2nd grade - A Short Instruction Into Christian Religion - Introduction #1

By Edward Burton, Thomas Cranmer, Justus Jonas (edited and modernized)

Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of the Father, in truth and love. Amen

So that we may profit and bare fruit, teaching and learning the word of God, let us ask for grace and pray the Lord's prayer:

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.

Psalm 34, 1 Peter 3, Proverbs 12, 13, 21, Joshua 1:3,

Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD. For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it. Whoso loves instruction loves knowledge: but he that hates reproof is brutish.

Now my dearly beloved children, I know that there is none among you but those who would wish to see good days and lead a godly and quiet life. Then you must follow the counsel of the prophet David. Learn the fear of the Lord with all diligence while you are yet young and tender of age. What men do not learn in their youth is more difficult to learn, the same, in their age. Therefore learn now with all diligence the fear of the Lord. Then, dear children, you shall wax men of excellent virtue and lead a godly life. You shall see good days. For a blessed and quiet life is not bought with riches nor gotten by honor but by learning the fear of God. And he that fears his Maker as an Almighty God and Lord, which doth mercifully help them that be good and grevously punishes the wicked, he will diligently take heed that he do nothing contrary to God's pleasure. He will keep his commandments so much as is in his power. And such godly children prove to be learned and wise men which may be able to profit others and the common wealth.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

Wherefore if you fear God and have a desire to be occupied in godliness then learn the Ten Commandments. God has taught us what pleases and what displeases him, what thing is good and what is evil. And if you learn these lessons perfectly, you shall purchase for yourself the beginning of true and godly wisdom. Such wisdom many men of age do not attain to it. And yet this wisdom and knowledge of the Ten Commandments is but only the beginning. It is the teaching of the law. But when the doctrine of faith in Christ is taught to you then you learn a greater and higher wisdom. This the ungodly or unfaithful do not understand nor perceive. God gives it down from heaven to make us fear him and believe his holy word. Good children now diligently learn the beginning of wisdom, the holy Ten Commandments. In the next lessons you will memorize them and reherse them.

God has made you in His image (righteousness, holiness, knowledge, and dominion). Can you draw your image?

Printout, Draw in the faces and Color:

A Short Instruction Into Christian Religion Being a Catechism Set Forth by Archbishop Cranmer in MDXLVIII: Together with the Same in Latin, Translated from the German by Justus Jonas in MDXXXIX By Edward Burton, Thomas Cranmer, Justus Jonas