Confessional & Reformed Heritage

This post is the next in our series looking at the Seven Foundations at Christ the King. You can also read about our new Mission and Vision statements. 

Today, we will consider our third foundation: Confessional and Reformed Heritage.

A Common Heritage

The word ‘heritage’ comes from an old French word that means ‘to inherit.’ We receive from previous generations certain qualities, traditions, languages, and stories. While this is certainly true of families, cultures, and countries, it is also true of the church as well! The church in the 21st century rests upon the work of many generations of faithful Christians who were themselves building upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, centered around the cornerstone of Christ (Ephesians 2:20).

Why is our church heritage important? And why do we specify that it is both confessional and Reformed? Maybe you’ve heard some of these common phrases, “No creed but Christ, no book but the Bible,” or “We’re non-denominational, just Jesus.” American Christianity is fond of being overly individualistic. But the problem with the phrase “just me and my Bible” is the “me” part. 

By acknowledging our shared Christian heritage, we believe that the church didn’t start with us. We (the modern American church) didn’t figure out what to believe or how to ‘do church’ 20 minutes ago. To think so is to be guilty of what C. S. Lewis called “chronological snobbery.” Instead, there are 2,000 years of church history, and we should recognize and intentionally receive what our forefathers in the faith fought so hard to leave to us.

So, what is this heritage? We articulate two aspects of it, confessional and Reformed.

Confessional Heritage

The word confessional can have different meanings depending upon the usage and context. When we refer to ourselves as a ‘confessional church,’ we mean that we affirm the historic creeds and confessions of the church, and that these documents govern our theology, worship, and practice.

Specifically, we affirm the ecumenical (universal) creeds that were written and adopted by the early church. These are the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed (specifically the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed), the Athanasian Creed, and the Definition of Chalcedon (see this webpage for more information about each of these creeds).

These creeds and statements were written over the 3rd, 4th, and 5th centuries as the early church defended the Christian faith against trinitian and christological heresies. In them, we receive invaluable and indispensable articulations of biblical truth about God, the Trinity, the person and natures of Christ, and so much more. 

The church is always in danger of straying from biblical orthodoxy. That is why we at CTK affirm these creeds and use them in our worship service during our confession of faith. They ground us in the truth of Scripture, and unite us to our fellow Christians around the world, and the church universal across all time.

Reformed Heritage

The word ‘reformed’ has also taken on a lot of meaning in different contexts and defining it can be difficult. Reformed is often used as a synonym for Calvinism. And while Calvinistic beliefs about salvation are part of a Reformed belief system, there is also much more to it. The Reformed church has its own heritage, dating back to the Protestant Reformation, that includes unique characteristics in our theology, piety, church government, worship, and all of the Christian life.

In addition to the early church creeds, we also confess and affirm a set of documents called the Westminster Standards, which is made up of a Confession of Faith and a Larger and Shorter Catechism (a catechism is a teaching tool, a series of questions and answers about biblical doctrine). These documents were written in the 17th century and adopted by the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. 

Our church has its roots in this Presbyterian tradition. CTK belongs to the Presbyterian Church in America, and together we adopt the Westminster Standards as our confessional documents. That is, we believe that the Westminster Confession and Catechisms are accurate, reliable, and faithful summaries of what the Bible teaches. They form the foundation of what our church believes about God, creation, sin, salvation, men and women, good works, the church, worship, the sacraments, and much more. 

There is another set of Reformed standards used by the Dutch churches called the Three Forms of Unity. These three ‘forms’ are the Heidelberg Catechism, the Belgic Confession, and the Canons of Dort. While these are not officially adopted as the standards of our church (the PCA), they teach the same Reformed faith and we use them in our teaching and worship, and also for our personal edification.

I encourage you to read these Reformed documents to learn more about what our church believes. For a helpful introduction to Reformed theology, with a history of its development and guides for further reading, look at this helpful article by Pastor Daniel Hyde.

What about Sola Scriptura?

Before we go, it might be helpful to address one common objection (though there are many questions about this whole topic, so please reach out to me with your comments and questions!). That is, don’t we confess Sola Scriptura—Scripture alone? Why do we care so much about these man-made documents, isn’t the Bible sufficient?

These are great questions. In short, our adoption and affirmation of man-made creeds and confessions does not contradict Sola Scriptura, but it actually helps us keep it. Scripture is absolutely our only infallible rule for faith and life. Only Scripture is our infallible authority, but that does not mean it is the only authority. These creeds and confessions, written by the church corporately, help to protect us from straying from what the Bible teaches. At the same time, they are fallible documents because they are not divinely inspired like God’s Word (2 Timothy 3:16-17). We refer to them as subordinate standards. While they are under the Word of God, they help us to understand the Word of God.

So, yes, Scripture is sufficient for us—but we are not sufficient, on our own, for Scripture. We need help in reading and interpreting the Bible, and that is where our confessional and Reformed heritage comes in. The church helps us read and understand our Bibles, so that we can confidently apply the whole counsel of God to the whole of our lives. Left to our own we would certainly drift away from the truth; our rich heritage helps keep us anchored in Scripture.