TH010-812 - The Westminster Confession

  • 2,976 Standard Tuition Fee
  • 12
    Credit Points
  • 0.125 EFT 
  • 8
    AQF level
  • Category developing unit
    B
  • theologyUnit Discipline

Prerequisites

24cps TH/CH

Exclusions

Prior to 2020, this unit content was delivered under the unit code TH610.

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, students will

A. Know and understand

Demonstrate Advanced knowledge and understanding of the Westminster Confession of Faith.

B. Be able to

1. Examine the historical context, importance and influence of the Westminster Confession of Faith

2. Review the use of the Confession in the contemporary Presbyterian church, with particular reference to the church in Australia

3. Present Research-Aware evidence-based perspectives on the Westminster Confession of Faith

C. Be in a position to

1. Applying perspectives from ‘The Westminster Confession’ to contemporary Christian life and ministry practice as a reflective practitioner

Content

1. Confessions of the Continental Reformation and the British Reformation; the Scots Confession and the Irish Articles.

2. The historical circumstances of the Westminster Assembly.

3. The relation of the Westminster Confession to other Westminster Documents.

4. The adoption of the Westminster Confession by the Church of Scotland and its relation to later Scottish theology; moderatism, evangelicalism and modernism; the adoption of the Confession by Presbyterian churches in the nineteenth century.

5. The structure of the Westminster Confession.

6. Chapter 1 on the doctrine of Scripture, the use Confession makes of Scripture and the theological methodology used by the Confession.

7. A detailed examination of theological topics in the Confession.

8. The covenantal and decreetal schema of the Confession.

9. The Confession’s view of church and state.

10. The Basis of Union of the Presbyterian Church of Australia and the place of the Westminster Confession in the denomination.

Teaching Aims

a. examine in detail the Westminster Confession of Faith in its 17th century context;

b. consider the continuing significance of the Confession in the life of Presbyterian Church of Australia;

c. encourage students to develop their own theological thinking in interaction with the Confession.

Set Readings

Prescribed:

The various primary documents referred to in the Content section above.

 

Recommended:

Carson, J. and D. Hall, To Glorify and Enjoy God (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1994).

Duncan, L. (ed.), The Westminster Confession into the 21st Century (Fearn: Mentor, 2003).

Letham, R., The Westminster Assembly: Reading its Theology in Historical Context (Phillipsburg NJ: P & R Publishing, 2009).

Milne, D. J. W., The Westminster Confession of Faith for the Twenty-first Century (Sydney: Presbyterian Church of Australia, 2001).

Reymond, R. L., A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1998 rev. ed).

Torrance, T. F., Scottish Theology (esp. 125-53; Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1996).