What is your confession of faith?I would really like to know what your confession of faith is. If you read this post, please leave a short comment letting me know. I admit that this is more for the sake of curiosity than anything else, but I still think it could be interesting.
I just finished reading the short booklet you see to the left, which is entitled, "A Faith to Confess: The Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689." It is a 66 page booklet which contains the 1689 Baptist Confession in modern English. When I mention "modern English," this does not mean that anything substantive has been changed. It is similar to the a change in language from the KJV to the NKJV.
The 1689 Baptist Confession is the one I agree with most closely. Although I don't hold to every single statement in this confession, I still find it to be the most biblical confession that exists. I know others will not agree with me on this, but this is where I stand.
Why even bother with a confession? Why not just say, "I believe in the bible and that is enough."? I agree that the bible is our supreme authority in faith and practice; however, many different groups (even some cults) claim to just believe the bible.
It is important to have some sort of confession in order to state clearly and concisely what you believe. The process of finding a confession is also a helpful one because it challenges us to look to the bible to find out what we actually believe is true. It is dangerous to just automatically accept your denomination's confession (if you are part of a denomination) without studying it first.
The Southern Baptist Confession of Faith is the Baptist Faith and Message 2000. This is a good confession, but I find it to be lacking in specific areas not related to core doctrines. The 1689 Confession is much more thorough than the BFM 2000; therefore, I prefer it as my own confession.
So what do you believe? Do you have a specific confession? If so, what is it?
8 comments:
My confession is also the 1689.
http://reformedbaptistfellowship.wordpress.com/
I attach the above link because the site just had a three part series about confessions.
Thank you for your Blog - I am greatly edified by it and read it every day.
Jesse H. Aberdeen MD
Jesse,
Thank you for both the link and the nice comments. It's nice to know that this blog is building up my brothers and sisters in Christ. That is my goal.
Thanks again, Eric
I haven't been around confessing believers for long enough to have examined many of the confessions. But I am looking into it.
Jason,
Let me encourage you in this. Looking at different confessions causes us to analyze why we believe what we believe. This is always a healthy exercise. Also, take your time with it; there is no need to rush.
Eric,
I also have a copy of the "Modern English" 1689 BCF. The1689 is the most comprehensive confession that I know of. The modern english version is even better because the language and sentance structure is more familiar. When I read the original version (which usually has a green cover) my comprehension tends to suffer as I get lost in the substantially long sentance structure.
Question for you: How do you feel about chapter 26 (The Church) paragraph 4 in which the Pope is called the antichrist? I certainly don't think the Pope is THE antichrist. However,by definition of the word antichrist, meaning against Christ or in place of Christ, the Pope is in fact an antichrist (not THE antichrist) since he puts himself in the posistion of being the head of the church, which goes against the scriptures that say that Christ is the only head of the church. What are your thoughts on this?
Micah,
Thanks for leaving your comment.
As to your question, I agree with you that the current pope is not THE Antichrist. I also agree that the Pope has wrongfully placed himself as the head of the church. He is also a false teacher in that he leads people away from the gospel of grace alone. In light of that, I believe the Pope is in the spirit of the Antichrist. An eventual Pope could be THE Antichrist.
Thanks again, Eric
My husband and I hold to the 1689 LBCF.
Bethany,
Than you. I'm sensing a pattern of 1689 LBCFers.
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