Reformation Study Bible

[presbyman]

Maybe I need to look into the Lutheran Study Bible too.

 

[hedrick]

The PCUSA includes Barman and now Belhar in their confessional standards now, don't they?

Belhar was proposed to the presbyteries. It hasn't been added yet. However based on votes so far I'd say it will be approved.

I don't object to it. The main argument I saw against it was the the Confession of 1967 covered the same issues better. The main argument for it is that it's being accepted by other Reformed groups, and thus is a reasonable candidate for a confession of the whole Reformed community.

Here's the text: https://www.rca.org/resources/confession-belhar. I don't see that it proposes any particular political policies, socialist or otherwise. The social teachings it does mention are directly from the Bible.

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Saying that the latest standard is Westminster is accurate for the conservative Presbyterian bodies. The PCUSA accepts the following later standards:

* Barmen
* The Confession of 1967
* The Brief Statement of the Reformed Faith
* [if adopted] Belhar

It also accepts several 16th Cent confessions. Presbyman says that this addition tends to weaken the confessions. I believe it was the intention of the change to show that many in the PCUSA do not agree with everything in Westminster. It surely should not be a surprise to readers here that many in the PCUSA do not agree with Westminster on a number of important issues. I believe it's good that our published standards reflect our actual teachings.

 

[GratiaCorpusChristi]

Belhar was proposed to the presbyteries. It hasn't been added yet. However based on votes so far I'd say it will be approved.

I don't object to it. The main argument I saw against it was the the Confession of 1967 covered the same issues better. The main argument for it is that it's being accepted by other Reformed groups, and thus is a reasonable candidate for a confession of the whole Reformed community.

Here's the text: https://www.rca.org/resources/confession-belhar. I don't see that it proposes any particular political policies, socialist or otherwise. The social teachings it does mention are directly from the Bible.

------

Saying that the latest standard is Westminster is accurate for the conservative Presbyterian bodies. The PCUSA accepts the following later standards:

* Barmen
* The Confession of 1967
* The Brief Statement of the Reformed Faith
* [if adopted] Belhar

It also accepts several 16th Cent confessions. Presbyman says that this addition tends to weaken the confessions. I believe it was the intention of the change to show that many in the PCUSA do not agree with everything in Westminster. It surely should not be a surprise to readers here that many in the PCUSA do not agree with Westminster on a number of important issues. I believe it's good that our published standards reflect our actual teachings.

I'm going to talk to a PCUSA pastor friend of mine who voted against inclusion of Belhar before I respond to that point, but if there's anything I can really see the importance of it's Barman. The Barman Declaration, especially for Lutherans but also for Calvinists, is an important corrective against the tendency toward absolutism and autocracy within classical Protestantism.

I am a little confused, though, by what the PCUSA includes from before the Westminster Standards. I see the Scots Confession, Heidelberg Catechism, and the Second Helvetic Confession. But I don't see the Belgic Confession or the Canons of Dort, which together with the Heidelberg Catechism make up the Three Forms of Unity for the Continental Reformed, nor other historically very important documents like the Tetrapolitan Confession or the Wittenberg Concord. I can understand the absence of the Wittenberg Concord, but other than that the continental and pre-Westminster documents seem to be included in a rather non-systematic, haphazard fashion.

 

[ztalbott]

The PCUSA includes Barman and now Belhar in their confessional standards now, don't they?

Barmen, yes, but Belhar not yet... we are currently voting on it, though the Presbyteries seem on track to ratify its inclusion in the PCUSA Book of Confessions. But what I was referring to is the latest confessional standard included in the Reformation Study Bible, which is the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith.

 

[ztalbott]

Maybe I need to look into the Lutheran Study Bible too.

I have the notes from the Lutheran Study Bibles in my Olive Tree App on my iPad, and they are good. I still think the NIV Spirit of the Reformation Study Bible is the best of the bunch, and I am thankful that I was able to find a brand new "top grain leather" edition on Ebay a few months ago (though my new edition of the Reformation Study Bible hasn't yet arrived, so it may be wonderful as well).

The thing I really like about the NIV Spirit of the Reformation is that it includes the Westminster Standards and the Three Forms of Unity, and then in the notes/annotations it refers back to them throughout the scriptures. That REALLY sets it apart. It makes the connections between the scriptures and the confessional standards REALLY come alive and more approachable for study and learning.

 

[presbyman]

Zac I also appreciated the NIV Spirit of the Reformation Study Bible. I had to sell mine during a financially difficult period (between calls) and got a good price because it was, inexplicably, out of print. And it's still out of print. I can't understand why, because it really was one of the finest study bibles around.

 

[GratiaCorpusChristi]

I have the notes from the Lutheran Study Bibles in my Olive Tree App on my iPad, and they are good. I still think the NIV Spirit of the Reformation Study Bible is the best of the bunch, and I am thankful that I was able to find a brand new "top grain leather" edition on Ebay a few months ago (though my new edition of the Reformation Study Bible hasn't yet arrived, so it may be wonderful as well).

The thing I really like about the NIV Spirit of the Reformation is that it includes the Westminster Standards and the Three Forms of Unity, and then in the notes/annotations it refers back to them throughout the scriptures. That REALLY sets it apart. It makes the connections between the scriptures and the confessional standards REALLY come alive and more approachable for study and learning.

It would be nice if the Lutheran Study Bible could do that with the Book of Concord, but there's absolutely no way you could ever fit the whole Book of Concord between the same covers as a study Bible. It's just way too big.

 

[ztalbott]

It would be nice if the Lutheran Study Bible could do that with the Book of Concord, but there's absolutely no way you could ever fit the whole Book of Concord between the same covers as a study Bible. It's just way too big.

There's no way any study Bible could hold the entire Presbyterian Book of Confessions either, but these study Bibles just have some of the "main" confessional standards (usually the Westminster standards and the Three Forms of Unity --- some also include the London Baptist Confession). The Lutheran Study Bible could easily be able to hold some of the "main" Lutheran confessions like Augsburg, etc. without having the entire Book of Concord.