IT is asserted in the
first chapter of this Confession [The Westminster Confession of Faith],
and vindicated in this exposition that the Scriptures of the Old and New
Testaments, having been given by inspiration of God, are for man in his
present state the only and the all-sufficient rule of faith and
practice. All that man is to believe concerning God, and the entire duty
which God requires of man, are revealed therein, and are to be believed
and obeyed because contained therein, because it is the word of God.
This divine word, therefore, is the only standard of doctrine which has
intrinsic authority binding the conscience of men. And all other
standards are of value or authority only in proportion as they teach
what the Scriptures teach.
While, however, the
Scriptures are from God, the understanding of them belongs to the part
of men. Men must interpret to the best of their ability each particular
part of Scripture separately, and then combine all that the Scriptures
teach upon every subject into a consistent whole, and then adjust their
teachings upon different subjects in mutual consistency as parts of a
harmonious system. Every student of the Bible must do this, and all make
it obvious that they do it by the terms they use in their prayers and
religious discourse, whether they admit or deny the propriety of human
creeds and confessions. If they refuse the assistance afforded by the
statements of doctrine slowly elaborated and defined by the Church, they
must make out their own creed by their own unaided wisdom. The real
question is not, as often pretended, between the word of God and the
creed of man, but between the tried and proved faith of the collective
body of God's people, and the private judgment and the unassisted wisdom
of the repudiator of creeds.
As we would have
anticipated, it is a matter of fact that the Church has advanced very
gradually in this work of the accurate interpretation of Scripture and
definition of the great doctrines which compose the system of truth it
reveals. The attention of the Church has been specially directed to the
study of one doctrine in one age, and of another doctrine in another
age. And as she has thus gradually advanced in the clear discrimination
of gospel truth, she has at different periods set down an accurate
statement of the results of her new attainments in a Creed or Confession
of Faith, for the purpose of preservation and popular instruction. In
the mean time, heretics spring up on all occasions, who pervert the
Scriptures, who exaggerate certain aspects of the truth and deny others
equally essential, and thus in effect turn the truth of God into a lie.
The Church is forced, therefore, on the great principle of
self-preservation, to form such accurate definitions of every particular
doctrine misrepresented as shall include the whole truth and exclude all
error, and to make such comprehensive exhibitions of the system of
revealed truth as a whole that no one part shall be either unduly
diminished or exaggerated, but the true proportion of the whole be
preserved. At the same time, provision must be made for ecclesiastical
discipline, and to secure the real co-operation of those who profess to
work together in the same cause, so that public teachers in the same
communion may not contradict one another, and the one pull down what the
other is striving to build up. Formularies must also be prepared,
representing as far as possible the common consent, and clothed with
public authority, for the instruction of the members of the Church, and
especially of the children.
Creeds and
Confessions, therefore, have been found necessary in all ages and
branches of the Church, and, when not abused, have been useful for the
following purposes: (1.) To mark, disseminate and preserve the
attainments made in the knowledge of Christian truth by any branch of
the Church in any crisis of its development. (2.) To discriminate the
truth from the glosses of false teachers, and to present it in its
integrity and due proportions. (3.) To act as the basis of
ecclesiastical fellowship among those so nearly agreed as to be able to
labor together in harmony. (4.) To be used as instruments in the great
work of popular instruction.
It must be remembered,
however, that the matter of these Creeds and Confessions binds the
consciences of men only so far as it is purely scriptural, and because
it is so; and as to the form in which that matter is stated, they bind
those only who have voluntarily subscribed the Confession, and because
of that subscription.
In all churches a
distinction is made between the terms upon which private members are
admitted to membership, and the terms upon which office-bearers are
admitted to their sacred trusts of teaching and ruling. A Church has no
right to make anything a condition of membership which Christ has not
made a condition of salvation. The Church is Christ's fold. The
sacraments are the seals of his covenant. All have a right to claim
admittance who make a credible profession of the true religion - that
is, who are presumptively the people of Christ. This credible profession
of course involves a competent knowledge of the fundamental doctrine of
Christianity - a declaration of personal faith in Christ and
consecration to his service, and a temper of mind and habit consistent
therewith. On the other hand, no man can be inducted into any office in
any Church who does not protest to believe in the truth and wisdom of
the constitution and laws which it will be his duty to conserve and
administer. Otherwise all harmony of sentiment and all efficient
co-operation in action would be impossible.
The original Synod of
our American Presbyterian Church in the year 1729 solemnly adopted the
Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms as the doctrinal
standards of the Church. The record is as follows:
"All the ministers of
the Synod now present, which were eighteen in number, except one, that
declared himself not prepared, [but who gave his assent at the next
meeting], after proposing all the scruples any of them had to make
against any articles and expressions in the Confession of Faith, and
Larger and Shorter Catechisms of the Assembly of Divines at Westminster,
have unanimously agreed in the solution of those scruples, and in
declaring the said Confession and Catechisms to be the Confession of
their Faith, except only some clauses in the twentieth and twenty-third
chapters, 'Concerning the Civil Magistrate.'"
Again, in the year
1788, preparatory to the formation of the General Assembly, "the Synod,
having fully considered the draught of the Form of Government and
Discipline, did, on review of the whole, and hereby do, ratify and adopt
the same, as now altered and amended, as the Constitution of the
Presbyterian Church in America, and order the same to be considered and
strictly observed as the rule of their proceedings, 'by all the inferior
judicatories belonging to the body.
"The Synod, having now
revised and corrected the draught of a Directory for Worship, did
approve and ratify the same, and do hereby appoint the same Directory,
as now amended, to be the Directory for the worship of God in the
Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. They also took into
consideration the Westminster Larger and Shorter Catechisms, and, having
made a small amendment of the Larger, did approve and do hereby approve
and ratify the said Catechisms, as now agreed on, as the Catechisms of
the Presbyterian Church in the United States. And the Synod order that
the Directory and Catechisms be printed and bound up in the same volume
with the Confession of Faith and the Form of Government and Discipline;
that the whole be considered as the standard of our doctrine,
government, discipline and worship, agreeably to the resolutions of the
Synod it their present session."
What follows is a very
brief and general history of the principal Creeds and Confessions of the
several branches of the Christian Church. In this statement they are
grouped according to the order of time and the churches which adhere to
them:
I. The ancient Creeds, which
express the common faith of the whole Church.
The Creeds formed
before the Reformation are very few, relate to the fundamental
principles of Christianity, especially the Trinity and the Person of the
God-man, and are the common heritage of the whole Church.
1st. The Apostles'
Creed. This was not written by the apostles, but was gradually
formed, by common consent, out of the Confessions adopted severally by
particular churches, and used in the reception of its members. It
reached its present form, and universal use among all the churches,
about the close of the second century. This Creed was appended to the
Shorter Catechism, together with the Lord's Prayer and Ten Commandments,
in the first edition published by order of Parliament, "not as though it
were composed by the apostles, or ought to be esteemed canonical
Scripture, . . . but because it is a brief sum of Christian faith,
agreeable to the Word of God, and anciently received in the churches of
Christ." It was retained by the framers of our Constitution as part of
the Catechism. 1 It is as follows:
"I believe in God
the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ
his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of
the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead,
and buried; he descended into hell (Hades); the third day he rose
again from the dead, he ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right
hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge
the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; the Holy Catholic
Church; the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins; the
resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen."
2d. The Nicene
Creed. This Creed is formed on the basis of the Apostles' Creed, the
clauses relating to the consubstantial divinity of Christ being
contributed by the great Council held in Nice in Bithynia, A.D. 325, and
those relating to the divinity and personality of the Holy Ghost added
by the Second Ecumenical Council, held at Constantinople, A.D.381; and
the "filioque" clause added by the Council of the Western Church, held
at Toledo, Spain, A.D. 569. In its present form it is the Creed of the
whole Christian Church, the Greek Church rejecting only the last added
clause. It is as follows:
"I believe in one
God, Maker of heaven and earth, and all things visible and invisible;
and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only begotten Son of God, begotten
of his Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God
of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the
Father; by whom all things were made; who, for us men and for our
salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost
of the Virgin Mary, and was made man, and was crucified also for us
under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried; and the third day he
rose again according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and
sitteth on the right hand of the Father. And he shall come again with
glory to judge both the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have
no end. And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord the Giver of life,
who proeeedeth from the Father and the Son (filioque), who with the
Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spake by
the prophets. And I believe in one Catholic and Apostolic Church; I
acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the
resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come."
3d. As subsequently
heretical opinions sprang up in its bosom with respect to the
constitution of the person of Christ, the Church was forced to provide
additional definitions and muniments of the truth. One heretical
tendency culminated in Nestorianism, which maintains that the divine and
human natures in Christ constitute two persons. This was condemned by
the Creed of the Council of Ephesus, A.D. 431. The opposite heretical
tendency culminated in Eutychianism, which maintains that the divine and
human natures are so united in Christ as to form but one nature. This
was condemned by the Council of Chalcedon, A.D. 451. These Creeds,
defining the faith of the Church as embracing two natures in one
person, are received and approved by the entire Church. They are
sufficiently quoted in the body of the following "Commentary."
4th. The Athanasian
Creed. This Creed was evidently composed long after the death of the
great theologian whose name it bears, and after the controversies closed
and the definitions established by the above-mentioned Councils of
Ephesus and Chalcedon. It is a grand and unique monument of the
unchangeable faith of the whole Church as to the great mysteries of
godliness, the Trinity of Persons in the one God and the duality of
natures in the one Christ. It is too long to quote here in full. What
relates to the Person of the God-man is as follows:
"27. But it is
necessary to eternal salvation that he should also faithfully believe
in the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. 28. It is therefore true
faith that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ is both
God and man. 29. He is God; generated from eternity from the substance
of the Father; man born in time from the substance of his Mother. 30.
Perfect God, perfect man, subsisting of a rational soul and human
flesh. 31. Equal to the Father in respect to his divinity, less than
the Father in respect to his humanity. 32. Who, although he is God and
man, is not two, but one Christ. 33. But two not from the conversion
of divinity into flesh, but from the assumption of his humanity into
God. 34. One not at all from confusion of substance, but from unity of
Person. 35. For as rational soul and flesh is one man, so God and man
is one Christ," etc.
II. The Creeds and Confessions of
the different
branches of the Church since the Reformation.
1st. The Doctrinal Standards of
the Church of Rome.
In order to oppose the
progress of the Reformation, Pope Paul III. called the last great
ecumenical Council at Trent (1545-1563). The deliverances of this
Council, entitled Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent, form the
highest doctrinal rule known to that Church. The decrees contain the
positive statements of doctrine The canons explain the decrees,
distribute the matter under brief heads and condemn the opposing of
Protestant doctrine on each point.
The Roman Catechism,
which explains and enforces the canons of the Council of Trent, was
prepared and promulgated by the authority of Pope Pius IV., AD. 1556.
The Tridentine
Confession of Faith was also imposed upon all the priests and candidates
of the Romish Church and converts from other churches.
In addition to these,
different papal bulls and some private writings have been
authoritatively set up as standards of the true faith by the authority
of popes; e.g., the Catechism of Bellarmine, A.D. 1603, and the bull
Unigenitus of Clement XI., 1711.
The theology taught in
all these papal standards is Arminianism.
2d. The Doctrinal Standards of
the Greek Church.
The ancient Church
divided from causes primarily political and ecclesiastical, secondarily
doctrinal and ritual, into two great sections - the Eastern or Greek
Church, and the Western or Latin Church. This division began to
culminate in the seventh, and was consummated in the eleventh century.
The Greek Church embraces Greece, the majority of the Christians of the
Turkish Empire and the great mass of the civilized inhabitants of
Russia. All the Protestant churches have originated through the
Reformation from the Western or Roman Church.
This Church arrogates
to herself pre-eminently the title of the "orthodox," because the
original creeds defining the doctrine of the Trinity and the Person of
Christ, which have been mentioned above, were produced in the Eastern
half of the ancient Church, and hence are in a peculiar sense her
inheritance. Greek theology is very imperfectly developed beyond the
ground covered by these ancient creeds, which that Church magnifies and
maintains with singular tenacity.
They possess also a
few confessions of more modern date, as "The Orthodox Confession" of
Peter Mogilas, A.D. 1642, metropolitan bishop of Kiew, the Confession of
Gennadius, A.D. 1453.
3d. The Confessions of the
Lutheran Church.
The entire Protestant
world from the time of the Reformation has been divided into two great
families of churches - the LUTHERAN, including all those which received
their characteristic impress from the great man whose name they bear;
the REFORMED, including all those, on the other hand, which derived
their character from Calvin.
The Lutheran family of
churches embraces all those Protestants of Germany and the Baltic
provinces of Russia who adhere to the Augsburg Confession, together with
the national churches of Denmark, of Norway and Sweden, and the large
denomination of that name in America.
Their Symbolical Books
are:
-
The Augsburg Confession, the joint
authors of which were Luther and Melancthon. Having been signed by the
Protestant princes and leaders, it was presented to the emperor and
imperial Diet in Augsburg A.D. 1530. It is the oldest Protestant
confession, the ultimate basis of Lutheran theology, and the only
universally accepted standard of the Lutheran churches.
-
The Apology (Defence) of the
Augsburg Confession, prepared by Melancthon A.D. 1530, and subscribed
by the Protestant theologians A.D. 1537 at Smalcald.
-
The Larger and Smaller Catechisms,
prepared by Luther A.D. 1529, "the first for the use of preachers and
teachers, the last as a guide in the instruction of youth."
-
The Articles of Smalcald, drawn up
by Luther A.D. 1535, and subscribed by the evangelical theologians in
February, A.D. 1537, at the place whose name they hear.
-
The Formula Concordiae (Form of
Concord), prepared in A.D. 1577 by Andrea and others for the purpose
of settling certain controversies which had sprung up in the Lutheran
Church, especially concerning the relative activities of divine grace
and the human will in regeneration, and concerning the nature of the
Lord's presence in the Eucharist. This confession contains a more
scientific and thoroughly developed statement of the Lutheran doctrine
than can be found in any other of their public symbols. Its authority
is, however, acknowledged only by the high Lutheran party; that is, by
that party in the Church which consistently carries the peculiarities
of Lutheran theology out to the most complete logical development.
4th. The Confessions of the
Reformed or Calvinistic churches.
The Reformed churches
embrace all those churches of Germany which subscribe the Heidelberg
Catechism; the Protestant churches of Switzerland, France, Holland,
England and Scotland: the Independents and Baptists of England and
America, and the various branches of the Presbyterian Church in England
and America.
The Reformed
Confessions are very numerous, although they all substantially agree as
to the system of doctrine they teach. Those most generally received, and
regarded as of the highest symbolical authority as standards of the
common system, are the following:
-
The Second Helvetic Confession,
prepared by Bullinger, A.D. 1564. "It was adopted by all the Reformed
churches in Switzerland, with the exception of Basle (which was
content with its old symbol, the First Helvetic), and by the Reformed
churches in Poland, Hungary, Scotland and France," 2 and
has always been regarded as of the highest authority by all the
Reformed churches.
-
The Heidelberg Catechism, prepared
by Ursinus and Olevianus, A.D. 1562. It was established by civil
authority, the doctrinal standard, as well as instrument of religious
instruction for the churches of the Palatinate, a German State at that
time including both banks of the Rhine. It was endorsed by the Synod
of Dort, and is the Confession of Faith of the Reformed churches of
Germany and Holland, and of the German and Dutch Reformed churches in
America.
-
The Thirty-nine Articles of the
Church of England. These were originally drawn up by Cranmer and
Ridley, A.D. 1551, and revised and reduced to the present number by
the bishops, at the order of Queen Elizabeth, A.D. 1562. These
Articles are Calvinistic in doctrine, and constitute the doctrinal
standard of the Episcopal churches in England, Scotland, America and
the Colonies.
-
The Canons of the Synod of Dort.
This famous Synod was convened in Dort, Holland, by the authority of
the States General, for the purpose of settling the questions brought
into controversy by the disciples of Arminius. It held its sessions
from November 13, A.D. 1618, to May 9, A.D. 1619. It consisted of
pastors, elders and theological professors from the churches of
Holland, and deputies from the churches of England, Scotland, Hesse,
Bremen, the Palatinate and Switzerland; the French delegates having
been prevented from being present by order of their king. The Canons
of this Synod were received by all the Reformed churches as a true,
accurate and eminently authoritative exhibition of the Calvinistic
System of Theology. They constitute, in connection with the Heidelberg
Catechism, the doctrinal Confession of the Reformed Church of Holland,
and of the [Dutch] Reformed Church of America.
-
The Confession and Catechisms of
the Westminster Assembly. A short account of the origin and
constitution of this Assembly, and of the production and reception of
its doctrinal deliverances, is presented in the next chapter. This is
the common doctrinal standard of all the Presbyterian churches in the
world of English and Scotch derivation. It is also of all Creeds the
one most highly approved by all the bodies of Congregationalists in
England and America. The Congregational Convention called by Cromwell
to meet at Savoy, in London, A.D. 1658, declared their approval of the
doctrinal part of the Confession and Catechisms of the Westminster
Assembly, and conformed their own deliverance, the Savoy Confession,
very nearly to it. Indeed, "the difference between these two
Confessions is so very small, that the modern Independents have in a
manner laid aside the use of it (Savoy Conf.) in their families, and
agreed with the Presbyterians in the use of the Assembly's
Catechisms." 3 All the Assemblies convened in New England
for the purpose of settling the doctrinal basis of their churches have
either endorsed or explicitly adopted this Confession and these
Catechisms as accurate expositions of their own faith. This was done
by the Synod which met at Cambridge, Massachusetts, June, 1647, and
again August, 1648, and prepared the Cambridge Platform. And again by
the Synod which sat in Boston, September, 1679, and May, 1680, and
produced the Boston Confession. And again by the Synod which met at
Saybrook, Connecticut, 1708, and produced the Saybrook Platform.
4
