Truth is not relative, but our recognition and interprtation is relative due to our finiteness and fallenness. John Leith has said "The creeds [and confessions] are the record of the Church's interpretation of the Bible in the past and the authoritative guide to hermeneutics in the present.' Denominations unify around the ecumenical creeds and the confessions of their past. We would do well to do more preaching of the confessions emphasising their basis in Scripture. The Heidelberg has footnotes to scripture and the Canons of Dort reference Biiblical sources in the body of the text. The Belgic Confessionn unfortunatly does not include such references.
We do well to interpret and analyze the confesssions in the light of current understandings of scriptural guidance. For instance we have pulled back from such references to "detested Anabaptists" and the "idolatrous Mass" as arising from the contentious spirit of the period following the Reformation. However we must guard against reinterpretation of the confessional standards which may arise from the spirit of the times which reflects only the world or worldliness in any interpretation of Scripture.
Posted in: Young, Restless, Reformed, and ... Disgruntled?
Truth is not relative, but our recognition and interprtation is relative due to our finiteness and fallenness. John Leith has said "The creeds [and confessions] are the record of the Church's interpretation of the Bible in the past and the authoritative guide to hermeneutics in the present.' Denominations unify around the ecumenical creeds and the confessions of their past. We would do well to do more preaching of the confessions emphasising their basis in Scripture. The Heidelberg has footnotes to scripture and the Canons of Dort reference Biiblical sources in the body of the text. The Belgic Confessionn unfortunatly does not include such references.
We do well to interpret and analyze the confesssions in the light of current understandings of scriptural guidance. For instance we have pulled back from such references to "detested Anabaptists" and the "idolatrous Mass" as arising from the contentious spirit of the period following the Reformation. However we must guard against reinterpretation of the confessional standards which may arise from the spirit of the times which reflects only the world or worldliness in any interpretation of Scripture.
Posted in: Young, Restless, Reformed, and ... Disgruntled?
Correction: A full printing of the Belgic Confession does furnish footnotes referencing Scripture.