Disciplined Confessionalism

Dear Church Family,

Last week, I referenced and quoted from Carl Trueman’s article, “Why Christians Need Confessions.” If you haven’t yet read that article, I commend it to you again.

I believe that confessions and catechisms are useful – essential, even – to better understanding the teaching of Scripture, for discipling believers in the faith, and for growing in the wisdom of the Lord. I recognize that the “essential” nature of confessions and catechisms might require some explanation. So, please hear me out.

Over the course of the next several weeks, I’d like to recommend and individually summarize a series of three additional articles, by Carl Trueman. Now, you may wondering, “Why do you keep referring to Carl Trueman?” Well, there are several reasons. He’s a church history professor and an ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church with a history of being a serious churchman who has faithfully taught and promoted the benefits of confessionalism. For example, see his book The Creedal Imperative. He’s also a wise exegete of contemporary thought and culture. For example, see his books The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and the Road to Sexual Revolution and Strange New World: How Thinkers and Activists Redefined Identity and Sparked the Sexual Revolution. Certainly, there are others to whom we may turn, but I find Trueman to be a contemporary scholar and theologian whom I can trust.

The Discipline of Confessionalism

That said, let’s consider Trueman’s arguments for the “discipline of confessionalism” from his first article entitled, “I Confess (Part I).” Simply put, confessional Christians are those who are disciplined by their confession.

Trueman argues that, because of his ordination vow to uphold a particular set of theological tenets, the public teaching of an elder of a confessional church (anything he might say either from the pulpit or over coffee after the service) is bound by the standards outlined in the Confession.

Trueman goes on to give three reasons why disciplined confessionalism is important (and here I’ll quote directly from the article): “First, the witness of the church is not to be dictated by the emotional ups and downs of her officers…Second, confessions and vows protect the elder from saying something precipitate and wrong…Third, the processes connected to confessionalism place the man in an ecclesiastical and pastoral context which can help deal with the specific issues.”

As a pastor, preacher, and one who regularly leads in worship, I’ve sometimes been asked questions about why I make it a regular practice to incorporate the teaching of the Westminster Standards in my conversation, teaching, preaching, and leading worship. I’ve even been criticized at times for doing so. But, as one who in his ordination vows has affirmed the Scriptures to be the inerrant Word of God and only infallible rule of faith and practice, and that the Confession of Faith and the Catechisms of the Church contain the system of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures, I believe that it’s what one ought to expect from their pastor. My calling as an ordained minister of the gospel is not to teach or promote my opinions. So, in addition to the three reasons given above by Trueman, I find safety and security in sticking with the Bible and with our Standards.

Conclusion

In the past, I’ve had conversations with people about the importance of knowing and teaching the doctrinal standards of our church (i.e., the Westminster Confession of Faith, and the Westminster Larger and Shorter Catechisms). To my surprise, I’ve had Christians (and even officers in the church) state that the church ought to not promote, nor even make known, it’s denomination or confessional standards since it might “put people off.” The idea, according to this way of thinking, is that we don’t want people to be offended by our being part of a denomination or adhering to a formal set of doctrines. So, the word “Presbyterian” is removed from the church’s name and there is never any mention of the doctrinal standards of the church.

Personally, I’m of the opposite opinion. I believe that we, as a church, ought to proudly affirm and communicate our Presbyterianism and Reformed theology. That is why I sometimes describe myself as a “vanilla” confessional Presbyterian minister. It helps us to be a WYSIWYG kind of church – “What You See Is What You Get.” This, of course, does not mean that members of the church are required to subscribe to the Westminster Standards as ordained officers are; however, it does mean that a Presbyterian and Reformed church ought to be distinctively Presbyterian and Reformed in its teaching and practice.

Allow me to close by quoting someone other than Carl Trueman. Disciplined confessionalism leads to what W. Robert Godfrey calls the “confessionalist mind,” something which J. Gresham Machen strove for in his fight against liberalism in the early 20^th century. In his article, “A Call to Thoughtful Vigilance,” Godfrey writes:

“True Christianity, as Dr. Machen knew it in the Reformed tradition, came to doctrinal expression in a full confession of faith, such as the Westminster Confession of Faith. Dr. Machen believed a confession expressed the mind of the church and showed church members what the church confessed as the great and necessary teachings of the Bible. The confession should serve as an antidote to doctrinal ignorance in the church as the church diligently teaches its confession to its members. The confession should show the church what doctrines it must fight to uphold. It should strengthen the church as the bulwark of the truth.”

The Lord be with you!

- Pastor Peter M. Dietsch