Link of the Week #6

Few things seem more outdated today than holding to confessional standards. When the mainline Reformed churches went liberal in the early 20th century they soon revised their traditional confessional standards to mesh with their new methods of theology and hermeneutics. This resulted in a plethora of watered down versions of the historically robust documents throughout the mid-20th century. By the late 20th century the mainline churches (along with most evangelicals) rejected confessions altogether. Indeed, most people today have never heard of (much less read) the Westminster, Scots, or Belgic confessions.

Yet an increasing number of Pastors and theologians are arguing that confessions are exactly what the church needs today. From R. Scott Clark's book "Recovering the Reformed Confessions" to Kevin DeYoung's recent book "The Gospel We Almost Forgot: Rediscovering the Gospel in a 16th Century Catechism" modern Reformed thinkers are wrestling with how to recover the confessional heritage of protestantism. In this vein of thought, J. Ligon Duncan edited a three-volume set called "The Westminster Confession Into the 21st Century" which seeks to show the importance and relevance of the Westminster Standards in today's Church. After the final volume came out, our friends over at Reformed Forum had Dr. Duncan on their show to talk about his book and the importance of confessionalism. We hope you enjoy this week's link!

To listen to this week's link go here