subjects in their religion, lives, and liberties, 1 Pet. 2:14; and to be nursing fathers to the church, Isaiah 49:23.
Q. 23. What is the duty of the magistrate with reference to the church of Christ?
A. Although he “may not assume to himself the administration of word and sacraments, or the power of the keys of the kingdom of heaven, yet he hath authority, and it is his duty to take order, that unity and peace be preserved in the church, — that the truth of God be kept pure and entire, — that all blasphemies and heresies be suppressed, — all corruptions and abuses in worship and discipline prevented and reformed, — and all the ordinances of God duly settled, administered, and observed.”84
Q. 24. What are the duties of subjects towards their magistrates?
A. To honour and reverence them, 2 Sam. 9:6; to obey their just laws, Eccl. 8:2; to pay them the tribute that is due to them, Rom. 13:7; to pray for them, 1 Tim. 2:1, 2; and to support and defend their persons and authority, 1 Sam. 26:15, 16; Esth. 6:2.
Q. 25. Are subjects bound to be obsequious to the lawful commands of magistrates, who are of a different religion from them?
A. “Infidelity, or difference in religion, doth not make void the magistrate’s just and legal authority, nor free the people from their due obedience to him.”
Q. 9. What is it to take away life in case of public justice?
A. It is to inflict capital punishment upon notorious criminals, by a lawful magistrate, who is ordained of God for that purpose, Rom. 13:2,4.
Q. 10. What warrant has the civil magistrate to take away the life of a wilful murderer?
A. The express command of God, Gen. 9:6 — “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed.”
Q. 11. Is it lawful for a magistrate to spare, pardon, or reprieve a convicted murderer?
A. It is expressly forbidden as a land-defiling sin, Num. 35:31, 33 — “Ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer, which is guilty of death; but he shall surely be put to death. For blood defileth the land, and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it.”
Q. 13. Is it warrantable in a Christian magistrate to repeal or disable penal laws against witchcraft?
A. By no means; for God has expressly said, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live,” Exod. 22:18.
