The Highway Forums General Discussion Open Forum What exactly is a confessional church

Does it mean that a church ascribes to a confession of faith, or can it mean that a church ascribes to a statement of faith with might entail 5-10 points? Or, maybe there is really not a specific meaning, but one that is thrown around a lot?

1. Historically, a "confessional church" is a body that ascribes to a denominational standard, e.g., Helvetic, Belgic, LBCF, Westminster, Savoy, etc. These churches confess that the Bible is the sole and final authority in all matters of faith (doctrine) and practice... and that the Standard/Confession is their secondary authority in all that it says which is consistent with biblical teaching.

2. In more modern times, it can mean that a denomination or individual church ascribes to a confession/standard which they have written themselves. Typically, these type of confessions are very simple and pale in comparison to the historical confessions which came about after the Protestant Reformation as were all those mentioned above. Precision isn't one of their attributes and most are contrary to the doctrines of the reformational confessions.

3. Lastly, EVERY church is confessional in the sense that the individual church has a set of beliefs, whether written or unwritten to which members are required to acknowledge as truth and voluntarily agree to submit to and be disciplined if broken. You will see these written 'confessions' on most church websites, usually designated as "What We Believe", or something similar.

#1 is, or was, the understood meaning of a "Confessional Church".

One more thing I feel I would be reticent if not mentioned. A denomination/church can claim to be confessional but that does not guarantee that they accept their Standard(s) as a binding secondary authority, or consistently teach and live by them, e.g., the PCUSA retains the Westminster Standards as part of their denomination but openly disagrees with most of what those Standards teach. They are valuable as part of history and not much more. There are other confessional denominations who haven't gone as far as the PCUSA in denying the majority of the teachings of their respective Standard(s), but they are slowly going in that direction. This is not unusual historically. Many, if not most of the major Reformed denominations are in our day are traveling down that road to one degree or another and will eventually become just another "used to be confessional" church. Out of them will be those who sooner or later recognize the seriousness of what is happening, leave and start a new denomination/church. Revelation chapters 2&3 is an accurate description of where the visible church is today. The majority have gone astray in various ways but a few have remained faithful. The question that needs to be asked is, "Where is MY church/denomination among those described in Revelation?" Most people play ostrich and refuse to take seriously the signs of impending apostasy around them. And that is one of the major contributions to the demise of their church/denomination.

Pilgrim
That is an excellent summary of the issue.
I couldn't agree with you more concerning the last section of your post. As someone who has needed to change Churches in the last 10 years several times. I can attest that a confession of faith can be quite solid; yet in actuality in practice the Church does not follow it. In my case, out of concern, I have met with the pastor with my concerns (after doing my homework). I was told in no uncertain terms that I was wrong and what they teach is completely in keeping with their confession. One example was the Church supported 'The Hour of Power', which is a ministry of Crystal Cathedral (founded by Robert Schuller).

Tom

We must be constantly reminded that as good as most of the Reformed confessions and catechisms are, they are uninspired, fallible and of only secondary authority. The Church's sole and final authority, the basis of all truth is the Bible and the Bible alone. In too many instances where the main authoritative body in a denomination, e.g., a General Assembly or Synod is forced to examine and judge in matters of doctrine and/or life, but particularly on doctrinal matters, the ruling comes down on the basis if the doctrine in question is "in accord with the Standards" vs. "is the doctrine taught in the Word of God." The #1 reason why the nation of the United States, in fact the entire Western Hemisphere, is under the just wrath and judgment of God is because the visible church has forsaken the Bible and assimilated with the philosophies and practices of the world. Idolatry predominates in the vast majority of churches. Worldliness has been deliberately brought into the church's worship. Sin has not only gone undisciplined but actually taught to be acceptable and encouraged. "There is no fear of God before their eyes." (Rom 3:18)


And further, Scripture even provides the counsel and wisdom needed to discern the current times:

Is it not also true, that a good confession is one that lifts up the inspired infallible Scriptures themselves? They were written to safeguard and point the Church away from false doctrine that was entering the Church; to what the Scriptures actually teach; not because they were inspired themselves.

Tom

Yes, one could say there were 2 main reasons the confessions were written:

1. To guard the church from error, both from without and from within. [NOTE: most heresy originates from within the church and by professors/teachers/pastors/elders].

2. To instruct members of the church in the truth of Scripture.

The Westminster Confession, for example, points from itself and even the visible church to the Bible as its sole and final authority: