The Chief End of Man
Understand why the Standards begin with the purpose of human life, and how that one answer frames everything they go on to teach.
Both Catechisms open with the same question — not about God, Scripture, or sin, but about us: what are human beings for? The answer they give is the hinge on which the rest of the system turns.
A question before all other questions
The Shorter and Larger Catechisms both begin by asking after the chief, or highest, end of man — and answer that it is "to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever." The placement is deliberate. Before the Standards say a word about what we are to believe or how we are to live, they fix the goal toward which all believing and living are aimed.
This means the first answer is not really about us at all; it is about the God for whom we exist. Everything that follows in the Catechisms — the knowledge of God, his decrees, creation and providence, the work of Christ, salvation, the law, the sacraments, and prayer — is an unfolding of how this single end is first secured by God and then pursued by his people.
Glorifying and enjoying: one end, not two
The answer names two things — glorifying God and enjoying him — but the divines intend one end, not two competing aims. To glorify God is to acknowledge and display his worth; to enjoy him is to find one's deepest satisfaction in him. These are held together: the creature honours God precisely by delighting in him, and finds its joy precisely in honouring him.
The word "forever" carries weight too. The chief end is not only a present vocation but an everlasting one, reaching its fullness in the life to come, when the enjoyment of God is no longer mixed with sin or sorrow. The Catechism thus opens with both a duty and a comfort in the same breath.
Why it stands at the head of the system
Because the chief end is stated first, it governs how everything else is read. The doctrine of God becomes the knowledge of the One we are made to glorify and enjoy, not abstract speculation. The doctrine of sin becomes the account of how that end was forfeited. Redemption in Christ is the recovery of the end, and the means of grace — word, sacrament, and prayer — are the appointed ways the redeemed pursue it.
This is a characteristic Reformed instinct: that the chief end of man and the chief end of God coincide. God acts for the sake of his own glory, and the creature's highest good is found in that same glory. Keeping the first question in view stops the Standards from reading like a catalogue of doctrines and holds them together as a single purpose.
Study the full text, Scripture proofs, and commentary on each:
- Read WSC Q1 and WLC Q1 together and ask what, if anything, the Larger Catechism adds.
- On the question pages, trace each Scripture proof and ask how it supports both glorifying and enjoying God.
- Read Watson on the Shorter Catechism's first question and note how he treats enjoying God as the believer's comfort, not only a duty.
See how this doctrine is stated across the Reformed confessions side by side.
Man's Chief End and Holy Scripture →