1840 · 145 questions · public domain
Catechism for Young Children
The Catechism for Young Children is a first catechism of 145 short questions and answers by Joseph P. Engles, published in 1840 as an introduction to the Westminster Shorter Catechism. Its answers are brief enough for a three-year-old to say, and it walks from creation through sin, Christ, the commandments, prayer and the sacraments.
- Written by
- Joseph P. Engles, 1840
- Best for
- Children about ages 3 to 8
- Text used here
- Catechism for Young Children: Being an Introduction to the Shorter Catechism, Presbyterian Board of Publication (copyright entered 1840)
- Checked against
- Scan of a Presbyterian Board of Publication and Sabbath-School Work printing (Philadelphia, 1334 Chestnut Street); Creeds.json, Catechism for Young Children
- Last checked
- November 15, 2026
How should we use this catechism?
Take one question a week, or two once your child is older. Say the question and answer together each day, talk about the short note for parents, and use the memory card and copywork page for practice. Engles wrote it as an introduction to the Westminster Shorter Catechism, and many answers prepare for it word for word.
Printables for every question: memory cards and copywork in sets of ten. A plan for the week: the weekly catechism schedule.
All 145 questions and answers
Questions 1 to 10
- 1
God.
- 2
God made all things.
- 3
Why did God make you and all things?
For his own glory.
- 4
By loving him and doing what he commands.
- 5
Because he made me and takes care of me.
- 6
There is only one God.
- 7
In how many persons does this one God exist?
In three persons.
- 8
The Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.
- 9
God is a Spirit, and has not a body like men.
- 10
God is everywhere.
Questions 11 to 20
- 11
No; I cannot see God, but he always sees me.
- 12
Yes; nothing can be hid from God.
- 13
Yes; God can do all his holy will.
- 14
Where do you learn how to love and obey God?
In the Bible alone.
- 15
Holy men who were taught by the Holy Ghost.
- 16
Adam and Eve.
- 17
Of what were our first parents made?
God made the body of Adam out of the ground, and formed Eve from the body of Adam.
- 18
What did God give Adam and Eve besides bodies?
He gave them souls that could never die.
- 19
Have you a soul as well as a body?
Yes; I have a soul that can never die.
- 20
How do you know that you have a soul?
Because I can think about God and the world to come.
Questions 21 to 30
- 21
In what condition did God make Adam and Eve?
He made them holy and happy.
- 22
An agreement between two or more persons.
- 23
What covenant did God make with Adam?
The covenant of works.
- 24
What was Adam bound to do by the covenant of works?
To obey God perfectly.
- 25
What did God promise in the covenant of works?
To reward Adam with life if he obeyed him.
- 26
What did God threaten in the covenant of works?
To punish Adam with death if he disobeyed.
- 27
Did Adam keep the covenant of works?
No; he sinned against God.
- 28
Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God.
- 29
What is meant by want of conformity?
Not being or doing what God requires.
- 30
What is meant by transgression?
Doing what God forbids.
Questions 31 to 40
- 31
What was the sin of our first parents?
Eating the forbidden fruit.
- 32
The devil tempted Eve, and she gave the fruit to Adam.
- 33
What befell our first parents when they had sinned?
Instead of being holy and happy, they became sinful and miserable.
- 34
Did Adam act for himself alone in the covenant of works?
No; he represented all his posterity.
- 35
What effect had the sin of Adam on all mankind?
All mankind are born in a state of sin and misery.
- 36
- 37
The wrath and curse of God.
- 38
Can any one go to heaven with this sinful nature?
No, our hearts must be changed before we can be fit for heaven.
- 39
What is a change of heart called?
Regeneration.
- 40
Who can change a sinner’s heart?
The Holy Spirit alone.
Questions 41 to 50
- 41
Can any one be saved through the covenant of works?
None can be saved through the covenant of works.
- 42
Why can none be saved through the covenant of works?
Because all have broken it, and are condemned by it.
- 43
With whom did God the Father make the covenant of grace?
With Christ, his eternal Son.
- 44
Whom did Christ represent in the covenant of grace?
His elect people.
- 45
What did Christ undertake in the covenant of grace?
To keep the whole law for his people, and to suffer the punishment due to their sins.
- 46
Did our Lord Jesus Christ ever commit the least sin?
No; he was holy, harmless and undefiled.
- 47
How could the Son of God suffer?
Christ, the Son of God, became man that he might obey and suffer in our nature.
- 48
What is meant by the Atonement?
Christ’s satisfying divine justice, by his sufferings and death, in the place of sinners.
- 49
What did God the Father undertake in the covenant of grace?
To justify and sanctify those for whom Christ should die.
- 50
It is God’s forgiving sinners, and treating them as if they had never sinned.
Questions 51 to 60
- 51
It is God’s making sinners holy in heart and conduct.
- 52
For whom did Christ obey and suffer?
For those whom the Father had given him.
- 53
What kind of life did Christ live on earth?
A life of poverty and suffering.
- 54
What kind of death did Christ die?
The painful and shameful death of the cross.
- 55
Only those who repent of sin, believe in Christ and lead holy lives.
- 56
To be sorry for sin, and to hate and forsake it because it is displeasing to God.
- 57
What is it to believe or have faith in Christ?
To trust in Christ alone for salvation.
- 58
Can you repent and believe in Christ by your own power?
No; I can do nothing good without the help of God’s Holy Spirit.
- 59
How can you get the help of the Holy Spirit?
God has told us that we must pray to him for the Holy Spirit.
- 60
How long ago is it since Christ died?
More than eighteen hundred years.
Questions 61 to 70
- 61
How were pious persons saved before the coming of Christ?
By believing in a Saviour to come.
- 62
How did they show their faith?
By offering sacrifices on God’s altar.
- 63
What did these sacrifices represent?
Christ, the Lamb of God, who was to die for sinners.
- 64
Christ has three offices.
- 65
The offices of a prophet, of a priest, and of a king.
- 66
Because he teaches us the will of God.
- 67
Because he died for our sins and pleads with God for us.
- 68
Because he rules over us and defends us.
- 69
Why do you need Christ as a prophet?
Because I am ignorant.
- 70
Why do you need Christ as a priest?
Because I am guilty.
Questions 71 to 80
- 71
Why do you need Christ as a king?
Because I am weak and helpless.
- 72
How many commandments did God give on Mount Sinai?
Ten commandments.
- 73
What are the ten commandments sometimes called?
The Decalogue.
- 74
What do the first four commandments teach?
Our duty to God.
- 75
What do the last six commandments teach?
Our duty to our fellow-men.
- 76
What is the sum of the ten commandments?
To love God with all my heart, and my neighbor as myself.
- 77
All my fellow-men are my neighbors.
- 78
Is God pleased with those who love and obey him?
Yes; he says, “I love them that love me.”
- 79
Is God displeased with those who do not love and obey him?
Yes; “God is angry with the wicked every day.”
- 80
What is the first commandment?
The first commandment is, Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Questions 81 to 90
- 81
What does the first commandment teach us?
To worship God alone.
- 82
What is the second commandment?
The second commandment is, Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them; for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.
- 83
What does the second commandment teach us?
To worship God in a proper manner, and to avoid idolatry.
- 84
What is the third commandment?
The third commandment is, Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
- 85
What does the third commandment teach us?
To reverence God’s name, word, and works.
- 86
What is the fourth commandment?
The fourth commandment is, Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested on the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.
- 87
What does the fourth commandment teach us?
To keep the Sabbath holy.
- 88
What day of the week is the Christian Sabbath?
The first day of the week, called the Lord’s day.
- 89
Why is it called the Lord’s day?
Because on that day Christ rose from the dead.
- 90
How should the Sabbath be spent?
In prayer and praise, in hearing and reading God’s word, and in doing good to our fellow-men.
Questions 91 to 100
- 91
What is the fifth commandment?
The fifth commandment is, Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
- 92
What does the fifth commandment teach us?
To love and obey our parents and teachers.
- 93
What is the sixth commandment?
The sixth commandment is, Thou shalt not kill.
- 94
What does the sixth commandment teach us?
To avoid angry passions.
- 95
What is the seventh commandment?
The seventh commandment is, Thou shalt not commit adultery.
- 96
What does the seventh commandment teach us?
To be pure in heart, language, and conduct.
- 97
What is the eighth commandment?
The eighth commandment is, Thou shalt not steal.
- 98
What does the eighth commandment teach us?
To be honest and industrious.
- 99
What is the ninth commandment?
The ninth commandment is, Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
- 100
What does the ninth commandment teach us?
To tell the truth.
Questions 101 to 110
- 101
What is the tenth commandment?
The tenth commandment is, Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor’s.
- 102
What does the tenth commandment teach us?
To be content with our lot.
- 103
Can any man keep these ten commandments perfectly?
No mere man, since the fall of Adam, ever did or can keep the ten commandments perfectly.
- 104
Of what use are the ten commandments to us?
They teach us our duty, and show our need of a Saviour.
- 105
Prayer is asking God for things which he has promised to give.
- 106
Only in the name of Christ.
- 107
What has Christ given us to teach us how to pray?
The Lord’s Prayer.
- 108
Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
- 109
- 110
“Hallowed be thy name.”
Questions 111 to 120
- 111
What do we pray for in the first petition?
That God’s name may be honored by us and all men.
- 112
“Thy kingdom come.”
- 113
What do we pray for in the second petition?
That the gospel may be preached in all the world, and believed and obeyed by us and all men.
- 114
“Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”
- 115
What do we pray for in the third petition?
That men on earth may serve God as the angels do in heaven.
- 116
“Give us this day our daily bread.”
- 117
What do we pray for in the fourth petition?
That God would give us all things needful for our bodies and souls.
- 118
“And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”
- 119
What do we pray for in the fifth petition?
That God would pardon our sins for Christ’s sake, and enable us to forgive those who have injured us.
- 120
“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
Questions 121 to 130
- 121
What do we pray for in the sixth petition?
That God would keep us from sin.
- 122
- 123
Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
- 124
Who appointed these sacraments?
The Lord Jesus Christ.
- 125
Why did Christ appoint these sacraments?
To distinguish his disciples from the world, and to comfort and strengthen them.
- 126
The washing with water.
- 127
That we are cleansed from sin by the blood of Christ.
- 128
In whose name are we baptized?
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
- 129
Believers and their children.
- 130
Why should infants be baptized?
Because they have a sinful nature and need a Saviour.
Questions 131 to 140
- 131
Does Christ care for little children?
Yes; for he says, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.
- 132
To what does your baptism bind you?
To be a true follower of Christ.
- 133
The eating of bread and drinking of wine in remembrance of the sufferings and death of Christ.
- 134
What does the bread represent?
The body of Christ, broken for our sins.
- 135
The blood of Christ, shed for our salvation.
- 136
Who should partake of the Lord’s Supper?
Only those who repent of their sins, believe in Christ for salvation, and love their fellow-men.
- 137
Did Christ remain in the tomb after his crucifixion?
No; he rose from the tomb on the third day after his death.
- 138
In heaven, interceding for sinners.
- 139
Yes; at the last day Christ will come to judge the world.
- 140
The body returns to dust, and the soul goes into the world of spirits.
Questions 141 to 145
- 141
Will the bodies of the dead be raised to life again?
Yes; “the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised.”
- 142
What will become of the wicked in the day of judgment?
They shall be cast into hell.
- 143
A place of dreadful and endless torment.
- 144
What will become of the righteous?
They shall be taken to heaven.
- 145
A glorious and happy place, where the righteous shall be for ever with the LORD.
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