WCF 1.5 - Of the Holy Scriptures

1.5 We may be moved and induced by the testimony of the Church to a high and reverent esteem of the Holy Scripture. And the heavenliness of the matter, the efficacy of the doctrine, the majesty of the style, the consent of all the parts, the scope of the whole (which is, to give all glory to God), the full discovery it makes of the only way of man's salvation, the many other incomparable excellencies, and the entire perfection thereof, are arguments whereby it doth abundantly evidence itself to be the Word of God: yet notwithstanding, our full persuasion and assurance of the infallible truth and divine authority thereof, is from the inward work of the Holy Spirit bearing witness by and with the Word in our hearts.

This section has been divided into two parts by the Scripture references attached to it. The first part is made up of only the first sentence and there is only one proof text: 1 Timothy 3:15, "But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth." The Church here is called the pillar and ground of the truth. I think that this picture is of a large building that is held up and supported by its foundations and the pillars. If either the foundation or the pillars upon the foundation were weak, then the entire building would be unstable. In other words, Church supports and upholds the truth. This is also talking about the true Church, not a cult or apostate church. An apostate church is only apostate because of the apostate truth that it believes in. The church, as the foundation and pillar of the truth, has held our Scriptures in high esteem and has used the Scriptures in matters of doctrine and to know the salvation of Christ for a long time.

The second part of this section has to do with how we are fully persuaded and assured that the Word of God is infallibly true and of divine authority. The WCF lists several things which are proof that the Scriptures are the Word of God, yet these are not enough to fully persuade a man. 1 John 1:20 & 27 say the following, "But yet have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. v27. But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him."

This is a tough saying and it is not the first time that I have heard it said, but it is the first time I have seen it in the Scriptures. When I was writing the WCF posts on sections 1.2 and 1.3, I would have loved to know all the facts as to why we have exactly 27 books in our NT canon and we do not read the books of the Apocrypha, yet surely most Christians have never truly known why they had the the exact words of Scripture that they did. This would have been especially true in the past when access to information was not as easy as it is today.

Though the Spirit teaches men, 1 Peter 1:20 says that no scripture is of private interpretation and Galatians 1:8-9 says that if an angel or man preach any other gospel then he should be accursed. So then even if a man is 100% certain that his new doctrine is Spirit taught, if it is not consistent with Scripture and the long term position of the Church, then he is wrong.

Also one can not simply read the Catholic's Bible or one of the new translations or paraphrases of our English Bible and expect to find the same truths contained therein. God's Word is under attack by his enemies and though God has preserved his Word through hundreds of years, it was by men that God preserved his Word.

WCF 1.4 - Of the Holy Scriptures

1.4 The authority of the Holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed and obeyed, dependeth not upon the testimony of any man or Church; but wholly upon God (who is truth itself) the author thereof: and therefore it is to be received because it is the Word of God.

If a man was in a discussion with an atheist over the creation of the world, he would mention the very first verse in the Bible where it says, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." The atheist would rightly reply, "Why would you believe in the testimony of a book that was supposedly written by a man called Moses thousands of years ago when science gives us facts that can we see and believe today that contradict your book?" The atheist presumes that a mere man wrote the book and how could a story be passed down accurately from generation to generation? What about men who wanted to create a story of a supernatural being that created the world so that the people would fear and follow their instructions?

The point is not that Moses wrote the book, that Moses was a great historian, or that Moses himself has any reason that elevates his word over the the word of another man. The point of the man who quoted the first verse in the Bible is that God himself said he created the world. It was not that Moses spake and wrote as he willed, "but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." (1 Peter 1:21) Thus the power of the first verse in the Bible comes from the authority of God and every commandment has to be obeyed and every word of prophecy is to be believed and every word of history is factual because God that cannot lie (1 Titus 1:2) has said it.

1 Timothy 3:16 says, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness."

WCF 1.3 - Of the Holy Scriptures

1.3 The books commonly called the Apocrypha, not being of divine inspiration, are not part of the canon of Scripture; and therefore are of no authority in the Church of God, nor to be any otherwise approved, or made use of, than other human writings.

What is the Apocrypha?
The Apocrypha means hidden books in the Greek. It was hard to find information on the internet about when the books were actually written. This is partly due to the fact that the definition of what the Apocrypha really is has different meanings depending on who you are. Prior to my little bit of research, I only knew that the Catholics added extra books to their Bibles called the Apocrypha and that these books were manmade or not inspired by God. Did you know that from 1611 - 1885 the King James Bible actually contained the books of the Apocrypha? The Catholics also added a version of the Apocrypha into their Bibles in AD 385.

What are the books that make up the Apocrypha in the 1611 KJV?
1 Esdras
2 Esdras
Tobit
Judith
Esther, additions to the book of
Wisdom of Solomon
Ecclesiasticus
Baruch
A Letter of Jeremiah
Prayer of Azariah (the Song of the Three Children)
Susanna
Bel and the Dragon
Prayer of Manasseh
1 Maccabees
2 Maccabees

There are inconsistencies in some of the books of the Apocrypha with the rest of our accepted canon of Scripture. It is also interesting that neither Jesus nor the Apostles ever quoted from the Apocrypha. What makes this even more interesting is that the Septuagint (Greek) translation of the OT was quoted by Jesus and the apostles because the world language of the day was Greek and the Septuagint contained books of the Apocrypha. So the translation of the Bible that Jesus and the apostles quoted from contained the Apocrypha which they never quoted from even once.

That one book contained in Apocrypha collection has errors, does not mean that all have errors. Yet at this point, I can do no other than accept by faith that the Christian forebears did study and prove more surely that the Apocrypha is not of divine inspiration.

WCF 1.2 - Of the Holy Scriptures

2. Under the name of Holy Scripture, of the Word of God written, are now contained all of the books of the Old and New Testaments, which are there:

The Old Testament
Genesis
Exodus
Leviticus
Numbers
Deuteronomy
Joshua
Judges
Ruth
1 Samuel
2 Samuel
1 Kings
2 Kings
1 Chronicles
2 Chronicles
Ezra
Nehemiah
Esther
Job
Psalms
Proverbs
Ecclesiastes
The Song of Solomon
Isaiah
Jeremiah
Lamentations
Ezekiel
Daniel
Hosea
Joel
Amos
Obadiah
Jonah
Micah
Nahum
Habakkuk
Zephaniah
Haggai
Zechariah
Malachi

The New Testament
The Gospels according to Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John
The Acts of the Apostles
Paul's Epistles to the Romans, Corinthians 1, Corinthians 2, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians 1, Thessalonians 2, To Timothy 1, To Timothy 2, To Titus, & To Philemon
The Epistle to the Hebrews
The Epistle of James
The first and second Epistles of Peter
The first, second, and third Epistles of John
The Epistle of Jude
The Revelation of John

All which are given by inspiration of God, to be the rule of faith and life.

End WCF 1.2

When I first looked at this section, I thought I was going to be in for a short article, but already typing out just the WCF is large!

In the very first section of chapter one, the WCF talks about the revelation of God. God's revelation to us has been graciously committed to writing, but where is the writing now? In what form? In what languages? How many books? Why the book of Jude and not the book of Enoch? These are all very legitimate questions for a Christian to ask, but how do you know the book you hold in your hands is really the words of God and not just some collection of fairy tales or legends cooked up by some bored shepherds one evening?

There is more to be talked about regarding the content of the actual books themselves, but that is dealt with in later sections of this chapter. This chapter deals only with the actual books included in the Canon of Scripture.

(The word canon is something which is considered as a measuring rod or rule to compare other things to.)

I watched a DVD provided by Answers in Genesis on the issue. It is entitled Why 66? The Canon of Scripture which features Brian Edwards. I took a lot of notes and have written them below.

The Canon of the Old Testament
The Jews had 22 books in their canon of scripture. The reason that they had only 22 books is because they condensed exactly the same 39 books that we have down into 22 books. The 22 books contained exactly the same content as our 39 books today.


Were the books of the OT canon written at the time they happened or were they written hundreds or thousands of years later? There is internal proof in two of the books that they were written at the time they happened.

2 Chronicles 10:19 says, "And Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day." The nation of Israel was eventually carried off into captivity, so there is a set window of time for this book to be written.

In the book of Jeremiah chapter 36, it talks about Baruch who wrote what Jeremiah was saying as he said them.

Should the books of the Apocrypha be included at part of Scripture? Jesus and his disciples never quoted from them even though they quoted from the OT hundreds of times. Josephus the Jewish historian never quoted from them. There is also a verse where the Bible talks about no voice of the prophets between Malachi and John the Baptist, but I can't find it. The Septuagint was a Greek translation of the OT. The disciples quoted from this translation of the Bible especially when they were talking to Greek speaking men. The earliest copy of the Septuagint from AD 250 is 500 years after the Septuagint was first published. There is no proof that the books of the Apocrypha were in the original Septuagint.

The Canon of the New Testament

The first person to set out the books of the New Testament as we know them today was Athanasius, but they were in a different order.

He said, "These (the NT canon) are the fountains of salvation, that whoever thirsts, may be satisfied by the eloquence which is in them. In them alone is set forth the doctrine of piety. Let no one add to them nor take anything from them."



There was a claim among scholars that the books of the NT canon were being written as late as the AD 200s. Aside from any other proof that may be discussed, none of the NT writings make a single mention of the most notable event to happen to the Jews; the siege and destruction of Jerusalem. This happened in AD 70, so one concludes that the NT canon was completed prior to the events. 


The Muratorian Canon from around AD 150 is the first list of NT books people have discovered. It contained the 4 Gospels, Acts, Jude, Thirteen letters of Paul, 2 or 3 letters of John, and Revelation. This canon claims to be accepted by the universal church. (One should also note that the Wisdom of Solomon from the Apocrypha was included in this canon too.)

Irenaeus of Lyons was a disciple of Polycarp (killed in AD 155) who was a disciple of the Apostle John. Irenaeus wrote a famous work called Against Heresies. He knew the churches throughout the Roman Empire and he knew that the churches were all using the same books for their authority.

Three quotes from  Irenaeus are:
"The Church, having received this preaching and this faith, although scattered throughout the whole world, yet, as if occupying but one house, carefully preserves it.....

For the churches that have been planted in Germany do not believe or hand down anything different, nor do those of Spain, nor those in Gaul (France), nor those in Libya, nor those which have been established in the central regions of the world.....

Nor will any one of the rulers in the Churches, however highly gifted he may be in the point of eloquence, teach doctrines different from these."


In AD 180, Irenaeus quoted from 1,000 passages from all but four or five NT books and refers to them as the Holy Scriptures.


The four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, and the thirteen letters of Paul were all accepted without question from the earliest records known today.

Apart from James, Jude, 2 and 3 John, 2 Peter, Hebrews, and Revelation, all other NT books had been universally accepted by AD 180.

The following list includes early NT canons and how many books they contained:
AD 150 - Muratorian Canon - 24 of 27
AD 180 - Irenaeus of Lyons - 23 of 27
AD 240 - Origen of Alexandria - 27
AD 325 - Eusebius of Caesarea - 22 + 5
AD 367 - Athanasius of Alexandria - 27

Why did it take more than 100 years for the NT canon to be finalised?

1. The originals were scattered across the whole empire.
2. No scroll could easily contain more than one or two books. The Gospel of Luke had a scroll that was 10 metres long.
3. The first century Christians expected the immediate return of Christ.
4. No on church or leader dominated all the others for 500 years.
5. The early leaders assumed the authority of the Gospels and the apostles. All but Mark, Luke, Jude, and maybe Hebrews were directly written by the apostles. 
6. Only when the heretics attacked the truth was the importance of a canon appreciated.

What makes a book Scripture?

1. Apostolic - does it come from an apostle?
2. Authentic - does it have the ring of truth?
3. Ancient - has it been used from the earliest times?
4. Accepted - are most of the churches using it?
5. Accurate - does it conform to the orthodox teaching of the churches?

And that is the end of my notes from the documentary Why 66? The Canon of Scripture by Brian Edwards and AiG. These notes are just a brief introduction into why we have 66 books in our canon and why only these books. 

WCF 1.1 - Of the Holy Scriptures

Originally when I started this blog a month ago, I was planning on going through the Gospel of Jesus Christ during the first week and making a post on that. I did procrastinate a lot, but when I did look at it, I felt so over-whelmed by the magnitude of the Gospel. Thoughts such as, "How do I know that God is holy?" came to mind as I read through the little booklet.

At last, I came to the conclusion that because I had so many questions, I needed a systematic understanding of God the Father, Christ, the Bible, and the doctrines contained therein to satisfy my thirst.

What better way to learn systematic theology than to study the Westminster Confession of Faith!

The Westminster Confession of Faith has 33 chapters. Each of these chapters is broken up into sections. I am going to take each of these chapters section by section and write a little post on each. There are approx 172 sections altogether.

I should also say that the WCF comes with Scripture proofs and thus I will not be taking the liberty to discuss every single statement and prove every single phrase. If you Google for the Westminster Confession of Faith with Scripture Proofs, you will find plenty of copies.

1.1 Although the light of nature and the works of creation and providence do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave men unexcusable; yet are they no sufficiency to give that knowledge of God and of His will, which is necessary unto salvation. Therefore it pleased the Lord, at sundry times, and in divers manners, to reveal Himself, and to declare that His will unto His Church; and afterwards for the better preserving and propagating of the truth, and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the Church against the corruption of the flesh, and the malice of Satan and of the world, to commit the same wholly unto writing: which maketh the Holy Scripture to be most necessary; those former ways of God's revealing His will unto His people being now ceased.

Men have no excuse. Or at least this is the claim that the WCF makes. Yet, the question must be asked, excused from what? God has a perfect and just law that all men must follow. If the smallest part of his law is transgressed, if a man does one little thing that is contrary to the nature of God, then he creates a division between himself and God. Romans 14:11-12 says, "For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God."

I can imagine a man standing before God and saying, "But I did not know that you existed! It is unfair; it is unjust that you would expect me to know of you and know of your law. How can you punish me for eternity?" This kind of excuse is what the WCF is talking about. No man is allowed this excuse.

What does it mean for the average Joe, your blue-collared worker? Is he excused because of his ignorance of God? What about the farmer tilling his lands in the Wimmera? What about the rich young man in Melbourne who is well-learned in history and the arts? Then there are the Indians from Peru, a lot of them have surely never heard of God?

It is the light of nature and the works of creation and providence that manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God. Christ says in Psalm 19:1-3, "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night uttereth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard."

(Natural theology deals with the idea that nature demands a God with the characteristics of our God. RL Dabney has a systematic theology where he deals with natural theology over the course of two chapters. He also summarises other Puritan writers on the topic.)

Even though God is manifest through nature, creation, and providence, this information alone does not give us knowledge of Christ, his death, and his atonement nor provide us with a strong foundation to argue the law of God.

How grateful I am that God saw it fit to reveal Himself. He revealed himself originally through the prophets and later through Christ and the apostles. Then, God was pleased to preserve his Word in writing that we may be able to have a copy. I can just imagine the confusion and corruption that could have crept into the true story of Christ's salvation and of the history of the early patriarchs and the nation of Israel if God had not preserved his revelation.

Because this revelation of God is the only way we can find out about God's plan for our salvation it is most necessary.

The very last phrase in the first section says this, "those former ways of God's revealing His will unto His people being now ceased." When I read the Bible, I read it as a completed work. If someone came to me and asked me if I had heard of the latest prophecy from God, I would laugh at them and tell them that God does not give new prophesies any more. However, I cannot prove from Scripture that God has indeed ceased to give new prophesies. The only proof text that the WCF offers to me does not provide enough proof for me. Yet, these 70 men that spent 5 years putting together the confession of faith. They must have chosen the text for the precise reason that it does prove this phrase.

In summary, men have no excuse not to know there is a God, yet it pleased God to reveal himself and his plan for salvation to us.