John Wesley’s Revision of the Westminster Shorter Catechism

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Please click on the link to view James Alex. Macdonald, Wesley’s Revision of the Shorter Catechism with Notes (Edinburgh: George A. Morton, 1906). The full title is Wesley’s Revision of The Shorter Catechism Agreed Upon by the Assembly of Divines at Westminster with the Assistance of Commissioners from the Church of Scotland as a Part of the Covenanted Uniformity in Religion Betwixt the Churches of Christ in the Kingdoms of Scotland, England, and Ireland and Approved Anno 1648, by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, to Be a Directory for Catechising Such as Are of Weaker Capacity, with the Proofs from the Scripture With Notes Explanatory of Wesley’s Alterations.

From the preface:

John Wesley’s edition of the [Westminster] Shorter Catechism is found in his Christian Library, vol. xiv. p. 387, entitled An Extract from the Assembly’s Shorter Catechism; with the proofs thereof out of the Scriptures. We do not know that it was ever printed separately ; though such a publication would have been highly useful, both in Scotland and elsewhere, in order to set forth clearly the points of agreement and difference between his system of theology and that of the Westminster Divines. The method followed in the present edition is that of taking the Catechism as it is ordinarily printed for use in Scotland, and showing by deletions and alterations in red, exactly what changes Wesley made in the text. As the reason of some of these alterations was liable—as, for example, in the instance of adoption—to be misunderstood, it was found necessary to add notes of explanation.