How the Confession Came to be Written In 1646

In 1642 the English Parliament and King Charles became embroiled in civil war. Parliament championed a Puritan reformation of the English church, an expanding middle class and a germinal beginning of representative democracy, while the king's forces supported Anglo-Catholicism, feudal nobility and the divine right of kings to arbitrary rule. This monarchism impelled thousands of Puritans to migrate to North America beginning in 1620. Because of unresolved differences between the two factions, a second civil war ensued. The second war drove a wedge between those parliamentarians who continued to seek a resolution with the monarchy and those who desired its utter overthrow. During the second civil war uncompromising men gained control over Parliament. Aided with the military leadership of parliamentarian Oliver Cromwell, Parliament a second time defeated the forces of King Charles. This second defeat led to the king's execution authorized by those assuming an uncompromising attitude then in control of the "Rump" Parliament.

At the beginning of the first civil war the Calvinistically oriented Parliament called for an assembly of theologians to gather from across England, Wales, Ireland and neighboring Scotland to prepare a Reformed confession of faith and a uniform church government. With Parliament's call 98 British and 11 Scottish Reformed theologians and two dozen parliamentary representatives gathered at Westminster Abbey in London. Reflective of church/state relations of the era, Parliament planned to pass laws implementing these Reformed principles on the whole nation of England replacing the Anglo Catholicism imposed on the realm by the Stuart monarchy. Meeting in 1642 and concluding in 1648, these representative Calvinistic Puritans of Anglican, Presbyterian and Congregational orientation prepared the Westminster Confession and several other key documents of continuing use to the church. Work on the Confession began in the summer of 1645 and concluded in the autumn of 1646.

The English Reformers Sabotage Their Future Influence

Ironically, soon after the presentation of the Confession to Parliament for its adoption in 1646, the political unity of Calvinistic Puritanism in England began to splinter between moderate monarchists and anti-monarchists. The British Parliament accepted and adopted the Confession with minor changes but their executive authority became so diluted by disunity they lost the ability to set their decision into force. Only the Presbyterians formally adopted the Confession and the other documents intact as their statement of faith, standards for church government and recommended order for worship.

Oliver Cromwell allied himself with Calvinistic Congregationalists and a wide assortment of religious dissenters who provided the bulk of Parliament's army. Refusing the crown he became Lord Protector of England at behest of Parliament in place of the monarchy after the close of the second civil war in 1653. Cromwell led the Commonwealth government until he died in 1658.

Formed predominantly by men with Presbyterian orientation, Parliament sought greater executive order in the nation and joined with the Anglicans in attaining the restoration of the monarchy shortly after Cromwell's death. Presbyterians, overshadowed by a resurgent and regally favored Anglicanism, never again captured the loyalty of England's leaders. Following the monarchy's restoration the Puritan Reformed movement and the Westminster standards fell into general disfavor amont the English people. However, Scottish, Irish, North American and world-wide Presbyterianism continue with various degrees of consistency to affirm the Westminster Confession as a summary of biblical faith.

The Leading Role of the Confession

The Confession, being the last of a series of confessions from the Reformed world, reflects the mature and distilled thought of a hundred years of intense theologizing. Historically the Westminster Confession of Faith has been the preferred statement of faith adopted by Presbyterian Christians of Reformed and Evangelical commitment. Continental Europeans of Reformed persuasion have written confessions of faith with the context of their own culture. Reformed Baptists have shown their preference for the Confession by adopting it with their theological distinctions in the London Confession of 1689 and the Philadelphia Confession of 1742.

The Confession presents succinctly and systematically the essential affirmations of biblical theology. The significant creeds and confessions of the church have addressed issues in crises. Those writing the Westminster Confession perceived the key issue confronting the church to be the sovereign saving action of God in Jesus Christ. This essential unifying theme of Scripture continues as that biblical affirmation most severly tested in Christian life and theological debate. Thus, the continuing relevancy of the Westminster declaration remains obvious. Contemporary concerns about secular humanism, philosophically based religious liberalism, and the whole host of issues since and currently before the church are not necessarily or specifically addressed.

The new edition is derived from the original text with two exceptions. These exceptions include the revised sections dealing with relationships between civil government and the church. An ad hoc committee established by the existing American presbyteries initially formed these changes in 1788 and they were adopted by the First General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America held in 1789. The early text allowed for some civil interference in church government which the new American church totally disavowed.

The second exception is texts using severe and contemptuous language towards the papacy and Roman Catholicism. The acidulous character of this language was tempered at the First General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America.

The Westminster Confession of Faith was written by English speaking Christians of Reformed consensus. Reeling from a century of Roman Catholic reaction to the Reformation, Reformed Christians across all Europe experienced immence and severe persecution leading to hundreds of thousands being killed for their faith. Consequently the reader will sense the hostile tone contained in several portions of the text aimed specifically at the doctrines, policies and practices of the Roman Catholic movement. The heat of hostile confrontation has diminished because of shallow theological understanding and the new attitude of ecumenicity beginning in the latter half of the 20th century. The theological issues addressed vis-a-vis Roman Catholicism, however, remain relevant and waiting for biblical correction.

In 1903 the parent denomination of the Presbyterian Church (USA) totally rewrote chapter 24 on marriage and divorce, added chapters 34 and 35, and a declaratory statement interpreting chapters 3 and 10. That material is not a part of the text of this edition. This new edition is based on the original American text adopted by the PCA and the OPC. Biblical references are those approved by the same as of January 1, 2000.