Romans922
Puritan Board Professor
How would you respond to common differences with the Standards (these are heard in the PCA often)? Feel free to include, here's why it is wrong and these are sources I would encourage the young man to read to think through his views more clearly. If you have other common differences with the Standards you hear, feel free to add them here.
1. WCF 7.4 says that "This covenant of grace is frequently set forth in Scripture by the name of a testament.” This difference only deals with the linguistic difference between the Puritan translation of diatheke (they translated it “testament”) and the modern translation (we now translate it “covenant”).
2. WCF 5.2 seems to say that all things occur by secondary causes. John Murray points this out and suggests that the Divines erred in stating this since some things do not happen according to secondary causes. This seems more minor since Section 4 acknowledges that God is free to work above secondary causes.
3. WCF 25.2 states that “The visible church…is the kingdom of Jesus Christ.” The kingdom of God is broader than the visible church. It seems if the Divines are to say this that there needs to be more nuance in the wording.
4. WLC 119 when it interprets the fourth commandment as forbidding “idleness…needless works…and thoughts about worldly employments and recreations.” I would loosen my interpretation of the application of the fourth commandment some. It shouldn’t be sinful, for example, for someone to have the thought: “I have to go to work tomorrow and will need to plan on getting up at 6:30 am if I’m going to get there on time.” I would also say that it is okay for a person to play with his children in the yard or even for children to play in the yard on a Sunday. The context of the Westminster Assembly seems to indicate that organized sports formed much of the context of what the Standards say on these issues, and in that sense I would agree that a Christian ought not to participate in organized activities such as sports that draw their attention away from the primary activities of the Lord’s Day.
1. WCF 7.4 says that "This covenant of grace is frequently set forth in Scripture by the name of a testament.” This difference only deals with the linguistic difference between the Puritan translation of diatheke (they translated it “testament”) and the modern translation (we now translate it “covenant”).
2. WCF 5.2 seems to say that all things occur by secondary causes. John Murray points this out and suggests that the Divines erred in stating this since some things do not happen according to secondary causes. This seems more minor since Section 4 acknowledges that God is free to work above secondary causes.
3. WCF 25.2 states that “The visible church…is the kingdom of Jesus Christ.” The kingdom of God is broader than the visible church. It seems if the Divines are to say this that there needs to be more nuance in the wording.
4. WLC 119 when it interprets the fourth commandment as forbidding “idleness…needless works…and thoughts about worldly employments and recreations.” I would loosen my interpretation of the application of the fourth commandment some. It shouldn’t be sinful, for example, for someone to have the thought: “I have to go to work tomorrow and will need to plan on getting up at 6:30 am if I’m going to get there on time.” I would also say that it is okay for a person to play with his children in the yard or even for children to play in the yard on a Sunday. The context of the Westminster Assembly seems to indicate that organized sports formed much of the context of what the Standards say on these issues, and in that sense I would agree that a Christian ought not to participate in organized activities such as sports that draw their attention away from the primary activities of the Lord’s Day.