NOTE: When reading this, please understand that I am by no means a certified expert when it comes to the realm of doctrine. The views and interpretations I express below are mine and mine alone, and quite possibly could be quite wrong if or when considered by persons more studied than I. Be careful down there!
In a recklessly bold moment, I figured it may prove interesting to go through the Westminster Shorter Catechism, since I'm sure it will be something I'll have to agonize over some time in the future. In one of my earlier posts, I wrote about how I think doctrine is pretty important.. Since we do sin, and do it with alarming frequency, and we can't comprehend the entirety of God, doctrine is sort of a man-made straight-edge to alert us when we go shooting off on a crazy tangent and making up things about what the Bible really says, and the implications thereof. Generally, it tells us what our forefathers in the faith concluded about spiritual things, and teaches us the lessons that they learned through their crazy trials of years gone by. Completely disregarding doctrine may land us in a world of hurt, as we could needlessly repeat some grave mistakes that have already happened.
Of course, on the other hand, doctrine is pretty much man-made. It's about as scientific and Newtonian as you can get when it comes to the Bible. It's not the word of God, and should not be treated as such. It's boring. Really boring. It has a very real possibility of choking the life out of good Christians if used improperly. It reminds me of a joke, actually:
"What's the difference between an ice-cold rock and a Presbyterian?"
"Nothing. They're one and the same."
It's funny--if you're not a Presbyterian, of course! Because us PCA folk nearly ALWAYS take ourselves and our doctrine far too seriously. That's why we've been so affectionately coined "The Frozen Chosen." Okay...now that I've poked enough fun out of my denomination, shall we begin? :)
Question 1: What is the chief end of man?
(Oh, a side note. I tried scouring the Internet for a short while to find the WSC in modern-day English, but to no avail--I guess that would spoil the fun of having to understand doctrine if it was made too easy.)
So, what is our real purpose, according to the Bible? What's the point? That's one of the best questions ever, no wonder why it's first. It's probably one of the more frequently asked questions in the history of the human race. It pops up all the time in our minds, from sitting in a 2 hour meeting only 30 minutes into it, or riding on the subway, or waiting in the drive-thru line...Why am I here?
Answer 1: Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.
Proof Texts: Psalm 86, Isaiah 60:21, Romans 11:36, Revelation 4:11
Although the question starts focused on us, the answer is a complete focus on God. He made us so that we could bring glory to Him, and also be around to enjoy how glorified God really is. Put another way, what we do and who we are should prove to all (or just God if nobody else is around) how awesome God is, AND, we should also exhaust a great portion of our life enjoying how awesome our Creator really is. It almost seems in some circles that it's either one way or the other, but both parts of the answer are equally and critically important. In fact, it's virtually impossible to accomplish one portion without the other. Oh, many have tried, and I am one of the many. But you can't really fool anyone on how cool God is if you're not believing it yourself.
Whew--that wasn't that bad. Well, from what I understand, the worst is yet to come--only 106 questions left! And this is the shorter catechism, too. Hoo-boy! Pray for me that if I so choose to do any more, I don't forget about question number one--what my chief end is.
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That sounds very much like the first of the Catholic Catechisms, thought I can't quote it because I didn't learn "catechism." I was born a Methodist, and there's a bit of a difference between growing up Methodist and growing up Catholic. For one thing, I didn't have to memorize so much stuff that I didn't understand.
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