Westminster Shorter Catechism in Modern English - Question #10

Q. 10. How did God create man?

A. God created man, male and female, in his own image,^[a] in knowledge,^[b] righteousness, and holiness,^[c] with rule over the creatures.^[d]

[a] Genesis 1:27

Wycliffe Bible (WYC)

²⁷ And God made of nought a man to his image and likeness; God made of nought a man, to the image of God; God made of nought them, male and female. (And so God made out of nothing a man in his image and likeness; God made out of nothing a man in the image of God; yea, God made them out of nothing, male and female.)

 

[b] Colossians 3:10

Wycliffe Bible (WYC)

¹⁰ and clothe ye the new man [and clothing the new man], that is made new again into the knowing of God, after the image of him that made him;

 

[c] Ephesians 4:24

Wycliffe Bible (WYC)

²⁴ and clothe ye the new man, which is made after God in rightwiseness and holiness of truth. [and clothe ye the new man, which after God is made of nought in rightwiseness and holiness of truth.]

 

[d] Genesis 1:28

Wycliffe Bible (WYC)

²⁸ And God blessed them, and said, Increase ye, and be ye multiplied, and fill ye the earth, and make ye it subject; and be ye lords to the fishes of the sea, and to [the] volatiles of (the) heaven(s), and to all living beasts that be moved on [the] earth (and be ye lords, or rule ye, over the fishes of the sea, and the birds of the air, and all the living beasts that move on the earth).

 

Psalm 8

Wycliffe Bible (WYC)

8 To the overcomer, for pressers, the psalm of David. Lord, thou art our Lord; thy name is full wonderful in all [the] earth. For thy great doing is raised up, above (the) heavens. (To the overcomer, at the winepresses, the song of David. Lord, thou art our Lord; thy name is most wonderful in all the earth. And thy great doing is raised up, above the heavens.)

² Of the mouth of young children, not speaking and sucking milk, thou hast made perfect praising, for thine enemies; that thou destroy the enemy and the avenger. (Out of the mouths of young children, who do not speak, but who suck milk, thou hast rebuked thy mighty enemies; yea, thou hast destroyed the enemy and the avenger.)

³ For I shall see thine heavens, the works of thy fingers; the moon and the stars, which thou hast founded.

⁴ What is a man, that is mankind, that thou art mindful of him; either the son of a virgin [or the son of man], for thou visitest him? (What is a man, that is humankind, that thou art mindful of him; or who is the son of a man, that thou should care about him?)

⁵ Thou hast made him a little less than (the) angels; (but) thou hast crowned him with glory and honour,

⁶ and thou hast ordained him above the works of thine hands. Thou hast made subject all things under his feet; (and thou hast ordained him over all thy creatures. Yea, thou hast put all things under his feet;)

⁷ all sheep and oxen, furthermore and the beasts of the field; (all the sheep and the oxen, and furthermore, the beasts of the fields, that is, the wild beasts;)

⁸ the birds of the air, and the fishes of the sea, (and all the other creatures) that pass by the paths of the sea. (and the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, and all the other creatures that go along the paths of the sea.)

⁹ Lord, our Lord; how wonderful is thy name in all [the] earth.

 

 

Comment on Q. 10

God used a pattern when he created man, and that pattern was himself, his own image! Man was made to be like God on the creaturely level. Man as created knew God, thought and acted righteously, and was pure in heart and full of love for his Maker. Man is the special creation of God.

Man is made as a race – a creature reproducing itself through successive generations. It is our descent from Adam and Eve that gives us kinship by blood with all other human beings on earth (Acts 17:26).