Q. By what other means can we discover that God has created the world?

A. We can readily discover that the world has not existed from eternity, and that it has had a beginning. It follows that it must have been created, and that the Creator could only be God.

Q. How do you prove that this world is not eternal, and that it has had a beginning?

A. There are many things that clearly prove it. We learn in histories of the beginning of all things; the origin of nations, of arts and sciences, the foundations of empires. We know that the world was not originally peopled as at present, that it has become so gradually. We can point out when and whence the different countries have been first inhabited. Beside this, there is no history of more remote date than 6000 years. This would not have been so, if the world had been eternal.

Q. What do we remark particularly in regard to men?

A. We discover by what has been said of the earth, that men have not existed from eternity; which proves, that the race have had a beginning; when we consider how men multiply, that we trace children to their parents, we find there must have been one originally, from whom all the rest have descended.

Q. By what other means has God made himself known?

A. He is made known more clearly and perfectly by the holy scriptures, which incontestibly prove the existence of God.

Q. Since it is certain that God exists, what is the consequence that follows?

A. That we should look up to him as our creator and ruler, thank him for all the blessings we enjoy, have recourse to him in all our exigencies, do his will, and perform all the duties which religion prescribes.

SECT. 2-Of the truth of the Christian religion. Q. Are there not many religions in the world?

A. There are four principal. The Christian and Jewish, which contain the knowledge of the true God, (the latter does not recognize Jesus Christ as the true Messiah); the religion of the Pagans, which admits many irrational superstitions, the worship of idols, and of false Gods; and the Mahometan religion, established by the false prophet Mahomet, about 606 years after Christ.

Q. Which is the true religion?

A. The Christian, without doubt, which consists in the belief of the true God, and in Jesus Christ." And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent."-John xvii. 3.

Q. What proofs have we of the truth of Christianity?

A. There are many, of which the principal is, that Jesus Christ, the author of it, is the Son of God.

Q. Is it certain that Jesus Christ has been in the world, and that he dwelt among the Jews as is commonly believed?

A. This is established beyond doubt, by the

belief of all the world. The Jews themselves, and other enemies of Christianity acknowledge that there was in Judea, a man called Jesus, who was said to be the Son of God.

Q. Is it certain that Jesus Christ is the author of the Christian religion?

A. Yes, we have it confirmed by Jewish, Pagan, and Christian histories, that this religion was commenced and established at that time, and that he was the author of it.

Q. Who is Jesus Christ?

A. He is the Son of God, and the Messiah, promised of God.

Q. Can this be clearly proved?

A. Yes, for we find in the person of Jesus Christ, in his birth, his life, death, and resurrection, and in the establishment of his religion, the marks to which the prophets have pointed in their predictions of the Messiah.

Q. Is there any other evidence that Jesus Christ is the son of God?

A. If Jesus Christ had not been the Son of God, he would have been a false teacher, and would have deceived men, since he affirmed that he was the Son of God.

Q. Can it be believed that Jesus Christ was a false teacher?

A. We cannot believe that he was, because we see nothing in his life or doctrine that bears the appearance of sin or falsehood. On the contrary, his life was irreproachable, and his doctrines tend directly to the glory of God, and to rendering men perfectly holy and hap

py.

Q. Is there nothing else in the life of Christ which proves that he could not have been a false teacher ?

A. He wrought miracles, which the Jews themselves acknowledged; he uttered predictions, which were fulfilled after his death, particularly respecting the destruction of Jerusalem, and the establishment of his church in the world.

Q. What other proof exists of the truth of his claims.

A. If Jesus Christ had falsely assumed the character of Son of God, and had deceived men, the Jews would have had reason for putting him to death, and God, who is the enemy of imposture and falsehood, would assuredly not have raised him from the dead.

Q. If the Jews had put Jesus to death, and he had been an impostor, what might we have expected after his death?

A. That his disciples would not have dared to speak of him, that his religion would not have been established in the world, in the manner it was established immediately after his * death, nor would it have been received by so 'many different nations.

Q. Could not a false religion be established in the world?

A. A false religion may be established, when its teachers use political force or authority for its introduction or support, and when those whom it attempts to proselyte are ignorant or credulous; when this religion flatters the passions and inclinations of men ; when those who

embrace it find in it their temporal advantage, or at least when they have no fear of suffering for it. It was thus that the Mahometan religion was established.

Q. Had the establishment of the Christian religion any resemblance to this?

A. No; on the contrary it was established by means and under circumstances entirely different.

Q. By whom was it first propagated?
A. By the Apostles.

Q. What were the means used by them for its introduction ?

A. They used no force, they constrained no one to embrace it; their state would not admit it. They preached the gospel, and wrought miracles, whilst force was used against them. Q. Was the gospel preached to credulous people?

A. No, it was at first preached to the Jews, the Greeks, and Romans, who were the most enlightened nations of the world.

Q. In what time and place was it first announced?

A. It was announced at a time and in places where its authenticity could be examined and ascertained.

Q. Did the Christian religion offer any inducements for man to embrace it, independently of its intrinsic excellence ?

A. No, it offered no temporal pleasures or advantages; it flattered no human passions, on the contrary it required that they should be subdued.