View source for Westminster Larger Catechism

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[[File:Westminster_Standards.jpg|thumb|right|Title page from a printing of Westminster Confession of Faith, including the Larger and Shorter (or Lesser) Catechisms.]]
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The '''Westminster Larger Catechism''', along with the [[Westminster Shorter Catechism]], is a central [[catechism]] of [[Calvinism|Calvinists]] in the [[England|English]] tradition throughout the world.

== History ==
In 1643 when the [[Long Parliament]] of England called the [[Westminster Assembly]] to produce the [[Westminster Confession]], it also asked for a directory of "catechising". The Assembly asked [[Herbert Palmer (Puritan)|Herbert Palmer]] to produce a draft of the Larger Catechism. [[Robert Baillie]] and other [[Scotland|Scottish]] delegates found the work disappointing. In December 1643 a committee was formed to write the Catechism. In January 1647 the [[Westminster Assembly|Assembly]] gave up writing one [[catechism]] and split it into two. The [[Westminster 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 the [[Westminster Assembly]] in 1647. It was then adopted by the General Assembly of the [[Church of Scotland]] in 1648 and (with a slight modification to Q&A 109) by the [[Presbyterian]] Synod of [[New York (state)|New York]] and [[Philadelphia]] in 1788, and by the [[Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.]], upon its formation the following year.<ref>{{cite web |title=American Revisions to the Westminster Confession of Faith |url=https://www.opc.org/documents/WCF_orig.html |publisher=[[Orthodox Presbyterian Church]] |access-date=21 August 2025}}</ref> In 1967, it was dropped by the [[United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.]] in the formulation of their ''Book of Confessions''.  However, it was embraced by the successor denominations such as the [[Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)]] in that church's ''[[Book of Confessions]]'' as well as the more conservative successors, the [[Presbyterian Church in America]] (PCA), the [[Orthodox Presbyterian Church]], the [[Evangelical Presbyterian Church (United States)|Evangelical Presbyterian Church]], and the [[Bible Presbyterian Church]].

==Form and content==
The purpose of the Larger Catechism was to help ministers prepare their own [[catechesis]], as they taught the faith to their congregations in preaching,{{sfn|Kelly|1994|p=111}} 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 the [[Reformed tradition|Reformed]] faith. Both the Larger and Shorter Catechisms are in a question and answer format, which had been popularized by [[Martin Luther]] as a way to help children learn the meaning of the material, rather than simply memorizing the [[Lord's Prayer]], [[Ten Commandments]], and [[Apostles' Creed]] as had been the practice prior to the Reformation.{{sfn|Green|1996|page=17}} 

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, concern [[God]] as [[Creator deity|Creator]], [[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 the [[Ten Commandments]]. Questions 153-177 concern the outward and ordinary [[means of grace]], especially the [[preaching]] of the Word of God and the [[Sacrament]]s of [[Baptism]] and [[Holy Communion]]. The final set of questions, 178–196, teach and explain prayer, using the [[Lord's Prayer]] as a model. This organization mimics the earlier [[Heidelberg Catechism]] used by many [[Continental Reformed]] churches.

==See also==
* [[Westminster Shorter Catechism]]

== References ==
{{reflist|20em}}
*{{cite book|last=Green|first=Ian|title=The Christian's ABC: Catechisms and Catechizing in England c. 1530-1740|year=1996|location=Oxford|publisher=[[Clarendon Press]]|isbn= }}{{ISBN?}}
*{{cite book |last=Kelly |first=Douglas F. |chapter=The Westminster Shorter Catechism |editor1-last=Carlson |editor1-first=John L. |editor2-last=Hall |editor2-first=David W. |title=To Glorify and Enjoy God: A Commemoration of the 350th Anniversary of the Westminster Assembly |year=1994 |publisher=Banner of Truth Trust |location=Edinburgh |isbn=0-85151-668-8 }}
* Van Dixhorn, Chad [http://www.opc.org/new_horizons/NH00/0010b.html Is the Larger Catechism Worthwhile?]
* [[William Maxwell Hetherington|Hetherington, William]] [http://www.reformed.org/books/hetherington/west_assembly/index.html ''History of the Westminster Assembly of Divines''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150419050451/http://www.reformed.org/books/hetherington/west_assembly/index.html |date=19 April 2015 }}

==External links==
* [https://www.apuritansmind.com/westminster-standards/larger-catechism Westminster Larger Catechism with Scripture proofs]
*{{librivox book | title=Westminster Larger Catechism}}

{{reformed confessions}}
{{Westminster Assembly}}

[[Category:Westminster Standards]]
[[Category:Catechisms]]
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[[Category:Presbyterianism]]
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