Westminster Shorter Catechism
Encyclopedia
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
divines. The assembly also produced the Westminster Confession of Faith
Westminster Confession of Faith
The Westminster Confession of Faith is a Reformed confession of faith, in the Calvinist theological tradition. Although drawn up by the 1646 Westminster Assembly, largely of the Church of England, it became and remains the 'subordinate standard' of doctrine in the Church of Scotland, and has been...
and the Westminster Larger Catechism
Westminster Larger Catechism
The Westminster Larger Catechism, along with the Westminster Shorter Catechism, is a central catechism of Calvinists in the English tradition throughout the world.- History :...
. The three documents are considered by many Protestants to be the grandest doctrinal statements to come out of the English Reformation
English Reformation
The English Reformation was the series of events in 16th-century England by which the Church of England broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church....
. Completed in 1647, it was presented to the Long Parliament
Long Parliament
The Long Parliament was made on 3 November 1640, following the Bishops' Wars. It received its name from the fact that through an Act of Parliament, it could only be dissolved with the agreement of the members, and those members did not agree to its dissolution until after the English Civil War and...
on 14 April 1648.
The purpose of the Shorter Catechism
Catechism
A catechism , i.e. to indoctrinate) is a summary or exposition of doctrine, traditionally used in Christian religious teaching from New Testament times to the present...
is to educate lay persons in matters of doctrine
Doctrine
Doctrine is a codification of beliefs or a body of teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the body of teachings in a branch of knowledge or belief system...
and belief
Belief
Belief is the psychological state in which an individual holds a proposition or premise to be true.-Belief, knowledge and epistemology:The terms belief and knowledge are used differently in philosophy....
. The WSC is in a simple question and answer format to facilitate memorization. Typically, parents and the church would use the shorter catechism to train their children in the ways of the Lord. New converts are also given the WSC as well as the Confession of Faith and Holy Scripture to study. Various denominations have used the Westminster Confession and Catechism to instruct their members.
Although the church in Scotland (the Kirk) had produced The New Catechisme according to the Forme of the Kirk of Scotland in 1644, it was aimed particularly at children and youth, and was not adopted by the Westminster Assembly of Divines. It was, however, later acknowledged that the Shorter Catechism was not suitable for young children or those of a weak capacity. Various other catechisms were created for this purpose, including the Mother's Catechism.
The First Book of Discipline (1560) required that a Sabbath afternoon session be set aside for examination of young children in catechism, and this practice was adopted in the Kirk on John Knox
John Knox
John Knox was a Scottish clergyman and a leader of the Protestant Reformation who brought reformation to the church in Scotland. He was educated at the University of St Andrews or possibly the University of Glasgow and was ordained to the Catholic priesthood in 1536...
's return to Scotland. Catechizing became a part of life in the Scottish Churches with itinerant catechists being employed to instruct the people — a practice that continued into the 19th century. The Church of Scotland approved the Westminster Shorter Catechism in 1648, and thereafter it was the manual for instruction. However, because a significant portion of the Scottish Highland population spoke only Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic language
Scottish Gaelic is a Celtic language native to Scotland. A member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages, Scottish Gaelic, like Modern Irish and Manx, developed out of Middle Irish, and thus descends ultimately from Primitive Irish....
, the Synod of Argyll in 1649 instructed seven of its ministers to translate the Westminster Shorter Catechism into that language. The result was published that same year, and the Gaelic Shorter Catechism continued to play a part in church life for decades after it had ceased to be used in the English speaking churches. The Free Church of Scotland
Free Church of Scotland (post 1900)
Free Church of Scotland is that part of the original Free Church of Scotland that remained outside of the union with the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland in 1900...
still presents a Bible to a child who can answer all 107 questions accurately at one sitting.
The catechism is composed of 107 questions and answers. The first 12 questions concern God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
as Creator
Creator deity
A creator deity is a deity responsible for the creation of the world . In monotheism, the single God is often also the creator deity, while polytheistic traditions may or may not have creator deities...
. Questions 13-20 deal with original sin
Original sin
Original sin is, according to a Christian theological doctrine, humanity's state of sin resulting from the Fall of Man. This condition has been characterized in many ways, ranging from something as insignificant as a slight deficiency, or a tendency toward sin yet without collective guilt, referred...
and the fallen state of man's nature. Questions 21-38 concern Christ
Christ
Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...
the Redeemer and the benefits that flow from redemption. The next set of questions, 39-84, discuss the ten commandments
Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments, also known as the Decalogue , are a set of biblical principles relating to ethics and worship, which play a fundamental role in Judaism and most forms of Christianity. They include instructions to worship only God and to keep the Sabbath, and prohibitions against idolatry,...
. Questions 85-97 teach concerning the Sacrament
Sacrament
A sacrament is a sacred rite recognized as of particular importance and significance. There are various views on the existence and meaning of such rites.-General definitions and terms:...
s of Baptism
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
and Holy Communion. The final set of questions, 98-107, teach and explain the Lord's prayer
Lord's Prayer
The Lord's Prayer is a central prayer in Christianity. In the New Testament of the Christian Bible, it appears in two forms: in the Gospel of Matthew as part of the discourse on ostentation in the Sermon on the Mount, and in the Gospel of Luke, which records Jesus being approached by "one of his...
. This organization mimics the earlier Heidelberg Catechism
Heidelberg Catechism
The Heidelberg Catechism is a Protestant confessional document taking the form of a series of questions and answers, for use in teaching Reformed Christian doctrine...
of the continental Reformed churches.
The most famous of the questions (known to a great many Presbyterian children) is the first:
Q. What is the chief end of man?
A. Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.
In 1675, the Presbyterian Thomas Vincent
Thomas Vincent
Thomas Vincent was an English Puritan minister and author.-Life:Both his father and brother were prominent ministers. He was the second son of John Vincent and elder brother of Nathaniel Vincent, born at Hertford in May 1634...
in London published a popular exposition called The Shorter Catechism Explained. Later, Reformed catechisms such as the 1693 Baptist Keach's Catechism
Keach's Catechism
The Keach's Catechism is a Reformed Baptist catechism consisting of a set of 118 basic questions and answers from scripture teaching readers the basics of the Reformed Baptist faith.The Catechism is similar to the earlier Heidelberg Catechism and Westminster Catechism except for the sections on...
mimic the Westminster catechism on most points except infant baptism.
External links
- "The Westminster Shorter Catechism", 韦斯敏斯德小要理问答（1647年）,房角石华人长老教会(PCUSA)
- "The Westminster Shorter Catechism. A.D. 1647", critical edition from Philip SchaffPhilip SchaffPhilip Schaff , was a Swiss-born, German-educated Protestant theologian and a historian of the Christian church, who, after his education, lived and taught in the United States.-Biography:...
's Creeds of the Evangelical Protestant Churches, pp. 676–704. - Shorter Catechism with Scripture Proofs
- Shorter Catechism Project