“No confession deserves any respect if it is not thoroughly biblical. A confession, if a faithful echo of what God already says, can guide us and protect us from the disabilities of an age or locale. Confessions that parrot and lightly amplify the soundings of Scripture endure, while also equipping God’s family with strength and perspective to avoid the ditches of every fad or heresy. Biblical confessions, thankfully, save us from re-inventing every wheel.”

Richard Webster referred to five widely differing views regarding subscription in the colonial Presbyterian church as: “the Protesters, the excluded, the silent, those who were dissatisfied with both parties, and the absent.” The modern church may find itself in a similar position. The subject of these essays has not always been agreed upon. Moreover, I am aware of no other volume or website which concentrates on this important subject with such candor and comprehensiveness.  I am grateful to the editors of Place for Truth for confirming the continuing usefulness of this important data collection. Even though over the years there has been much debate over the manner of adhering to the Confession of Faith, intelligent discussions are not always presented. Although Charles Hodge sought to give much of the history of this issue in his 1851 The Constitutional History of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, he is sometimes accused of a partisan favoring of the Old School. Admittedly, liberals have also given their views of the correct manner of confessional subscription.

What is lacking in the literature, however, is a well-informed discussion from participants who exhibit a diversity of viewpoints, while also holding to the confession. In 1995, we published a volume to meet that need, The Practice of Confessional Subscription. Two decades later, these essays are still among the finest, and questions continue to need the reflection from such a competent stable of scholars. The original did not reach definitive conclusions to be sure, but raised the questions and sought to assemble informed voices on the subject. Our communions need to grapple with these issues still.

We hope various churches will be challenged by these essays. Assorted denominational concerns will shine through at times; yet the contributors have sought to avoid a narrowly sectarian approach. Together they present a strong case for adhering to a Reformed Confession—an odium to some. In isolation, there is some disagreement on the method; however, there is much more agreement than disagreement. Having asked the authors to debate vigorously, but with a charitable spirit, I am glad to announce that they have succeeded on both counts.

Recently on the pages of Place for Truth, I stated that although our present secular milieu rankles at the confines of a confession, many of us still think that having, holding, and requiring a confession is good for us. In short, a confession is healthy, even if it, at times, requires medicine that might not taste great at first. The alternative treatments often yield chaos, will-worship, self-promoting celebrity cults, confusion, methodolatry, or continual flux.

I maintained such with 3 caveats: (1) first, if the confession is thoroughly biblical and thus timeless and not provincial; (2) second, if the confession is used rightly as a subordinate standard, not as an ordinate standard; and (3) third, if the confession is used by pastoral and spiritual men to serve unity and clarity.

On the first caveat, no confession deserves any respect if it is not thoroughly biblical. A confession, if a faithful echo of what God already says, can guide us and protect us from the disabilities of an age or locale. Confessions that parrot and lightly amplify the soundings of Scripture endure, while also equipping God’s family with strength and perspective to avoid the ditches of every fad or heresy. Biblical confessions, thankfully, save us from re-inventing every wheel. Confessions that stand on the shoulders of prior saintly exegetes are the AP courses that settle certain matters and yield a head start—that is, for those who are humble enough to learn from others.

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