Confessions & Catechisms
Read the creeds, confessions, and catechisms that define the great Christian traditions. All 42documents are available here in full, from the Apostles' Creed to the Westminster Standards and the Lausanne Covenant. Use the filters below to browse by tradition or search by title, year, or topic.
Modern documents are published with their publisher's attribution. Each document page links back to the authoritative source for reference.
Defined the dogma of the Trinity and the Incarnation. Nicaea and Chalcedon bind the Eastern Orthodox, Catholic, and Reformation churches; the Apostles' and Athanasian Creeds are received in the Latin West.
The Western Church’s classic baptismal creed, formed over centuries from the old Roman symbol into the familiar summary of apostolic faith.
The great trinitarian creed of the undivided Church, first framed at Nicaea in 325 against Arianism and given its received form at Constantinople in 381.
A dense Latin creed on the Trinity and the Incarnation, long linked with Athanasius though almost certainly composed in the post-patristic West.
The Christological definition of the Council of Chalcedon: one and the same Christ acknowledged in two natures, “without confusion, change, division, or separation.”
Catechize, confess, and pray the faith of Eastern Orthodoxy. Philaret's Longer Catechism trains Russian and Slavic Orthodox; the Confession of Dositheos answered Calvinist-leaning teaching at the Synod of Jerusalem (1672); the Divine Liturgy of Chrysostom shapes Byzantine-rite worship.
Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow’s influential catechism, prepared for the Russian Church and widely used in nineteenth-century Orthodox instruction.
The doctrinal decree of the Synod of Jerusalem under Patriarch Dositheus, answering the Protestantizing claims associated with Cyril Lucaris.
The principal Eucharistic liturgy of the Byzantine rite, traditionally associated with John Chrysostom and shaped through centuries of worship in the Greek East.
Govern, teach, and catechize the Roman Catholic Church. Trent defined Counter-Reformation dogma, Vatican II reshaped modern pastoral practice, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church synthesizes both for universal catechesis.
The great Catholic reforming council of the sixteenth century, issuing decrees and canons on Scripture, justification, the sacraments, and church discipline.
Fr. Thomas L. Kinkead’s expansive explanation of the Baltimore Catechism, a classroom and parish staple in American Catholic life for generations.
Thomas L. Kinkead, *An Explanation of the Baltimore Catechism* (Benziger Brothers, 1891). Public domain via Project Gutenberg.
The Thirty-Nine Articles and the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral are received across the Anglican Communion. The ACNA Catechism (2020) catechizes the Anglican Church in North America specifically — not the broader Communion.
The classic doctrinal formulary of the Church of England, giving Reformation teaching an unmistakably English ecclesial shape.
The four-point Anglican proposal for visible Christian unity: Holy Scripture, the creeds, the two dominical sacraments, and the historic episcopate.
Nine Calvinistic articles drafted at Lambeth Palace under Archbishop John Whitgift, influential in controversy but never authorized as doctrine for the Church of England.
The 1929 Scottish Book of Common Prayer of the Scottish Episcopal Church: heir to the English prayer-book tradition, preserving the daily offices and classic rites while also carrying the historic Scottish Communion Office that deeply influenced the American 1789 liturgy.
Project Gutenberg eBook 29622: *The Book of Common Prayer of the Church of Scotland* (1929), including the Scottish Communion Office. Public domain.
The Prayer Book catechism of the Church of England, begun in 1549, enlarged in 1604 with teaching on the sacraments, and received in its familiar form in 1662.
The doctrinal articles adopted by the Reformed Episcopal Church after its break with the Protestant Episcopal Church, retaining Anglican forms while sharpening their evangelical and Reformed edge.
Confess the faith of the Lutheran churches bound to the Book of Concord (1580). The Augsburg Confession presents Lutheran teaching publicly; Luther's Small and Large Catechisms train laity and clergy; the Formula of Concord resolved internal Lutheran disputes after Luther's death.
Philipp Melanchthon’s chief Lutheran confession, presented at Augsburg before Emperor Charles V as the evangelical estates’ statement of faith.
Martin Luther’s compact catechism for households and children, built around the Commandments, Creed, Lord’s Prayer, and sacraments.
Luther’s fuller catechetical work for pastors and teachers, unfolding the same chief parts with greater doctrinal and pastoral richness.
Melanchthon’s substantial defense of the Augsburg Confession against the Roman Confutation, especially weighty on justification, repentance, the church, and the sacraments.
Henry E. Jacobs, *The Book of Concord* (1882), vol. 1, pp. 73–302. Public domain via Internet Archive.
Luther’s vigorous confession prepared for a general council, later received into the Book of Concord as one of the Lutheran symbols.
F. Bente and W. H. T. Dau, trans., *Triglot Concordia* (1921). Public domain via Project Wittenberg.
Melanchthon’s appendix to the Smalcald Articles, arguing against papal claims from Scripture, canon law, and the witness of the early church.
F. Bente and W. H. T. Dau, trans., *Triglot Concordia* (1921). Public domain via Project Wittenberg.
The concise form of the Formula of Concord, settling the doctrinal disputes that troubled post-Reformation Lutheranism.
The full exposition of the Formula of Concord, treating the major controversies of later sixteenth-century Lutheranism in careful detail.
Henry E. Jacobs, *The Book of Concord* (1882), vol. 1, pp. 487–671. Public domain via Internet Archive.
Confess and catechize the Reformed tradition. The Three Forms of Unity (Belgic 1561, Heidelberg 1563, Canons of Dort 1619) govern Continental Reformed churches; the Westminster Standards (1646–48) govern Presbyterian and Congregational churches in the English-speaking world.
Guido de Brès’s confession for the Reformed churches of the Low Countries, later received as one of the Three Forms of Unity.
A warm and memorable Reformed catechism in 129 questions and answers, beloved for its opening confession of our only comfort in life and in death.
The Synod of Dort’s judgment on the Remonstrant controversy, setting out the classic Reformed response to Arminian teaching.
The Westminster Assembly’s great confession, perhaps the most influential doctrinal standard in the English-speaking Reformed world.
The Assembly’s fuller catechism, expansive in doctrine and especially rich in its treatment of the moral law and Christian duty.
The concise catechism for instruction in the faith, famous for its opening answer: humanity’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.
John Calvin’s theological masterpiece, first published in 1536 and expanded into its definitive 1559 form; this registry uses the old English translation by John Allen.
John Allen translation, American edition of *Institutes of the Christian Religion*. Public domain via Project Gutenberg eBooks 45001 and 64392.
Heinrich Bullinger’s mature confession, first written privately and then embraced across much of the Reformed world.
The 104 articles adopted by the Church of Ireland under the strong influence of James Ussher, more explicitly Calvinistic than the Thirty-Nine Articles.
The Congregational revision of Westminster, drafted at the Savoy in London and reshaping ecclesiology along Independent lines.
The New School Presbyterian statement issued at Auburn, New York, defending its orthodoxy against charges of departure from the Westminster standards.
The Waldensian confession from the Piedmont churches after their alignment with the Reformed tradition, issued in the shadow of the terrible 1655 persecutions.
Confess the Baptist conviction of believers’ baptism, regenerate church membership, and soul liberty. The Second London Confession (1689) sits within Reformed Baptist confessionalism; the Baptist Faith and Message frames modern Southern Baptist teaching; the New Hampshire Confession (1833) is the ancestor of most American Baptist statements.
Drafted chiefly by John Newton Brown, this concise confession became the most widely used Baptist doctrinal statement in nineteenth-century America.
The classic Particular Baptist confession, first published anonymously in 1677 and formally adopted after the Toleration Act in 1689.
The Southern Baptist Convention’s first convention-wide confession, drafted under E. Y. Mullins and shaped in part by the New Hampshire Confession.
Catechize the Wesleyan-Arminian tradition and its holiness heirs. Wesley's Articles of Religion (1784) trimmed the Thirty-Nine Articles for American Methodists; Wesley's Standard Sermons and Notes on the New Testament remain normative doctrinal standards across the Methodist connection.
John Wesley’s revision of the Thirty-Nine Articles for American Methodists, adopted at the Christmas Conference as a doctrinal standard of the new church.
John Wesley’s first four volumes of sermons, later named in Methodist constitutional standards as doctrinally normative alongside the Articles of Religion.
Wesley Center Online, Northwest Nazarene University, from the 1872 Jackson edition. Public domain.
Confess the free-church Anabaptist witness of believers' baptism, discipleship, and nonresistance. The Schleitheim Confession (1527) gave the Swiss Brethren seven articles; the Dordrecht Confession (1632) is still received by Mennonite and Amish communities today.
Frame modern evangelical consensus across denominational lines. The NAE Statement of Faith (1943) anchors American evangelical cooperation; the Lausanne Covenant (1974) undergirds the global evangelical movement; the Chicago Statement (1978) articulates the doctrine of biblical inerrancy.