The A, B, C. of religion. Lessons relating to the fear of God, fitted unto the youngest & lowest capacities. And children suitably instructed in the maxims of religion. : [One line from I John]

The A, B, C. of religion. Lessons relating to the fear of God, fitted unto the youngest & lowest capacities. And children suitably instructed in the maxims of religion. : [One line from I John]

Table of contents

Title page

The Shortest of all CATECHISMS, to begin with the Youngest, and the Dullest Capacities.

THE A, B, C. OF Religion.

The First Remark.

The Second Remark.

Instructions for CHILDREN.

I. The Ancient Creed.

II. The Child's Resolution.

III. The Child at his Food.

IV. The Child thinking on his Baptism.

V. The Child on the Lord's Day.

VI. The Child seeing the Funeral of another Child.

VII. The Body of Divinity Versifyed.

§

§

[Page]

[Page]

THE A, B, C, of Religion.

Lessons Relating to the FEAR OF GOD, Fitted unto the Youngest & Lowest CAPACITIES, AND CHILDREN Suitably instructed in the Maxims of Religion.

1 Joh. ii. 13.

I Write unto you, Little Children.

BOSTON, Printed & Sold by Timothy Green, at the Lower End of Middle-Street, 1713.

The Shortest of all CATECHISMS, to begin with the Youngest, and the Dullest Capacities.

[Page]

Quest. WHO Made You and all the World?

Answ. The Great GOD Made me, to Serve Him.

Q. Who Saves the Children of Men from all their Miseries?

A. JESUS CHRIST, who is both God and Man, Saves them that Look unto Him.

Q. What will become of You, when You Dy?

A. If I Obey JESUS CHRIST, my Soul will go to the Heavenly Paradise; and He will afterwards Raise me from the Dead. If I continue Wicked, I shall be Cast among the Devils.

THE A, B, C. OF Religion.

[Page]

Psal. XXXIV. 11.‘Come, Ye Children, Hearken unto me; I will Teach you the Fear of the Lord.’

A Dead Child was once raised unto Life, by GOD, at the Prayer of an Holy Prophet unto Him. And in the Raising of this Child, we read, 2 King. IV. 34. He lay upon the Child, and (first) [Page] put his Mouth upon his Mouth; and (then) his Eyes upon his Eyes; and (afterwards) his Hands upon his Hands;—and the Child opened his Eyes. We Pray, That the Souls of our Children may Live. If we are our Selves the true Children of Abraham, it will appear in this; we shall importunately. Pray to God for our Children, Oh! that they may Live in thy sight! But Praying for them, is not all we have to do for them. The Enlivening Word of God must be applied unto them. We must apply the Lively Oracles of the Word, unto the Mouthes, and the Eyes, and the Hands of the Children. If our God please then to make an Application of it unto their Hearts, this will cause them to Live. Yea, tho' the Children are Cast forth unto the Loathing their Person, and evenly Dead, and rotting and stinking in their Sin; yet, O Lord, Thou wilt say unto them, Live; yea, thou wilt say unto them in their Blood, Live. There is is that Excellency in the Word of God, that it suits all Ages. It has Milk for the Babes, as well as Meat for the [Page] Strong. It instructs both the Old and the Young, to Praise the Lord. You have here a Psalm, of Lessons to be Learn'd by Children; even as soon as they learn their Letters. In the Hebrew, every Verse begins with a New Letter, according to the Order of the Alphabet; Perhaps, that so the Hebrew Children might have it as Early as they had their Alphabet. Children are here called upon. The Fear of God is Commanded & Commended unto Children. It is here shown unto children, what they are to do, that they may be Happy Children.

And the Doctrine which I now gather from it, is;

There are in the Word of God, Good Lessons for Children; There are Lessons relating to the Fear of God, which may be Understood, even by them who are come to the Least Understanding; which should be Considerd by them that can Use the Least Consideration.

[Page] Luther would say, The best Preacher is he, that Preaches what we call, Childishly; that so accommodates the Truths of the Gospel, unto his Hearers, that even the Little Children may mind them when they hear them, and grow sensible of them. I propose at this Time, to make an Essay at such Preaching; and speak such Things, as they who are in the Age of Little Children, & many Others, who have not much more Sense than they, may take a Good Notice of. There are Truths of the Gospel, which may be apprehended by the Smallest Capacities; and by the Youngest that are capable of Minding any thing in the World. I am now to set such Things before you, and such Lessons relating to the Fear of God, as may be apprehended by the very Children in the Congregation; I desire to do it, in such Plain Terms, that the Smallest Capacities may Entertain the Lessons of Piety; and be Quickened unto the Fear of God. And yet the Things now to be set before you, will be such, that the most Illuminated Christians in the [Page] Auditory, and such as are in the highest Form of Christianity shall hear nothing but what may be for their Edification too. Tho' the Lambs may Wade in the Still Waters, to which the Shepherd of their Souls, is now leading of them, yet they will be such, that the Elephants may also Swim in them. Sirs, Don't count your selves neglected, in a Discourse now so adapted unto Infancy. But rather with Shame and Grief make this Reflection, Alas, that after so long a Time, I should be so little improved, as to need still that the first Elements of Piety should be inculcated upon me!

Let all our People, attend unto the Plainest Maxims of Piety; Hear these, O all ye People, every one of you! And let even the Weakest and Youngest of our People, give attention; Come, ye Children, Hearken to me.

1. The Weakest, and even the Youngest People, Children themselves, while yet in their Minority, may be Taught, That and How the Great God is to be Feared, and what the Fear of God will [Page] bring them to. Plainly, They that are of the Lowest Capacity among you, may know this; The Great God is He who Made me, and I ought to Fear and Serve my Maker! That plain Lesson is not above the Lowest Capacity; Psal. LXXVI. 7. Thou, even thou are to be Feared, O Lord. But then, What is implied in, The Fear of God? They that are of the Lowest Capacity may be taught thus much; I am to show my Fear of God, by being afraid of Sinning against Him. That Lesson is not above them; Prov. VIII. 13. The Fear of the Lord is to hate Evil. They may be taught thus much; I am to show my Fear of God, by being afraid of having Him Angry with me. That Lesson is not above them; Heb. X. 31. It is a fearful thing to fall into the Hands of the Living God. They may be taught thus much; I must Fear God, and fly to my Saviour, that I may be delivered from the Wrath of God. That Lesson is not above them; Psal. CXLVII. 11. The Lord takes Pleasure is those that Fear Him, and that Hope in His Mercy. And thus much may be taught unto them; I [Page] must Fear God, and I must Chuse the Things that Please God. they may Con that Lesson; Eccl. XII. 13. Fear God, and keep His Commandments; for this is the whole Duty of Man. These Plain Things may be instilled into our Children themselves; and will be so, when they are Taught of God. Well, And, if this Fear of God be in us, what will be the Issue of it? They that are of the Lowest Capacity may be taught thus much; I shall be no loser by the Fear of God. And thus much, It is good for me to draw near unto God. And thus much, God is a Rewarder of them who diligently Seek Him. They that are of such a Low Capacity, as to have no other Wisdom, yet may be taught this, That until we have the Fear of God, we have no Wisdom at all. This Lesson is a very Easy one; We may teach it our Children; it was the first Instruction of Solomon unto his, as it had been the Instruction which his Father had before given unto him, Prov. 1. 7. The Fear of the Lord is the Beginning of Wisdom. Child, Thou dost never begin to be Wise, till thou Fear God; And [Page] the Fear of God will make thee Wise unto Salvation. This thou mayest know; And with the Knowledge thou mayest attain to something of the Wisdom. There is no Obscurity, no Difficulty, in this Lesson; tis a Plain Song that may be presently learnt; Psal. XXXL. 1st. Oh! how great is thy Goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that Fear thee. The Promises which the Conenant of God makes to them that Fear Him, as they are very Great, so they are very Plain Promises. Tis Plainly Promised, and very Intelligibly Declared, so that our poor Children themselves may be affected with the Declaration; ‘Child, Fear God; Resolve to be Religious; and Walk in the ways of His Religion; Then, thou shalt find, As a Father Pities his Children, so the Lord Pities them that Fear Him; and will Pardon their Sins. Thou shalt find, The Sun of Righteousness will arise with Healing in His Wings, to them that Fear His Name. Thou shalt find, The Lord will fulfil the Desire of them that Fear Him. Thou shalt find, The Angel of the Lord Encamps[Page]about them that Fear Him. Thou shalt find, The Fear of the Lord will be a Fountain of Life. Thou shalt find, When the Time of the Dead comes, that they shall be Iudged, God will give a Reward unto all that Fear His Name.’ These are no Dark Sayings. People of the Lowest Capacity may be apprised of these Things. When they are so, then they are taught the Fear of the Lord!

11. The Weakest, & even the Youngest People, and our Children while yet but Infants, may be taught, That there are Evil Practices, which will prove Dangerous to them; and What are those Evil Practices. The Fear of God will cause People to Shun those Evil Practices, which are Condemned in the Word of God. Even People of the Lowest Capacity may be taught that Lesson; Job XXVIII. 28. Behold, The Fear of the Lord, that is Wisdom; and to Depart from Evil is Vnderstanding. Be the Capacity of People, never so Ordinary, yet they have something of the Divine Law Written upon their Hearts; The Finger [Page] of God has Written something of the Law on the Fleshly Tables. A Conscience will betimes begin to Work, in the Children of Men. A Conscience will tell them, while they are vet in their Childhood, that such and such Things are Evil Things, and that the Wrath of God will come on the Children of Disobedience, who do such Things. Let the Capacity of People be never so Low, yet they may learn this Lesson; I must not Venture to do any thing that is Condemend by the Light of God in my Soul. That Lesson is not too High for the Lowest Capacity; Job XXIV. 13. Wicked Men, They are of those that Rebel against the Light. But there are many special Cautions in the Word of God, which may be bro't unto People of the Lowest Capacity; and it will he found, that their Conscience will agree to them; & so it will be found the Lessons will not be above them. All the Ten Commandments are such Things; They are Calculated for the Lowest Capacity Our Children may betimes learn the Ten Commandment▪ What is Forbidden and [Page] What is Required in the Ten Commandments. In the Ten Commandments, there is done, what we read; Psal. LXXVIII. 5. God has appointed a Law, which He Commanded our Fathers, that they should make them known unto their Children. It would be a Sad Thing, if any Child of Seven Years Old, should be so Uncultivated, as to be Unable to say, the Ten Commandments, or to be Ignorant, what that Fear of God is, which is taught in the Ten Commandments.

But we may Specify several Points, in which People of a very Mean Capacity may be taught that Fear of God, which is to be Expressed in the avoiding of some Evil Practices.

First. People of Low Degree, You may learn this Lesson in the Fear of God; The Name of God must always be treated Awfully, and Holily, and Seriously; and have an awful Respect Paid unto it. You must not use the Name of the Glorious GOD, Vainly, Lightly, Irreverently. You must not Swear Prosantly by the Name of the High and Lasty One. You must not Test on or with the Word of [Page] the Great GOD. When you are Engaged in the Worship of God, you must behave your selves, as in the Presence of the Great King, whose Name is Dreadful. No Sleeping, and no Sporting, is to be indulged in the Assembly's, wherein God is Greatly to be feared, and had in Reverence. These are very Evident Things. Tis a plain Lesson; O Lord, They are thine Enemy's, who take thy Name in Vain. Children, You can reach to that Lesson; Deut. XXVIII. 58, 59. If thou wilt not fear this Glorious & Fearful Name, THE LORD THY GOD, the Lord will make thy Plagues Wonderful.

Secondly. They must be very Senseless indeed, who can't learnt this Lesson in the Fear of God; I must not Abuse the Good Creatures of God; nor abuse any Self in the Vse of them. Every Body knows, That our Drink, and our Meat, and our Cloathing, are the Good Creatures of God. It may therefore be soon known, by our very Children themselves, That it is a Wicked Thing to Drink too much; It is a Brutish Thing to Eat too much; God has not given us our Apparel, to hang [Page] out the Flags of Pride, and gratify our Vanity. Children, This Lesson is not beyond you; Rom. XIII. 13, 14. Let us Walk Honestly; not in rioting & drunkenness; Put on the Lord Iesus Christ, and make not Provision for the Flesh.

Thirdly. There is this Lesson in the Fear of God, which every one may learn, as soon as 'tis possible; The Lord's Day must be kept Holy to the Lord; the Sabbaths of the Lord must be the Lord's. Our Children themselves, can't but soon perceive, that we distinguish One Day in Seven for the peculiar Service of God. When the Passover was instituted, it was then supposed; It shall come to pass, Your Children shall say to you, What mean you by this Service? On the Institution of the Lord's Day, we may soon inform our Children, What we mean by the Service. Even these, and they who cannot Comprehend any more than these, may be informed; ‘The Glorious God having Made the World is Six Day, & Rested on the Seventh, He has allow'd us to Work in the world Six Days, but Commanded us to Rest from doing so, that [Page] we be Wholly for Him on the Seventh. And our Saviour JESUS, Rising from the Dead, on this Day, we ought this Day to Remember, that He now appeared our Victorious Redeemer. By spending this Day in Communion with God, we prepare for the Rest which remains for His People, at the Resurrection of the Dead; but if we Mispend this Day, we deserve to fall short of Entring into the Rest of God.’—The Lesson is quickly learnt; Lev. XIX. 30. Ye shall keep My Sabbaths, and reverence My Sanctuary.

Fourthly. The Fear of God has this Lesson in it, than which there can be nothing more easy to learn; Parents must be Obey'd; God will not bear to see Parents Wrong'd and Griev'd by a Disobedient Off-spring. Where are the Children so Blockish, as not to be aware of this? Children owe much Obedience to their Parents. Disobedient, Disingenuous, Disobliging Children, know themselves to be, what they ought not to be. Vndutiful Children, are Self-Condemned, and know that they do not their Duty. [Page] Obedience, and Reverence, and Recompence to Parents, one would think, there should scarce be any Need of teaching them. There is no Mystery in this Matter; Tis no Sublime abstruse Notion; Tis not a Deep Thing that cannot be fathomed; The short Arm of a Child may fathom it; Honour thy Father and thy Mother, that thy Days may be long in the Land. By that time the Child shall have Knowledge to Cry, My Father, or my Mother, it may have this Knowledge with it, I must do, as my Father, and as my Mother bids me! Ere the Children go off our Knees, we may learn them this Lesson; Eph. VI 1. Children, Obey your Parents in the Lord, for this is right.

Fifthly. They must be very Stupid, unto whom this Lesson in the Fear of: God, is not a very fair one; I may Meddle with nothing but what is my own, or with the leave of the Owner. Tis nothing but what our very Children may be aware of; That it is a Crime to Steal. Every one may come to the Knowledge or this; If you Wrongfully take a Peny from [Page] another, tis a Crime that you are guilty of. If you rob an Orchard, you have the Guilt of a Crime lying on you. If you Cheat any one in your dealing with him, there is a Crime in the Fraud. It is a Criminal Thing, to Encroach on the Propriety of a Neighbour. These are such Obvious Things, our very Children may and should be acquainted with them. There is nothing in all this, but what any body in the World may be advised of. Tis a Lesson which there is no Trouble in learning of: Jer. 11. 26. A Thief is ashamed, when he is found.

Sixthly. There is this Lesson in the Fear of God, which all may learn, even as soon as they can speak; To tell a Lye is to do a base thing; A Lying Tongue is an Abomination to the Lord. There needs no Pains to insinuate this, into the dullest Minds that we can Meet withal; It should be your care always to speak the Truth. You must be Children that will not Lye, else the Lord will not be your Saviour. No Minds are of such a Dulness, that they can't be Convinced of this; You must have a Care [Page] of Lying. While we have our Children, but as Chickens yet under our Wings, we may easily infuse this into them; You must never tell a Lye; Tis a Vile Thing to tell a Lye; If you have done a Fault, you must not cover it with a Lye; Such a Covering will but make you yet More Faulty than you were before. It won't require May Strokes to beat this Truth into the Children. By that time the Child shall know to refuse the Evil, and abuse the Good, it may know, that Lying is to be Abhorred; and the Liar shall be forsaken of all his Friends. Tis a Lesson, that can hardly come too soon; Eph. Iv. 25. Put away Lying; Speak the Truth, every one with his Neighbour.

Seventhly. And who is there, to whom this Lesson in the Fear of God, will be Unintelligible? I must wish Ill unto none; but as far as I can do Good unto all. There are those, who may Confess, I have not the Vnderstanding of a Man; I have not learned Wisdom, nor have I the Knowledge of the Holy Ones. But yet even these, may come to so much Vnderstanding, [Page] and so much Wisdom, and so much Knowledge, as this; You should hurt no body; You should be harmless and blameless; You should be Glad, when your Neighbour sees Prosperity, and enjoys Good Things, and not Enviously Wish, that you had them from him. You shou'd be Griev'd when your Neighbour is in Advorsity, and be ready to help him against any Bad Things that may threaten him. These are Dictates which cannot be Question'd; It may be said, These things cannot be spoken against. Our very Children may take in such things as these. This is a Lesson that any one may learn, under the Nurture and Admonition of the Lord; Rom. XII. 10. Be kindly affectioned one to another, in Brotherly Love.

Oh! If our Children, and the People of the Lowest Capacities, would come & hearken to us, in such Plain Things, as these, they would be taught the Fear of the Lord.

111. The Weakest, and even the Youngest People, our Children soon after [Page] they have done hanging on the Breast; May be taught, That their Conversion to God is necessary, and What they will do, if ever they come to be Converted. The Fear of God will imply a Sincere and Thorough Conversion unto Him: it will bring People to do those things, which are done by none but those that are Converted unto God. The People of the Lowest Capacity, may & should Concern themselves, about the Grand Concern of a Real Conversion. Our Children themselves, tho' it be not long since they were Weaned, yet, supposing they can act Reasonably, they will not Exercise themselves in things too high for them, if they are Exercised about the Great Matters of their Conversion to God; It will be but a Reasonable Thing of them to think often on this; What shall I do if I am Converted unto God? And, What will become of me, if I am not Converted unto God?

Be the Capacity of the People, in the Lowest Class that can be; yet the Children may be taught, some things of the Greatest importance for all the People in [Page] the World. That Vast Concern, of Conversion to God, is to be indeed address'd at this rate, Hear this, All ye People, Give Ear, All ye inhabitants of the World; Both Low and High, Rich and Poor together. Truly, Low People, and Poor People, and Young People, and All that have Souls to look after, are to be called upon, thus to look after their Souls. Indeed, the Highest & the Richest upon Earth, have infinite cause to be Sollicitous on this Greatest of all Occasions. To You, Sirs, it must be said; If you Die Unconverted unto the Fear of God, be your other Excellencies what they will, yet you die without Wisdom. And then; Tho' a Man have the Wisdom to Govern & Manage Whole Nations of Men, if he die without this Wisdom, How art thou fallen from Heaven, O Lucifer, Son of the Morning, who didst Order the Nations? Tho' a Man have the Wisdom to Understand as Many Languages as a Mithridates, or a Mordecai; if he die without this Wisdom, he must be Lodg'd where he shall gnaw his Tongue for Pain, and know no Speech but that of [Page] Roaring and Blasphemy. Tho' a Man have the Wisdom to Understand as Many Sciences as an Alsted, or a Scaliger, if he die without this Wisdom, he must go into Utter Darkness, and know nothing but his own Unutterable increase of Sorrow. A Man may have the Wisdom to Calculate the Motions of the Heavens, and yet Unconverted unto the Fear of God, he will be turn'd into Hell after all. But I must not forget, the Small Folks with whom I am now Concern'd. We read concerning, The First Principles of the Oracles of God, which they that have need of Milk, should have taught unto them; and we find, Heb. VI. 1. Repentance from Dead Works, and Faith towards God, are some of those Principles. Verily, our Children that have need of Milk, are to be taught these things; You must Repent of your Sin against God, and you must Believe in God your Saviour; else you Dy and Perish Wonderfully.

First; Children, You are to be thus Taught in the Fear of God, such a Lesson as this; If I do not in Time and in [Page]Truth Turn unto God, I shall dy in my Sins; and, Oh! Miserable my Death, if it find me so! Tis a Plain Lesson, Mat. XVIII. 3. Except ye be Converetd, and become as Little Children, ye shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Even our Little Children themselves may Learn this Lesson; Without Conversion I shall be shut out of Heaven. Tis a Plain Lesson; Joh. III. 3. Except a Man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God. Even our Children within a few Years after they are First-born, may learn this Lesson; If I am not New-born, I shall find it good for me that I had never been born at all. They that are but Little Creatures, and such as are very Shallow ones, yet may drink in this Lesson of God; I must be a New Creature; or else He that Made me will not have Mercy on me. Our very Children may soon Learn this; That if they be Wicked Children, they are Cursed Children; That if they are Vngodly Children, they are not the Children of God; That if they are not the Children of God, they are the Children of Satan; That Satans Children are all Slaves, & [Page] shall be thrown into the same Fire, with the Devil and his Angels.

Secondly; Go on, Children, and be Taught, for you may be so, what is done for, and what is done by, them that are by Conversion bro't unto the Fear of God.

More Particularly.

First. They that are not got beyond the Capacity of Children, may be taught this Lesson; I cannot of my self Turn unto God; I must Cry unto God, that He would Graciously Turn me to Himself. You must be very Sottish indeed; you are Stones, and no Children of Abraham, if you don't feel your selves Unable to Turn your Selves. But we read of one bemoaning himself; Jer. XXXI. 18. I have been as a Bullock unaccustomed unto the Toke; Turn thou me, and I shall be turned; For thou art the Lord my God. It follows, This is a dear Son, a pleasant Child, I will surely have Mercy on him. Ah, Dear Children; If ever God Surely have Mercy on you, He will bring you to this; You will see that you shall never come under the Yoke of Obedience to Him, till He bring you to it. And then, as [Page] Young as you are, you will Cry out, Oh! Turn thou me, my God; Oh! Turn thou me, that I may be turned.

Secondly. They that are not got beyond the Capacity of Children, may be taught this Lesson; Wo is unto me, that I have Sinned; I am in a Woful, because I am in a Sinful Condition. If you are but as Children, yet you may see, The Sin of your First Father is Your Sin. Yet you may see, The Sin of your Vile Nature, has in it All Sin. Yet you may see, That your Sins are indeed without Number; Innumerable Evils Compassing of you, more than the Hairs of your Heads. Yet you may see, That for your Sins you have the Wrath of God abiding on you. Yet you may see, the Image of Satan defiling of you; the Power of Satan Enslaving of you; the Devouring Pit ready to Swallow you up. As Young as you are, you may be taught that Cry; Luk. XVIII. 13. God be Merciful to me a Sinner.

Thirdly. They that are not got beyond the Capacity of Children, may be taught this Lesson; There is a Saviour willing to receive me, and relieve [Page] me; and if I would be Saved, I must come unto Him. The Eternal Son of God, who dwells in our JESUS, took Little Children, into His Arms, and Blessed them: Oh! Children Blessed indeed! And You too, may be so. He added, Mat. XIX. 14. Suffer Little Children to come unto Me; for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven. Ah, Little Children, You may come unto your Saviour. If you can take notice of what is now spoken, you may come to this Thought, There is a JESUS, who Saves His People from their Sins. You may come to this Thought; My JESUS is able to Save unto the Vttermost, all that come unto Him. You may come to this Thought; My JESUS will Cast out none that come unto Him. As Young as you are, you may then come into such Thoughts and such Cries as these; O Lord, I beseech thee to deliver my Soul; O my Saviour, Bind up my Soul in the Bundle of Life! O my Saviour, Let thy Blood Cleanse me from all my Sin! O my Saviour, Guide me by thy Counsel, and bring me to thy Glory! If you can request any Person to do you any Kindness, [Page] can you not make this Request unto the Blessed Jesus, O my Saviour, Take me into thy Precious Hands. If you can ask for Bread when you are Hungry, or for Help when you are Uneasy; Cannot you as well say, O my Saviour, I am distressed, undertake for me!

Fourthly. Tho' you are not got beyond the Capacity of Children, yet you may be taught this Lesson; I must Resolve to Live an Holy Life, and be fixed in my Resolutions. We read of such a thing as that; Jer. III. 4. Wilt thou not from this Time Cry unto me, My Father, Thou art the Guide of my Youth? Why, Tho' you are yet in your Youth, Young in Years, and perhaps Young and Weak in every thing; Yet you may Resolve, The Great God shall be my God for ever and ever, and my Guide even unto Death. It was the Counsel; 1 Joh. V. 21. Little Children, Keep your selves from Idols. As Young as you are, Little Children, you may Resolve, I will not Sin to Please the Flesh, I will not Sin to Gain the World, I will not hearken to the Sinful Motions of the Devil. Of a Little Child we are [Page] told; 1 King. XIV. 13. In him there is found some Good Thing towards the Lord God of Israel. As Young as you are, tho' not beyond a Little Child, You may Resolve; I will above all things desire to Know God, and Serve God, and be in Good Terms with God, and Vphold Communion with God; And I will place my Happiness in these things. We read of Children walking in the Truth. Even Children may Resolve to take such a Walk, as is directed by the Truth of God. We read of being Followers of God as Obedient Children. Even Children may Resolve to Follow God, in imitating the Example of the Holy One. And so Resolved, our Young People, and such as are of a Low Capacity, they may keep Constant in these Resolutions; Their Constancy may be Perpetual; They may begin Betimes, and hold out unto the End.

IV. The Weakest, and even the Youngest People, Children soon after their first going alone; may be taught, That there are Certain Duties wherein they are to Walk with God; and What those [Page] Duties are, and How to be Managed, How to be Performed. The Fear of God will put People upon Certain Duties, wherein God is to be Glorified. It was the Wish, Deut. V. 29. O that they would fear Me, and keep all My Commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their Children for ever. There are Commandements, in Conformity to which, the Fear of God will uphold a Walk with God; and they are so Plain, that our Children themselves may Conform unto them. Two or Three of them shall be intimated.

First. There is Prayer to God; they that are yet but in the Capacity of Children, may do something at it; may Pray without Ceasing. It is a Lesson which any one of you all may learn; there is nothing impracticable in it by the Lowest Capacity; Mat. VI. 6. Enter into thy Closet, and when thou hast shut thy Door, Pray to thy Father which is in Secret. Say not, my Child, I know not how to Pray. What? Hast thou fallen into so many Sins, and canst thou not Pray, For thy Names sake, Lord, Pardon [Page]my Iniquity, for it is Great! Hast thou so many Ails in thy Soul, & canst thou not Pray, Lord, Heal my Soul, for I have Sinned against thee! Dost thou so much need a New Heart, and canst thou not Pray, Lord, Create in me a Clean Heart, and Renew a Right Spirit within me! Art thou Dying every Day, and canst thou not Pray, Lord, Let not my Death overtake me, before I have begun to Live unto God? Dost thou know of no Mischiefs, which thou art afraid of? Dost thou know of no Mercies worth asking for? Consult the Book of Psalms; Consult the State of thy own Soul; and thou canst not be such an awkward Thing, as to have nothing to say on thy Knees before the Lord.

Secondly. You have the Word of God; they that are yet but in the Capacity of Children, may perceive whose Word it is; that they have God speaking to them in it. He was a Young Child, who when the Word of God called upon him, said; 1 Sam. III. 10. Lord, Speak, for thy Servant heareth. One must be more Silly than a Child in the School-boyes [Page] boyes Cloathes, who Paies no Regard unto the Word of God. There is in this Word, that which the Angels themselves desire to look into; and there is that which be speaks Regards from the Lowest Capacity. Children, As soon as you can Read, you may take the Bible, and in Reading of it, think, This is the Voice of God; God now Speaks unto me. When you hear Sermons from the Ministers of God, you have to do with God in their Ministry, and may think; Here are Messages from God; God now Speaks unto me. The Lesson is a short one; I will bear what God the Lord will Speak!

Thirdly. They that are yet got no further than the Capacity of Children, have a Lesson to learn, which their Duty to their Neighour is Comprized in. The Way-faring Ones, tho' Feels, need not Err, in the Way of their Duty to their Neighbour; Let them only keep to that plain Rule; Mat. VII. 12. All things whatsoever ye would, that Men should do to you, do ye even so to them. Children themselves would forbear many an Ill Thing towards another, if they [Page] would but think; Should I be willing, to have such a thing done by another to me? Children themselves would be ready to do a Good Thing unto another in Distress, if they would but think; Would not I be glad, if such a thing might be done by another to me? And, Children, You are not of such a Low Capacity, that you can't form such Thoughts as these.

V. There are some Religious and Awakening Meditations, with which the Weakest, and the Youngest of us all, and People of the Lowest Capacities, may Awaken themselves unto the Fear of God. There are Certain Meditations which have a Notable Tendency to Enkindle the Fear of God in the Souls of Men. Tho' People are of never such Low Capacities, yet they can form such Meditations. The Children that Play in the Streets, may leave their Play, and fall into such Meditations. Children, Whereever you are, and as Young as you are, You may think; The Eye of God is now upon me; God hears all that I Say; God is acquainted with all my Ways. Add to this; [Page] It is said, Gal. III. 27. As many of you as have been Baptised into Christ have put en Christ. Children, When once you have been told, that you have been Baptised, which ought to be very Early, You should think, What was I Baptised for? I was bound in my Baptism to the Service of my Saviour. I have been Washed in His Name, and I shall do a Dirty thing, if I Sin against my Saviour. Again; Our Saviour sayes; Mat. XI. 28, 29. Come unto Me, and Learn of Me. When you are going to School, you may think; My Saviour is willing to be my Tuter; O my dear Saviour, I will come & Learn of Thee. None teaches like to thee. Once more; We read; 1 King. XIV. 17. The Child died. You see Children carried unto their Graves: In the Burying-place you see Graves not longer than you are. How lately have you seen a Lovely Flowre Cropt? You may now think; I may Dy as Young as I am. I know not the Day of my Death. Lord, Make me Ready for it. Moreover, We read, Rev. XX. 12. I saw the Dead, Small and Great Stand before God. You may Lodge such [Page] Thoughts as these, and throw away your Vain Ones; I must One Day appear before the Iudgment-Seat of God. As Little as I am, I shall not be left Vnconsidered by the Glorious Iudge of the World. Carry on the Thoughts; Think; If I Fear God, I shall for ever be With the Lord, and be unspeakably Blessed in His Heavenly Places. Think; If I have not the Fear of God, I shall be thrown into a place of Torment; and an Everlasting Punishment will be my Portion.

Thus you have had Lessons relating to the Fear of God Plainly set before you; Such Lessons, and so Plainly offered, that People of the Lowest Capacity may Vnderstand them and Consider them.

There are Two Remarks, which I have now to make upon them.

The First Remark.

We cannot be Satisfied, that our People of the Lowest Capacity, and Particularly our Children, should remain Strangers to the Fear of God. Children, As Young as you are, 'tis not too Soon for [Page] you to Dy; 'tis not too Soon for you to fall into a Damnation that Slumbers not; 'tis not too Soon for you to Mind what you are a doing, and where you are a going. Then 'tis not too Soon for you to Fear God; 'tis not too Soon for you to Vnderstand and Consider, what you have to Know and to Do in the Fear of God. We read, Isa. XXVIII. 9. Whom shall He teach Knowledge? And whom shall He make to Vnderstand Doctrine? Them that are Weaned from the Milk, & Drawn from the Breasts. Truly, E're you have been any long time Weaned from the Milk, and Drawn from the Breasts, you may be Taught the Fear of God, and you may Mind what you are Taught. Oh! When shall it be said of our Children, Behold, they Pray! When will our Children answer all Temptation to Sin, How shall I do this Wickedness, and Sin against God! When will our Children make that Enquiry, What shall I do to be Saved? O our Children, and You also that in your Capacity are not better than Children; to YOU is this Lesson sent; Acquaint your selves now with God; thereby Good shall come unto you!

[Page]

The Second Remark.

Then People of an Higher Capacity, & such as have Out-grown the Years and Wits of Children, are most Inexcusable, if they should persist without the Fear of God. It was a sharp Censure and Satyr upon some; 1 Cor. III. 1. I could not speak unto you, but as unto Babes. But it must come with a greater Sharpness, if it may be said, You have not so much Fear of God in you, as might be expected in Babes. Alas, It would be Inexcusable in our Children, if they should Know and Do no better, than many People who pretend unto the Years of Discretion. O You that are come to some Forwardness, and it may be, some Figure and Station in the World; it cannot be endured, that YOU should go on still in your Trespasses. When Life & Death are set before you; What? Are you not Old enough to Chuse; And will you still make a Choice, like an Infant or an Ideot? You have the Path on [Page] the Right Hand, and the Path on the Left, set before you; What? Will you act as if you were the Children of Ninive, not knowing the Right Hand from the Left? The Demand of God was that; Show your selves Men. Certainly, 'tis time for many of you to Show your selves Men; and not Prove your selves Worse than Children. 'Tis to be shown by the Fear of God.

Instructions for CHILDREN.

[Page]

I. The Ancient Creed.

IN GOD the FATHER I Believe;

He's the Almighty One.

I JESUS CHRIST, our Lord, Receive,

God's Dear and Only SON.

I do Adore the Holy SPIRIT;

Who is to Raise the Dead,

And bring His People to Inherit,

Life that shall never Fade.

II. The Child's Resolution.

Help me my God! For unto thee

I do Resolve to Pray,

To Grant thy Christ and Grace to me;

I'll do it every Day.

HEavenly Father, Give me thy Christ; Give me thy Spirit; Pardon my Sins; Make me thy Servant; Bring me to thy Kingdom; O Great GOD, who art Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit; I Desire to be Thine for evermore. Amen.

[Page]

III. The Child at his Food.

At Eating, thus I ever shou'd

Devout and Thankful be;

My God, I Bless thee for my Food;

Let it be Bless'd to me.

A Child, that when he goes to Eat,

Thinks not of GOD at all,

Is like the Bruits, which at their Meat

On God do never call.

IV. The Child thinking on his Baptism.

Baptis'd for thee, O Glorious One,

Thee for my GOD I take:

Thee will I Love and Serve alone;

And Thee my Portion make.

My Baptism gave me unto thee;

Possess me then, O Lord;

My Father, Saviour, Leader be,

According to thy Word.

V. The Child on the Lord's Day.

My Saviour's Risen from the Dead,

And Lives Enthron'd Above;

The Price of my Salvation's Paid,

My Life is in His Love.

With Holy Sabbaths He, in Peace,

Hath me Victorious blest;

[Page] Lord, Bring thou me, thro' Holiness,

To Victory, and Rest.

VI. The Child seeing the Funeral of another Child.

I in the Burying Place may see

Graves not so long as I.

From Deaths Arrest no Age is free;

Young Children too may Dy.

My God, may such an awful sight

Awakening be to me!

Oh! that by Early Grace I might

For Death prepared be.

VII. The Body of Divinity Versifyed.

1.

A GOD there is, a GOD of boundless Might,

In Wisdom, Justice, Goodness Infinite. [Heb. XI. 6. Psal. CXLVII. 5. CXLV. 9. 17.]

2.

God is but ONE, & yet in Persons Three

The Father, Sin, & Spirit, One God we see. [1 Ioh. V. 7.]

3.

Our God, by His Great Name JEHOVAH Known

HE the World Made, and Keeps, and Rules Alone. [Neh. IX. 6.]

4.

To Glorify the Glorious GOD, is That

For which He did all Men, & me Create. [Isai. XLI. 21.]

[Page]

5.

God a Just Rule doth in our Bible give,

A Rule, both what to Think, and how to Live [2 Tim. III. 15, 16, 17]

6.

Holy & Happy our [...]irst Parents came

From Gods Hand, with Gods Image in our Frame [Gen. 1. 27.]

7.

Tasting Forbidden Fruit our Parents fell;

This Taste has plung'd Mankind all down to Hell. [Rom. V. 12.]

8.

Our Blest Lord JESUS CHRIST, in our Distress,

Comes to fetch us from Hell to Blessedness. [Luk. XIX. 10.]

9.

Into His Person, the Bright Son of God

A Virgins Son took; There He makes Abode. [Isa. VII. 14.]

10.

Life as a Priest CHRIST will His People bring,

Light as a Prophet, and Law as a King [Psal. CX. 4. Acts. III. 22. Isa. XXXI. II. 22.]

11.

For us our Surety Liv'd, for us He Dy'd,

And Rising did to Heav'n in Triumph Ride. [Phil. 11. 7, 8, 9.]

12.

By Faith to CHRIST we for Salvation go;

Faith too, as well as That must He bestow. [Eph. 11. 8.]

[Page]

13.

For Sin will the Renew'd Believer Mourn,

And from all Sin, hee'l by Repentance Turn. [Acts XX. 21.]

14.

Sinners receiving of Gods Pardon, they

Gods Precept will, made Saints, with Love Obey. [Tit. 11. 12, 13, 14.]

15.

All Homage we must yield unto the Lord;

In all Directed, by his Heavenly Word.

His Works and Names, we may not use in Vain;

Nor by our Works thereon His Days profane.

With Honours due we must our Neighbours treat;

And sweetly wish them Lives both Long and Sweet.

With Chastity we must our selves Behave;

And do no Wrong in what we get or Save.

Truth we must utter, and Abhor to Lye;

And be Content, tho' in Adversity. [Exod. XX. 3-17. Matth. XXI. 37, 38, 39]

16.

Them who to be in CHRIST, thro' Grace, Consent,

God brings into His Gracious Covenant. [Isa. LV. 3.]

[Page]

17.

The Baptism of the Lord, assures that we

Both Wash'd from Sin and Rais'd from Death, shall be. [Rom. VI. 4, 5]

18.

To See thel ord, we at His [...]able Sitt,

And show that we shall in His Kingdom eat. [1 Cor. XI. 26.]

19

Gods Children His Good Promises Enjoy;

And Good comes of what Ill may them annoy. [2 Per. 1. 4. Rom. VIII. 28.]

20.

His Angels He to them does Guardians make,

And these their Souls, at their Departure take. [Heb. [...]. 14.]

21.

To Iudge the World, CHRIST will descend at Last;

A Righteous Doom shall by that Iudge be past. [Acts XVI. 31.]

22.

The Wicked shall bear bitter Pain and Shame,

With Wicked Spirits in Eternal Flame.

The Godly shall, with their Great GOD, on High,

Reap Ioyes, High Ioyes, to all Eternity. [Matth. XXV. 46.]

FINIS.

Information about this book

Title statement

The A, B, C. of religion. Lessons relating to the fear of God, fitted unto the youngest & lowest capacities. And children suitably instructed in the maxims of religion. : [One line from I John]

Mather, Cotton, 1663-1728.

Publication

Publisher

Text Creation Partnership,

Place of publication

Ann Arbor, MI :

Date

2004-08.

ID [DLPS]

N01357

ID [TCP]

N01357

ID [STC]

Evans 1614

ID [NOTIS]

APX1697

ID [IMAGE-SET]

1614

ID [EVANS-CITATION]

99018382

Availability

This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal. The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission.

Series

Early American Imprints, 1639-1800 ; no. 1614.

Notes

(Evans-TCP ; no. N01357)

Transcribed from: (Readex Archive of Americana ; Early American Imprints, series I ; image set 1614)

Images scanned from Readex microprint and microform: (Early American imprints. First series ; no. 1614)

Source

— The A, B, C. of religion. Lessons relating to the fear of God, fitted unto the youngest & lowest capacities. And children suitably instructed in the maxims of religion. : [One line from I John], Mather, Cotton, 1663-1728..

Extent

[2], 42 p. ; 14 cm. (12mo)

Printed & sold by Timothy Green, at the lower end of Middle-Street,,. Boston, :: 1713.. (Attributed to Cotton Mather by Holmes.)

Creation

Created by converting TCP files to TEI P5 using tcp2tei.xsl, TEI @ Oxford.

Editorial practices

EEBO-TCP is a partnership between the Universities of Michigan and Oxford and the publisher ProQuest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by ProQuest via their Early English Books Online (EEBO) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). The general aim of EEBO-TCP is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic English-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in EEBO.

EEBO-TCP aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the Text Encoding Initiative (http://www.tei-c.org).

The EEBO-TCP project was divided into two phases. The 25,363 texts created during Phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 January 2015. Anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source.

Users should be aware of the process of creating the TCP texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data.

Text selection was based on the New Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature (NCBEL). If an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in NCBEL, then their works are eligible for inclusion. Selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. In general, first editions of a works in English were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably Latin and Welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so.

Image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. Quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in Oxford and Michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet QA standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. After proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. Any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. Understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of TCP data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. Users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a TCP editor.

The texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the TEI in Libraries guidelines.

Copies of the texts have been issued variously as SGML (TCP schema; ASCII text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable XML (TCP schema; characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless XML (TEI P5, characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or TEI g elements).

Keying and markup guidelines are available at the Text Creation Partnership web site.