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The Westminster Confession of Faith, or simply the Westminster Confession, is a Reformed confession of faith.Drawn up by the 1646 Westminster Assembly as part of the Westminster Standards to be a confession of the Church of England, it became and remains the "subordinate standard" of doctrine in the Church of Scotland and has been influential within Presbyterian churches worldwide.
The Westminster Standards is a collective name for the documents drawn up by the Westminster Assembly (1643–1649). These include the Westminster Confession of Faith , the Westminster Shorter Catechism , the Westminster Larger Catechism , the Directory of Public Worship , and the Form of Church Government , [ 1 ] and represent the doctrine and ...
The purpose of the Larger Catechism was to help ministers prepare their own catechesis, as they taught the faith to their congregations in preaching, [1] while the purpose of the Shorter Catechism was to educate children and others "of weaker capacity" (according to a preface written by the Church of Scotland) in the Reformed faith.
The Westminster Confession and catechisms were produced by a committee rather than a single author. Scots Confession (1560) [6] Westminster Confession of Faith (1646) [7] Confession of Faith Ratification Act (1690) Confession of 1967 [8] Brief Statement of Faith (1991) [9]
The Presbyterian Church in Ireland wrestled with the issue of confessional subscription in the early 18th century. In 1726, the Synod of Ulster expelled ministers who refused to subscribe to the Westminster Confession of Faith – this group formed the Synod of Antrim, which eventually became the Non-subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland.
The Confession was printed and sent to Parliament in December. The House of Commons requested scripture citations be added to the Confession, which were provided in April 1648. Parliament approved the Confession with revisions to the chapters on church censures, synods and councils, and marriage on 20 June 1648. [77]
The Westminster Shorter Catechism is a catechism written in 1646 and 1647 by the Westminster Assembly, a synod of English and Scottish theologians and laymen intended to bring the Church of England into greater conformity with the Church of Scotland. The assembly also produced the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Westminster Larger ...
In 1724, New Castle Presbytery began requiring its ministerial candidates to affirm the statement, "I do own the Westminster Confession as the Confession of my faith." [ 3 ] A synod-wide requirement to subscribe to the Westminster Standards was first proposed in 1727 by John Thomson of New Castle Presbytery and was supported by Presbyterians ...