Cornerstone Presbyterian Church
Presbyterian Church in America (PCA)
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From The PCA Edition, Chapter 7, Section 3.
Man, by his fall, having made himself incapable of life by that covenant [a reference to the previous section], the Lord was pleased to make a second*, commonly called the covenant of grace; wherein He freely offereth unto sinners life and salvation by Jesus Christ; requiring of them faith in Him, that they may be saved,* and promising to give unto all those that are ordained unto eternal life His Holy Spirit, to make them willing, and able to believe.* ”
References are made to numerous Scripture passages by footnotes at the asterisks.
The Westminster Confession and Catechisms, two editions.
1. As adopted by the PCA. Edition of 1990.
2. A Contemporary Edition, by Donald Remillard, 2002.
The Westminster Confession and Catechisms are parts of the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church in America. They are “doctrinal standards” and are “subject to and subordinate to the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, the inerrant Word of God.” [PCA Book of Church Order Chapter 26.] Officers of the church (ministers, elders and deacons) are required to vow that “they sincerely receive and adopt” these standards “as containing the system of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures.” Officers are, however, permitted to have exceptions to these standards, small points where they disagree with them, if permitted by their session or presbytery. As I understand it, that means the Confession and Catechisms contain the interpretations of God’s Word which the officers in this denomination all accept, except for the exceptions.
The questions which are asked of prospective members of PCA churches do not include any reference to the Confession and Catechisms. Yet any member or friend of the church can find these statements useful. The various teachings of scripture are put together here in a concise way. You have to read slowly; every word has more weight than we are used to in modern language. With study, you will be impressed with the beautiful wording. If you are looking for scriptures about a particular point, you may find them where that point is discussed in the Confession. (Consider using Reformed Confessions Harmonized, also in the library, to locate the sections of the Confession and Catechisms dealing with your subject of interest.)
The Confession describes the faith which we confess. The Catechisms are sets of questions and answers intended for teaching purposes. The larger Catechism, with 196 questions and answers, is often thought to be intended for adults, and the shorter Catechism, with 107 shorter questions and answers, for children. Some Presbyterian churches encourage memorization of portions of the Catechisms, especially by children.
The library has recently received two editions of these important documents. The first, which I am calling The PCA Edition, is the version of the documents as adopted by our denomination. These statements were first written for Christians in England and Scotland in the 1640s. When America became independent, in 1789 the section on church and state was revised to recognize our new environment. Since then, various Presbyterian churches have made other changes, a few of which we recognize. That history is outlined in the book’s preface.
In the 1640s, before the committee’s work of preparing the statements was finally approved, the writing committee was asked to add footnotes to their texts listing Biblical references which support the points being made by the text. The PCA Edition includes these important footnote verses written out at the bottom of the page, so it is easy to make the connections between Scripture and the Confession and Catechisms. The footnotes are printed in smaller type than the main text, but on most pages they take the larger part of the page.
In addition to the standards themselves, The PCA Edition contains a 10 page history of their origins and those times, with notes about the status of the standards since.
The Contemporary Edition is a paraphrase of the official version to make it easier to read. You might prefer that. It carries no official status in the denomination. It includes the Bible references, but only as verse citations—the verses aren’t written out.
-- Dean Brown, February, 2007
From The Contemporary Edition, Chapter. 7, Section 3.
By breaking the first covenant through sin, mankind was made incapable of life through that covenant. It pleased the Lord to make a second covenant*, commonly called the covenant of grace. In this second covenant God freely offers to sinners life and salvation from his judgment by requiring faith in Jesus Christ.* God promises to give his Holy Spirit to all whom he ordains to eternal life. The Holy Spirit makes us able and willing to believe in Jesus.*
References are made to numerous Scripture passages by footnotes at the asterisks.
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