An
Introduction to the Westminster Confession of Faith:
A
History of the Westminster Assembly, An Apologetic for Systematic Theologies and
an Exhortation to Bible Reading
The
Westminster Assembly:
Westminster
Assembly of Divines was a group of 121 English Puritan ministers, assisted by
six Scottish commissioners and thirty laymen from the House of Lords and the
House of Commons. The vast majority
were Presbyterians, a minority of Independents, and Erastians, and a few
Episcopalians who were never allowed to attend due to the kings condemnation of
the Assembly and the Solemn League and Covenant.
The
context of the Westminster Assembly was one of civil war.
The Parliamentary forces, eventually led by Oliver Cromwell were engaged
in conflict with the Cavalier army of King Charles I.
The Scots were fighting against Charles and the Archbishop of Cantebury
William Laud’s imposition of Episcopacy, Anglican liturgy, and Arminian
doctrine.
Phillip
Schaff says of the Westminster Assembly – “It forms the most important
chapter in ecclesiastical history
of England during the 17th Century. Whether
we look at the extent or ability of its labors, or its influence upon future
generations, it stands first among Protestant Councils.”
Comes
roughly 100 years after the death of Martin Luther. Follows the teachings of Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, Beza, the
first century of the Reformers. And
it follows a century of various persecutions of Protestants throughout England
and the Continent, including the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI, bloody Mary,
and Elizabeth, and the various High-Churchmen who served them.
1603
– James 1 becomes king of England.
1611
– Authorized Version of the Bible
1620
– Pilgrims to Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts
1625
– Death of James 1; accession of Charles 1, who marries a French papist.
1629
– Dissolution of Parliament by Charles 1
1633
– William Laud made Archbishop of Canterbury.
An Episcopalian, Arminian, who loved Rome, and hated Geneva.
Awful persecutions of Puritans, and particularly his forced episcopacy
upon Presbyterian Scotland in criminal defiance of the will of the people and
the law of the land. This hastened
the civil war.
1643
– June 12;Ordinance passed by
Parliament for calling Assembly of Divines
August 17; Solemn League and Covenant approved by Scottish
Parliament
September 25; SLC subscribed by members of Assembly and Parliament.
This religious/political document sought to unite the kingdoms of
England, Scotland, and Ireland under one statement of faith, order of worship,
and to unite the parliamentary forces with the Scottish army to defend against
the tyranny of the king.
1646
– Confession of Faith presented to Parliament
1647
– Cromwell’s Army marches into London
1649
– Trial and Execution of Charles 1. This
and the execution of Laud actually cast the seed for the Restoration of a
monarchy and High-church episcopacy.
The
results of the Westminster Assembly, ironically, were only of a limited nature
in England itself. Several
political factors caused this. But
the acceptance of the WCF throughout the English speaking world made it the most
adhered to confession, even over most of the American colonies. It is estimated that millions of children received their
religious instruction from the Shorter Catechism.
Philip
Schaff:
“The
WC together with the Catechisms, is the fullest and ripest symbolical statement
of the Calvinistic system of doctrine. In
theological ability and merit it is equal to the best works of the kind……it
was adopted by three distinct denominations: by the Presbyterians in full, and by the Congregationalists
and the Regular Baptists with some slight modifications….Altogether it
represents the most vigorous and yet moderate form of Calvinism.”
As
Systematic Theology it is committed to a faithful rendering of what the
scriptures reveal, not to add to the theology of the Scriptures.
Exegetical studies from the scriptures brought forth the statement of
faith, rather than one’s theology read into the scriptures.
A
systematic understanding of a work is simply the ability to summarize a work,
and a summary is simply a systematic distillation.
Some
people argue – “Don’t give me your theology”, or “Don’t teach
systematic theology”, “Just
teach the Bible”. But unless I
teach or preach every verse of the Bible every time I teach or preach or share
the gospel, I am forced to systematize, to summarize, and to make hierarchical
decisions about the importance and inter-relations of different texts. In other words, you cannot avoid systematic theology, you can
only do it well or poorly.
There
are many examples of systematic theology in the teaching of the scripture:
Matthew
22:35-40
35
Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying,36
“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”37 Jesus said to him,
“ ‘You shall love the Lord your
God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’38
“This is the first and great commandment.39 “And the second is like it:
‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’40 “On these two commandments
hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
1
Corinthians 15:1-6
Moreover,
brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you
received and in which you stand,2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast
that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.3 For I
delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for
our sins according to the Scriptures,4 and that He was buried, and that He rose
again the third day according to the Scriptures,5 and that He was seen by Cephas,
then by the twelve.6 After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at
once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen
asleep.
Three
errors to avoid:
1)
Systematically
misunderstanding the text or texts. And
we must acknowledge that all systematic theologies, confessions of faith, etc.
are fallible and never the final authority for faith and practice. It is also
important to note that, because we cannot avoid having a systematic theology,
that if we only have one informally, we still can fall into this error.
It might just be harder to detect, because I haven’t organized all my
thoughts down into one thick book.
2)
Similarly,
there is the error of imposing your incorrect systematic theology upon the text
of scripture, forcing verses to fit your theology. But again, this problem exists in systematic theologies
formally and informally.
3)
Correct
systematic understanding without a living knowledge of the text.
Like a Cliff’s Notes approach to the Bible, this is not good.
Systematic
Theologies, when handled well:
1)
Force the
Bible reader to allow Scripture to interpret Scripture.
2)
To always
consider the context of the passage, the context of the verse, the paragraph,
the chapter, the book, the Testament, the Scripture as a whole.
3)
Help us
to avoid hasty contradictions in our teaching and understanding.
4)
Allow us
to study the work of our fathers, respectfully sitting under their teaching,
while keeping an eye on the text of scripture.
Along
this line – as we study systematic theology, we are not striving for
originality. We want to add our
voices to those of the historic church, and so we will find ourselves in
agreement (although not at every
point) with the Westminster Confession of Faith.
All of these errors are best addressed first through reading and rereading your
Bible.
Biology
101 before 417. Bible reading
always before Bible Study.
All
of God’s Word is your life – Deut 32:46-47.
There
is so much value in the reading of God’s Word that we should be people who
read the whole Bible over and over again –
Psalm
119 –
v129
– perpetuates a heart of worship and obedience.
v130
– brings help to the simplest of minds. Start
now. Start your children now.
vv131-2
– refreshes the soul.
v133
– protects from sin’s potential dominion over me.
v136
– keeps your heart soft to the need for the gospel to all the world.
Methods
– develop simple methods.
Read
half the OT – then NT – then half the OT – then NT.
Read
the NT (Matt – Pauls letters – Mark – non-Pauline letters – Luke/Acts
– John/John’s epistles/Revelation).
Read
different versions, but find a home in a reliable translation – AV, NKJV.
Read
quickly. You will come back to it
soon, so don’t get bogged down.