Ready, set, write!

Q. 5. Are there more Gods than one?
A. There is but one only, [18] the living and true God. [19]

And then the Westminster Shorter Catechism drops the bomb: there is only one God. Our God. Sorry about the confusion. Not a whole lot of wells and one underground source: just one well with real water. This may be rather shocking and unsettling to our modern friends, but the rest of you are drinking sand.

dan (not much of a way to live life, I’d say)

And we forge ahead…

Q. 4. What is God?
A. God is a Spirit, [7] infinite, [8] eternal, [9] and unchangeable, [10] in his being, [11] wisdom, [12] power, [13] holiness, [14] justice, [15] goodness, [16] and truth. [17]

I’m not sure what more I can add here, other than to note that this is probably the definitive question of all human existance: what is God? And of course the Westminster Shorter goes on to also define who God is in the subsequent questions, though that of course takes a bit more involvement to answer.

dan

Onward and upward!

Q. 3. What does scripture primarily teach?
A. It teaches what mankind is to believe about God [5] and what duty is required of him. [6]

Note the “primarily” - that’s of course not all that scripture teaches, but it’s the Big Thing. And isn’t it odd to think in terms of duty? It’s not really a concept that enters our headspace much these days. But there it is.

I’ll be brief on this point: notice how it says what I need to believe (what goes on in my head), but also what I need to do (what goes on with my hands). The point is that scripture isn’t just a bunch of propositions that you can affirm - it’s something that requires revolution. And no revolution ever happened because a bunch of people sat around a table drinking beer and eating pretzels, chatting about how their minds had all been changed about the government, if you get my drift.

dan (what a great way to start the afternoon)

So, we continue:

Q2. What rule has God given us to show us how we should glorify and enjoy him?
A. The Word of God (which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments) [3] is the only rule to direct us how we should glorify and enjoy him. [4]

Here you go, and germane in to our “what does God want me to do” discussion, it’s the scriptures that measure whether or not what we do - in spite of what we say - is actually glorifying to God. Not only that, the scriptures point out how to enjoy God, or as the psalm-writer put it (over and over and over and over in Psalm 119), God’s law is a “delight”, though of course we’re used to thinking of it as a “burden”.

In the light of this, looking for a sign becomes meaningless because even your sign is subject to the word of God. For instance, if you get a “sign from God” telling you to sleep with your secretary, your sign is not from God. But also, if you’re enjoying the Lord, what you want tends to - un-naturally, I might add - fall into the rut you’ve worn into your life. Personally, I’m still waiting for that day. I don’t know about you.

dan (wait… I may know about you more than you know…)

I’ve been reading the Westminster Shorter Catechism lately because a church document that was passed out the other week reminded me that I really don’t know much about the Wesminster(s). Can you believe that? I don’t know much about a set of documents that has influenced the development of the more prominant branch of the Reformation (the Presbyterians). Incredible. So I found the WSC on the internet and am proceeding to go through it - on my blog. Oh, am I ever evil.

For those of you who don’t know, a catechism is a set of questions and answers - usually basic - that lay forth a groundwork, usually of a particular theological bent. Even Spurgeon had one.

So to begin:

Q1. What is the chief end of man?
A1. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, [1] and to enjoy him forever.[2]

I love this answer! Personally, it’s a whole lot better place to start a catechism than the Heidelberg. It’s more, “Why am I here?”, whereas the Heidelberg is sort of like, “I’m here, it sucks, where’s my comfort?”.

Don’t you find it interesting, also, that there’s no statement in any of the Heidelberg, Cannons, or the Confession that’s roughly analogous to “enjoy him forever”? It confronts something we tacitly believe: God takes away pleasure. And of course, Piper will hit you with a wet fish for talking or thinking like that; he takes his cues from here.

dan (interested by these ancient texts)