The sūme of the lawe by Christe.
The Summary of the Law
The Master and Scholar dialogue leads to Christ's declaration of the two greatest commandments, which summarize the Law and the Prophets.
Master. Yes.1 Scholar. Christ says this: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the greatest commandment in the law. The other is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.2 The whole Law and the Prophets depend on these two commandments.3
Read the original English
Master. …ea.
Scho. Christ sayeth thus: Thou shalt loue the Lord, thy God, wyth al thy hart: wyth all thy soule: wyth all thy mynde: and with al thy strength. Thys is the greatest commaundement in the lawe. The other is lyke vn▪ to this: Thou shal… loue thy neyghbour as thy selfe. Up▪ on these two commaundemētes hang the whole law▪ and the Prophetes.
Notes
- 1 ↩Source reads only "…ea."; restored as Early Modern affirmative "Yea" (modern "Yes"), answering the Scholar's request in the previous section to summarize the whole duty to God and neighbor.
- 2 ↩Normalized reading restores line-break artifacts ("vn▪ to", "shal…") to "like unto this: Thou shalt love…".
- 3 ↩Normalized reading restores line-break artifacts ("Up▪ on", "commaundemētes", "law▪") to "Upon these two commandments hang the whole law and the Prophets."
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