Sunday School: Introduction to the Westminster Confession of Faith

In its original form, presented in 1647 (about 380 years ago), the title was, “The Humble Advice of the Assembly of Divines, Now by Authority of Parliament sitting at Westminster, Concerning A Confession of Fath: With the Quotations and Text of Scripture annexed. Presented by them lately to both houses of Parliament.” First, notice, the WCF, in its original form, was a public statement of Christian doctrine, (which is what the word faith means here, the contents of our faith as derived from Holy Scripture). Second, notice this was advice, from a group of theologians called divines to both houses of Parliament, who had called these 121 divines together at Westminster in England, initially to revise the Thirty-Nine Articles, which was the current doctrinal standard for the church of England. Third, given the number of divines involved, the WCF is a both a compromise and consensus document (in the positive sense). Imagine how difficult it would be for 100+ pastors to all agree on something. We have today the minutes of many of the debates that took place at the Westminster Assembly, and it is clear that various compromises had to be made in order to reach agreement on how to word certain doctrinal matters. This also means there are some intentional ambiguities to allow for a diversity of viewpoints on some doctrinal matters (e.g. the imputation of the active obedience of Christ). The upside is that this also represents a strong consensus of what is actually stated in the WCF. NOTE: We can read in WCF 31.3-5 what the divines thought of their own authority in writing this confession of faith: “III. It belongeth to synods and councils ministerially to determine controversies of faith, and cases of conscience; to set down rules and directions for the better ordering of the public worship of God, and government of his church; to receive complaints in cases of mal-administration, and authoritatively to determine the same: which decrees and determinations, if consonant to the word of God, are to be received with reverence and submission, not only for their agreement with the word, but also for the power whereby they are made, as being an ordinance of God, appointed thereunto in his word.IV. All synods or councils since the apostles’ times, whether general or particular, may err, and many have erred; therefore they are not to be made the rule of faith or practice, but to be used as a help in both. V. Synods and councils are to handle or conclude nothing but that which is ecclesiastical; and are not to intermeddle with civil affairs, which concern the commonwealth, unless by way of humble petition, in cases extraordinary; or by way of advice for satisfaction of conscience, if they be thereunto required by the civil magistrate” So there is a unique historical and political context to this doctrinal statement, where one of the civil powers, Parliament, calls together 121 theologians, to help them reform and unify the church in England. Eventually, this Confession of Faith, along with the other documents the assembly produced, would become the basis for a new religious uniformity. I’ll read you the title of the 1851 Edinburgh Edition: “THE CONFESSION OF FAITH, 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 approved by the general assembly 1647, and ratified and established by acts of parliament 1649 and 1690, as the public and avowed CONFESSION OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND, with the PROOFS FROM THE SCRIPTURE.” So you can imagine there is a long and complex history to how this religious-political advice, from 120-some English theologians in 1647, came to be the doctrinal standard of Presbyterianism in America and beyond. Well whole books have been written on this history, and I refer you to them if you want to study this more, but I say all this to alert you to the real human and historical context in which the church produces doctrinal statements. Summary Takeaway: All theology, including the inspired books of the Old and New Testament, are produced within and amongst real people, in real places, with the same human nature as you and I. And if we do not factor in that human element, along with the absence of Divine Inspiration in the apostolic sense, we may easily misunderstood or misuse or misapply what our fathers in the faith were attempting to do: Hand on to the next generation, the faith once received from the Apostles as best as they could. So rather than giving a complete historical overview of the Westminster Assembly right now (which would be impossible to do), I am going to just chip away each week at giving you a little bit of that context in each lesson. So we’ll start most lessons with a little history and background, and then get into the contents of the Confession itself.