Conversations on the catechism of the Protestant Episcopal church, abridged and accomodated to the American church, from and English edition

Preface To The American Edition

The following work appeared in England about ten years since, as the production of an anonymous author. The undersigned will be much disappointed if it does not meet with the same favor, which was shown by a large number of American Episcopalians, to the popular stories on the Church Catechism, by Mrs. Sherwood ; which work it resembles not a little, and in some respects certainly excels. It shows great labor in the references to appropriate scriptures, as well as great felicity in the choice of illustrations suited to the youthful mind. If it be used according to its design, and as it deserves, it will be equally profitable and interesting to the parent or sponsor and the child. Although it will be very instructive and pleasing if read without referring to the scriptures appealed to, yet it would not be doing justice to the work,

4 PREFACE TO THE AMERICAN EDITION.

if after being once read through in this manner, it is not afterwards studied with the Bible in the hand of either the child or the teacher, that the scripture authorities and history may be consulted. It is confidently believed that such a method will be found most edifying and satisfactory, by those who shall make trial of it.

The undersigned has selected this work in order to meet a want often felt both by parents and ministers, in their instruction of children in the Church Catechism, and that is, something more simple and easier to be understood by young beginners, than those expositions of the Catechism which attempt the explanation of each sentence and subject, and require that the answers be conmiitted to memory. Together with this, the undersigned has put forth such an exposition drawn chiefly from the most approved writers on the subject, and hopes that both of them may prove acceptable and useful to the ministers and members of the Diocese under his care, and to any others who may think them worthy of their adoption.

Preface To The American Edition. 5

In order to make this volume as suitable as possible to the object in view, the undersigned has not only omitted some things which referred peculiarly to England and the English Church, but also some parts of the work which touched on points in dispute among Episcopalians, and which could be neither interesting, edifying, or intelhgible to the child.

A very few words of his own connecting together parts which were disjoined by the omission, are all that have been added by the undersigned.

WILLIAM MEADE,

Bisliop of the Diocese of Virginia,

Part I. The Baptismal Coyenant

SUNDAY EVENING I.

ON THE DUTIES OF SPONSORS, •

William. My dear Godmamma, I have now learnt all my Catechism, from beginning to end: and mamma wishes me to ask you to hear me say it.

Aunt. That my dear boy, I will gladly do; and if you will come to my room every Sunday Evening, during my stay with your dear mamma, I will try to make you understand it, for I dare say you find it rather difficult.

William. I shall like it so much, for I thought just now, although I can say it quite perfectly, without missing one word : yet, if my Godmamma asks me any questions about it, I do not think I can answer them.

Aunt. You know, dear Willie, that I am always pleased to talk to you, when you are attentive, but in this case, it is my duty^ as well as my pleasure.

William. Your cluty^ Aunt ! I did not know it

8 ON THE DL'TIES

was the duty of any one to teach me, except papa and mamma, but I am sure it is very kind of any one to take the trouble.

AuxT. You have been told, my dear, that when you were a very little baby, I, and some other friends accompanied your dear papa and mamma to church, when they took you there for the first time, to dedicate you to God in baptism.

William. Yes, I have heard that, and so you are called my Godmother ; but I do not know why ; though there is something about godfathers and godmothers in the catechism.

Aunt. When we begin to talk about the catechism, I shall be able to explain it more clearly ; but now I wish you to remember that godfathers and godmothers are sometimes called " Sponsors," anu sometimes, *' Sureties."

William. Yes, I know the last word, it is in the last part of the catechism ; but what do they both mean?

Aunt. A Sponsor means a person who answers for another, promising they shall do something.

William. What ! suppose I was to promise you that my little sister Harriet should come here next time with me : — should I be her sponsor ?

ArNT. Yes, just so. Until you had brought her and your promise for her was fulfilled, you would

OF SPONSORS. 9

be answerable for it. — You would feel that you had something to do for her, — would you not ?

William. Yes, dear Aunt; having promised you that I would do it, I should not be happy, until I had kept my "promise ;- and if Harriet did not like to come, or fretted about it, I should persuade her, and coax her, and tell her how much better it would be for her to come to you ; and if she still would not come, I should tell her of my promise to you, and that she was making me break my word, which would be very wrong in her. I think she would come, Godmamma, but if she would not, — oh ! what should I do ? I should not like to break my word. Should I take her in my arms and carry her against her will ?

Aunt. No, my love, you would have done all you could, and therefore could not be blamed, even though your little sister would not come with you ; but this will explain to you, my duty as your Sponsor. I took you to church when you were baptized, and made a solemn promise to God, that as you were then brought to Him, you should, as you grew up, love to walk in His ways, be a good boy, and afterwards become a good man. Is not this a very solemn promise, William?

William. Yes, it is indeed ; and I see you are

10 ON THE DUTIES

bound to keep it, as much as I should be, in what I supposed about my little sister. But suppose, Godmamma, I was to be naughty, and grow up to be a wicked man ? (I hope I shall not) but suppose it should be so, what ivould you do? * I am sure you would be very unhappy, for I should be, if I had broken my promise, even against my will, and that in a little thing too ; but this would be a very great thing, Godmamma, for your promise was made to the great God, and in Church ! What would you do ?

Aunt. I should be very unhappy ; but as I said, I must do my part. I must persuade, and beg you to hear what I would say. I must tell you often of my promise, and try to lead you to God ; and what is most of all, I must pray to God, to make you come to Him, for He can change the worst heart.

William. Yes ; so my dear mamma tells me, and I believe it is true ; for I know God is very powerful, and can do great things. I saw a tree once which God killed by a stroke of lightning, and papa told me about the hurricanes in the West Indies, and all the houses and churches which were blown down : and I have read too, of a child who used to be very passionate and ill-tempered, who in a fit of sickness which God sent him, prayed to God, and asked Him to take away his naughty tempers ; and

OF SPONSORS. 11

God did, for he became quite a good boy; so I think the best plan will be to pray for me, Godmamma.

Atjnt. And so I do, my dear, and you must pray for yourself as that httle boy did. But still, God will not think I have done my duty, if I do not do all in my power to bring you to Him.

William. And I am sure you ought. So, dear Godmamma, I hope I shall always listen to what you say, and instead of feeling angry when you tell me of my faults, I will try to remember that you are only doing your duty, and keeping your promise to the great God. But you did not explain the word ^* Surety ^''^ the other name for Sponsor. I should like to know the meaning of it.

Aunt. J1 Surety is one who undertakes and is bound to do a thing for an other. Suppose a man bought a field, and could not afford to pay the whole sum for it at once, he brings a friend with him to the person of whom he buys the field, who promises to see he shall pay the rest of the money in six months, or he will engage to pay it himself; this friend is called the bondsman or surety.

The Surety at baptism is bound in a very solemn manner to see that the child shall be taught *' the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten Commandments," and if he is not, to teach them himself, and

12 ON THE DUTIES

to instruct him in all things which concern his salvation.

William. Oh, dear Godmamraa, that is just what you are doing now; you are fulfilling your promise as a Surety about me.

Aunt. Only a part of it, William ; the surety is also bound to bring the child at a fit age to be confirmed by the Bishop, when he will take upon himself, those things which the surety promises for him when he is too young to understand it himself.

William. I am sure sponsors take a great deal of trouble about children who are not their own — why do not their parents do it all themselves ?

Aunt. Your own dear parents, William, can teach you as well as I can, and they are always with you, and I am very seldom; but still they are glad of my help in bringing up their child, and are glad of my prayers for him. But many children are not so happy as you are, in having pious parents who are able and willing to bring up their children as the church would wish them to do, I mean as Christian people who worship God according to our manner, would have them trained. Some children, alas ! have no parents at all ; in both these sad cases the sureties (if pious) may be of great use in bringing up these poor children in the fear and love of God.

OF SPONSORS. 13

William. I am sure my mamma is much obliged to any one who will teach me any thing ; and if you please, dear Godmamma, (I like that name best after all) I will go and tell her now, all you have told me, and what we are going to do next Sunday.

Aunt. Good-bye, dear Willie, God bless you, and make you a good boy.

SUNDAY EVENING II.

ON god's first covenant with man.

William. Here I am, dear Godmamma, and I have brought with me my little Bible, which you gave me, because mamma told me, she thought you would give me some texts to find out. I like looking for texts.

Aunt. You know, William, that the Bible is God's own book, which He has given us, to teach us the truth, so that we must not depend on any thing as truth that is not to be found in the Bible. Read what St. Paul says to Timothy about his knowing the Bible in 2 Tim. iii. 15, 16.

William. **And that from a child thou hast known the Holy Sciptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation, through faith which is in 2

14 OF god's first covenant

Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works."

Aunt. What a great thing it is to have God's word to which we may go, when we wish to know what is right ! I pray that you, my dear, like Timothy, may know the word of God from a child, and love it dearly.

William. Will you please to tell me the meaning of ^^ Catechism?''^ It is a very hard word, I think.

Aunt. It means a written form of teaching by question and answer. To catechise, is to teach by question and answer ; a catechist is a person who asks questions ; and catechumens are those of whom the questions are asked. That is a still harder word, is it not? but it is not often used. Now, my dear, can you tell me, why you only answer "^7//iam," wheti I ask you your name in the catechism? for when you are asked your name at any other time, you always reply William D'Alby.

William. I think it is, because William was the name that was given me at church when I was christened, and so it is my Christian n2^me \ D'Alby is my surname, which means, (papa says,) father^ s name, for sir or sire is an old word for father. I

WITH MAN. 15

had my sirname, yon know, before I was christened, D'Alby is also called my family name, because my papa's family are all called by that name.

Aunt. You are right. The name of "^7/i am" was given you, to make you remember that you were belonging outwardly to Christ's family, and therefore should act as if you were. Can you tell me any text, my dear, about bringing Children to Christ.

William. Oh, yes, I can find it out in St. Matthew xix. 14. *'And Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me; for of such is the kingdom of heaven." And St. Mark says, "And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them." These children must have been very young, for Jesus to take them up in his arms ; quite little babies I think.

Aunt. None are too young to come to Christ, and therefore when a month old, children are usually taken to church to be christened, and if ill and unable to go to church, they are allowed to be baptized at home. And now, my dear, in order to understand the Catechism, we may divide it into five parts, and talk of one part at a time. Each part will form several conversations.

1. The Baptismal Covenant.

2, The Creed, or Articles of a christian's faith.

16 ON god's first covenant

3. The Commandments.

4. On Prayer.

We will speak first of '* the Covenant of Baptism."

William. But what is a Covenant, Godmamma ?

Aunt. I will try to explain it to you. "Covenant" means an agreement between two persons, in which something is promised by each to the other ; and in case the promise is broken on either side, the covenant no longer exists. You will understand what I mean by the true story I am going to tell you. You have seen a picture of Blenheim, near Oxford, the fine place which belongs to the Duke of Marlborough. That estate was given by Queen Anne, to a famous Duke of Marlborough, as a token of her favour, for the splendid victories he had gained for her. When she gave it him, this condition was made by her; that every year, on the anniversary of the battle of Blenheim, (from which the place obtained its name) a man on horseback should bring a white and blue flag from Blenheim Park to Windsor Castle ; and if the Duke failed in his part of the agreement, her gift would cease, and the whole of Blenheim Estate was to be forfeited to the crown.

William. I dare say how fast the man is obliged

WITH MAN. 17

to ride, for fear he should come too late. But I quite know now, what you mean by a covenant. It is not an unconditional promise to give. But in the case we are speaking about, it seems very little for the Duke to do in order to have so fine a place.

Aunt. So, dear child, are God's dealings with us, he gives us great things, and requires but little of lis. Open your Bible, and read Gen. i. 16, 17. You will find the account of the covenant God made with Adam and Eve.

William. **And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it ; for in the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die."

Aunt. Now, my dear, what is the Lord's part in this covenant?

William. That Adam and Eve should be happy in the beautiful garden, and God would love them, and they should eat of all the dehcious fruit which grew in the garden, except of one tree.

Aunt. Right. Now what was man's part ?

William. Only to obey God.

Aunt. And what was to be the consequence if man disobeyed God?

William. He was to forfeit his happiness, God's love, and the beautiful garden ; and he was to die. 2*

18 ON god's first covenant with man,

Aunt. And mark, my clear ; his sin would bring not only the death of his body, but the eternal death of his soul. That is to say, when he died, his soul would go to the wicked Devil, who had tempted him, instead of going to God.

William. Yes: and all this came upon him, for he did disobey God? and ate the forbidden fruit : and so the covenant was no longer of any use to him.

Aunt. Not only useless to Azm, William, but to his children, and their children, and all who should ever be born into the world ; for all have ever since been " born in sin," I mean, they are born with a heart that loves to disobey God's laws. Sin is the transgression or breaking of God's laws, and eternal death is the punishment of sin.

William. How unhappy Adam must have been, to have caused such sorrow to his children ! Yes, I know the youngest children are sinful; for they are often cross, and angry, and quarrelsome. Papa showed me these verses in the Bible, Godmamma. I will read them to you if you please.

Aunt. Do, my dear, and next Sunday, (if it please God,) we will talk about the New Covenant,

William, [reads) Pro v. xxii. 15. Gen. viii. 21. Psalm xiv. 2, 3. Then I am to hear about the New Covenant next Sunday. I wonder God would have any thing more to say to such wicked sinners.

SUNDAY EVENING III.

Aunt. We are to talk this evening, William, about a new covenant, which God made with Adam and his children, who for their sins deserved eternal death, and that the great God should care no more about them. Do you remember, my dear, any token which God showed of love for man, while He was cursing the serpent ?

William. Oh yes, he told the serpent that some day, some person, " who should be born of a woman," should " bruise its head," and Papa told me that person was Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was born of the Virgin Mary, and died on the cross for sinners.

Aunt. True, my dear, but how did that bruise the serpent's head ?

William. Papa said, the life of the animal was in its head, and if its head were crushed, it would have no power to hurt me ; but I cannot explain the rest, will you tell me ?

Aunt. The wicked Devil is the serpent, and as all sin came by him, so he may properly be called the head of sin, its chief and beginning : by him also came death, for death is the consequence of sin. Now Jesus Christ destroys the power of 5in, because he is stronger than the Devil, and his blood can wash all sin away : he also destroys the power of death, because he makes it the gate to heaven, instead of the gate to hell, which Satan meant it to be. Satan thought if he brought sin into the world, he should be able to take all men with him to that dreadful place, because " death cometh by sin," and "he that sinneth shall surely die " eternally. But Jesus, the Son of God, seeing what Satan wanted, and knowing that after Eve's and Adam's sin, nothing else could save man from being his prey, offered to become the mediator between God and man.

William. What is a " Mediator," Godmamma ?

Aunt. Suppose that two persons were standing at a distance from each other, quite out of each other's reach; and then suppose a third person were to stand just in the middle between them, and were to give one hand to each, the two persons who before were separated, would be united, and brought close as it were, by the third person, would they not ?

William. Oh yes, and is the third person to represent Jesus Christ, and the two others to represent God and man, who had been separated by the wicked Devil ? That seems to me very plain.

Aunt. Yes, for we are " brought nigh by the blood of Jesus," A new agreement was then made between God and smners, who could not have dared to approach their offended God, but through Jesus Christ.

William. It seems very likely that God would listen to his Son, whom he loved so dearly.

Aunt. Yes, and it is when Jesus is entreating his Father for us, that he is called our intercessor.

William. Please to explain that word to me, dear Aunt.

Aunt. Suppose, William, you had been very naughty, and had made your parents very angry, and they had sent you out of the parlor in disgrace ; and then suppose that your little sister Harriet, hearing you cry very much, were to run to your parents, and beg them to forgive you, and admit you to their presence again, she would be interceding for you.

William. Yes, I understand now, and I remember a very pretty story in the Bible (Numbers xvi. 41 — 50.) where I read that when the IsraeHtes rebelled, and God had sent a plague to destroy them ; Aaron stood between the guilty people and their offended God, and prayed Him to forgive them, and the plague ceased.

Aunt. Aaron was then a mediator between God and man, but Jesus Christ was more than this : for

Aaron only begged for their bodily life, while Christ entreats God to save men's souls from eternal death. Tell me, dear, what does your favorite hymn say about Jesus, as the Saviour of sinners 1 William, (repeats)

" He knew how wicked men had been And knew that God mustj^xmi^ sin ; So out of pity Jesus said He'd bear the punishment instead."

Mamma told me that God was very just as well as merciful, and it would not be justice to let sinners go without punishment, — unless some person would offer to die instead of them, who had never committed any sin. Jesus Christ therefore offered to come down and die, that sinful men might be saved from eternal death ; and his Father w^ho is in heaven, was so very good as to let His only Son come down to die for our sakes, so that " whosoever believeth in him may have eternal life."

Aunt. Dear child ! may your heavenly Father ever keep these blessed truths in your mind ! This, then, is the New Covenant which God made with man, in Christ Jesus our Lord. Now tell me what God promises in it ?

William. That our sins shall be forgiven us, and we shall go to heaven when we die.

Aunt. Right; now open to Acts xvi. 31, and you may read what our part of the new covenant is, in the answer which Paul and Silas gave to the poor jailer, who m an agony of mind asked them, " What must I do to be saved ? "

William. " And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." That does not seem a hard task, we ought gladly to believe on Him, if we wish to go to heaven.

Aunt. True, my dear; the condition which Christ requires is easy ; the covenant therefore is called, Rom. viii. 1, "the covenant of grace^'* or favour. But j^ou will find that (being born in sin) you cannot believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, unless God teaches you to do so. We shall talk of this some future day. I must now tell you, William, it was in this -belief that your parents, in obedience to Christ's commands, brought you to be baptized ; it was in this belief that I, and others answered for you : and we pray, that in this belief you may ever be kept.

W^iLLiAM. Please to tell me, where Christ commanded us to be baptized, and I will mark it on my Bible.

Aunt. Besides Matt. xix. 14, which you know, the following refers more plainly to Baptism^ as the proper means of being admitted into this New

Covenajit with God: Matt, xxviii. 19, where we have our Lord's commands about it, to his Apostles ; read also Acts ii. 38, 39. Persons therefore who neglect baptism either for themselves or their children, have not considered its importance as a scriptural command, nor all the benefits to be gained from it. But it would be making a mock of God's holy ordinance if we did not understand it, therefore next Sunday we will talk together about what was promised in the baptismal covenant, and try by God's help, to know what is needful concerning it.

SUNDAY EVENING IV.

god's promise IN THE COVENANT OF BAPTISM.

William. I am glad we are going to talk about the catechism to-night : for when I said it to mamma, I was thinking of so many questions I should like to ask, and I am afraid I shall forget them.

Aunt. Well then, my dear, repeat the answer to the question — ' Who gave you your name V and then tell me the first thing you want to know. . William. *' My Godfathers and Godmothers, in my baptism, wherein I was made a member of Christ, a child of God, and an inheritor of the kinggod's promise, etc. 25

dom of heaven." Now I want first to know, how we are made all these things in baptism ?

Aunt. Why the great God promises to do it for us ; this is his part of the covenant you know. Last Sunday you told me that the pardon of our sins, and the promise of going to heaven when we die, was God^s covenant promise with man. Here the words only are a little altered, and it is more particularly explained.

William. There are three things named ; First, a member of Christ, Second, a child of God, Third, and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven. I cannot think what the first means.

Aunt. If you attend, I will try to make it plain to you. The word member means something which belongs to another thing, and is joined so closely to it, that it forms a part of it. Your body is formed of many parts, which united, make a whole, each separate part is called a member, the whole united the body. For instance, your arm and your leg are not your body, but they belong so closely to it, and are so needful to it, that they form a part of it, and if one member is hurt, the whole body feels the injury.

William. Yes, indeed it does ; for when I cut my finger very badly, my whole body seemed to be in pain, and my head ached to. 3

26 god's promise

Aunt. So you read, 1 Cor. xiii. 26. " Whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it." Now the body which the Scriptures speak of, means the church, Christ is its head^ and all true believers in Christ are the members of His body. Read Eph. v. 23. You must not think, my dear, that the church when mentioned in the Bible, means a building, such as your Papa preaches in ; but it means the whole number of true Christians who have ever lived in the world, or are now living in it, or shall Hve in it hereafier to the end of the world. Each one of these persons is a member of, or belonging to, Christ's true church, which he calls his body, and therefore a member of himself, as the Catechism says, read Eph. i. 22. Christ, the head, is gone to heaven, and those members of his body who have died, are gone there too, and are joined to him there already. When all the rest of his body is there, (that is, when all true Christians have reached heaven,) they will form a perfect body " without spot or blemish, or any such thing."