The first time someone asked me if I went to a confessional church, I stared at him blankly. “Well,” I stammered, “I know that we have a priest at Lutheran churches, but I kind of thought confession booths were just for Catholics?”
It turns out, “Confessional” has a separate meaning. It can also mean that a church subscribes to a certain creed not found in the Bible. Usually, this creed was written by a certain denomination within the past 500 years, the major exception being the Nicene Creed, which dates to the fourth century. Other common confessions include the Westminster Confession (1647 A.D.), Heidelberg Catechism (1576 A.D.), and the Waldensian Confession (1655 A.D.).
In my circles, it’s the Westminister Confession (and accompanying catechism) that has the most dogmatic supporters. It’s not so much that I disagree with the Westminister Catechism; it’s more that I disagree with giving it such a lofty position in theology. A lot of reformed church websites actually state “We subscribe to the Bible and the Westminister Catechism,” and they will quote it like they quote Bible verses.
Jesus harshly criticized the Pharisees for putting the word of men equal to the Word of God. In Matthew 5:19, He said, “in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'" When I push the issue, a catechism’s supporters will always insist that they don’t view it on the same level as the Bible, but when they respond to my biblical arguments using it instead of Scripture, how else can I interpret their responses? It’s an impossible paradox to get past. Unless you accept that something becomes holy through church tradition (which the reformers shutter at), there’s no half-way point at which something is semi-inspired. I would find quoting my blog to be just as persuasive as quoting a catechism.
Catechisms are not inspired; they contain errors, or at least things not stated in Scripture. For instance, the Westminister Catechism refers to Sunday as the Lord’s Day, whereas the only place the term appears in Scripture is Revelations 1:10, where John is most likely referring to Judgment Day. Nowhere in all of Revelation does John ever mention the first day of the week. Yet in theological discussions, I have had people argue that Sunday is the only day when church can be held, because the catechism says so. This strikes me as particularly dangerous – placing tradition much higher than it should be, especially when compared to Bible verses like Romans 14:5. Even John Calvin, generally closely associated with the Westminister Catechism, said that, “I do not cling so to the number seven as to bring the Church under bondage to it, nor do I condemn churches for holding their meetings on other solemn days, provided they guard against superstition” (INSTITUTES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION - CHAPTER 8).
There are other strange ironies. Many of my Reformed Presbyterian friends will only sing Psalms (and usually without instruments) because it is the only “Biblical” way to worship God, but at the same time, they revere the Westminister Catechism to the point where they often mention it in the same sentence as the Bible. How can it be that singing traditional hymns is non-scriptural, but the catechism is ok? These churches also tend to revere the works of Martin Luther tremendously – again, he was a great man of faith, but he had his own set of problems and certainly hasn’t achieved canonical status.
Although supporters will often point to the great age of a confession (still very short compared to the history of Christianity), modern confessionals are still produced, such as the “Chicago Statement on biblical Inerrancy.” Rather than “becoming holy” due to centuries of tradition and reverence, or a nostalgic belief that Christians of a certain era were better than now, it was written in an airport hotel in 1978. Hardly anyone has ever heard of it. To me this brings up the obvious question: if someone wrote the Westminster Confession today, would anybody really care about it even enough to read it?
I prefer to view the Westminister Catechism, and all confessionals, in the same way that I would view the sermons of a great preacher or a timeless hymn. They’re great to study, and reading or singing them leads to a deeper appreciation of church history. Ultimately, however, they are still just the works of frail human beings.
What is your opinion of confessionals? Have you ever attended a confessional church? How were the confessionals used?
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Comments (3)
I disagree just a bit with some of what you said. Something can be inspired, but not perfect. Many of the creed statements have elements of truth in them, but they may also have the thoughts of men in them. I have met people who have had profound experiences with God, and then project those experiences in directions they were never meant to go.
The bottom line is that the Holy Spirit bears witness to our spirits of truth, if we are prepared and listening, wherever it is found. We get into trouble when we try to perceive truth on our own or when we accept something as being true without a witness of the Spirit so that we won't have to trust our own personal relationship with Jesus to know truth.
"... catechism’s supporters will always insist that they don’t view it on the
same level as the Bible, but when they respond to my biblical arguments
using it instead of Scripture, how else can I interpret their
responses? It’s an impossible paradox to get past. Unless you accept
that something becomes holy through church tradition (which the
reformers shutter at), there’s no half-way point at which something is
semi-inspired. "
As members of a Church, sure we are followers of Christ, but we also follow the authority of the Church. The Church has the job of educating its members so as to help spread Christianity.
The Catechism of The Catholic Church that came out in the early 1990's helped me and my wife to become better Catholics, then when we had kids we were better able to explain and defend the faith.
It was the Church who gave us the Bible -- there were Christians between the time when Jesus died and when the Bible was put together. The Bible was written with the aid of the Holy Spirit, under the authority of the Church. There is no half-way anything here -- the Church came first; the Bible came second. The Bible did not make the Church -- the Church has one foot in eternity, so on some level it always was and the fact that the Bible is so great, that it is The Word of God, does not diminish the Church. If the Church puts out a Catechism, it is not
justthe work of human hands anymore than the Bible was. If the Church does something, on some level, eternity is involved.
Does the Church make mistakes? Yes. But, does the Church still have the right to issue Catechisms? Yes.
(This might be a paradox -- that the finite and imperfect can have an involvement in the infinite in the first place.)
What is your opinion of confessionals?
I find them to be extremely helpful ways of systematically looking at the basic and essential beliefs and teachings of a particular denomination. As a Catholic I believe that I belong to the Church established by Jesus Christ and entrusted to the care and ministry of the Apostles to whom Christ entrusted the authority to teach and that such teaching would be binding upon the faithful (Matthew 16:18-19). I believe, again as a Catholic, that the Holy Spirit protects the Church from teaching in error whenever she teaches authoritatively on matters of faith and morals or when the Pope does so on rare occasions, speaking on behalf of all the bishops (the teachers of the Church) in communion with him. The Catechism of the Catholic Church represents the basic teachings of the faith and is promulgated by the Church; therefore I have faith in the Holy Spirit of truth that it is free from any errors regarding faith and morals. It will not lead a person astray from Christ.Does this mean it is inspired, like the Bible is? Of course not. But it is inerrant because I believe Christ when He promises Peter that the gates of Hell shall not prevail, that the Holy Spirit of Truth (John 16:13) leads the present-day successors of the same Apostles that were taught by Christ Himself.
Have you ever attended a confessional church? Every single day! I love it on Sundays and solemnities when we profess the Nicene Creed as One Body; to think that I am able to publicly confess the same creed that so many Catholic Christians before me have professed, even at the cost of their life! One thing I love about the Catechism published in 1992 is that it follows the Apostles' Creed, fleshing out what each line means in its fullness.
How were the confessionals used?As an aid to teaching the faith or for understanding it more fully. If anyone looks through the Catechism they will find SO much Scripture; I remember being surprised myself at how much Scripture was referenced! In addition to this are references to Church documents, Councils, saints and other leaders and teachers of the Church, and so much more. It is truly a rich document and it was not until I cracked one open during my first year of novitiate that I really, truly came to start loving Christ.