A Short Catechisme, or Playne Instruction (1553)
The Master's Question
The Master asks how Christ summarized the Ten Commandments.
Master. You've briefly set out the1 ten.2 commandments: Now then, tell me how Christ has summed up in a few words all these things you've explained in detail, setting forth for us in a summary the whole substance of the law.✦34
The Scholar's Offer
The Scholar offers to provide a brief abridgment of duties to God and neighbor.
Scholar. Would you like me to sum up in a brief abridgment everything that belongs both to God and to people?5
Read the original English
Master. Thou haste shortlye sette out the. x. commaundementes: Now then tell me, how all these thinges, that thou haste particularlye declared, Christe hath in fewe wordes conteyned, settyng… forth vnto vs in a sūme, the whole pyth of the law.
Scholer. Wil you that I knit vp in a briefe abrydgement, all that belongeth bothe to God & to men?
Scripture echoes
- ↩Matt.22.37-Matt.22.40 — And he said to him, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' Matt.22.38 — This is the great and first commandment. Matt.22.39 — And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Matt.22.40 — On these two commandments the whole Law hangs, and the Prophets.
Notes
- 1 ↩Segmenter cut mid-phrase before Roman numeral 'x.' and 'commaundementes'; continuous source is 'the ten commandments'.
- 2 ↩Source 'x.' is the Roman numeral for ten in 'the ten commandments'.
- 3 ↩Source shows an ellipsis in 'settyng… forth'; rendered as the ordinary phrase 'setting forth'.
- 4 ↩'Pyth' means the pith/essence of the law; rendered as 'substance' for plain contemporary English.
- 5 ↩Source 'knit vp' means gather/tie together into one whole; rendered as 'sum up' for natural contemporary English while preserving the sense of compressing the whole into a short form.
John Ponet's Short Catechisme (1553) companion
Rule yourself daily, not just on retreat
Chosen Portion turns the mirror into a daily practice — a short reading and examining question each morning before you lead anyone.
Chosen Portion makes the mirror daily: the ruler-formation questions this collection preserves become a two-minute morning examination in the app.
- A daily formation reading drawn from centuries of counsel to those in authority
- One pointed examination question a day — two minutes, before the meetings start
- Track your practice over weeks and watch the examined life become a habit