A.A. Hodge - The Confession of Faith
Robert Shaw - An Exposition of the Westminster Confession
Gordon Clark - What Do Presbyterians Believe?
G. I. Williamson - The Westminster Confession of Faith for study classes

I have Clark's and Williamson's in paperback; and Hodge's and Shaw's in electronic format. These are the only ones that I'm aware of. Are there any more?

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Ricardo Puente
East Texas Reformed Fellowship
Emory, TX

www.easttexasreformed.org

You have listed the best known.

There are some others that are in that genre:
A Guide: The Westminster Confession of Faith : Commentary, by John H. Gerstner, Douglas F. Kelly, Philip Rollinson
The Minutes of the Session of the Westminster Assembnly, by Alexander Mitchell
Commentary on the Larger Catechism, by Thomas Boston
Commentary on the Shorter Catechism, by Thomas Ridgley
The Shorter Catechism Explained, by Thomas Vincent
A Harmony of Protestant Confessions, by Peter Hall
The Westminster Larger Catechism, By J.G. Vos
The Westminster Confession into the 21st Century, By J. Ligon Duncan III

__________________
C. Matthew McMahon, Ph.D. (Pot hole Digger)
John 5:39, "...search the Scriptures..."

Dr. C. Matthew McMahon.com, www.apuritansmind.com and www.puritanpublications.com
Member - Christ Presbyterian Church

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Matt,

I don't think I ever thanked you for providing this list.

Thanks!

Ricky

How good is Warfield's volume on the Westminster Assembly (I think it is volume 6)? I know it is not an exhaustive work, but what say ye, gentlemen?

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J. B. Atken
John Knox PCA
Layman, M.A. student at Louisiana College

Another commentary on the Westminster Confession (the first, in fact) was David Dickson's Truth's Victory over Error (1684). It can be found online at: http://www.truecovenanter.com/dickso...hsvictory.html

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Andrew

Would Thomas Watson's Body of Divinity count?

Thanks (again!), Andrew; I wasn't aware of that one. I do have several of David Dickson's works on CD (SWRB), but they do not include "Truth's Victory Over Error."


Jacob, I'm not familiar with either of those two works you mentioned, but perhaps Matt or someone else might know?

Yes. It is essentially his commentary on the Shorter Catechism

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Fred Greco
Senior Pastor, Christ Church PCA (Katy, TX)
Christ Church Blog

"The heart is the main thing in true religion...It is the hinge and turning-point in the condition of man's soul. If the heart is alive to God and quickened by the Spirit, the man is a living Christian. If the heart is dead and has not the Spirit, the man is dead before God." (J.C. Ryle)

I read it, "Body of Divinity" to my six month old Daughter. She loved it!

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Sean Jones
Covenant Presbyterian Church OPC
Fort Worth Texas

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the Word of Truth.
2Timothy 2:15

Theology of The Westminster Symbols A Commentary Historical, Doctrinal, Practical, on the Confession of Faith and Catechisms (1900) by Edward D. Morris

[Edited on 1-15-2006 by VirginiaHuguenot]

Faith of Our Fathers: A Commentary on the Westminster Confession of Faith by Wayne R. Spear

I've really enjoyed his chapters on Chapter One - Holy Scripture and the WCF in the commemoration volume linking it to Whitaker's Disputations. Should be a good book.

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Chris Rhoades -33
Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church (PCA) Nashville, TN-Under Care

Vera theologia non theoretica, sed practica est; Finis siquidem eius agere est hoc est vitam vivere deiformem. - Martin Bucer
""True theology is not theoretical, but practical. The end of it is living, that is to live a godly life."

Rowland Ward from Australia has a study guide for the WCF.
Joseph Pipa has a WCF study guide geared for the classroom.

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BJ Mora
Grace OPC, Modesto, CA
Reformed & Presbyterian Churches & Denominations in North America

Truths We Confess by R.C. Sproul.

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Jeff Bartel
Mechanical Engineer
Member - Trinity Reformed Church - RPCNA

"To believe in the power of man in the work of regeneration is the great heresy of Rome, and from that error has come the ruin of the Church. Conversion proceeds from the grace of God alone, and the system which ascribes it partly to man and partly to God is worse than Pelagianism" (The Reformation in England (London, 1962), Vol. 1, p. 98)

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There are more commentaries on the Westminster Confession listed here at the Westminster Assembly Project.

Alexander Whyte, in his Exposition on the Shorter Catechism recommends particularly reading the introduction to John MacPherson's Exposition of the Westminster Confession (1882) for insight into the historical context of the Westminster Assembly. MacPherson's Exposition can be found online here.

http://host517.ipowerweb.com/~westmins/

__________________
Rev. Andrew J. Barnes
Husband of Dena
Father of Oliver
Master of Bruce
Pastor of Tchula Presbyterian Church

What can I say, I like blogs!

Any opinions on James Philip's Exposition on the Westminster Confession?

The Whyte and Macpherson volumes were part of the Handbooks for Bible Class series, completed mostly by Free Church ministers and professors who were more sympathetic to the critical movement which was apace at the back end of the 19th century.

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Yours sincerely,


"Illum oportet crescere me autem minui."

I remember reading Whyte's commentary a couple of years ago and being impressed with the breadth and depth of his reading. I don't remember there being anything doctrinally suspect in it.

Full title: A Commentary on the Shorter Catechism by Alexander Whyte (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1882).

An excerpt (from page 137):

The honouring of our parents comes in the order of the commandments after the honouring and worship of God; but in the order of nature, and in our actual lives, the fifth commandment is the first fulfilled. A child's father is more than a father to him; his father is both his father and his god. A little child cannot rise above his father. It is impiety, to him, to think that there can be anywhere anyone greater or better than his own greatest and best of fathers. To every child, his father is the man of men. There is nothing he cannot do. There is no valour, no nobleness, no resources, no wisdom with which he is not clothed. The pious heart which will afterwards rise to everlasting adoration and love of its Father in heaven, for a long time knows Him not, and feels no need of Him. What child cares for more than just to have his father ever near him to love and worship? And, in all this, "earthly fathers learn their craft from God." For God, for a time, clothes every father among us with His own attributes, and prerogatives, and dues. The divine throne, the divine sceptre, the divine sword, are immediately made over to the house of every man into whose keeping and care a little child is committed.

I think this paragraph is especially poignant in that Whyte grew up in a fatherless home.

__________________
Richard T. Zuelch, M.Div
Ruling Elder, OPC (not currently serving)
Westminster Presbyterian Church, CA (OPC)
www.alexandermaclaren.wordpress.com
www.reiterations.wordpress.com
www.spurgeonswords.wordpress.com

Devout souls do not take offence at the depths and difficulties of God's Word, but are, thereby, drawn to intenser contemplation of them. - Alexander Maclaren (1826-1910)

Whyte kept himself fairly within orthodoxy; but Macpherson tried to rewrite reformed orthodoxy to a certain extent.

I have J.A. Pipa Jr.'s study guide of the WCF. I haven't gone through it yet, but it looks pretty good. Not really a commentary though...

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Brian Vandenburg
Attend Suburban Christian Church, Corvallis, OR
"The authority of the Holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed, and obeyed, depends not upon the testimony of any man, or Church; but wholly upon God (who is truth itself) the author thereof: and therefore it is to be received, because it is the Word of God."-Westminster Confession of Faith

Anyone have any comments on RC Sprouls new book on the Westminster?

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Frank O Fuentes
Church of THE King
McAllen, Texas
Student at Edinburg Theological Seminary

Joey Pipa's study guide is primarily about the WCF (PCA version) but it also incorporates references to the Westminster and Heidelberg Catechisms, as well as the Belgic Confession and Canons of Dordt. It does not cover every section of the WCF (notably absent is discussion on the chapter concerning the civil magistrate or the Pope or synods and councils, etc.). It has some flaws and there are better works out there, but overall it is a pretty good basic study guide, imo.

Available online here.

Even though Doug Kelly has actually worked on a commentary he says that the best one is "The Presbyterian Standards" by Francis R. Beattie.

If you go here you can find the Westminster Shorter Catechism Project with online commentaries including:

Francis R. Beattie's The Presbyterian Standards
Thomas Boston's Of Man's Chief End and Happiness
James Fisher's Catechism on the Catechism
John Flavel's Exposition of the Assembly's Shorter Catechism
Matthew Henry's A Scripture Catechism in the Method of the Assembly's
Thomas Vincent's The Shorter Catechism Explained from Scripture
Thomas Watson's Body of Divinity
John Whitecross' The Shorter Catechism Illustrated
Alexander Whyte's A Commentary on the Shorter Catechism

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Bob Vigneault C.O.L, L.E., G.E, Dr.O.P., O.U.T.
The Heartbeat of Heaven (blog)
Deacon/Christ Presbyterian Church, Janesville, WI OPC www.christ-opc.org

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The 2007 Banner of Truth hardcover edition is really nice.

Available for limited preview online here.

Updated link to the Westminster Assembly Project's list of commentaries on the Westminster Confession here.