Chapter 4 - Of Creation
I. It pleased God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,(1) for the manifestation of the glory of His eternal power, wisdom, and goodness,(2) in the beginning, to create, or make of nothing, the world, and all things therein whether visible or invisible, in the space of six days; and all very good.(3)
I. In the beginning, God(1) was pleased, for the manifestation of His eternal power, wisdom and goodness,(2) to create all things visible and invisible from nothing. This He did in the space of six days and declared it all very good.(3)
A little rearranging and shortening. I removed "the Father, Son and Holy Ghost" because the footnote makes it clear all three were present. The Confession has already established the truth of the Trinity so I don't see a need to bog this first sentence down by making them explicit. I think this section could benefit from including a bit about how God created from nothing rather than leaving it simply at that He has created from nothing. I'm also not sure about the benefit of keeping "in the space of six days" given the current debates about the subject. Two spring immediately to mind for me: (1) the semantic range of the Hebrew word for "day" and (2) the literary genre/style of the creation account. There are other ontic and linguistic issues involved but these two generally seem to stand out above the rest. I might render the last sentence in this section this way: "This He did according to His will and declared it all very good." Such a rendering preserves the truth of the section without favoring a particular stance on the ontic and linguistic issues.
II. After God had made all other creatures, He created man, male and female,(4) with reasonable and immortal souls,(5) endued with knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness, after His own image,(6) having the law of God written in their hearts,(7) and power to fulfill it:(8) and yet under a possibility of transgressing, being left to the liberty of their own will, which was subject unto change.(9) Beside this law written in their hearts, they received a command, not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,(10) which while they kept, they were happy in their communion with God, and had dominion over the creatures.(11)
II. After God had made all other creatures He created man, male and female.(4) He created them in His own image(6) giving them reasonable and immortal souls(5) endued with knowledge, righteousness and true holiness. They had the law of God written in their hearts(7) and were endowed with the power to obey.(8) Beside the law written in their hearts, they were given a command: do not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.(10) Under this possibility of transgression they were left to the liberty of their own will which was subject to change.(9) While they kept this command they remained happy in their communion with God and had dominion over the rest of creation.(11)
I did a decent amount of moving around in this section as can be seen from incorrect order of the parenthetical numbers. Those numbers, remember, are the footnotes to the Scripture proofs in the original Confession so I have simply moved them along with their respective sentences. I think this ordering makes more sense and is more coherent. I changed "power to fulfill it" to "power to obey" because that's what is really being said and I think it should be made clear. I moved "Beside the law written..." to precede "Under this possibility of transgression..." because it flows better and increases the overall consistency of the section; I do not think this substantially affects the content. I also changed "had dominion over the creatures" to "had dominion over the rest of creation" because it wasn't just the fauna they were given. I have some issues with this section as well (surprise!) but the only one really worth mentioning is my concern over the phrase "giving them reasonable and immortal souls". I don't dispute that reason and the soul are linked but there should be qualifications about the supposed immortality. Since only God is self-sufficient it is, then, a mistake to describe the soul as immortal. However, this criticism only applies if we understand "immortal" to mean "imperishable" or "not subject to death/decay."
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Monday, June 16, 2008
WCF 3.5-8
Chapter 3 - Of God's Eternal Decree (cont'd)
V. Those of mankind that are predestined unto life, God, before the foundation of the world was laid, according to His eternal and immutable purpose, and the secret counsel and good pleasure of His will, hath chosen, in Christ, unto everlasting glory,(9) out of His mere free grace and love, without any foresight of faith, or good works, or perseverance in either of them, or any other thing in the creature, as conditions, or causes moving Him thereunto:(10) and all to the praise of His glorious grace.(11)
V. God has chosen, in Christ, those who are predestined to receive eternal life. His choosing was according to His eternal and immutable purpose and according to His good pleasure. Those chosen were predestined to everlasting glory(9) by God's free grace and love, without any foresight of faith, good works, perseverance or any other condition in the creature as motivation for His choosing.(10) All this was done so that the elect might praise His glorious grace.(11)
A little rearranging and a lot of cleaning. I think this arrangement makes more sense, is much easier to read and maintains the substance of the section. I removed "and the secret counsel and good pleasure of His will" and shortened it simply to "according to His good pleasure" because the former is a cumbersome way of stating something that doesn't need stating. The secrecy of the mechanics of predestination are implicit in the doctrine and don't need to be explicitly affirmed.
VI. As God hath appointed the elect unto glory, so hath, by the eternal and most free purpose of His will, foreordained all the mans thereunto.(12) Wherefore, they who are elected, being fallen in Adam, are redeemed by Christ,(13) are effectually called unto faith in Christ by His Spirit working in due season, are justified, adopted, sanctified,(14) and kept by His power, through faith, unto salvation.(15) Neither are any other redeemed by Christ, effectually called, justified, adopted, sanctified, and saved, but the elect only.(16)
VI. By His eternal and most free will, not only has God appointed the elect unto glory, He has also foreordained all the means to this end for them.(12) Those elected, being originally fallen in Adam, are redeemed by Jesus.(13) They are effectually called to faith in Christ by the Holy Spirit working in due season; they are justified, adopted, sanctified(14) and kept by His power, through faith, unto salvation.(15) Only those appointed by God are redeemed by Jesus.(16)
Once again, little more than cleaning. I added "originally" to tie the reason for being fallen in Adam back to his original sin in Eden. I removed the salutis language from the last sentence because it isn't necessary and it clutters up the section.
VII. The rest of mankind God was pleased, according to the unsearchable counsel of His own will, whereby He extendeth or withholdeth mercy, as He pleaseth, for the glory of His sovereign power over His creatures, to pass by; and to ordain them to dishonour and wrath for their sin, to the praise of His glorious justice.(17)
VII. According to His own will, by which He extends or withholds mercy, God was pleased to ordain the rest of mankind to dishonor and wrath for their sin. This He has done for His own glory and to the praise of His justice.(17)
I rearranged and shortened this section a little bit to make it easier to read.
VIII. The doctrine of this high mystery of predestination is to be handled with special prudence and care,(18) that men, attending the will of God revealed in His word, and yielding obedience thereunto, may, from the certainty of their effectual vocation, be assured of their eternal election.(19) So shall this doctrine afford matter of praise, reverence, and admiration of God;(20) and of humility, diligence, and abundant consolation to all that sincerely obey the Gospel.(21)
VIII. The doctrine of the mystery of predestination should be handled with special prudence and care.(18) Those who attend to the will of God, which is revealed in His word, and who yield obedience to it may be assured of their eternal election(19) from the certainty of their effectual calling. This doctrine should foster praise, reverence and admiration for God(20) while instilling humility, diligence and giving abundant consolation to all that sincerely obey the Gospel.(21)
Not much here. I changed "effectual vocation" to "effectual calling" because "vocation" carries the concept of "occupation" in today's culture. In this section it is used, instead, to refer to that particular step of redemption we see above in section VI. This is the only place in the Confession that "vocation" is used so I feel like changing it to "calling" makes it more consistent.
V. Those of mankind that are predestined unto life, God, before the foundation of the world was laid, according to His eternal and immutable purpose, and the secret counsel and good pleasure of His will, hath chosen, in Christ, unto everlasting glory,(9) out of His mere free grace and love, without any foresight of faith, or good works, or perseverance in either of them, or any other thing in the creature, as conditions, or causes moving Him thereunto:(10) and all to the praise of His glorious grace.(11)
V. God has chosen, in Christ, those who are predestined to receive eternal life. His choosing was according to His eternal and immutable purpose and according to His good pleasure. Those chosen were predestined to everlasting glory(9) by God's free grace and love, without any foresight of faith, good works, perseverance or any other condition in the creature as motivation for His choosing.(10) All this was done so that the elect might praise His glorious grace.(11)
A little rearranging and a lot of cleaning. I think this arrangement makes more sense, is much easier to read and maintains the substance of the section. I removed "and the secret counsel and good pleasure of His will" and shortened it simply to "according to His good pleasure" because the former is a cumbersome way of stating something that doesn't need stating. The secrecy of the mechanics of predestination are implicit in the doctrine and don't need to be explicitly affirmed.
VI. As God hath appointed the elect unto glory, so hath, by the eternal and most free purpose of His will, foreordained all the mans thereunto.(12) Wherefore, they who are elected, being fallen in Adam, are redeemed by Christ,(13) are effectually called unto faith in Christ by His Spirit working in due season, are justified, adopted, sanctified,(14) and kept by His power, through faith, unto salvation.(15) Neither are any other redeemed by Christ, effectually called, justified, adopted, sanctified, and saved, but the elect only.(16)
VI. By His eternal and most free will, not only has God appointed the elect unto glory, He has also foreordained all the means to this end for them.(12) Those elected, being originally fallen in Adam, are redeemed by Jesus.(13) They are effectually called to faith in Christ by the Holy Spirit working in due season; they are justified, adopted, sanctified(14) and kept by His power, through faith, unto salvation.(15) Only those appointed by God are redeemed by Jesus.(16)
Once again, little more than cleaning. I added "originally" to tie the reason for being fallen in Adam back to his original sin in Eden. I removed the salutis language from the last sentence because it isn't necessary and it clutters up the section.
VII. The rest of mankind God was pleased, according to the unsearchable counsel of His own will, whereby He extendeth or withholdeth mercy, as He pleaseth, for the glory of His sovereign power over His creatures, to pass by; and to ordain them to dishonour and wrath for their sin, to the praise of His glorious justice.(17)
VII. According to His own will, by which He extends or withholds mercy, God was pleased to ordain the rest of mankind to dishonor and wrath for their sin. This He has done for His own glory and to the praise of His justice.(17)
I rearranged and shortened this section a little bit to make it easier to read.
VIII. The doctrine of this high mystery of predestination is to be handled with special prudence and care,(18) that men, attending the will of God revealed in His word, and yielding obedience thereunto, may, from the certainty of their effectual vocation, be assured of their eternal election.(19) So shall this doctrine afford matter of praise, reverence, and admiration of God;(20) and of humility, diligence, and abundant consolation to all that sincerely obey the Gospel.(21)
VIII. The doctrine of the mystery of predestination should be handled with special prudence and care.(18) Those who attend to the will of God, which is revealed in His word, and who yield obedience to it may be assured of their eternal election(19) from the certainty of their effectual calling. This doctrine should foster praise, reverence and admiration for God(20) while instilling humility, diligence and giving abundant consolation to all that sincerely obey the Gospel.(21)
Not much here. I changed "effectual vocation" to "effectual calling" because "vocation" carries the concept of "occupation" in today's culture. In this section it is used, instead, to refer to that particular step of redemption we see above in section VI. This is the only place in the Confession that "vocation" is used so I feel like changing it to "calling" makes it more consistent.
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