The Westminster Confession of Faith

Introduction

The Westminster Confession of Faith systematically represents the Christian faith and doctrine. Since its conception, it has been well received by Christians of all denominations and remains relevant for Christians and churches worldwide today. Primarily, the Confession “[is] as much used now in Anglo-Presbyterian Churches as ever, and [has] more vitality and influence than any other Calvinistic Confession.”¹

In volume one, The History of Creeds, of his multivolume work, The Creeds of Christendom, Philip Schaff quotes Richard Baxter: “The Divines there congregated were men of eminent learning, godliness, ministerial abilities, and fidelity… the Christian world, since the days of the apostles, had never a synod of more excellent divines (taking one thing with another) than this and the Synod of Dort.”² While Baxter was not a divine himself, “but knew [the Assembly] well,”³ his input is commendable and trustworthy. He mentions two synods of great value: the Westminster Assembly and the Synod of Dort. While this paper is focused on the historical context, purpose, meaning, and applications derived from the former, the latter deserves a brief word: “The Synod of Dort was indeed fully equal to [the former] in learning and moral weight, and was more general in composition, since it embraced delegates from nearly all Reformed Churches… But the doctrinal legislation of the Synod of Dort was confined to the five points at issue between Calvinism and Arminianism.”⁴ Therefore, The Westminster Confession has a broader purpose and more theological depth, and this paper will demonstrate this purpose and theological depth in the following sections: Historical Context, Message, and Application.

Historical Context

This section of the paper will evaluate the authors of the Confession, their purpose in writing, and their audience.

The authors of The Westminster Confession of Faith are known as the “Assembly of Divines,” and the Divines were primarily Presbyterian delegates from Scotland.⁵ This Presbyterian majority, and the absence of many Anglican bishops, was due to a war in which Parliament and the king clashed.⁶ On June 12, 1643, Parliament ordered that “an assembly of divines should be convened… to effect a more perfect reformation of the Church of England and its liturgy, discipline, and government on the basis of the Word of God, and thus bring it in nearer agreement with the Church of Scotland and the Reformed Churches on the Continent.”⁷ This goal was not entirely religious, for Parliament wanted to gather the support of its neighbors to overthrow the king, and this fact is evidenced in that “[t]he king by proclamation prohibited the meeting of the Assembly, and threatened those who disobeyed his order with the loss of all their ecclesiastical livings and promotions. This unfortunately prevented the attendance of loyal Episcopalians.”⁸ Overall, 121 divines authored the Confession along with the Catechisms.

As previously mentioned, the Assembly was decreed to unite the churches of England and Scotland doctrinally. However, before this, “the Assembly’s original mandate to revise the Church of England’s Thirty-Nine Articles in a path more amenable to Parliament’s Puritan agenda,” yet this mandate only lasted a few months before being changed.⁹ Thus, the construction of the Confession “began in 1645. It was then the Westminster Assembly produced the Directory for Public Worship, which briefly replaced the Book of Common Prayer in the Church of England and Scottish Kirk, as well as a new Directory for Church Government.”¹⁰ These were created by the Assembly because they “needed to fence the Lord’s Supper without clear dogmatic standards to enforce. This dilemma forced the Assembly to produce a skeleton doctrinal formula until they could complete the full confession.”¹¹ Such a task was accomplished “in 1646 (the same year the king was defeated).”¹² However, the goal of the Assembly ultimately failed. The Presbyterian Church of Scotland and the Anglican Church remained ununified, yet “the Scots seemed to be predestined for Calvinistic Presbyterianism by an effective decree of Providence. The hostility of their bishops to the Reformation, and the repeated attempts of the Stuarts to force English institutions upon them, filled the nation with an intense aversion to Episcopacy and liturgical worship.”¹³ Therefore, the Scots “adopted [the Confession] in full as it came from the hands of the Westminster divines, declaring it ‘to be the most agreeable to the Word of God.’”¹⁴ On the other hand, however, in England, the “Episcopacy and the Prayer-Book were identified with the Reformation and Protestant martyrdom, and hence were rooted in the affections of the people.”¹⁵ Therefore, England remained Episcopalian.

While this political goal may have failed, the Westminster Divines who authored The Westminster Confession successfully composed a comprehensive and systematic representation of Christian doctrine, which the next section will address.

Message and Evaluation

The Westminster Confession of Faith is composed of “four main sections: “The Plan of Redemption (WCF 1–9), the Application of Redemption (WCF 10–19), the Parameters of Service (WCF 20–24), and Serving the Church (WCF 25–33).”¹⁶ Regarding systematic theology, the Confession discusses Scripture, God and the Trinity, Christology, sin and depravity, salvation, and more. Therefore, it would be quite a task to examine all of its contents, yet the first chapter, “Of the Holy Scripture,” will be discussed in this section as all the other chapters and doctrines are derived from it.

The first chapter is divided into ten points. They can be summarized in this way:

1. Scripture is necessary for salvation.
2. Scripture is composed of the books of the Old and New Testaments.
3. The Apocrypha is not Scripture.
4. Scripture has authority.
5. The Holy Spirit works to help in the interpretation of Scripture.
6. Scripture contains the whole counsel of God.
7. All doctrinal necessities are made plain in Scripture.
8. The Scriptures are inerrant and inspired in the original manuscripts and must be translated into all languages.
9. Scripture interprets Scripture.
10. Scripture is the judge in all controversies.¹⁷

Because the Confession treats this section so carefully, it is apparent that they highly value God’s Word and believe it should be at the forefront of all doctrinal issues. The following thirty-two chapters remain as dedicated to the supremacy of Scripture as the first. A highlight of the Confession is that it “argues that God ordains whatever happens without either being the “author of evil” or taking away free will.”¹⁸ The Confession “also affirms Calvin’s view that believers truly and spiritually feed on the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist and proclaims that the church is both “invisible” (all the elect, ultimately known only to God) and “visible” (where the Word is preached and the sacraments properly administered).”¹⁹

Application and Final Conclusion

While there are many things believers can learn from the Confession and apply to their lives, particular applications are found in chapters “XV. Of Repentance unto Life” and “XXI. Of Religious Worship, and the Sabbath Day.”

Chapter 15 implores readers “to make a private confessions of [their] sins to God, praying for the pardon thereof (Ps. 51:4–5, 7, 9, 14, Ps. 32:5–6).”²⁰ This is a practice that Christians of today would do well to embrace. Christians must confess their sins often because when they do, they rely on the only one who can save them, Jesus Christ and His atoning work. When they confess and repent, they can be assured of their pardon, for just “[a]s there is no sin so small, but it deserves damnation; (Rom. 6:23, Rom. 5:12, Matt. 12:36) so there is no sin so great, that it can bring damnation upon those who truly repent (Isa. 55:7, Rom. 8:1, Isa. 1:16, 18).”²¹ It is essential to clarify that repentance is “not to be rested in, as any satisfaction for sin, or any cause of the pardon thereof, (Ezek. 36:31–32, Ezek. 16:61–63) which is the act of God’s free grace in Christ; (Hos. 14:2, 4, Rom. 3:24, Eph. 1:7) yet it is of such necessity to all sinners, that none may expect pardon without it (Luke 13:3, 5, Acts 17:30–31).”²² Therefore, Christians must confess and repent.

Chapter 21 also speaks of prayer but in the sense of communal prayer with fellow Christians. It states, “Religious worship is to be given to God, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; and to Him alone; (Matt. 4:10, John 5:23, 2 Cor. 13:14) not to angels, saints, or any other creature: (Col. 2:18, Rev. 19:10, Rom. 1:25) and, since the fall, not without a Mediator; nor in the mediation of any other but of Christ alone (John 14:6, 1 Tim. 2:5, Eph. 2:18, Col. 3:17).”²³ Christ mediates the prayers of His people and prayer “is to be made in the name of the Son, (John 14:13–14, 1 Pet. 2:5) by the help of His Spirit, (Rom. 8:26)… with understanding, reverence, humility, fervency, faith, love, and perseverance (Ps. 47:7, Eccl. 5:1–2, Heb. 12:28, Gen. 18:27, James 5:16, James 1:6–7, Mark 11:24, Matt. 6:12, 14–15, Col. 4:2, Eph. 6:18).” Therefore, Christians must gather together to worship and pray.

These passages are helpful for Christians to learn from as they teach them how to pray correctly. Moreover, the entire Confession is useful for Christians as it systematically elaborates essential doctrines of the Faith and, in some cases, secondary and tertiary doctrines. Therefore, Christians should read The Westminster Confession, as well as other historic confessions, if they want to understand Christian doctrine better.

Bibliography

Schaff, Philip. The Creeds of Christendom: With a History and Critical Notes. Vol. 1, The History of Creeds. 6th ed. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1996.

Shelton, Ryan David. “Review of The Confession of Faith: A Critical Text and Introduction Edited by John R. Bower.” Edited by Geoff Chang. Themelios 46, no. 1 (2021): 193–194. Logos Bible Software.

Tait, Edwin Woodruff. “The Westminster Confession of Faith [#20].” Christian History Institute, No. 116 (2015). https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/westminster-confession-of-faith

Westminster Assembly. “The Westminster Confession of Faith.” The Westminster Standards (1647). https://westminsterstandards.org/westminster-confession-of-faith/

Footnotes

1. Philip Schaff, The Creeds of Christendom: With a History and Critical Notes, vol. 1, The History of Creeds, 6th ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1996), 728. ↩

2. Ibid., 729. ↩

3. Ibid. ↩

4. Ibid., 728. ↩

5. Edwin Woodruff Tait, “The Westminster Confession of Faith [#20],” Christian History Institute, no. 116 (2015): https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/westminster-confession-of-faith. ↩

6. Ibid. ↩

7. Schaff, 730. ↩

8. Ibid., 731. ↩

9. Ryan David Shelton, “Review of The Confession of Faith: A Critical Text and Introduction Edited by John R. Bower,” ed. Geoff Chang, Themelios 46, no. 1 (2021): 193. ↩

10. Ibid. ↩

11. Ibid. ↩

12. Tait. ↩

13. Schaff, 735. ↩

14. Ibid., 759. ↩

15. Ibid., 735. ↩

16. Shelton, 194. ↩

17. Westminster Assembly, “The Westminster Confession of Faith,” The Westminster Standards (1647): ch. 1. https://westminsterstandards.org/westminster-confession-of-faith/. ↩

18. Tait. ↩

19. Ibid. ↩

20. The Westminster Confession of Faith, ch. 15. ↩

21. Ibid. ↩

22. The Westminster Confession of Faith, ch. 15. ↩

23. Ibid., ch. 21. ↩