Calvin's First Catechism with Commentary
All men:
have been born for Religion
No Human being can be found, however, barbarous or completely savage, untouched by some awareness of religion. It is evident, consequently, that all of us have been created in order to acknowledge our Creators majesty and to receive it and esteem it, once acknowledged, with all fear, love and reverence.
But, leaving aside the Ungodly who are bent upon one thing only---to blot out the memory of the notion of God sown in their hearts---those of us who claim to be Godly must deem this fleeting life, soon to fall into ruin, to be nothing but a meditation upon immortality. Now, nowhere but in God can one find eternal and immortal life. Hence the chief concern and care of our life ought to be to seek God, to aspire to Him with our whole heart, and to rest nowhere else but Him.
Commentary by Hesselink
Calvin begins his Catechism forthrightly with the fundamental question of human existence, namely, why am I here? What is the purpose of life? The answer is in the title of section 1 "All men are born for religion" "All men are born in order to know God." A few lines later, he amplifies this thesis: "All of us have been created in order to acknowledge our creators majesty and to receive it and esteem it, once acknowledged, with all fear, love, and reference." This is almost repeated in the famous first question and answer of the Westminster Larger Catechism. (1648): "What is the chief and highest end of man?" Answer: "Man's chief and highest end is to glorify God and fully to enjoy Him forever." Or to return to Calvin, "The chief concern and care of our life ought to be to seek God and to aspire to Him with our whole heart, and to rest nowhere else but in him" This in short is what life is all about. Apart from God, life is meaningless. "For without religion we live a most miserable life, not above the level of brute beasts"
In Contrast to the Institutes, which opens with the question of the knowledge of God and self, in the Catechism the initial focus is on the broader question of the goal of human existence, which includes not only the acknowledgment of the Creators majesty and a life devoted to him, but also "a meditation on immortality" For Calvin, this these is inextricably bound up with the question of true religion. Recall the title of Section one, "All men are born for religion" Here we might well substitute the word God for religion.
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