By: Chad
Van Dixhoorn
The
Westminster Confession of Faith of 1643 has stood for centuries as the
greatest statement of Evangelical Christianity. It is a sad reality that many
(most, in fact) doctrinal statements used in churches and Christian
organizations today are woefully short, and often equally anemic. Often, for
the express purpose of openness, tolerance, and unity, such statements are
purposefully kept vague. In stark contrast, our historical faith was once
unambiguously delineated in historic statements such as the Westminster,
as well as both the 1644 and 1689 London Baptist Confession.
Just as there have been great
doctrinal statements, there have also arisen complementary explanations of such
statements. Robert Shaw’s 1845 An Exposition of the Westminster Confession
of Faith, for example, is a classic and is available online for free
download. In our own day, Reformed Baptist Samuel E. Waldon has penned the
excellent A Modern Exposition of the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith
(Evangelical Press, 1989).
Enter the new addition, Confessing
the Faith: A Reader’s Guide to the Westminster Confession of Faith by Chad
Van Dixhoorn (Banner of Truth Trust, 2014, 484 pages). The author is singularly
qualified to write this book, being Associate Professor of Church History at
Reformed Theological Seminary (Washington, DC), as well as Associate Pastor of
Grace Presbyterian Church (Vienna, VA). As an historian, he is also well known
for his five-volume work on the Minutes of the Westminster Assembly (Oxford).
Let me say upfront that I am
unapologetically baptistic, so there are things in both the WCF and in this
commentary with which I do not agree, but none of that detracts from what one
can glean from it or what one can balance with another exposition, such as the
aforementioned one by Samuel E. Waldon, for example, or one’s own theological
training.
With that understood, Van
Dixhoorn’s work is outstanding. After a solid “Introduction,” which deals with
the history of the Confession and the Assembly itself, the work is divided into
easily manageable sections (which actually lends itself to daily readings);
each section begins with a side-by-side comparison of one or more paragraphs of
the “Historic Text” of the WCF and the “Modern Text.” In his own words, Van
Dixhoorn’s aim then is “to expound one late Reformation text and not Reformed
theology generally conceived” (xxiv). In other words, we should appreciate the
fact that he allows the Confession to speak for itself, no in the context of “a
system.” He also addresses the texts the assembly cited to support a given
statement. Interestingly, while more modern versions of the WCF sometimes use
alternative texts that are actually better support, Van Dixhoorn chose to keep
it historical and not use those texts (xxv).
Because one of my passions is the
authority and sufficiency of Scripture, I offer an example of the author’s work
using that part of the WCF. It reads, for example, “The whole counsel of God
concerning all things necessary for His own glory, man’s salvation, faith and
life is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary
consequence may be deduced from Scripture: unto which nothing at any time is to
be added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit, or traditions of men”
(1.6). At the end of a section headed “Scripture Sufficient,” Van Dixhoorn
summarizes: “Scripture is sufficient in the sense that no further special
revelation from God is needed to guide us through life other than the
revelation graciously available to us in the Bible” (17). In the face of those
who claim new revelation, the author goes on to comment on one of the assembly’s
proof-texts: “If someone suggest that they have a new revelation of the Spirit,
we are not to be rattled; in fact, we can ignore it (2 Thess. 2:2)” (18). Here
is something extremely significant for our day!
Also helpful are the times when
the author contrasts the Confession’s statements with the doctrinal error of
the day, which obviously is of practical use in our own day because the same
errors remain. The writings of the divines themselves are also referenced at
times to help endorse the view of the Confession. Also very helpful are two
indexes: Scripture and General.
A minor criticism is that the
“Historical Text” has actually been updated according to current spelling and
grammar, so we are not actually seeing the real “historical text.” Further, the
“Modern Text” sometimes uses words that don’t mean precisely what the
historical text means. For example, for the word “authentic” (original word
“authentical”) in reference to Scripture, the word “authoritative” is used
(20); these mean very different things.
One other “little” thing struck
me, namely that the author is obviously using a modern translation that is
substantially different at times than that used by the divines. In 8.1, for
example, the Confession clearly refers to God’s “only begotten son,” but when
the author quotes the proof text John 3:16, he uses one that reads “his one and
only son” (107). I have written elsewhere on this issue and demonstrated that
such a translation is wrong textually, theologically, and historically (click here if you care to read).
All in all, I recommend this book
for its reverence, reflection, and readability. I fully expect it to be adopted
as a standard textbook in many seminaries. It will also serve as a reference to
pastors who wish to use the Confession in their preaching and teaching and even
laypeople who want an understandable explanation of our historical faith.
No comments:
Post a Comment