Q. What do the Scriptures principally teach?

A. The Scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man.

The English Puritan Thomas Doolittle once complained that too many in the church listen to sermons like riddles—with little understanding and a lot of ignorance. As he diagnosed the problem, he believed it came from a lack of catechetical teaching from pastors and parents. He reasoned that catechisms are like teaching people the alphabet before you teach them to read. Therefore, he said, catechisms need to be crafted with skill and art.

As we come to the fifth question of the Westminster Larger Catechism, we see the skill and art used by the authors. This fifth question is the conclusion to the preface of the whole catechism. The controlling thought of the Larger Catechism is that we have been created to glorify and enjoy God (Q. 1). This God has revealed Himself in creation and in His Word (Q. 2), and it is in His Word where we learn how to glorify and enjoy Him (Q. 3-4).

If we follow the logic, it makes sense that the next question will have to do with what the Word actually teaches. To that question the Larger Catechism gives a double answer. The Bible teaches us what we are to believe about God and what duty God requires from us. This outlines the rest of the catechism, as questions 6–90 focus on what we believe and questions 91–196 on the duty.

The Entirety of the Scriptures

It is important to notice that the scope of this question and answer has to do with the Bible in its entirety. Why is that important? First, it means that both the Old and New Testaments teach us what we are to believe about God and what duty He requires of us. The same God and His same will are taught in both testaments.

Second, it helps us understand how to hear and read the Bible. We need to keep an eye to the whole and the parts. No single book or epistle, chapter or verse gives us all that we are to believe or all of our duty. For instance, the opening chapter of Nahum gives us a dreadful portrait of the just indignation and anger of God against an obstinate people. But that is not all that we are to believe about God, because, as an example, God’s self-disclosure to Moses reveals that He is also slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

Wherever we are in the Bible, we should expect to be taught more about who God is and what His will is. Think of the way the Prophets display the severity and mercy of God, or the way the histories show His sovereign but involved hand in the world. Consider how the 10 commandments summarize the requirements of His law, and how the Apostles situate those commands in our daily routines. There isn’t a place in the whole Bible where we can walk away without the great impression of who God is or what He requires from us.

For Belief and Obedience

The catechism, however, goes a step further. It rightly teaches that what we learn about God and His will from the Bible isn’t simply for the sake of knowledge—that is, filling our heads with facts. Rather, the catechism says we are taught what we are to believe concerning God. That word means that all the things we learn about God—His character, promises, warnings, etc.—are taught for faith. They are taught not simply to inform us but so that we might believe them. They are taught for knowledge, assent, and trust.

The Bible also teaches us what duty God requires. The use of the singular “duty” rather than the plural “duties” is, no doubt, intentional. That is because God has one unchanging standard—His will as expressed in His moral law. This duty is summarized in the 10 commandments but carefully applied throughout the whole of the Bible, teaching what it means to love God and to love our neighbor. Because this is what God requires, the teaching is intended to convict us of our sins and our need for Jesus, but it also instructs us as Christians how we should live a life that is pleasing to God.

Both of these things—what we are to believe concerning God and what duty He requires of us—are intended to teach us how we can ultimately glorify and enjoy Him forever.

Kyle Borg | pastor, Winchester, Kan., RPC