Topical Index

Heads of Doctrine

39 traditional Reformed systematic theology topics mapped to specific WCF sections, Larger Catechism questions, and Shorter Catechism questions. Grouped under the eight loci of the Westminster ontology.

I. ✦ Scripture 3 heads

Sola scriptura — the rule of faith and life

Head 1

Prolegomena / The Nature of Theology

The grounds and method of theological knowledge: why theology is necessary, how it differs from philosophy, and what role Scripture plays as the principium cognoscendi (the cognitive principle) of all doctrinal inquiry. The Shorter Catechism opens with the chief end of man; the Larger Catechism with the duty Scripture reveals.

1 WCF section 3 SC Qs 4 LC Qs 1 crux

Head 2

Revelation (General and Special)

God's self-disclosure through the works of creation and providence (general revelation) and through his prophetic and apostolic Word (special revelation). WCF I.1 teaches that the light of nature is insufficient for salvation, making inscripturation necessary. The distinction grounds the Reformed insistence that saving knowledge comes only through the Word.

2 WCF sections 1 SC Q 2 LC Qs

Head 3

The Doctrine of Scripture (Bibliology)

The nature, canon, authority, sufficiency, perspicuity, and interpretation of the Bible. WCF I is the most fully developed Reformed confessional treatment of Scripture: ten sections covering inscripturation, the 66-book canon, the exclusion of the Apocrypha, the internal witness of the Spirit, the rule of interpretation (Scripture interprets Scripture), and the supremacy of the original languages.

10 WCF sections 2 SC Qs 4 LC Qs 2 cruxes

II. ✠ God & Decree 5 heads

The triune God and his eternal counsel

Head 4

The Being and Attributes of God

Classical theism as confessed at Westminster: God is 'one only, living, and true God, who is infinite in being and perfection, a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions, immutable, immense, eternal, incomprehensible, almighty, most wise, most holy, most free, most absolute' (WCF II.1). The doctrine of divine simplicity and aseity underlie the entire confessional system.

2 WCF sections 2 SC Qs 3 LC Qs

Head 5

The Trinity

One God in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the same in substance, equal in power and glory. The Son is eternally begotten of the Father; the Spirit eternally proceeds from the Father and the Son (the Western filioque). WCF II.3 is the Standards' Nicene-Chalcedonian Trinitarianism.

2 WCF sections 2 SC Qs 4 LC Qs

Head 6

The Eternal Decree

God's eternal purpose, according to the counsel of his will, whereby he has foreordained whatsoever comes to pass. WCF III treats election and reprobation; the Assembly deliberately permitted both supra- and infralapsarian readings. The decree is unconditioned by foreseen creaturely action and is executed through providence.

10 WCF sections 2 SC Qs 3 LC Qs 3 cruxes

Head 7

Creation

God made all things of nothing, by the word of his power, in the space of six days, and all very good. WCF IV.1-2 treats the creation of the world and the special creation of man in God's image with dominion over the creatures. The Shorter Catechism Q. 9-10 summarises the doctrine catechetically.

3 WCF sections 2 SC Qs 3 LC Qs

Head 8

Providence

God's most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures and all their actions. WCF V covers ordinary providence, the concourse of secondary causes, God's permission of sin, and the special providence toward the church. Providence is the execution in time of the eternal decree.

7 WCF sections 1 SC Q 2 LC Qs

III. ⊕ Covenant 4 heads

Federal theology — works, grace, and the unity of redemption

Head 9

The Fall and Original Sin (Hamartiology)

The fall of Adam and Eve, the imputation of Adam's first sin to all his posterity, and the corruption of the whole nature that followed. WCF VI treats the fall, the covenant headship of Adam, original sin, and the total depravity that extends to every part of man. The covenant of works provides the federal framework: in Adam all die.

7 WCF sections 7 SC Qs 9 LC Qs

Head 10

The Covenant of Works

The first covenant made with man, in which life was promised to Adam and in him to his posterity upon condition of perfect and personal obedience. WCF VII.1-2 establishes the covenant of works as the framework for understanding the fall and the moral law's perpetual obligation on all persons.

5 WCF sections 1 SC Q 2 LC Qs 1 crux

Head 11

The Covenant of Grace

The second covenant, in which God freely offers unto sinners life and salvation by Jesus Christ, requiring of them faith in him. WCF VII.3-6 teaches that the covenant of grace is one in substance through both testaments, differently administered under the law and under the gospel. This is the structural hinge of the Standards' redemptive-historical theology.

7 WCF sections 1 SC Q 6 LC Qs 2 cruxes

Head 12

The Covenant of Redemption (Pactum Salutis)

The eternal intra-Trinitarian covenant in which the Father appoints the Son as Mediator and the Son freely accepts the office for the elect. The Standards affirm its substance (WCF VIII.1; LC Q. 31) without the developed tri-covenantal apparatus of Cocceius or Witsius. The pactum salutis grounds the unity of the decree and the covenant.

1 WCF section 1 LC Q 1 crux

IV. ☧ Christology 4 heads

Christ the Mediator — natures, offices, states

Head 13

The Person of Christ (Christology Proper)

Two whole, perfect, and distinct natures — Godhead and manhood — inseparably joined in one person, without conversion, composition, or confusion. WCF VIII.2 is the Standards' Chalcedonian statement. The Larger Catechism Q. 36-40 develops the incarnation and the personal union at length.

2 WCF sections 2 SC Qs 5 LC Qs

Head 14

The Offices of Christ (Prophet, Priest, King)

Christ as the threefold Mediator: Prophet (revealing the will of God), Priest (offering himself a sacrifice and making continual intercession), and King (subduing, ruling, and defending his church). The three offices answer to the three deficiencies of fallen humanity: ignorance, guilt, and bondage.

2 WCF sections 4 SC Qs 5 LC Qs

Head 15

The States of Christ (Humiliation and Exaltation)

Christ's estate of humiliation (conception, birth, life, suffering, death, burial, continuance in the state of the dead) and his estate of exaltation (resurrection, ascension, session at the Father's right hand, return to judgment). The Larger Catechism Q. 46-56 develops this schema from Philippians 2.

1 WCF section 2 SC Qs 11 LC Qs 1 crux

Head 16

The Atonement

Christ's perfect obedience and sacrifice of himself, by which he fully satisfied the justice of his Father and purchased reconciliation and an everlasting inheritance for all those whom the Father has given him. WCF VIII.5-8 treats both the accomplishment and the application of redemption; the Assembly's language accommodates both strict particularism and hypothetical universalism.

4 WCF sections 2 SC Qs 7 LC Qs 2 cruxes

V. ✚ Soteriology 9 heads

The application of redemption — calling, justifying, sanctifying

Head 17

Effectual Calling

The Spirit's work of enlightening the mind, renewing and effectually determining the will, so that the sinner comes to Christ most freely. WCF X distinguishes the effectual call (for the elect) from the outward call of the gospel (to all who hear). The Standards also address the salvation of elect infants dying in infancy (X.3).

6 WCF sections 4 SC Qs 8 LC Qs

Head 18

Justification

A forensic act of God's free grace, in which he pardons all the sins of the justified and accepts their persons as righteous in his sight, not for anything wrought in them or done by them, but only for the perfect obedience and full satisfaction of Christ, by God imputed to them and received by faith alone. WCF XI is the heart of the Reformed soteriology.

7 WCF sections 1 SC Q 4 LC Qs 2 cruxes

Head 19

Adoption

An act of God's free grace, by which all those who are justified are received into the number of his children, have his name put upon them, receive the Spirit of adoption, have access to the throne of grace with boldness, and are entitled to the privileges of the children of God. WCF XII is a single, densely packed section.

1 WCF section 1 SC Q 1 LC Q

Head 20

Sanctification

The work of God's free grace, by which the whole man is renewed after the image of God and is enabled more and more to die unto sin and live unto righteousness. WCF XIII teaches that sanctification is imperfect in this life: remainders of corruption abide in every part, producing a continual war between flesh and spirit.

3 WCF sections 2 SC Qs 3 LC Qs

Head 21

Saving Faith

The grace of faith, by which the elect are enabled to believe to the saving of their souls, is the work of the Spirit in their hearts and is ordinarily wrought by the ministry of the Word. By faith a Christian receives and rests upon Christ alone for justification, sanctification, and eternal life (WCF XIV).

4 WCF sections 2 SC Qs 3 LC Qs

Head 22

Repentance

An evangelical grace wrought in the heart of a sinner by the Spirit and the Word, by which he is made sensible of his sin and misery and apprehends the mercy of God in Christ, grieves for and hates his sins, and turns from them unto God with full purpose of and endeavour after new obedience (WCF XV).

6 WCF sections 1 SC Q 1 LC Q 1 crux

Head 23

Good Works

Only such works as God has commanded in his holy Word, proceeding from a heart purified by faith, are properly good works. They are the fruits and evidences of a true and lively faith; they cannot make satisfaction for sin or merit pardon, but are accepted in Christ (WCF XVI). The Standards thread carefully between Rome and antinomianism.

7 WCF sections 1 LC Q 1 crux

Head 24

Perseverance of the Saints

Those whom God has accepted in his Beloved, effectually called and sanctified by his Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere therein to the end and be eternally saved. Perseverance is grounded in God's decree, Christ's merit, and the Spirit's indwelling (WCF XVII).

3 WCF sections 1 SC Q 1 LC Q 1 crux

Head 25

Assurance of Grace

An infallible assurance of salvation is attainable in this life through the divine promises, the inward evidences of grace, and the testimony of the Spirit of adoption. Yet assurance does not belong to the essence of saving faith: a true believer may wait long and conflict with many difficulties before attaining it (WCF XVIII).

5 WCF sections 1 SC Q 2 LC Qs 1 crux

VI. ⚖ Law & Sanctification 4 heads

The moral law, the Sabbath, the Christian life

Head 26

The Moral Law and the Decalogue

God gave to Adam a law as a covenant of works, and afterward delivered the same upon Mount Sinai in ten commandments. The moral law forever binds all persons to obedience. WCF XIX establishes the tripartite division (moral, judicial, ceremonial) and the perpetual obligation of the moral law. The Larger Catechism's Q. 91-148 exposition of the Decalogue is the Standards' longest single section.

7 WCF sections 46 SC Qs 62 LC Qs 3 cruxes

Head 27

Christian Liberty and Liberty of Conscience

The liberty which Christ has purchased for believers under the gospel consists in freedom from the guilt of sin, the condemning wrath of God, the curse of the moral law, the dominion of sin, and freedom to approach God with boldness (WCF XX). God alone is lord of the conscience; doctrines and commandments of men contrary to or beside the Word are a betrayal of this liberty.

4 WCF sections

Head 28

Religious Worship and the Sabbath

The acceptable way of worshipping the true God is instituted by himself and limited by his revealed will (the regulative principle, WCF XXI.1). Worship includes prayer, the reading and preaching of the Word, the administration of the sacraments, singing of psalms, religious oaths, and the keeping of the Lord's Day. WCF XXI.7-8 codifies the strict Sabbatarian position: one day in seven, changed to the first day from the resurrection.

8 WCF sections 21 SC Qs 21 LC Qs 3 cruxes

Head 29

Lawful Oaths and Vows

A lawful oath is a part of religious worship in which the person swearing solemnly calls God to witness what he asserts or promises and to judge him if he swears falsely or breaks his engagement (WCF XXII). Vows are of the like nature with promissory oaths and are to be made to God alone, in matters within the vower's power and liberty.

7 WCF sections 1 crux

VII. ☩ Ecclesiology & Worship 6 heads

Church, sacraments, worship, discipline

Head 30

The Church (Visible and Invisible)

The catholic church consists of the whole number of the elect. The visible church consists of all those throughout the world who profess the true religion, together with their children. Outside the visible church there is no ordinary possibility of salvation. WCF XXV-XXVI treats the invisible-visible distinction and the communion of saints.

9 WCF sections 5 LC Qs 2 cruxes

Head 31

The Sacraments (General)

Sacraments are holy signs and seals of the covenant of grace, immediately instituted by God, to represent Christ and his benefits and to confirm our interest in him. They put a visible difference between the church and the rest of the world. The grace exhibited in or by the sacraments is conferred by the Spirit upon worthy receivers (WCF XXVII).

6 WCF sections 3 SC Qs 4 LC Qs 1 crux

Head 32

Baptism

A sacrament of the New Testament, ordained by Jesus Christ, as a sign and seal of the covenant of grace. Not only those who profess faith but also the infants of one or both believing parents are to be baptized (WCF XXVIII). Dipping is not necessary; pouring or sprinkling suffices. The efficacy of baptism is not tied to the moment of administration.

7 WCF sections 2 SC Qs 3 LC Qs 2 cruxes

Head 33

The Lord's Supper

A sacrament in which Christ's death is shown forth and the worthy receivers are made partakers of his body and blood, with all his benefits, to their spiritual nourishment and growth in grace. WCF XXIX rejects the Roman transubstantiation, the sacrifice of the mass, and the withholding of the cup from the laity.

8 WCF sections 2 SC Qs 10 LC Qs 1 crux

Head 34

Prayer and the Lord's Prayer

Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God, in the name of Christ, by the help of his Spirit, with confession of our sins and thankful acknowledgement of his mercies. The Standards treat prayer as a chief part of religious worship (WCF XXI.3-4), required of all and to be made in a known tongue; the Larger and Shorter Catechisms close with an extended exposition of the Lord's Prayer as the rule and pattern of prayer. The Directory's free pastoral prayer, in place of the Prayer Book's prescribed forms, is the regulative principle applied to prayer.

2 WCF sections 10 SC Qs 19 LC Qs 1 crux

Head 35

Church Government and Discipline

The Lord Jesus, as King and Head of his Church, has appointed a government in the hand of church officers distinct from the civil magistrate. WCF XXX-XXXI treats church censures (admonition, suspension, excommunication) and synods and councils as a regulative ordinance of Christ for the better government of the church.

9 WCF sections 2 cruxes

VIII. ⌛ Civil & Last Things 4 heads

Magistrate, oaths, marriage; death, resurrection, judgment

Head 36

The Civil Magistrate

God, the supreme Lord and King of all the world, has ordained civil magistrates to be under him over the people for his own glory and the public good. WCF XXIII treats the magistrate's authority, the duty of subjects, and the contested question of the magistrate's role toward the church (the 1646 text vs the 1788 American revision).

6 WCF sections 3 SC Qs 8 LC Qs 3 cruxes

Head 37

Marriage and Divorce

Marriage is between one man and one woman, designed for their mutual help, the increase of mankind, and the prevention of uncleanness (WCF XXIV). The Standards limit lawful divorce to two grounds: adultery and wilful desertion. Mixed marriages with infidels, Papists, and the ungodly are cautioned against.

6 WCF sections 3 SC Qs 3 LC Qs 1 crux

Head 38

Death and the Intermediate State

The bodies of men after death return to dust and see corruption, but their souls, which neither die nor sleep, having an immortal subsistence, immediately return to God who gave them. The souls of the righteous are received into the highest heavens; the souls of the wicked are cast into hell (WCF XXXII). This is the Standards' rejection of soul-sleep and purgatory.

3 WCF sections 1 SC Q 5 LC Qs 1 crux

Head 39

The Resurrection and Final Judgment

At the last day the bodies of all the dead shall be raised up with the self-same bodies and none other, though with different qualities, and shall be united again to their souls forever. God has appointed a day wherein he will judge the world in righteousness by Jesus Christ (WCF XXXII-XXXIII). The Standards do not adopt a millennial scheme but teach a single universal judgment.

6 WCF sections 1 SC Q 5 LC Qs 1 crux