Dr. Watts' First Catechism for Children

Q. Can you tell me, child, who made you?
A. The great God who made heaven and earth.

Q. What doth God do for you?
A. He keeps me from harm by night and by day, and is always doing me good.

Q. And what must you do for this great God who is so good to you?
A. I must first learn to know him, and then do every thing to please him.

Q. Where doth God teach us to know and to love him?
A. In his holy word, which is the Bible.

Q. Have you learned to know who God is?
A. God is a Spirit; and though we cannot see him, yet he sees and knows all things, and he can do all things.

Q. What must you do to please God?
A. I must do my duty both towards God and towards man.

Q. What is your duty to God?
A. My duty to God is to fear and honor him, and to love and serve him, to pray to him, and to praise him.

Q. What is your duty to man?
A. My duty to man is, to obey my parents, to speak the truth always, and to be honest and kind to all.

Q. What good do you hope for, by seeking to please God?
A. Then I shall be a child of God, and have God for my Father and Friend forever.

Q. And what if you do not fear God, nor love him, nor seek to please him?
A. Then I shall be a wicked child, and the great God will be very angry with me.

Q. Why are you afraid of God's anger?
A. Because he can kill my body, and he can make my soul miserable after my body is dead.

Q. But have you never done any thing to make God angry with you already?
A. Yes; I fear I have too often sinned against God, and deserve his anger.

Q. What do you mean by sinning against God?
A. To sin against God is, to do any thing that God forbids me, or not to do what God commands me.

Q. And what must you do to be saved from the anger of God, which your sins have deserved?
A. I must be sorry for my sins; I must pray God for Christ's sake to forgive me, and help me to serve Him.

Q. Do you know who Jesus Christ is?
A. He is God's own Son, who came down from heaven to save us from our sins, and from God's anger. Christ's sake to forgive me, and help me to serve him.

Q. Will God forgive you if you pray for it?
A. He will forgive me if I trust in his mercy, because of what Jesus Christ has done, and what he has suffered.

Q. What has Christ done towards the saving of men?
A. He obeyed the law of God himself, and has taught us to obey it also.

Q. And what has Christ suffered in order to save men?
A. He died for sinners, who had broken the law of God, and had deserved to die themselves.

Q. Where is Jesus Christ now?
A. He is alive again, and gone to heaven, to provide a place there for all that serve God and love his Son Jesus.

Q. Can you by yourself love and serve God and Christ?
A. No; I cannot do it by myself, but God will help me by his own Spirit, if I ask him for it.

Q. Will Jesus Christ ever come again?
A. Christ will come again, and call me and all the world to account for what we have done.

Q. For what purpose is this account to be given?
A. That the children of God, as well as the wicked, may all receive according to their works.

Q. What must become of you if you are wicked?
A. If I am wicked I shall be sent down to everlasting fire in hell, among wicked and miserable creatures.

Q. And whither shall you go if you are a child of God?
A. If I am a child of God I shall be taken up to heaven, and dwell there with God and Christ for ever. Amen.