SECTIONVIII. 233 and should run through the scripture in a short account botti of 'remarkable persons and things : And as I keep my eye On the capacities of children, it should be very plain, and have as few hard words in it as possible. Then.it will be pleasant to young minds, when it consists of short and various incidents or stories which employ and delight the fancy. As it begins at the creation of all things, so it should run down to the days of the apostles and the setting up the kingdom of Christ amongmen, which is as far as the history of scripture reaches. It is true, this field is so very large, that whosoever writes such a catechism í'òr child- ren must necessarily leave out many worthy, names of men which should not be forgotten, and a multitude of things which one could wish might be inserted : And I am so well assured of the great usefulness of instructicg children and young persons in the transactions of scripture, that I have composed a much larger summary of the sacred history by way of question and answer, which lies by me, and perhaps may hereafter see the light*. But the design of the present catechism for the instruc- tion of tender years must limit it to a very narrow compass. Many valuable monuments of sacred antiquity must be omitted, lest the fancy of children be overwhelmed and cloyed, as well as their memory overburdened, especially considering they are learning some catechism of the principles of religion at the same time. The special parts of the sacred history which should be in- serted into these two catechisms are chiefly such as these, viz. 1. Those that will naturally lead the child into the know- ledge of God as the Maker, the Governor, and the Judge of the world : Therefore there should be mentioned several.of the works of God, as the creation of all things, the interest of pro- vidence in the affairs of men, and particularly the rewards of the righteous, and the punishments of the wicked. 2. Those parts of history that are most necessary or useful in Order to understand the doctrine of the gospel and the reli- gion of Christ the better ; such are, the transactions with Adam in his creation and in his "fall, the promise of the Messiah to Abraham, the conduct of God towards the Jews in their travels from Egypt to. Canaan, some of the laws and ordinances which he gave them by the hand of Moses, the doctrine of sacrifices and the priesthood, the care of God for his chosen people of Israel under their judges and their kings, their sins and the punishment of them, their captivity in Babylon and restoration to their own land, the life, miracles, death and resurrection of Christ the Son of God, his commission to his apostles to preach This bath been published, entitled, a Short View of the whole Scripture - history.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=