September 15, 1648 - Westminster Catechisms

Title page, The Confession of Faith, Together with the Larger and Shorter Catechisms, fourth edition (Edinburgh: James Watson, 1708). Public domain. 

On September 15, 1648, the English Parliament ordered the Westminster Assembly’s catechisms printed for public use. Behind that seemingly ordinary act of publication stood years of theological debate, political maneuvering, and civil war. The Westminster Larger and Shorter Catechisms would ultimately have a far greater influence outside the Church of England than the political circumstances surrounding their creation might have suggested.

Catechisms were already an important part of Christian instruction long before Westminster. The word “catechesis” refers broadly to religious instruction, and question-and-answer teaching became particularly prominent during the Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther’s catechisms helped establish the format as an effective way of teaching doctrine to families and children. Other Protestants developed their own catechisms, while Roman Catholics also placed increased emphasis on catechetical instruction during the Catholic Reformation.

The Westminster catechisms emerged from a much more complicated setting. Religious disagreements within the Church of England had persisted since the reign of Elizabeth I. Some Protestants believed the English Reformation had not gone far enough and wanted the church brought more closely into line with Reformed churches on the European continent and the Presbyterian Church of Scotland.

Those tensions intensified under Charles I. His attempts to impose English patterns of worship and episcopal government on Scotland contributed to armed resistance. Charles needed Parliament to provide money, but Parliament had its own grievances against the king, including disputes over religion. By 1642, England had descended into civil war.

Religion and politics were inseparable from the conflict. Parliament wanted not only to defeat the king but also to reform the Church of England. In 1643 it summoned an assembly of ministers and theologians to Westminster. The Westminster Assembly included roughly 120 English ministers along with members of Parliament. Scottish commissioners later participated extensively in its deliberations, although they were not voting members.

The Assembly originally attempted to revise the Church of England’s Thirty-Nine Articles. Its responsibilities soon expanded. It worked on church government, worship, a confession of faith, and eventually catechisms that could provide systematic instruction in Reformed theology.

The Scottish role was particularly important. Parliament needed Scottish military assistance against Charles I. Scotland agreed to cooperate under the Solemn League and Covenant, which called for greater religious uniformity among the churches of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Thus questions about theology, worship, and church government became entangled with the military alliances of the Civil Wars.

The Assembly initially considered producing a single catechism but eventually concluded that one document could not serve every purpose. It therefore produced two: the Larger Catechism for more extensive instruction and the Shorter Catechism for more basic teaching and memorization.

The Larger Catechism was completed first in 1647, followed by the Shorter Catechism later that year. Committees prepared sections that were then debated and revised by the Assembly. For its treatment of the Ten Commandments, specialized committees were assigned to examine individual commandments.

One distinctive feature of the Shorter Catechism was the construction of answers that could stand independently. Its famous opening illustrates the method. Asked, “What is the chief end of man?” it does not simply answer, “To glorify God and enjoy him forever.” Instead, the complete response begins, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.” Someone memorizing the answer therefore learned a complete theological statement rather than a fragment dependent upon remembering the question.

The Shorter Catechism contained 107 questions and answers. Together, the catechisms addressed Scripture, God, creation, sin, Christ, salvation, the Ten Commandments, sacraments, and prayer. Parliament also required the Assembly to provide biblical proof texts, connecting the catechetical statements to the scriptural passages the divines believed supported them.

Yet Parliament did not simply accept everything the Westminster Assembly produced. Serious disagreements existed over church government and, particularly, the extent of the civil government’s authority over the church. Political developments during the Second English Civil War further complicated matters.

By 1648, Parliament had reason to reassure English and Scottish Presbyterians that it remained sympathetic to their concerns. Approval and publication of the catechisms became part of that political environment. On September 15, Parliament ordered the catechisms printed by authority for public use.

Ironically, Westminster’s attempt to reshape the English church proved far less durable than its catechisms. Political changes under Oliver Cromwell and the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 prevented Presbyterianism from becoming the permanent structure of the Church of England.

Scotland proved different. The Church of Scotland embraced the Westminster standards, and Scottish and Scots-Irish migration carried them overseas. Presbyterian churches in North America and elsewhere subsequently incorporated the Westminster Confession and catechisms into their doctrinal traditions. Congregationalists and Baptists produced adaptations, and John Wesley also made use of a revised Shorter Catechism.

Why It Matters

The Westminster catechisms became among the most influential products of seventeenth-century Reformed Christianity, especially within the Presbyterian tradition. Their history also illustrates how theological developments during the Reformation era were often shaped within a larger world of political institutions, international alliances, war, and competing understandings of church and state.