Westminster Confession

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The commitment of Westminster ( English Westminster Confession of Faith ) from 1646 (printed 1647) is an in some Reformed churches still valid confession . In 33 articles it offers a systematic exposition of Christian doctrine.

The confession was drawn up at the time of the English Civil War at the instigation of the " Long Parliament " by the Westminster Synod , a theologians' commission that met from 1643 to 1649 and consisted of English and Scottish Presbyterians . Well-known members of the Westminster Synod were Alexander Henderson , John Lightfoot , Thomas Goodwin and Samuel Rutherford .

The Westminster Confession was planned as the official creed for the Church of England , the Church of Ireland and the Church of Scotland and was intended to replace the Thirty-Nine Articles . Due to the restoration of the English monarchy (from 1660), the confession was only established as an official document in the Church of Scotland.

The Westminster Creed, together with the large ("Westminster Larger Catechism") and the small ("Westminster Shorter Catechism") catechism, is still the official creed of the Presbyterian churches.

The US Presbyterians revised the creed twice. The amendments of the first revision from 1789 (separation of church and state) were adopted by the conservative Presbyterian denominations in the United States, but the revisions of the second revision from 1903 (chapter on the Holy Spirit , the love of God and election ) mostly rejected.

The Westminster Confession was also the basis for various other confessions, such as the Savoy Declaration (1658), a confession of the congregational churches, and the London Baptist Confession (1677), a confession of the Baptists in England.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c Peter Wallace: Westminster Confession . (of Faith). In: Hans Dieter Betz u. a. (Ed.): Religion in the past and present . Concise dictionary for theology and religious studies. 4th edition. tape 8 , no. 8 . UTB, Stuttgart 2008, ISBN 978-3-8252-8401-5 , Sp. 1499 .
  2. ^ A b Peter Wallace: Westminster Assembly . (of Divines). In: Hans Dieter Betz u. a. (Ed.): Religion in the past and present . Concise dictionary for theology and religious studies. 4th edition. tape 8 , no. 8 . UTB, Stuttgart 2008, ISBN 978-3-8252-8401-5 , Sp. 1498 .
  3. ^ J. Gordon Melton: Westminster Confession . In: Encyclopedia of World Religions . Encyclopedia of Protestantism, No. 6 . Facts of File, New York 2005, ISBN 978-0-8160-5456-5 , pp. 568 (English).

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