Everything I have written on the Westminster Confession and Catechisms

In case anyone is interested, these are the things I have written about the Westminster Standards. Some of these are direct expositons. Others are Biblical studies that defend Westminster Doctrine.

CREDO on justification
Not much expositon. More a testimony about the lack of theological competence among theological guardians.
Justification & Salvation Quiz
Irony with the Westminster Confession and Catechisms being the answer key.
Law & Gospel in Presbyterianism
A pretty straightforward exposition of what the Westminster Confession actually states regarding the topic of “law and gospel.”
MIXING “LAW” & GOSPEL IN THE ABRAHAMIC PROMISE: A Response to Michael Horton
Pretty much similar content to “Law & Gospel in Presbyterian” but applied to someone offering a revisionist account. Arguably my own brief exegetical defense is also rather new.
The Moral Law Commands Faith in Christ Alone
As (the original movie version of) Buffy would say, “Does the word, ‘duh,’ mean anything to you?” I’m not going to make you suffer through an explanation as to why I wrote this piece, but points two and six are from the Westminster documents, so I must include it here.
The Necessity of New Obedience: The Westminster Standards, Repentance, & Pardon
The title is pretty self-explanatory as to content and why it gets included in this list. Not much Scripture (I’m embarrassed to admit) just an exposition of the content of Westminster’s faith related to this particular topic.
The God of Grace
An exposition of the Reformed view of grace that touches on the covenant of life and the basis of God’s relationship with Adam before the Fall. It is a general survey of the Reformed confessional tradition, but it shows that Westminster was perfectly consistent with this heritage, rather than an exception to it.
The Covenant of Works, the Mosaic Covenant, & the Necessity of Obedience for Salvation in the Day of Judgment
I almost left this out because the Westminster stuff is alonside many other confessions and catechisms and it is somewhat redundant with other stuff I’ve linked. It is an excerpt from my essay defending Norman Shepherd (yes, I know I need to put it through a major proofread, but who has time?).
Of the Church: An Exposition of Chapter XXV of the Westminster Confession of Faith
What the title says. I simply expound the chapter, writing a sermon of what the chapter teaches and applying it to the lives of a hypothetical congregation. This was a class assignment from Dr. David Calhoun at Covenant Theological Seminary for his course on the Westminster Confession of Faith. He gave me a high grade at the time, but Hogwarts was not under the wathful eye of the Ministry of Magic back then.
Charles Hodge’s Deficient Idea of the Church
Among other things, I hold up an essay by Charles Hodge to scrutiny according to what the Westminster Confession teaches about the church.
Heads of Household Membership & Male-Only Voting in the Church
I may have messed up my argument by dealing with what could be two separate things as one mistake to refute, but I’ve never had the energy to redo this as two different essays. I argue from the Reformed and Westminsterian doctrine of baptism against the practice of doing membership “by household” and restricting voting to the head of household and/or males only.
What is the Old Testament Precursor to the Pastor? How does the Former Illuminate the Latter?
Barely relevant but endnote #2 qualifies it for this list. I wrote this to get ordained into the Gospel Ministry by Pacific Northwest Presbytery.
Admission into the Church: Biblical Theology & Baptism
A defense that baptism is “admission… into the visible church.”
Baptismal Theology Within Reformed Evangelicalism
Deals with the Reformed heritage as a whole, but has some remarks about WCF 14.1 that qualify it for this list.
Is God the God of the Mature Professing Christians Only
Big ugly counterattack on a credobaptist critic of Reformed paedobaptism. Use the Westminster Confession and Catechisms to clarify the paedobaptist position in order to better defend it from Scripture. (As per my exception to the Standards, I agreed with the critic regarding the inconsistency of credocommunionism.)
Quest for a Converting Ordinance
Deals with an archaism and tangentially with Q&A #91 of the Shorter Catechism.
SACRAMENTAL ASSURANCE & THE REFORMED FAITH: The Biblical Perspective of the Westminster Standards
How and why the sacraments confirm our faith in the Westminsterian doctrine, with a defense from Scripture.
Samuel Miller, Baptism, and Covenant Theology
Criticizes this professor of old Princeton for ignoring Westminster in order to posit an unecessary gap between himself and the Evangelical Anglicans.
The Westminster Standards & Sacramental Efficacy
Title self-explanatory. Probably my earliest writing on this topic.
Trying to be Objective: A Short Test For Those Concerned About An Alleged “Baptismal Regeneration” Teaching
This was an attempt to try to diffuse some misunderstandings that are being diligently spread in conferences and on the internet. I probably need to edit the tone of this. It is all about Westminster.
Why Do We Baptize? A Provisional Attempt at Biblical Reformulation
Mostly exploratory Bible stuff, but also a vindication of Westminster on baptism.
Why I Did Not Baptize My Daughter: My Role as a Parent in My Children’s Salvation
Basically argues that my role is to provide for the need for salvation by bequeathing her sin and death. Mostly argumentation from the Bible but also uses Westminster for support. This is sort of related to my essay about households and church membership.
JUSTIFICATION BY UNION WITH CHRIST Only Through Living Faith: A Brief Comparison of Calvin’s Institutes with the Westminster Confession and Catechisms regarding the shape of imputation
A demonstration that Richard Gaffin’s views on union with Christ and the ordo salutis are quite familiar to anyone knowledgeable regarding the Westminster Confession and Catechisms.
Celebrating a Calvinist Christmas with a Clear Conscience: Is the Holiday Unpresbyterian?
Whatever some majority of Divines may have wished the Confession or Catechisms to clearly say, what they actually wrote provides an easy rationale for the voluntary observance of Christmas (and other celebratory Christian days). Since the entire Christian world has approved of Christmas–including the entire Protestant and even Reformed world outside of the Anglo-American stream–I argue it is not treason to celebrate. This is especially true because the Bible nowhere condemns such a practice and it is legalism to bind consciences where God has remained silent.

As far as I know, this is everything. But if you find anything that should be added here, please let me know.

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