'' Spiritual Milk for Boston Babes '' is a children's

catechism A catechism (; from , "to teach orally") is a summary or exposition of Catholic theology, doctrine and serves as a learning introduction to the Sacraments traditionally used in catechesis, or Christian religious teaching of children and adult co ...

by the minister John Cotton. The 1656 catechism is the first known children's book published in America.

Content

Cotton's catechism consisted of fifteen pages of 64 questions and answers relating to teachings of

Puritanism The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should ...

and the Church. It discussed morals, manners, religious life, the

Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments (), or the Decalogue (from Latin , from Ancient Greek , ), are religious and ethical directives, structured as a covenant document, that, according to the Hebrew Bible, were given by YHWH to Moses. The text of the Ten ...

, and the

last judgment The Last Judgment is a concept found across the Abrahamic religions and the '' Frashokereti'' of Zoroastrianism. Christianity considers the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to entail the final judgment by God of all people who have ever lived, res ...

. In the seventeenth century, many English catechisms had over 100 questions and answers for the student of Christianity to remember. The 64 questions and answers in Cotton's catechism made reference to 203 passages from the Old and the New Testaments. "Spiritual Milk for Boston Babes" and other similar catechisms encapsulate for children the good news of Jesus Christ. "Spiritual Milk" is a witness to the transformative work of Jesus and an encouragement to trust in the redeeming work of God.

Versions

Cotton's catechism was originally printed in London in 1646. The full title in Great Britain was ''Milk for Babes. Drawn out of the Breasts of Both Testaments. Chiefly, for the Spiritually Nourishment of Boston Babes in Either England: But May Be of Like Use for Any Children''. It was printed in London, England, by J. Coe for bookseller Henry Overton. The short title in Great Britain of the prior original work of 1646 is '' Milk for Babes.'' The New England full version was called ''Spiritual Milk for Boston Babes in Either England. Drawn out of the Breasts of Both Testaments for Their Souls Nourishment but May Be of Like Use to Any Children. By John Cotton, B.D. late Teacher to the Church of Boston in New England. Cambridge. Printed by S. G. for Hezekiah Usher at Boston in New England, 1656.'' Samuel Green of

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

, printed it in 1656 for bookseller

Hezekiah Usher Hezekiah Usher (1616 – 14 May 1676) was an English merchant in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He was the first known bookseller in the British Colonies. Early life and career Usher was born in England in 1616, likely in Bednall Green. He emig ...

. It was an

octavo Octavo, a Latin word meaning "in eighth" or "for the eighth time", (abbreviated 8vo, 8º, or In-8) is a technical term describing the format of a book, which refers to the size of leaves produced from folding a full sheet of paper on which multip ...

booklet. A copy of this book was supposedly purchased by the Lenox Library of Massachusetts for $400 in 1895. Cotton's catechism remained in print in both England and New England for some 200 years after the mid seventeenth century. Eight known editions have been identified from the seventeenth century alone.

Legacy

''Spiritual Milk for Boston Babes'' became part of ''

The New England Primer ''The New England Primer'' was the first reading primer designed for the American colonies. It became the most successful educational textbook published in 17th-century colonial United States and it became the foundation of most schooling bef ...

'' in the mid of the eighteenth century and remained popular into the mid nineteenth century. ''Spiritual Milk for Boston Babes'' was called "The Catechism of New England".

References

Bibliography

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External links

Full text
electronic edition at

University of Nebraska–Lincoln The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (Nebraska, NU, or UNL) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Lincoln, Nebraska, United States. Chartered in 1869 by the Nebraska Legislature as part of the M ...

's DigitalCommons
Full text scans
at the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress a ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spiritual Milk for Boston Babes Books about Christianity New England Puritanism American children's books 1656 books Catechisms Christian children's books Protestant education