Westminster Shorter Catechism

New converts to Christianity were taught through lectures during the first four centuries of the Church's existence, but this practice was largely abandoned with the rise of Christendom.

[1] On John Knox's return to Scotland after long exile because he was deemed by the authorities a heretic, the First Book of Discipline (1560) was drafted.

It required that a Sabbath afternoon session be set aside for examination of young children in catechism, and this practice eventually was adopted in the Kirk.

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.

When the Solemn League and Covenant was as a result signed between the English and Scots the Assembly's work also became the framing of "four points or parts of uniformity": a Confession of Faith, Form of Church Government, Directory for Worship, and Catechizing.

[6] It was passed Parliament 22–25 September[7] and ordered to be printed with the title The Grounds and Principles of Religion Contained in a Shorter Catechism.

[6] The purpose of the Shorter Catechism is to educate children and others "of weaker capacity" (according to a preface written by the Church of Scotland) in the Reformed faith.

[6] The Catechism is 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.

However, because a significant portion of the Scottish Highland population spoke only Gaelic, the Synod of Argyll in 1649 instructed seven of its ministers to translate the Westminster Shorter Catechism into that language.

A revised version of the Shorter Catechism, authored to demonstrate the relationship between the Methodist movement and the Church of Scotland, was published in John Wesley's A Christian Library.