Westminster Systematics: Comments and Notes on the Westminster Confession

by Douglas Wilson

God tells stories a particular way. You see a dragon, and look for St. George. You see tyranny, and look for . . . Calvinists. The Westminster Confession of Faith comes from the turbulent period of the English Civil Wars, and its architects lived through events that raised armies, overturned governments, and beheaded a king. In this introduction to systematic theology, Douglas Wilson takes the theologically interested layman through the Confession itself, reading the entire text and analyzing topics including the Trinity, the Fall, God's covenant with man, the sacraments, free will, justification, the civil magistrate, and more. For those who want to dig deeper, Wilson has assigned extra readings and comprehension questions from three different authors (A.A. Hodge, Thomas Vincent, and Francis Turretin). The perfect medicine for a culture obsessed with word-bending and qualification, Westminster Systematics offers an apologetic and systematic distillation of the word of God.

Genres: Theology, Audiobook, Christian, Nonfiction

260 pages, Paperback

First published September 2, 2014

About the author

I write in order to make the little voices in my head go away. Thus far it hasn't worked.

Reviews

[Grant Van Brimmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very helpful. Great study companion if your reading through the confession.

[Caleb M. Powers · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent commentary on the Westminster Confession, and the only issues I have with it are because I'm baptist, which isn't a fault of the book, haha.

I'm impressed by the clear stance Wilson takes against the various points of the confession that he would take exception to, but I do wonder how much further down that road denominations such as the CREC and the churches within can push their (in many cases helpful) exceptions to a historic confession before the American church should just revise their confessions or write entirely new ones to handle the issues of their context.

[Josiah Richardson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wilson provides his thoughts, chapter by chapter, on the Westminster Confession. For some, this seems like a bad idea, especially in light of all the exceptions Wilson takes from the confession. For others, this is pretty darn helpful because the confession can be wordy and dense at points and Wilson is an excellent simplifier.

Don’t look for weighty and deep conversations here, because you won’t find them. But do look for more practical applications of one of the greatest theological documents in history.

[Knowlton Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Westminster Confession itself is so biblically and pastorally rich that this was pleasant in and of itself as a reread of it. I expected more CREC exceptions than there were. There were interesting observations on how Americans diverged from the original version. All on all, this was just an enjoyable, brief, and yet sweeping perusal of an excellent document.

[J. Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Doug’s commentary on the WCF is solid. While I may quibble about the content of the WCF, I did rather enjoy Doug’s concise commentary on it.

[Jesse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great resource on the Westminster Confession. A good discussion on each paragraph of the work. Seeing the differences between the British and American versions was helpful. This is a great resource for the Reformed confession.

[Rick Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sadly, I was a bit underwhelmed by this book. I didn't disagree with anything Wilson said in particular; it's just that I was looking for more. The book has large font, wide margins, and a number of blank pages. There were some places where Wilson discusses the confession that I found helpful and good; however, in many parts he simply interjects a short "in other words" paraphrase of the section of the Confession in question.

Though I haven't read it cover to cover, G.I. Williamson's study guide for the Westminster Confession has been greatly helpful to me over the years, and I guess I went into this book looking for something similar but with Doug Wilson's wit and style. I can see how this book might be used in a classroom setting as an outline in which to plug the other required reading given at the end of each chapter, but it doesn't really stand on its own. Nor would it serve as a solid introduction to systematic theology. There are many places where it appears the book purposely does not use "theological" terms in order to communicate more clearly with the reader, but then, every now and then, a term of art that is likely to confuse the non-theologian reader will pop up with no explanation.

So, overall, this book may be good as an aid for the person reading through the confession for the very first time. It doesn't, however, come close to covering the broad range of positions, issues, topics and terms that would be necessary for a solid introduction to systematic theology, and it doesn't thoroughly cover each part of the confession with equal attention.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great introductory text on the confession. With added reading to go further up and further in. I was raised on this material as it came out on Wilson's blog during my formative years as a Christian.

It's not thorough. But a wonderful gateway into reformed systematics.

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm glad I read this and that we'll have it available to us whenever we need it.

[Benjamin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good. Enjoyed it a lot! I commend the book, but even more so I commend Doug’s lectures on the standards which can be found on the New St. Andrew’s podcast.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good. I wasn't looking forward to reading this, just because the Westminster itself is pretty dry (though interesting in its own way) and this is just a commentary. BUT Douglas Wilson is a decent writer and so when he illustrates his understanding of the confession it's often very helpful and helpful in more lower-case-c catholic ways (i.e. as a response to over-intellectualized presbyterianism) and when he disagrees, there is usually a great deal of force to his objections. I'd disagree with his taking issue with the language of a "covenant of works" but I'd definitely agree that the issue of naming is important. All in all, this book cements in my mind that Doug Wilson is truly reformed. Good stuff, good stuff.

[Kevin Godinho · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great intro to the Westminster Confession. Doug walks you through the confession plainly explaining what each statement means. He also points out a few places where he believes the confession has fallen short and where modern adjustments have succeeded or failed (they mostly failed).

What's great about this book is Doug recommends a few sources for those who want to dive deeper into Westminster systematics:

A.A. Hodge, The Confession of Faith
Thomas Vincent, The Shorter Catechism
Francis Turretin, Institutes of Elenctic Theology

Lord willing I'll make my way through those eventually!

---------------------------

Check out my blog!
www.laymansprogress.com

[Brent Pinkall · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great succinct commentary on the Westminster Confession. As always, Wilson's prose is clear and colorful.

[jacob van sickle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened to Doug's comments and notes on the New Saint Andrews Podcast http://www.nsa.edu/category/podcast/p.... Good stuff.

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Doug makes some unique observations on the WCF, not his best writing as it felt a bit rushed and failed to take the time to explain his reasoning in a few places

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very helpful. I enjoyed going through it.

[James Nickel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wilson demonstrates his blind commitment to the rationalistic systematization of the WCF.

[Anda P · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this bit by bit over many months. It was very short limited commentary but enabled me to work through the Westminster confession which was what I wanted.

[Emma R. Pilcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought-provoking.

[Matthew Rawlings · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like all of Wilson's books, it is short but here it is too short and that is a compliment. I wanted more from each chapter. Highly recommended.

[JonM · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent overview of the WCF. It's a straightforward, no nonsense teaching tool. Highly recommended for those committed to the Protestant Reformed tradition or simply interested in the confessional "logic" of English Puritanism & Scottish Presbyterianism. This is a great guide---actually, the most useful guide---I have found to the WCF. (Make sure to also check out DW's guide to Calvin's Institutes. It's fantastic too.)

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of Pastor Wilson's commentary on the Confession is simply rewording and rephrasing for clarification. I appreciated the sections where he showed how to charitably disagree with the confession. There would need to be a lot more details about the context, history, debates of the assembly, and historical use for me to feel that this is truly a systematic approach to the confession. The questions for discussion from other Reformed systematic works were helpful.

[Jonah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very good introduction to the Confession. Wilson has his usualy wit and style when writing, but I am glad to say that there is nothing new here that would get anyone in a tizzy. Wilson even offers suggested reading for more study along with study questions. This is a good guide.

[James Aaron Kirkpatrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent resource.

[Jim Becker · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second time through. Excellent

[Kevin Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book.

[Noah · Rating 5 out of 5]

A quick and clean commentary on the Westminster Confession. Reading it along
with the Confession for Reformed Systematics with Peter Escalante.

[Local · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love the Westminster, and the commentary was fine in some places, but man, it was bland in other places. It could have used a revision or something because it just feels lacking.

[Ben Zornes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pastor Douglas Wilson's comments & notes on the Westminster Confession are replete with value. He does so with brevity, good-humor, and precision. This was the primary textbook for my Reformed Systematics course (through New Saint Andrews College), and it was a perfect way to walk through the Westminster Confession step by step, point by point.

Wilson makes it clear where he thinks the Westminster divines put too many eggs in the batter, and makes helpful suggestions for how future theologians might deal with clarifying those points. However, when he takes exception he does so with humility and candor.

For anyone unfamiliar with the Westminster Confession, as well as how important such Confessions are to helping the Church distill the Bible's teaching into "bullet points", this would be a very helpful starting point with gaining that familiarity!