Protestant Catechisms with Scripture References

by Westminster Assembly, William Collins, Benjamin Keach

At the beginning of the preface to The Way of Life, Charles Hodge summarized the Christian commitment to truth and the indispensable necessity of applying truth to the heart and mind in order to promote holiness. “It is one of the clearest principles of divine revelation, that holiness is the fruit of truth; and it is one of the plainest inferences from that principle, that the exhibition of the truth is the best means of promoting holiness.”

Historically, the Protestant churches have utilized catechisms as a means of systematically instructing youth in the content of Christian doctrine. It is recognized that without an established catechism, individuals will either lack Christian instruction, or what instruction they receive will vary according to the individual knowledge, abilities, and dedication of their teachers. In order to prevent ignorance of God's word, catechism-based instruction can be implemented in any setting, along with Scripture memorization, which can ensure profitable instruction.

169 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 4, 2019

About the author

The Westminster Assembly of Divines was a synod composed of theologians (or "divines") and members of Parliament appointed to restructure the Church of England. It was called during the lead up to the First English Civil War by the Long Parliament, which was influenced by Puritanism and opposed to the religious policies of Charles I and William Laud. As part of a military alliance with Scotland, Parliament agreed that the outcome of the Assembly would bring the English Church into closer conformity with the Church of Scotland, which was presbyterian. Scottish commissioners attended and advised the Assembly as part of the agreement. The Assembly met for ten years (1643–53), and in the process produced a new Form of Government, a Confession of Faith, two catechisms (Shorter and Larger), and a liturgical manual for the Churches of England and Scotland.

Disagreements over church government caused open division in the Assembly, despite attempts to maintain unity. The party of divines who favored presbyterianism, or government by hierarchies of elected assemblies, was in the majority. However, political and military realities led to greater influence for the congregational party, which favored autonomy for individual congregations. Parliament eventually adopted a presbyterian form of government, but not to the degree the presbyterian divines desired. During the Restoration in 1660, all of the documents of the Assembly were repudiated and episcopal church government was reinstated in England. However, because of their acceptance by dissenting churches and the Church of Scotland, these documents became influential worldwide through missionary expansion.

The Assembly worked in the Reformed theological tradition. It took the Bible as the authoritative word of God, from which all theological reflection must be based. Though the divines were committed to the doctrine of predestination to salvation, there was some disagreement over the doctrine of particular redemption—that Christ died only for those whom the Father chose to save. The Assembly also held to Reformed covenant theology, a framework for interpreting the Bible. The Assembly's Confession was the first of the Reformed confessions to include the covenant of works, in which God promised life to Adam on condition of perfect obedience.