…awes of the first table. / One God / Images, / Takyug the name of God. / The Sabbat.
A Dialogue on Learning the Law
The Master asks the Scholar to share his understanding of the Law and Creed, and the Scholar eagerly agrees.
Master. First tell me a little of what you think of the Law, and then afterward of the Creed or Symbol. Scholar. I'll gladly do as you command, good Master.
The First Table of the Law
The Scholar recites the first table commandments: no other gods, no graven images, no taking the Lord’s name in vain, and keeping the Sabbath holy.
The Lord God has charged us through Moses that we have no other God at all but him: that is to say, that we take him alone as our one and only God, our Maker and Savior.✦✦ That we neither revere nor worship any portrait or image, whether it's painted, carved, engraved, or fashioned in any way.✦ That we do not take the name of our Lord God in vain—that is, either in a matter of no importance or of no truth. Finally, we ought to hold steadfastly and with a devout conscience that we keep the Sabbath day holy and religiously, as it was set apart from the other days for rest and the service of God.✦✦1
Read the original English
Maister. Fyrst tell me sōwhat what thou thynkest of the lawe: and then afterward of the Crede or Symbole.
Scholer. I shall doe (good Maister) with a good wyll as you commaund me. The Lorde God hathe charged vs by Moses, that we haue none other God at all, but hym: that is to say, that we take him alone, for oure one only God, oure maker, and sauiour. That we reuerence not, nor worshippe any portraiture or ani image what soeuer whether it be painted, carued, grauen, or by anye meane fashyoned howe soeuer it be. That wee take not the name of oure Lorde God in vaine: that is either in a matter of no wayght or of no truthe▪ Last of al thys ought we to hold stedfastly and wyth deuout conscyēce: that we kepe holyly and religiously the Sabbat day: which was appointed … from the other, for rest, and seruice of God.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Exod.20.3 — You shall have no other gods before me.
- ↩Deut.5.7 — You shall have no other gods before me.
- ↩Exod.20.4-Exod.20.5 — You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of what is in the heavens above, or what is on the earth beneath, or what is in the waters beneath the earth. Exod.20.5 — You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me.
- ↩Exod.20.7 — You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold guiltless anyone who takes His name in vain.
- ↩Exod.20.8-Exod.20.11 — Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Exod.20.9 — Six days you shall labor and do all your work. Exod.20.10 — but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God; on it you shall not do any work—you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. Exod.20.11 — For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and he rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the day of the Sabbath and made it holy.
Notes
- 1 ↩The source has a lacuna between "appointed" and "from the other". Rendered as "set apart from the other days," the most plausible sense in context.
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