Survey of the Westminster Confession of Faith (Chapter 1 continued)

Survey of the Westminster Confession of Faith

Chapter 1

Of the Holy Scripture (Continued)

II. Under the name of Holy Scripture, or the Word of God written, are now contained all the books of the Old and New Testament, which are these:

Of the Old Testament

Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, I Samuel, II Samuel, I Kings, II Kings, I Chronicles, II Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, The Song of Songs, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi

Of the New Testament

The Gospels, according to: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John; The Acts of the Apostles; Paul’s Epistles to: the Romans, Corinthians I, Corinthians II, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians I, Thessalonians II; To Timothy I, Timothy II, Titus, Philemon; The Epistle to the Hebrews; The Epistle of James; The first and second Epistles of Peter; The first, second, and third Epistles of John; The Epistle of Jude; The Revelation of John

All which are given by inspiration of God to be the rule of faith and life.

The second section of Chapter 1 lists the books of the Bible. After the list comes a statement regarding the nature of these books of the Bible: “All which are given by inspiration of God to be the rule of faith and life.”

Two assumptions are made here. First, the writers believed the Bible to have been given “by inspiration of God”; second, they reveal their understanding of the place the Bible is to have in our lives. It is to be “the rule of faith and life (i.e. what we believe and how we live).

III. The books commonly called Apocrypha, not being of divine inspiration, are no part of the canon of the Scripture, and therefore are of no authority in the Church of God, nor to be any otherwise approved, or made use of, than other human writings.

We see that the Divines did not accept the books known as the Apocrypha as inspired. This statement is significant in light of recent assertions that the Westminster Divines did not have a doctrine of inspiration. Without a doctrine of inspiration, how could they distinguish between some books which they believed composed the Bible and other they believed should not be included? They had to have had some well developed concept regarding God’s production of the Scriptures.

Since these Apocryphal books are not of divine inspiration, they have no authority. Again, such a statement can be made only if the writers believed that there were inspired books and uninspired books. The inspired books, due the nature of their inspiration (i.e. God guided their writing), were authoritative over all men. The uninspired books, not having been God-breathed, had no authority inherent in them. They were merely human productions.

IV. The authority of the Holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed, and obeyed, depends not upon the testimony of any man, or Church; but wholly upon God (who is truth itself) the author thereof: and therefore it is to be received, because it is the Word of God.

This section deals with the question of authority of the Holy Scriptures. Given the Divines’ opinion of Scripture, i.e. that it is the word of God, the idea that it is absolutely authoritative follows. This is no small assertion in our system of theology; in fact, it is the core assertion around which our system revolves.

Every doctrine we proclaim is rooted in this truth: the Bible is God’s word and as God’s word, it must be believed and obeyed. No teaching of the Reformed faith is more fundamental that this. It is not going too far to declare that our system of theology would crumble if the belief in the Bible as God’s authoritative word were removed.

That such a crumbling is inevitable is easily discerned even in our own day as we consider the course followed by the so-called “main line” denominations. While abandonment of this doctrine (i.e. the belief in the absolute authority of the Bible because it is God’s word) is supposed to free the Church from irrelevant positions and outdated morality.

It has, in reality, made these denominations powerless and almost indistinguishable from the world. Let it be said again that commitment to the Bible as God’s word (and the corresponding comprehension of its authority) is indispensable.

V. We may be moved and induced by the testimony of the Church to an high and reverent esteem of the Holy Scripture. And the heavenliness of the matter, the efficacy of the doctrine, the majesty of the style, the consent of all the parts, the scope of the whole (which is, to give all glory to God), the full discovery it makes of the only way of man’s salvation, the many other incomparable excellencies, and the entire perfection thereof, are arguments whereby it does abundantly evidence itself to be the Word of God: yet notwithstanding, our full persuasion and assurance of the infallible truth and divine authority thereof, is from the inward work of the Holy Spirit bearing witness by and with the Word in our hearts.

Here, the writers explain how we come to know with certainty that the Scriptures are the word of God. The Divines mention a number of factors which might influence one to take a high view of Scripture. There is, for example, the testimony of the Church.

The Church has always acknowledged the Bible to be the word of God, but, as we have already seen, the Church is not given the right or ability to pronounce upon the Scriptures with any finality. Besides, the statement of the Church can only inform concerning the Church’s opinion, it cannot persuade our hearts in the matter. Being convinced that the Bible is God’s word is a spiritual issue and, therefore, requires more than the conviction of the Church no matter how weighty that opinion might be.

Other factors that might influence one’s estimation of the Bible include its majestic style and subject matter, the power and moral superiority of its teachings, its internal consistency, its ability to expose the inner workings of the heart of man, etc. All of these elements can convince the sinner that the Bible is an unusual book, a special book.

To the unclouded mind, these testimonies would be more than sufficient to prove the Bible’s Divine authorship. Nevertheless, the writers of the Confession indicate, these evidences are not capable of swaying one who is spiritual dead: “Our full persuasion and assurance of the infallible truth and divine authority thereof, is from the inward work of the Holy Spirit bearing witness by and with the Word in our hearts.”

(To be continued)