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The Westminster Confession of Faith and Larger Catechism
1. Our natural understanding and the works of creation and providence so clearly show God's goodness, wisdom, and power that human beings have no excuse for not believing in him.[1] However, these means alone cannot provide that knowledge of God and of his will which is necessary for salvation.[2] Therefore it pleased the Lord at different times and in various ways to reveal himself and to declare that this revelation contains his will for his church.[3] Afterwards it pleased God to put this entire revelation into writing so that the truth might be better preserved and transmitted and that the church, confronted with the corruption of the flesh and the evil purposes of Satan and the world, might be more securely established and comforted.[4] Since God no longer reveals himself to his people in those earlier ways,[5] Holy Scripture is absolutely essential.[6]
[1] Rom 2:14-15, 1:19-20, Ps 19:1-4, Rom 1:32, 2:1.
[2] 1 Cor 1:21, 2:13-14, 2:9-12, Acts 4:12, Rom 10:13-14.
[3] Heb 1:1-2, Gal 1:11-12, Dt 4:12-14.
[4] Prv 22:19-21, Lk 1:3-4, Rom 15:4, Mt 4:4,7,10, Is 8:19-20, Lk 24:27, 2 Tm 3:16, 2 Pt 3:15-16.
[5] Heb 1:1-2, see General Note.
[6] 2 Tm 3:15-16, 2 Pt 1:10, Lk 16:29-31, Heb 2:1-3.
2. What we call Holy Scripture or the written word of God now includes all the books of the Old and New Testaments which are:
| Genesis | Ecclesiastes |
| Exodus | Song of Solomon |
| Leviticus | Isaiah |
| Numbers | Jeremiah |
| Deuteronomy | Lamentations |
| Joshua | Ezekiel |
| Judges | Daniel |
| Ruth | Hosea |
| 1 Samuel | Joel |
| 2 Samuel | Amos |
| 1 Kings | Obadiah |
| 2 Kings | Jonah |
| 1 Chronicles | Micah |
| 2 Chronicles | Nahum |
| Ezra | Habakkuk |
| Nehemiah | Zephaniah |
| Esther | Haggai |
| Job | Zechariah |
| Psalms | Malachi |
| Proverbs |
| Matthew | 1 Timothy |
| Mark | 2 Timothy |
| Luke | Titus |
| John | Philemon |
| Acts | Hebrews |
| Romans | James |
| 1 Corinthians | 1 Peter |
| 2 Corinthians | 2 Peter |
| Galatians | 1 John |
| Ephesians | 2 John |
| Philippians | 3 John |
| Colossians | Jude |
| 1 Thessalonians | Revelation |
| 2 Thessalonians |
All of these books are inspired by God and are the rule of faith and life.[7]
[7] Lk 16:29,31, Eph 2:20, Rv 22:18-19, 2 Tm 3:16, Mt 11:27.
3. The books usually called the Apocrypha are not divinely inspired and are not part of the canon of Scripture. They therefore have no authority in the church of God and are not to be valued or used as anything other than human writings.[8]
[8] Lk 24:27,44, Rom 3:2, 2 Pt 1:21. The Canon of Scripture is not established by explicit passages, but by the testimony of Jesus and his apostles; of ancient manuscripts and versions; of ancient Christian writers and church councils, and by the internal evidence exhibited in the separate books.
4. The Bible speaks authoritatively and so deserves to be believed and obeyed. This authority does not depend on the testimony of any man or church but completely on God, its author, who is himself truth. The Bible therefore is to be accepted as true, because it is the word of God.[9]
[9] 2 Pt 1:19,21, 2 Tm 3:16, 1 Jn 5:9, 1 Thes 2:13, Gal 1:11-12.
5. We may be influenced by the testimony of the church to value the Bible highly and reverently, and Scripture itself shows in so many ways that it is God's word; for example, in its spiritual subject matter, in the effectiveness of its teaching, the majesty of its style, the agreement of all its parts, its unified aim from beginning to end (to give all glory to God), the full revelation it makes of the only way of man's salvation, its many other incomparably outstanding features, and its complete perfection. However, we are completely persuaded and assured of the infallible truth and divine authority of the Bible only by the inward working of the Holy Spirit, who testifies by and with the word in our hearts.[10]
[10] 1 Tm 3:15, 1 Jn 2:20,27, Jn 16:13-14, 1 Cor 2:10-12, Isa 59:21, 1 Cor 2:6-9.
6. The whole purpose of God about everything pertaining to his own glory and to man's salvation, faith, and life is either explicitly stated in the Bible or may be deduced as inevitably and logically following from it.[11] Nothing is at any time to be added to the Bible, either from new revelations of the Spirit or from traditions of men.[12] Nevertheless we do recognize that the inward illumination of the Spirit of God is necessary for a saving understanding of the things which are revealed in the word.[13] We also recognize that some provisions for the worship of God and the government of the church are similar to secular activities and organizations; these are to be directed according to our natural understanding and our Christian discretion and should conform to the general rules of the word, which are always to be observed.[14]
[12] 2 Tm 3:15-17, Gal 1:8-9, 2 Thes 2:2. This statement is an inference from the sufficiency of the Scriptures.
[13] Jn 6:45, 1 Cor 2:9-10, 12:
[14] 1 Cor 11:13-14, 14:26,40.
7. The meanings of all the passages in the Bible are not equally obvious, nor is any individual passage equally clear to everyone.[15] However, everything which we have to know, believe, and observe in order to be saved is so clearly presented and revealed somewhere in the Bible that the uneducated as well as the educated can sufficiently understand it by the proper use of the ordinary means of grace.[16]
[15] 2 Pt 3:16, Jn 6:60, 16:17.
[16] Ps 119:105, 130, Acts 17:11-12.
8. The Old Testament in Hebrew (the native language of the ancient people of God) and the New Testament in Greek (the language most widely known internationally at the time the New Testament was written) were directly inspired by God[17] and have been kept uncontaminated throughout time by his special care and providence. They are therefore authentic and are to be the church's ultimate source of appeal in every religious controversy.[18] The original languages of the Bible, however, are not understood by all of God's people. But all of God's people have a right to an interest in the Bible and God himself commands them to read it thoroughly with awe and reverence for him.[19] Consequently the Bible should be translated into the native language of every people to whom it is introduced. Then, the word of God will live fully in everyone; everyone will be able to worship God in an acceptable way; and all believers may have hope through the endurance and the encouragement of the Bible.[20]
[17] See note under Section 3 above.
[18] Mt 5:18, Is 8:20, Acts 15:14-18, Jn 5:9,46.
[19] Jn 5:39, 2 Tm 3:14-15, 2 Pt 1:19, Acts 17:11.
[20] 1 Cor 14:6, 9, 11-12, 24, 27-28, Col 3:16, Rom 15:4, Mt 28:19-20.
9. The infallible standard for the interpretation of the Bible is the Bible itself. And so any question about the true and complete sense of a passage in the Bible (which is a unified whole) can be answered by referring to other passages which speak more plainly.[21]
[21] 2 Pt 1:20-21, Acts 15:15, Jn 5:46, Mt 4:5-7, 12:1-7.
10. The Holy Spirit speaking in the Bible is the supreme judge of all religious controversies, all decisions of religious councils, all the opinions of ancient writers, all human teachings, and every private opinion.[22] We are to be satisfied with the judgment of him who is and can be the only judge.
[22] Mt 22:29,31, Eph 2:20, Acts 28:25, Lk 10:26, Gal 1:10, 1 Jn 4:1-6.
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