The 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith
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Document of Truth and Antiquity In this day of rampant opinion it is a breath of fresh air to find documents that were designed to highlight the absolutes of scripture. Today one finds all around him a break from reality in which each member of society determines his or her own "truth" and because of the mind-set of private interpretation based on the opinions of each individual, "truth" is all over the map and in reality there is no absolute truth. Men of old spent days, weeks, and even years alone with God. They sought his wise council on all issues of life and faith. In that seeking... they turned to the holy scriptures to be the final arbiter of all truth. This begs the question: "If these men spent weeks and even years alone with God, begging for the understanding found in scripture; then who are we who barley scratch a few hours per week in prayer and bible study to arbitrarily decide what is and is not truth?" Today many modern church statements of faith may only consist of a few obscure lines and are designed to be easily understood. These snippets are not designed to cover the intricate issues of truth in detail. In other words, when we read most church statements we will carry away no idea of what the church believes, or in some cases who they worship. Not so with the Reformers who crafted well thought out and prayer bathed confessions which gave their readers a detailed understanding of exactly what was to be believed. These Confessions of Faith were literally life and death issues for those who composed them and though they are not inspired writings, they are in fact accurate as to the over all precepts and doctrines found in the Bible. Study these sections with much prayer and strive to understand and learn from their intended purpose. That purpose is to glorify Christ and reveal to men the "Big picture" of Christ throughout scripture.
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