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The Westminster Shorter Catechism: 107 Questions Worth Memorizing

June 28, 2026

The Westminster Shorter Catechism was designed for children and new believers. And yet C.S. Lewis wrote that its opening answer is the most perfect sentence he ever encountered. Jonathan Edwards built his theology around its vision of God and human flourishing. Tim Keller has said it shaped his entire preaching ministry.

This is a document that rewards beginners and never stops rewarding experts.

The Westminster Assembly: Brief Background

The catechism emerged from the Westminster Assembly (1643–1653), a body of English and Scottish clergy convened by Parliament during the civil war years. Their mandate was to reform the Church of England along more thoroughly Protestant lines.

The assembly produced several documents: the Westminster Confession of Faith (1646), the definitive doctrinal statement; the Larger Catechism (1648), for ministers and advanced students; and the Shorter Catechism (1647), for children and ordinary members.

The Shorter Catechism, though the “smallest” of these documents, became by far the most widely used. It spread through Scottish Presbyterianism and eventually shaped Reformed and Presbyterian churches around the world.

Q1: The Sentence That Starts Everything

Q: What is the chief end of man? A: Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.

Two verbs — glorify and enjoy — that are in fact one movement. C.S. Lewis noticed what others had missed: “Praise is the mode of love which always has some element of joy in it.” To glorify God and to enjoy God are not two obligations; they’re the same thing, seen from different angles.

This first answer functions as the catechism’s thesis. Everything that follows — what we believe about God, about sin, about Christ, about the sacraments — serves this single end. Human beings exist not to achieve or perform or accumulate, but to know and delight in the God who made them.

Structure: Three Main Parts

Part 1: What We Believe (Q1–38)

God (Q4–6)

Q4: What is God? A: God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.

Every word earns its place. Spirit — therefore not spatially limited. Infinite, eternal, unchangeable — no development, no diminishment, no dependency. The list of attributes (wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, truth) covers the full range of divine character.

The Trinity (Q5–6)

The catechism moves directly from the nature of God to his triune being: “three persons of the same substance, power, and eternity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost.”

Sin and the Fall (Q13–20)

Q14: What is sin? A: Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God.

Two types of sin in one sentence: want of conformity (failure to be what the law requires — sins of omission, of character) and transgression (active violation). Sin isn’t only the bad things we do; it’s also the good things we fail to be.

Q18: Wherein consists the sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell? A: The sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell consists in the guilt of Adam’s first sin, the want of original righteousness, and the corruption of his whole nature, which is commonly called Original Sin…

Total depravity — not that every human is as bad as they could possibly be, but that every dimension of human nature is corrupted. The fall is comprehensive.

Christ’s Threefold Office (Q23–26)

One of the catechism’s most useful theological structures: Christ as Prophet, Priest, and King.

As Prophet, he reveals God’s will.
As Priest, he offered himself as a sacrifice and intercedes for us.
As King, he rules and defends his people.

These three categories are not merely historical. They answer ongoing pastoral questions: Who speaks with authority about God today? (The prophet’s word, given in Scripture.) How are we made right with God? (The priest’s sacrifice.) Who is in charge of history? (The king who rules.)

Part 2: The Law (Q39–81)

Q39: What is the duty which God requireth of man? A: The duty which God requireth of man is obedience to his revealed will.

The catechism then works through the Ten Commandments, treating each with the same double structure: what it requires, and what it forbids. This bidirectionality is one of the Reformed tradition’s most distinctive moves — taking prohibitions (“do not murder”) and reading them to also imply positive commands (“preserve and protect life”).

Q68 on the Sixth Commandment:

A: The sixth commandment requireth all lawful endeavors to preserve our own life, and the life of others.

Not just “don’t kill.” Actively protect life.

Part 3: Salvation and the Means of Grace (Q86–107)

Faith (Q86)

Q: What is faith in Jesus Christ? A: Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace, whereby we receive and rest upon him alone for salvation, as he is offered to us in the gospel.

Three elements: receive (knowledge and acceptance), rest upon (trust), him alone (Christ is not supplemented by our merit or effort). This definition of faith has anchored Reformed preaching for centuries.

The Sacraments (Q92–97)

The catechism defines a sacrament as “a holy ordinance instituted by Christ, wherein, by sensible signs, Christ and the benefits of the new covenant are represented, sealed, and applied to believers.” Only two sacraments are recognized: baptism and the Lord’s Supper — because only these two were explicitly instituted by Christ.

The Lord’s Prayer (Q98–107)

The catechism closes with a careful exposition of the Lord’s Prayer, treating each petition in turn. Prayer is presented not as a technique but as the natural response of those who know who God is — the means by which people who exist “to enjoy God forever” actually do so.

Why It Still Works

For preaching

The Shorter Catechism’s questions make excellent sermon starting points. “What is sin?” (Q14) opens directly to Romans 1–3. “What is faith?” (Q86) becomes a whole sermon on the nature of saving trust. The catechism’s precision is a gift to preachers who want to say things carefully.

For Christian formation

Memorization isn’t fashionable anymore, but there is something the catechism knows that we’ve partially forgotten: what a person can repeat from memory is what shapes their reflexive thinking. The child who has internalized Q1 will reach for “to glorify God and enjoy him forever” when they need an answer to the question of what life is for. That’s formation in the deepest sense.

For pastoral care

The catechism’s doctrines of sin (Q14–20), grace (Q20–26), and assurance (addressed in the Larger Catechism and Confession) give pastoral workers a theological grammar for talking about guilt, forgiveness, doubt, and hope — in a form compact enough to carry into actual conversations.

Four centuries after it was written, the Westminster Shorter Catechism keeps doing what it was designed to do: teaching the basics of Christian faith in a form simple enough to memorize and deep enough to spend a lifetime unpacking.

Didymus Lab supports biblical study of the texts that ground Westminster catechesis — the Pentateuch, the Psalms, the Pauline letters — with full original-language tools.

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