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Chapter 12PonetCatechism.1.12

Honour of Parentes.

The Question of Honour

The Master asks how the commandment to honour father and mother is to be understood.

Teacher. How is that commandment about honoring father and mother to be understood?1

The Duty of Honour

The Scholar explains that honouring parents involves love, fear, reverence, obedience, and care, and extends to all authorities and elders.

Scholar. Honor toward father and mother includes love, fear, and reverence; and it further consists in obeying, helping, defending, and providing for them when needed.✦✦23 It also binds us most strongly, and with all natural affection, to obey the magistrate; to reverence the ministers of the church, our teachers, along with all our elders and superiors.✦✦4567

Read the original English

Master. Howe is that commaundemente, of the honoringe father and mother, … be vnderstanded?

Scholer. Honoure of father and mother cōteineth loue, feare, and reuerence: yea … it further standeth in obeyinge, succouring, defe…ding, and nourishing thē, if neede require. It byndeth vs also moste h…ly, and with … natural affection, to … the magistrate: to reuerence the Mi…ysters of the churche, oure …cholemasters, with al oure elders, and betters.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Exod.20.12 — Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long upon the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
  2. ↩Deut.5.16 — Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God commanded you, so that your days may be long and so that it may go well with you on the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
  3. ↩Exod.20.12 — Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long upon the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
  4. ↩Rom.13.1-Rom.13.7 — Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except by God, and the authorities that exist have been appointed by God. Rom.13.2 — Therefore the one who resists the authority has opposed the ordinance of God, and those who have opposed will receive judgment on themselves. Rom.13.3 — For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to evil. Do you wish to have no fear of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from it. Rom.13.4 — For he is God's servant for your good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is God's servant, an avenger for wrath against the one who practices evil. Rom.13.5 — Therefore one must submit, not only because of wrath but also because of conscience. Rom.13.6 — For this reason you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, attending to this very thing. Rom.13.7 — Pay to all what you owe: taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩Source has an ellipsis before 'be vnderstanded'; the natural Early Modern English construction is 'to be understood,' and the translation restores that sense.
  2. 2 ↩EEBO-TCP marks one illegible word between 'yea' and 'it' (extent: 1 word). Rendered as 'yes, and it' on the most plausible additive reading.
  3. 3 ↩Restored as 'defending' from the surviving letters and sense.
  4. 4 ↩Restored as 'highly' from the surviving h…ly frame.
  5. 5 ↩EEBO-TCP marks one illegible word before 'natural affection'. Rendered as 'all', matching the later 'al oure elders' wording; 'due' is a weaker alternative.
  6. 6 ↩EEBO-TCP marks one illegible verb before 'the magistrate'. Rendered as 'obey' (civil duty paired with 'reverence' for church ministers); 'honour' remains a plausible alternative and should be reviewed.
  7. 7 ↩Restored as 'ministers' and 'schoolmasters' from the surviving letter frames (Minysters / scholemasters).

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