Philip Schaff · 36 of 85
The Westminster Shorter Catechism. A.D. 1647
Catechismus Westmonasteriensis Minor.
[This Catechism was prepared by the Westminster Assembly in 1647, and adopted by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, 1648; by the Presbyterian Synod of New York and Philadelphia, May, 1788: and by nearly all the Presbyterian and Congregational Churches of the English tongue. It was translated into Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, and many other languages, and appeared in innumerable editions. Although little known on the continent of Europe, it is more extensively used than any other Protestant catechism, except perhaps the Small Catechism of Luther and the Heidelberg Catechism. Want of space compels us to omit the Assembly's Larger Catechism, which is easy of access. For the same reason we have omitted the Scripture proofs.
The English original is conformed to the edition of the Presbyterian Board, compared with the London edition of 1658 and other older English and Scotch editions, which present no variations of any account. The Latin translation is from the Cambridge and Edinburgh editions, containing the Confession and both Catechisms, and reprinted in Niemeyer's Appendix.]
The oldest editions of the Westminster Shorter Catechism have the following addendum:
