Foreword

This little book or sermon was planned and started for the instruction of children and the uneducated. Hence, from the earliest times it was called in Greek, Catechism, which signifies a method of instruction adapted to children. Its contents represent the minimum of knowledge for a Christian. Whoever does not possess it can not be reckoned among Christians nor be admitted to a sacrament, just as a mechanic who does not know the rules and customs of his trade is rejected and considered unfit. Therefore the young should be thoroughly instructed in the several parts of the Catechism or children's sermons, and be diligently drilled in their practice.

It is also the duty, then, of every father of a family to question his children and servants at least once a week and hear what they know or have learned of it, and when they do not know it, earnestly insist that they learn it. I well remember the time when untutored adults, stricken in years, were quite ignorant of these things; yea, this time has not passed altogether yet, for even now such people are found daily, notwithstanding they claim the privileges of sponsorship and the Lord's Supper, freely exercising all rights of Christians, though it is quite evident that communicants should be better taught and possess a more mature knowledge of Christian doctrine than children and beginners. However, for the common people we would be satisfied if they learned the three parts, which Christendom has received as a heritage from olden times—though they seldom were rightly taught and practiced—until all who are called Christians or would be Christians, both old and young, shall be well drilled and at home in these three parts.