Chapter 1: Of the Holy Scriptures (Sections 4-6)

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Summary

This Sunday school-style lecture covers Chapter 1, paragraphs 4–6 of the Westminster Confession of Faith, focusing on the authority, sufficiency, and interpretation of Holy Scripture. Pastor Daly teaches that Scripture’s authority comes directly from God, not from any person or church. He contrasts this Protestant view with the Roman Catholic position that the church confers authority on Scripture, asserting instead that the Bible grants the church its authority. The lecture highlights internal evidences for Scripture’s divine origin—its majesty, doctrinal power, consistency across millennia, fulfilled prophecies, and historical/geographical accuracy—while emphasizing that ultimate assurance of its truth and authority is given by the inward work of the Holy Spirit. It further explains Scripture’s sufficiency for all matters of God’s glory, salvation, faith, and life, noting that necessary truths are either explicitly stated or can be deduced by “good and necessary consequence” (e.g., the Trinity). Finally, for areas of church government and worship not explicitly detailed, decisions should be made by Christian prudence and the light of nature, guided by Scripture’s general rules.

Knowledge Points

1. Resources and Background on the Westminster Confession

• Recommended App: “Creeds and Confessions”
  • Remembers the user’s last location in the text and returns to that spot on reopening.
  • Can be configured to use the ESV app for Bible proof texts, enabling users to click through and read passages in full context within the ESV app.
  • Contrasted with another unnamed app that always opens at the beginning, lists creeds chronologically (requiring scrolling to find the 1647 Westminster Confession), and displays a constant bottom ad.
• History of Proof Texts in the Confession
  • The Bible proofs were not part of the original document.
  • The Confession was written first; later, a request was made for the divines to add the texts they had used, and these were appended afterward.
  • Many denominations do not consider the specific proof texts immutable; some have published versions that remove certain original proofs and add others they find more doctrinally helpful.

2. Authority of Scripture (Chapter 1, Paragraphs 4–5)

• Source of Authority
  • The authority of Holy Scripture to be believed and obeyed depends wholly on God, who is truth itself, not on the testimony of any person or church.
  • Scripture is to be received because it is the Word of God.
• Protestant vs. Catholic View of Authority
  • The Protestant-Reformation contrast: Roman Catholicism held that the church gives Scripture its authority; the Reformers taught the opposite—that the Bible gives the church its authority.
  • Analogy: A mother (the Bible) gives her child (the church) authority when the child speaks in her name (“Mom says it’s time to come in”). The child does not give the mother authority.
• Internal and External Arguments for Scripture
  • The church’s testimony can lead to a high and reverent view of Scripture, but it is not the foundation of Scripture’s authority.
  • Paragraph 5 lists arguments that “abundantly evidence” Scripture to be the Word of God:
    • The weightiness of its subject matter and the efficacy of its doctrine.
    • The majesty of its style (e.g., poetic Psalms, prophetic language).
    • The consent of all the parts (coherence and lack of contradiction).
    • Its overarching scope: the glory of God.
    • Its full disclosure of the only way of salvation.
    • Historical and geographical accuracy (e.g., places in Genesis still exist).
    • Internal consistency despite being written over thousands of years by dozens of authors in three languages across three continents.
    • Fulfillment of prophecies.
• The Role of the Holy Spirit
  • Despite internal proofs and external testimonies, full persuasion and assurance of Scripture’s infallible truth and divine authority come from the inward work of the Holy Spirit, bearing witness by and with the Word in our hearts.
  • Scripture is not self-animating; the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit is necessary for it to be truly understood and received as God’s Word. Without this life-giving work, an unbeliever cannot see it as God’s Word.

3. Sufficiency and Interpretation of Scripture (Chapter 1, Paragraph 6)

• The Sufficiency of Scripture
  • The whole counsel of God regarding all things necessary for His glory, man’s salvation, faith, and life is contained in Scripture.
  • Nothing needs to be added—neither new revelations of the Spirit nor human traditions.
  • One has the right to require that any teaching on these matters be demonstrated from the Word of God.
• Methods of Deriving Truth from Scripture
  • Expressly Set Down: Truths explicitly and plainly stated (e.g., “Jesus is God”).
  • Good and Necessary Consequence: Truths deduced by comparing Scripture with Scripture.
    • Example: The Trinity. The term “Trinity” is not used, but the doctrine is deduced from passages like Genesis 1 (God and the Spirit present before creation), John 1 (the Word was with God and was God), and Matthew 28:19 (baptizing into the singular “name” of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit).
    • Example: Infant Baptism. Deduced from Scripture within covenant theology; other godly teachers may deduce different conclusions from the same texts.
• Christian Prudence for Church Governance and Worship
  • In certain circumstances regarding worship and church government, Scripture does not give explicit instructions.
  • Such matters should be ordered by the light of nature and Christian prudence, according to Scripture’s general rules.
  • Examples: service times, whether Sunday School precedes or follows worship, number of small groups.
  • The church applies wisdom to these practical decisions, governed by overarching biblical principles.
• The Lord’s Day
  • The lecture presents a deduced argument for worship on Sunday, the first day of the week.
  • Biblical Allusions:
    • God created light on the first day.
    • Jesus rose on the first day.
    • The Holy Spirit was poured out at Pentecost on the first day (“a triple light was given”).
    • Old Testament “eighth day” references point to the first day of a new week.
  • New Testament Practice:
    • The church gathered on the first day (in Troas, to hear Paul and break bread).
    • Paul instructed the Corinthian church to take up their collection on the first day.
    • In Revelation, John refers to “the Lord’s Day,” understood by early churches as Sunday.

Questions

• [Insert Question/Confusion]

Next Arrangements

• 1. Read ahead to finish Chapter 1 of the Westminster Confession of Faith for the next session.

• 2. When on vacation, consider visiting other churches—even “bad churches”—to spark conversations with your children about what they observed, liked, or found uncomfortable during the service. 🙂

• ΩΩFor grammar enthusiasts, diagram the sentences of the Confession to better understand its complex structure and meaning.Ω