Westminster Standards

The Westminster Confession of Faith and Larger and Shorter Catechism have been adopted as doctrinal standards by a number of Reformed and Presbyterian Christian denominations, but not the Church of Scotland nor those derived directly from it.

In 1658 printers began including the full Scripture passages which are cited in the confessional documents.

These collections became standardized in a 1728 edition, which follows a 1679 work published by Covenanters exiled in Holland and contains twenty-two documents including parliamentary acts related to the Assembly and devotional works.

These collections were intended to serve as ecclesiastical manuals as well as comprehensive popular religious books.

The 1728 form of the Standards continues to be printed by the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland.