Blogging through and answering the questions from G. I. Williamson’s The Westminster Confession of Faith for Study Classes for personal review and comprehension.
WCF. I. Of the Holy Scriptures – 6.
1. Cite Scripture proof that God’s Word is now complete.
Jesus Christ said he was the “truth” (John 14:6) and the author of Hebrews unwraps the logic of that statement, stating that “God …. at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets” but now he “hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son” who is the “express image of his person.” The former was provisional, and the latter final.
2. Cite Scripture proof that God’s Word discloses all of his will for man.
Paul says in Acts 20:27 that he declared “all the counsel of God.” In 2 Timothy 3:15-17, Paul argues that Scripture is able to teach, reprove, correct, and train us in righteousness/perfection.
3. Why is guidance given in terms of general principles rather than particular directions? (Two reasons may be given.)
God’s law addresses all things, it is all encompassing, and if guidance is given in terms of general principles instead of particular directions that is actually a possibility (otherwise it would merely be wooden, legalistic, and bulky/verbose). Each of us is personally responsible to “apply these principles to [our] own circumstances” (11) in order to do all to the Glory of God. This involves engaging our thoughts and imaginations. But since the principles apply to specific and personal circumstances, Christian Liberty must be engendered and practiced.
4. How can the Bible suffice for all men in all times an places?
These all-encompassing principles are universal, applying to all men, everywhere, at all times.
5. In the categories of worship and government give examples of things which are, and things which are not, circumstances of worship and government.
Regarding worship: the time of day, location (indoors, out doors, in a building owned or rented), the color of the chairs, the paint on the walls, etc. Regarding government: the rules of church order (e.g., Book of Procedures), the specifics of constituting as a local church, etc.
6. Give an example to show that the general principles of the Word of God must control circumstances, and that the circumstances must not control (or be allowed to cause violation of) principles of the Word of God.
In Exodus 23:4 we read, “If thou meet thine enemy’s ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again.” A wooden interpretation that would cause violation would be as follows: a man sees his enemy’s sheep going astray, but since it isn’t the man’s ox or ass he doesn’t feel compelled to return the animal to his enemy.
The proper view – the principle from this case law is this for a contemporary circumstance: even if someone is your enemy, if you come across their misplaced (gone astray) property, then you have an ethical responsibility to restore the property to them. An example: your neighbor is always agitating you, complaining about your fence, about your lawn, about where and how you place the trash out by the curb on pick-up days, etc. You find his wallet on the sidewalk. You have a moral obligation, on the basis of the principle demonstrated in Exodus 23:4, to return the wallet to your neighbor.