Ackbach
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 2, 2016
- Messages
- 158
- Location
- Rochester, MN
- Gender
- Male
- Religious Affiliation
- Calvinist
- Political Affiliation
- Conservative
- Marital Status
- Married
We've probably all heard the phrase "No creed but Christ", or "No creed but the Bible". The problem is, this simply isn't possible. If someone were to come up to you on the street and ask you what you believe (and you should be ready to answer him, 1 Pet. 3:15), what you're NOT going to do is say this: "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, 'Let there be light.' And there was light." and then keep going, omitting nothing, until you reach "He who testifies to these things says, 'Yes, I am coming soon.' Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's people. Amen." Why are you not going to do this? Because, after this 71-hour process, you're going to look up from your Bible reading and discover that you're actually in an insane asylum.
Well, if that's not what you're going to do, what ARE you going to do? You're going to summarize somehow. And that summary, whatever it is, is your creed. So, we all have a creed. We all have our ways of summarizing what we believe the Bible says. Those ways are better or worse depending on whether they reflect biblical truth better or worse.
Confessionalism is simply an intentional way of going about this. Confessionalism at its best affirms the following propositions:
1. Only the Bible, in its original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, is the ultimate standard of appeal. Generally, we have good translations, and most of the time, they suffice. But you must dive into the original language versions (which, due to scholarship, we know with 99% accuracy what the original manuscripts were) to finally settle something. The Bible is given to us by God, and is inspired, infallible, and inerrant. It is sufficient, together with the Holy Spirit's working, for a saving knowledge of God - for faith and practice.
2. All summaries (confessions, creeds) of the Bible are fallible, and subject to improvement. They are changeable, unlike the Bible.
3. To subscribe to a confession means that you believe it is an accurate summary of the Bible's teaching. It does not mean you adhere to every single thing the confession says. I subscribe to the Westminster Standards (Westminster Confession of Faith, Westminster Shorter Catechism, Westminster Larger Catechism), e.g., but I do not agree with its interpretation of the Sabbath day. While I do believe we are to observe the Sabbath Day, I believe recreations lawful on other days are also lawful on the Sabbath. But this difference, or "quibble" (in the OPC), or "exception" (in the PCA) does not strike at the fundamentals of the faith. I'm not disagreeing with the Westminster Standards when it comes to justification, or the inspiration of the Scriptures, or the Trinity, or other core doctrines.
Confessionalism, in Reformed circles at least, also has acquired a connotation of being resistant to new ideas. The New Perspective on Paul, or the Federal Vision, for example, are antithetical to confessionalism. Confessionalism also has a tendency to take the historical approach. So words have their historical meaning, not some new-fangled meaning. This comports well with the nature of God, Who is unchanging, as is His truth. So we rejoice in contending for the faith once and for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3).
Confessionalism is not afraid to use its confessions, either in evangelism, teaching, or preaching. We don't apologize for them, but neither do we put them on the same level as Scripture. The confessions are quite firmly below the Scripture - they are normed by the Scripture.
Well, if that's not what you're going to do, what ARE you going to do? You're going to summarize somehow. And that summary, whatever it is, is your creed. So, we all have a creed. We all have our ways of summarizing what we believe the Bible says. Those ways are better or worse depending on whether they reflect biblical truth better or worse.
Confessionalism is simply an intentional way of going about this. Confessionalism at its best affirms the following propositions:
1. Only the Bible, in its original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, is the ultimate standard of appeal. Generally, we have good translations, and most of the time, they suffice. But you must dive into the original language versions (which, due to scholarship, we know with 99% accuracy what the original manuscripts were) to finally settle something. The Bible is given to us by God, and is inspired, infallible, and inerrant. It is sufficient, together with the Holy Spirit's working, for a saving knowledge of God - for faith and practice.
2. All summaries (confessions, creeds) of the Bible are fallible, and subject to improvement. They are changeable, unlike the Bible.
3. To subscribe to a confession means that you believe it is an accurate summary of the Bible's teaching. It does not mean you adhere to every single thing the confession says. I subscribe to the Westminster Standards (Westminster Confession of Faith, Westminster Shorter Catechism, Westminster Larger Catechism), e.g., but I do not agree with its interpretation of the Sabbath day. While I do believe we are to observe the Sabbath Day, I believe recreations lawful on other days are also lawful on the Sabbath. But this difference, or "quibble" (in the OPC), or "exception" (in the PCA) does not strike at the fundamentals of the faith. I'm not disagreeing with the Westminster Standards when it comes to justification, or the inspiration of the Scriptures, or the Trinity, or other core doctrines.
Confessionalism, in Reformed circles at least, also has acquired a connotation of being resistant to new ideas. The New Perspective on Paul, or the Federal Vision, for example, are antithetical to confessionalism. Confessionalism also has a tendency to take the historical approach. So words have their historical meaning, not some new-fangled meaning. This comports well with the nature of God, Who is unchanging, as is His truth. So we rejoice in contending for the faith once and for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3).
Confessionalism is not afraid to use its confessions, either in evangelism, teaching, or preaching. We don't apologize for them, but neither do we put them on the same level as Scripture. The confessions are quite firmly below the Scripture - they are normed by the Scripture.
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