Generations of Christians have found the Westminster Shorter Catechism to be a wonderful treasury of spiritual gold. It outlines the core Christian beliefs and the essential characteristics of Christian living in a way that enlightens the mind and inspires the heart. Its most famous statement, that our ‘chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him for ever’ is widely recognized as a piece of timeless wisdom. Sadly, though, the wisdom of the Westminster Shorter Catechism is increasingly hard for many people today to appreciate. With the passage of time, its beautiful 17th Century English has become further and further removed from the language we use every day. This brief book aims not only to address this problem by putting the Catechism into modern English, but likewise to highlight the carefully arranged structure of the catechism—a structure that in itself contains a great deal of wisdom. To achieve this, the catechism is divided into sections, and a few notes to help explain it are given. May God use it to help a new generation glorify and enjoy Him!
This unusual volume follows the doctrinal structure of the classic Puritan catechism, expounding each doctrinal point not with exposition, as is customary, but with many factual stories well selected by the author from a wide range of sources. Thus such subjects as Providence, Prayer and the Ten Commandments are illuminated with telling and sometimes fascinating narratives. First, published in 1828, and passing through many editions in the last century, the book has been revised for greater usefulness today.
Thomas Watson's Body of Practical Divinity is one of the most precious of the peerless works of the Puritans; and those best acquainted with it, prize it most. Watson was one of the most concise, racy, illustrative, and suggestive of those eminent divines who made the Puritan age the Augustan period of evangelical literature. There is a happy union of sound doctrine, heart-searching experience and practical wisdom throughout all his works; and his Body of Divinity is, beyond all the rest, useful to the student and the minister. He explains the Doctrines of God, Divine Sovereignty, Salvation, Sin, and the Trinity with remarkable clarity. His thinking is sound and Scriptural. Puritan theology sets the diadem of our salvation on Christ, and Christ alone, and it is solely on the basis of his meritorious work that we are saved.