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TheWestminster Larger Catechism, along with theWestminster Shorter Catechism, is a centralcatechism ofCalvinists in theEnglish tradition throughout the world.
In 1643 when theLong Parliament of England called theWestminster Assembly to produce theWestminster Confession, it also asked for a directory of "catechising". The Assembly askedHerbert Palmer to produce a draft of the Larger Catechism.Robert Baillie and otherScottish delegates found the work disappointing. In December 1643 a committee was formed to write the Catechism. In January 1647 theAssembly gave up writing onecatechism and split it into two. TheWestminster Shorter Catechism was to be "easier to read and concise for beginners" and the Larger Catechism was to be "more exact and comprehensive". The Catechism was completed by theWestminster Assembly in 1647. It was then adopted by the General Assembly of theChurch of Scotland in 1648 and (with a slight modification to Q&A 109) by thePresbyterian Synod ofNew York andPhiladelphia in 1788, and by thePresbyterian Church in the U.S.A., upon its formation the following year.[1] In 1967, it was dropped by theUnited Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. in the formulation of theirBook of Confessions. However, it was embraced by the successor denominations such as thePresbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in that church'sBook of Confessions as well as the more conservative successors, thePresbyterian Church in America (PCA), theOrthodox Presbyterian Church, theEvangelical Presbyterian Church, and theBible Presbyterian Church.
The purpose of the Larger Catechism was to help ministers prepare their owncatechesis, as they taught the faith to their congregations in preaching,[2] while the purpose of the Shorter Catechism was to educate children and others "of weaker capacity" (according to a preface written by the Church of Scotland) in theReformed faith. Both the Larger and Shorter Catechisms are in a question and answer format, which had been popularized byMartin Luther as a way to help children learn the meaning of the material, rather than simply memorizing theLord's Prayer,Ten Commandments, andApostles' Creed as had been the practice prior to the Reformation.[3]
Being the larger of the two catechisms, the questions and answers go into much greater detail than the Shorter Catechism is summarizing the chief points of doctrine explained in the Westminster Confession. The Larger Catechism consists of 196 questions and answers. The first set of questions and answers, 1-5, concern the chief and highest end of man, the existence of God, and the Holy Scriptures as the Word of God. The next set of questions and answers, 6-90, concernGod asCreator,original sin, the fallen state of man's nature,Christ the Redeemer, and the benefits that flow from redemption. Following that, the next set of questions, 91-152, discuss the duty God requires of man, as summarized in theTen Commandments. Questions 153-177 concern the outward and ordinarymeans of grace, especially thepreaching of the Word of God and theSacraments ofBaptism andHoly Communion. The final set of questions, 178–196, teach and explain prayer, using theLord's Prayer as a model. This organization mimics the earlierHeidelberg Catechism used by manyContinental Reformed churches.
Westminster Larger Catechism public domain audiobook atLibriVox