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현대영어로 된 소요리문답 관련 자료가 있는 사이트(호주장로교회 소속 목사 운영)입니다.
오디오 자료로 있으며 싱클레어 퍼거슨 박사의 음성으로 문답이 녹음된 자료입니다.
아래는 107문답 중 1~6문답 본문, 관련성구, 코멘트입니다.
Q. 1. What is the chief purpose for which man is made?
The chief purpose for which man is made is to glorify God,[a] and to enjoy him for ever.[b]
[a]. Psa 86:9; Isa 60:21; Rom 11:36; 1 Cor 6:20; 1 Cor 10:31; Rev 4:11
[b]. Psa 16:5-11; Psa 144:15; Isa 12:2; Luk 2:10; Phil 4:4; Rev 21:3-4
Comment on Q. 1.
The opening question brings us at once to the subject of true religion – what it requires and what it gives. God has made us for a purpose just as everything made by man is made for a purpose. Only as we fulfil the purpose for which God made us can we be happy. Now God made us to glorify him. Of course we cannot add to God’s glory because he is entirely perfect, but we can show his glory by doing everything in life as service to him. This means that God must be first in our lives; only as we know and love him can we truly please him. That is why, since sin entered the human race, we can only be brought back into God’s family through Jesus Christ. Then we can have real joy in our lives, and look forward to knowing joy that never ends after this life. Looking for happiness apart from your Maker – ‘doing your own thing’ – is a dead end.
Q. 2. What rule has God given to direct us how to glorify and enjoy him?
The Word of God, which consists of the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments,[a] is the only rule to direct us how to glorify and enjoy him.[b]
[a]. Mat 19:4-5 with Gen 2:24; Luk 24:27, 44; 1 Cor 2:13; 1 Cor 14:37; 2 Pet 1:20-21; 2 Pet 3:2, 15-16
[b]. Deu 4:2; Psa 19:7-11; Isa 8:20; John 15:11; John 20:30-31; Acts 17:11; 2 Tim 3:15-17; 1 John 1:4
Comment on Q. 2.
God has given us definite instructions in writing. As God’s book, the Bible is the best book, and we should study it more often than any other. God promises his Holy Spirit to help us understand it. We must never presume to add to it. The original languages of the Bible are Hebrew (in the Old Testament) and Greek, but common English translations give us the meaning in a form that we can understand.
Q. 3. What do the Scriptures principally teach?
The Scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God,[a] and what duty God requires of man.[b]
[a]. Gen 1:1; John 5:39; John 20:31; Rom 10:17; 2 Tim 3:15
[b]. Deu 10:12-13; Jos 1:8; Psa 119:105; Mic 6:8; 2 Tim 3:16-17
Comment on Q. 3.
We must never forget that right belief and right behaviour go together, and that right behaviour arises from right belief. God is pleased with our conduct only when it arises from trust in him and his word.
Q. 4. What is God?
God is a Spirit,[a] infinite,[b] eternal,[c] and unchangeable[d] in his being,[e] wisdom,[f] power,[g] holiness,[h] justice,[i] goodness,[j] and truth.[k]
[a]. Deu 4:15-19; Luk 24:39; John 1:18; John 4:24; Acts 17:29
[b]. 1 Ki 8:27; Psa 139:7-10; Psa 145:3; Psa 147:5; Jer 23:24; Rom 11:33-36
[c]. Deu 33:27; Psa 90:2; Psa 102:12; Psa 102:24-27; Rev 1:4; Rev 1:8
[d]. Psa 33:11; Mal 3:6; Heb 1:12; Heb 6:17-18; Heb 13:8; Jas 1:17
[e]. Exo 3:14; Psa 115:2-3; 1 Tim 1:17; 1 Tim 6:15-16
[f]. Psa 104:24; Rom 11:33-34; Heb 4:13; 1 John 3:20
[g]. Gen 17:1; Psa 62:11; Jer 32:17; Mat 19:26; Rev 1:8
[h]. Heb 1:13; 1 Pet 1:15-16; 1 John 3:3; 1 John 3:5; Rev 15:4
[i]. Gen 18:25; Exo 34:6-7; Deu 32:4; Psa 96:13; Rom 3:5; Rom 3:26
[j]. Psa 103:5; Psa 107:8; Mat 19:17; Rom 2:4
[k]. Exo 34:6; Deu 32:4; Psa 86:15 vs Psa 117:2; Heb 6:18
Comment on Q. 4.
The Catechism does not try to prove God is, but takes it for granted as the Bible does. This answer tells us that God does not have a physical body such as limits us. He cannot be seen by the physical eye or touched by our hands. When the Bible speaks of God as having human qualities (eyes, ears and so on), this language is to help us understand about him and does not mean that God has a body. Next, we learn that God is not limited by space or time or anything else, nor does he change, for he is perfect. Finally, seven important qualities of God’s character are stated, all of which are in harmony with each other (for example, his power is used with wisdom), and all of which are qualified by the three adjectives (for example, God is infinite, eternal and unchangeable in his wisdom as well as in his being. His goodness includes his mercy, grace, compassion and love. His truth means he is utterly reliable and can be trusted to keep his word. So God is very different from us, but we can know him because he has told us about himself through what he has made, and especially through the Bible.
Q. 5. Are there more Gods than one?
There is only one God,[a] the living and true God.[b]
[a]. Deu 6:4; Isa 44:6; Isa 45:21-22; 1 Cor 8:4-6
[b]. Jer 10:10; John 17:3; 1 Thes 1:9; 1 John 5:20
Comment on Q. 5.
God is called the living God because he has life in himself and is able to give life and help to others. He is the true God because he really is, whereas other gods exist only in the minds of those who worship them. In Deuteronomy 6:4 God is described by a Hebrew word which means a united one not an only one, and so is perfectly consistent with the truth of personal distinctions within the Divine nature (see Q. 6).
Q. 6. How many persons are there in the Godhead?
There are three persons in the Godhead: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit;[a] and these three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory.[b]
[a]. Mat 3:16-17; Mat 28:19; 2 Cor 13:14; 1 Pet 1:2
[b]. Psa 45:6; John 1:1; John 17:5; Acts 5:3-4; Rom 9:5; Col 2:9; Jud 1:24-25
Comment on Q. 6.
This answer states briefly what is called the doctrine of the Trinity. ‘Trinity’ is not a word found in the Bible, but it is a kind of shorthand in order to describe what the Bible teaches about the Divine nature. There is only one God, but God exists in three persons who live in intimate relationship one to the other. We use the word persons, not because it is adequate, but because the Bible speaks of the relationship of the three in a manner similar to that which we know between human persons. The Trinity means that God is not lonely, but has a fullness of life and fellowship in himself. When Jesus said, ‘The Father is greater than I’ (John 14:28), he was referring to his position as the Servant of the Lord who had come into this world for our salvation, and not to his own essential equality with the Father (as in John 10:30). The subject of the Trinity is a great mystery, as we would expect, and there is no adequate illustration of it. God is unique! Three errors could be mentioned. The first (Modalism) teaches that God is but one person, who has played different roles at different times, calling himself successively, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. But the Three persons are shown as together at the same time, Matthew 3:16-17. The second error (Arianism), found especially in sects such as ‘Jehovah’s Witnesses’, also teaches God is but one person and that Jesus is a created being, and the Holy Spirit merely a name for the power of God. A third error is polytheism (belief in many gods), which is a perversion of the truth of the richness of God’s life. It is found in forms ranging from Mormonism to Hinduism.