A Searching and Fearless Moral Inventory
Using the Westminster Larger Catechism
The Larger Catechism is a rich catalog of Biblical Truth. It
provides the foundation of a powerful "moral
inventory."
What is "a Searching and Fearless Moral Inventory?"
Step Four of the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous is:
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
Here's how the "Big Book"
describes the step.
Although that's a pretty good description, and should certainly be enough for most
people, others want more detail. Some find a "checklist" helpful. And a few
would like to take inventory based on the revelation of God in the Bible. The Larger
Catechsim works well for this.
What is The Westminster Larger Catechism?
The Westminster Confession of Faith and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms were
written in the 1640's. B.B. Warfield, professor at Princeton in the late 1800's, wrote of
the Westminster Standards,
[T]hey are the final crystallization of the elements of evangelical religion, after the
conflicts of sixteen hundred years. . . . [T]hey are the richest and most precise and best
guarded statement ever penned of all that enters into evangelical religion. . . .[1]
How can the Larger Catechism help me take a "moral inventory?"
The Larger Catechism is a rich catalog of Biblical Truth. It provides the foundation of
a powerful "moral inventory."
In reverse order, here are the questions the Ten Commandments begin to ask:
10 Am I filled with resentment
from envying the rich and coveting what I don't have?
9 Do I lie to cover up my
character defects?
8 Do I cheat others to
gratify myself?
7 Do I lust and have
impure thoughts and actions?
6 Am I willing to hurt
other people to protect myself?
5 Am I angry at my
parents, and is our relationship broken?
4 Am I able to rest, and
trust God?
3 Do I take the Lord's
Name in vain?
2 Do I cover up my
character defects with religion and false spirituality?
1 Is my relationship with
God broken because I am trying to be my own god (Genesis 3:5)?
Click the number than interests you most, and begin a "fearless
and searching moral inventory!"
1.
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
A. Do I agree
with God's Word that God is God and I am not?
B. Self-examination:
Is my relationship with God broken because I am trying to be my own god (Genesis
3:5)?
- Have admitted to God, to myself, and to another human being the exact nature of my
wrongs?
- Have I made a list of all persons I have harmed through my atheism, heresy, or secular
humanism?
- Have I in fact made direct amends to such people wherever possible (except when to do so
would injure them or others)?
C. Am I resolved
to know God and acknowledge Him in all my ways?
2.
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image,
or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or
that is in the water under the earth:
{5} Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the
LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto
the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; {6} And showing mercy unto thousands
of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
A. Do I agree
with God's Word as it governs worship?
B. Self-examination:
Do I cover up my character defects with religion and false spirituality?
- Have admitted to God, to myself, and to another human being the exact nature of my
wrongs?
- Have I made a list of all persons I have harmed through false religion?
- Have I in fact made direct amends to such people wherever possible (except when to do so
would injure them or others)?
C. Am I resolved
to worship God in spirit and in truth?
3.
Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain;
for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
A. Do I agree
with God's Word on the Sanctity of God's Name?
B. Self-examination:
Do I take the Lord's Name in vain?
- Have admitted to God, to myself, and to another human being the exact nature of my
wrongs?
- Have I made a list of all persons I have harmed through broken promises and Godless
words?
- Have I in fact made direct amends to such people wherever possible (except when to do so
would injure them or others)?
C. Am I resolved to wear God's Name with
due regard for its sanctity?
4.
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
{9} Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
{10} But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any
work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy
cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: {11} For in six days the LORD made
heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore
the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
A. Do I agree
with God's Word on the requirements for work and rest?
B. Self-examination:
Have I been working as I should, and am I able to rest, and trust God when I
should?
- Have admitted to God, to myself, and to another human being the exact nature of my
wrongs?
- Have I made a list of all persons I have harmed through idleness and inappropriate work?
- Have I in fact made direct amends to such people wherever possible?
C. Am I resolved
to work more diligently when I should work, and rest more faithfully when I should rest?
5.
Honour thy father and thy mother:
that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
A. Do I agree
with God's Word on the honor due to all my superiors?
B. Self-examination:
Have I been angry at my parents, employers, and other superiors, and is our relationship
broken?
- Have admitted to God, to myself, and to another human being the exact nature of my
wrongs?
- Have I made a list of all persons I have harmed through my lack of respect?
- Have I in fact made direct amends to such people wherever possible?
C. Am I resolved
to honor those God has called me to honor?
6.
Thou shalt not kill.
A. Am I agreed
with God's Word on the sanctify of life?
B. Self-examination:
Have I been willing to hurt other people to protect myself?
- Have admitted to God, to myself, and to another human being the exact nature of my
wrongs?
- Have I made a list of all persons I have harmed?
- Have I in fact made direct amends to such people wherever possible?
C. Am I resolved
to protect the lives of others?
7.
Thou shalt not commit adultery.
A. Am I agreed
with God that lust, fornication and adultery are wrong?
B. Self-examination:
Self-examination: Do I lust and have impure thoughts and actions, and has
this behavior adversely affected others?
- Have admitted to God, to myself, and to another human being the exact nature of my
wrongs?
- Have I made a list of all persons I have harmed through lust and sexual relations
outside marriage?
- Have I in fact made direct amends to such people wherever possible (except when to do so
would injure them or others)?
C. Am I resolved
to avoid impure actions by conquering the impure thoughts which produce them?
8.
Thou shalt not steal.
A. Am I agreed
with God's Word that stealing is wrong?
B. Self-examination:
Have I cheated others to gratify myself?
- Have admitted to God, to myself, and to another human being the exact nature of my
wrongs?
- Have I made a list of all persons I have harmed through theft and fraud?
- Have I in fact made direct amends to such people wherever possible?
C. Am I resolved
never to steal in any way?
9.
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
A. Do I agree
with God's Word, that falsehoods are wrong?
B. Self-examination:
Have I lied to cover up my character defects, and have these lies adversely
affected others?
- Have admitted to God, to myself, and to another human being the exact nature of my
wrongs?
- Have I made a list of all persons I have harmed through falsehoods?
- Have I in fact made direct amends to such people wherever possible?
C. Am I resolved
to become truthful in all my ways?
10.
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy
neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor
any thing that is thy neighbour's.
A. Do I agree
with God's Word, that coveting is wrong?
B. Self-examination:
Am I filled with resentment from envying the rich and coveting what I don't have, and has
this bitterness adversely affected others?
- Have admitted to God, to myself, and to another human being the exact nature of my
wrongs?
- Have I made a list of all persons I have harmed through my covetousness and resentment?
- Have I in fact made direct amends to such people wherever possible?
C. Am I resolved
to conquer covetousness in my life?
How to Study the Ten Commandments
Notes
(1) From an address "delivered, on its
appointment, before the Presbytery of New York, Nov. 8, 1897" (from the Princeton
Press, Nov. 13, 1897); published in book form under the title, The Significance of
the Westminster Standards as a Creed, 1898, reprinted in 2 Selected Shorter
Writings of Benjamin B. Warfield 660 (1973). [Back to text] |