The main reason why we have a longer Confession of Faith is because of the need that developed over the centuries to more clearly state the truths taught in the Bible. Almost always, these truths were clarified in response to errors that crept into the church. This is nothing new, of course. Most of Paul’s letters and the other letters in the Bible were written to clarify truth and correct errors.

Reformed Presbyterians have the longest statement of faith in the evangelical Protestant world. The Westminster Confession of Faith dwarfs most other statements. Why? How did we get such a long Confession? A little history might help clarify . . .

Peter could rightly be considered the first Christian. His confession of faith in Matthew 16 is the first Christian confession and prompted Jesus to promise to build His church. His confession was simple, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Yet, for its simplicity, it was packed with powerful and profound truth. In just ten short words, Peter said:

1. You are the fulfillment of the covenant promises of the coming Davidic King.
2. You are the fulfillment of the Messianic hope of Israel.
3. You are the Anointed One of God, sent by God to deliver His people from bondage.
4. You are the eternal Son of the one true and living God; therefore
5. You are divine as well as human; You are the God-man.

The early church had a powerful confession that packed these same truths into three short words: “Jesus is Lord.” In these three words, the church confessed:

1. Jesus is the King over His people, the long-awaited Davidic King. (“The LORD said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand.'” – see Matt. 22:4 and Acts 2:34, quoting Ps. 110:1)
2. Jesus is the ruler over the whole universe, as the risen and exalted King of kings and Lord of lords.
3. Jesus is YaHWeH, the LORD of Israel come in the flesh. (see esp. Philippians 2:10-11 quoting Isaiah 45:23)

These early confessions of faith were short, simple and powerful. The Westminster Confession of Faith, used by Reformed Presbyterian denominations today, has over 12,000 words, divided into 33 chapters. How did we get from 3 words to over 12,000? Is this progress?

The main reason why we have a longer Confession of Faith is because of the need that developed over the centuries to more clearly state the truths taught in the Bible. Almost always, these truths were clarified in response to errors that crept into the church. This is nothing new, of course. Most of Paul’s letters and the other letters in the Bible were written to clarify truth and correct errors. Consider:

1. Galatians was written to counter the false teachings of the Judaizers, who taught that salvation required faith in Jesus and the careful observance of the Old Testament ceremonial law.
2. Colossians was written to counter a mystic heresy of secret knowledge and probably the worship of angels, too.
3. 1 and 2 Thessalonians were written to counter false teachings about the Second Coming of Jesus and the nature of the Christian’s calling in the world.
4. 1 John was written to combat the lies of Docetism, which taught that Jesus only appeared to have a body.

As the early church grew and the faith spread, the priority of the church focused on clarifying the person and work of Jesus, which led to the development of the Apostle’s Creed and the Nicene Creed. The Apostle’s Creed runs about 75-80 words in length and the original Nicene Creed was about 130 words long. These creeds, much longer than “Jesus is Lord,” clarify much of what the church always meant by those three words.

In the Reformation, a return to Scripture Alone as the ultimate source of authority for the teachings of the church led to the need to clarify many teachings: sacraments, the nature of the church, marriage, etc. More than anything, though, the Reformation Creeds and Confessions were attempts to distill the truths of the Scriptures into a systematic, concise form.

So, the Westminster Confession of Faith is not trying to add anything new to Scripture or to the church’s understanding of Scripture. Indeed, most of what is said in the Westminster Confession can be found in one form or another in Romans and Ephesians, Paul’s two clearest works of theology. Interestingly enough, do you know how many words Romans and Ephesians have together? Just over 12,000. Hmm . . .

But seriously, if you consider that a group of 121 pastors and theologians worked on the Westminster Confession of Faith for three years, 1643-1646, it’s amazing that it has only 12,000 words. They chose each phrase carefully, grounding all of the teachings of the Confession in the Bible. It really is an amazing accomplishment and a marvelously helpful guide to the truths of Scripture.

Jason A. Van Bemmel is a Teaching Elder in the Presbyterian Church in America. This article appeared on his blog Ponderings of a Pilgrim Pastor and is used with permission.