CATECHISM · 1703 AD · ENGLISH NONCONFORMIST (PRESBYTERIAN)
Matthew Henry's Scripture Catechism
WRITTEN
1703 AD
TRADITION
English Nonconformist (Presbyterian)
QUESTIONS
2,861
QUOTED IN THE BEREAN TEXT
791
791 quotations in this document are given in the Berean Standard Bible. 1,616 more are left in the document's own older wording, each marked where it stands.
CONTENTS
QUESTION 1
What is the chief end of man?
Man's chief end is to glorify God, and enjoy him forever.
QUESTION 1A
Is man a reasonable creature?
Yes: For But there is a spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that gives him understanding. Job 32:8.
Scripture quoted here is given in the Berean Standard Bible: Job 32:8.
QUESTION 1B
Has he greater capacities than the brutes?
Yes: God who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth and makes us wiser than the birds of the air?’ Job 35:11.
Scripture quoted here is given in the Berean Standard Bible: Job 35:11.
QUESTION 2A
Is man his own maker?
No: It is God that hath made us, and not we ourselves, Psalm 100:3.
QUESTION 2B
Is he then his own master?
No: There is a Lord over us, Psalm 12:4.
QUESTION 2C
Is he his own carver?
No: Should it be according to thy mind, Job 34:33.
QUESTION 2D
Is he his own end?
No: For none of us lives to himself alone, and none of us dies to himself alone. Romans 14:7.
Scripture quoted here is given in the Berean Standard Bible: Romans 14:7.
QUESTION 3A
Is it your business in the world to serve the flesh?
No: For we are not debtors to the flesh, that we should live after the flesh, Rom. 8:12.
QUESTION 3B
Is it to pursue the world?
No: For we are not of the world, John 17:16.
QUESTION 4A
Is your happiness bound up in the creature?
No: For all to be futile, a pursuit of the wind, Eccl. 1:14.
Scripture quoted here is given in the Berean Standard Bible: Ecclesiastes 1:14.
QUESTION 4B
Will the riches of the world make you happy?
No: for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions, Luke 12:15.
Scripture quoted here is given in the Berean Standard Bible: Luke 12:15.
QUESTION 4C
Will the praise and applause of men make you happy?
No: For it is vain glory, Gal. 5:26.
QUESTION 4D
Will sport and pleasure make you happy?
No: For the wise man I said of laughter, “It is folly,” and of pleasure, “What does it accomplish?” Eccl. 2:2.
Scripture quoted here is given in the Berean Standard Bible: Ecclesiastes 2:2.
QUESTION 4E
Can the gain of the world make you happy?
No, For what is a man profited, if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Matthew 16:26.
QUESTION 5A
Is God then your chief end?
Yes, For of him, and through him, and to him are all things, Rom. 11:36.
QUESTION 5B
Were you made for him?
Yes: The people I formed for Myself, Isa. 43:21.
Scripture quoted here is given in the Berean Standard Bible: Isaiah 43:21.
QUESTION 5C
Were you redeemed for him?
Yes: Ye are not your own, for ye are bought with a price, 1 Cor. 6:19,20.
QUESTION 6A
Is it your chief business to glorify God?
Yes: We must glorify God in our body and in our spirit, which are God's, I Cor. 6:20.
QUESTION 6B
Must this be ultimately designed in all our actions?
Yes: Do all to the glory of God, 1 Cor. 10:31.
QUESTION 6C
Is God glorified by our praises?
Yes: He that offers praise, glorifies me, Ps. 50:23.
QUESTION 6D
And is he glorified by our works?
Yes: This is to My Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, John 15:8.
Scripture quoted here is given in the Berean Standard Bible: John 15:8.
QUESTION 7A
Is God your chief good?
Yes: For happy is the people whose God is the Lord, Ps. 144:15.
QUESTION 7B
Does all good come from him?
Yes: For with him is the fountain of life, Ps. 36:9.
QUESTION 7C
And is all good enjoyed in him?
Yes: The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup, Ps. 16:5.
Scripture quoted here is given in the Berean Standard Bible: Psalms 16:5.
QUESTION 8A
Is it your chief happiness then to have God's favour?
Yes: For in his favour is life, Ps. 30:5.
QUESTION 8B
Is that the most desirable good?
Yes: For his loving kindness is better than life, Ps. 63:3.
QUESTION 8C
Do you desire it above any good?
Yes: Shine the light of Your face upon us, O LORD, Ps. 4:6,7.
Scripture quoted here is given in the Berean Standard Bible: Psalms 4:6.
QUESTION 8D
And should you give all diligence to make it sure?
Yes: Herein So we aspire to please Him, whether we are here in this body or away from it. the Lord, 2 Cor. 5:9.
Scripture quoted here is given in the Berean Standard Bible: 2 Corinthians 5:9.
QUESTION 9A
Is communion with God in grace here the best pleasure?
Yes: It is good for me to draw near to God, Ps. 73:28.
QUESTION 9B
Is the vision and fruition of God in glory hereafter the best portion?
Yes: For in his presence there is fulness of joy, Ps. 16:11.
QUESTION 9C
Will you therefore set your heart upon this chief good?
Yes: Lord, Whom have I in heaven but You? And on earth I desire no one besides You; when my flesh and my heart fail, God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever, Ps. 73:25,26.
Scripture quoted here is given in the Berean Standard Bible: Psalms 73:25.
THIS TEXT AND ITS SOURCES
- Berean Standard Bible Public domain
The document's own wording is unchanged apart from the quoted verses described above. Its proof-text references were resolved against this site's own copy of the Berean Standard Bible; the references it does not carry would be shown as references with no verse words.
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