Hold Fast the Faith: A Devotional Commentary on the Westminster Confession

by Matthew Everhard

Hold Fast the Faith: A Devotional Commentary on the Westminster Confession of 1647, was written to help introduce evangelical Christians to the great puritan document, The Westminster Confession of Faith (1647). The WCF has been the doctrinal standard of Presbyterian and Reformed churches for over 350 years, and is one of the most important theological statements written in the last one thousand years.As the title suggests, Hold Fast the Faith is a "devotional." It was not written for scholars or theologians, but regular Christians on a journey of faith and obedience. It was written to help inform and guide our prayer lives, and to strengthen our daily relationship with Jesus Christ.Yet Hold Fast the Faith is also a "commentary," because it sticks closely to the original thirty-three chapters of the WCF, explaining the foundational beliefs of the English Puritans, and working through all of the major doctrines of Reformed churches.

Genres: Theology, Devotional, Reference, Religion, Christianity

266 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 6, 2012

Reviews

[Garrett Wilmes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book serves as a great introduction to the Westminster Confession in a devotional format. I enjoyed not only being able to read the Confession and the accompanying scriptures, but also how Pastor Everhard applies the Confession to various parts of the Christian life.

Each chapter of the devotional begins with reading a chapter of the WCF, one or two readings from scripture, prayer, historical reflection, self-reflection theological reflection, and then ends with application. I found this organization to be helpful, since it allowed time for deep reflection on the Confession and then the application of it at the end.

This book isn’t necessarily a thorough deep dive into the WCF, but definitely serves as a wonderful devotional and practical reflection over the truths found in the Confession!

[Mr. Perry · Rating 5 out of 5]

(thinking about creating a shelf on here just for the confessions - it's not like that's not the case in real life...)

Okay, so this was real-life Audible reading: my wife read it to me as we travel to church, which is about an hour away from where we stay...so a chapter was read and discussed, and at one point in the journey I was also teaching a class on the WCF at church as well. What ended up happening is that it sparked conversation, and sometimes even led me to bring the book into the class with me after having heard some compelling point that I'd missed (or a point I might've had in mind that was articulated much better than I would've done). This would be a good one for a small group to work through, I think - includes the text of the confession, some verses to help prime conversation and digestible thoughts about the chapter and practical implications. Doesn't go too in-depth, which I think was (1) intentional and (2) a good thing. Be confessional. Give it a read.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Information on the Westminster Confession

I have to admit that I knew nothing about the Westminster Confession. These devotions opened my eyes to them. My only complaint is that was no Table of Contents. It was difficult to get a grasp of the material because of no Table of Contents.

[Shannon Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book. Easy to read/understand introduction to the Westminster Confession. Would recommend to all Christians.

[Michael Philliber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book. Here's the review I did on my blog:
http://mphilliber.blogspot.com/2013/0...

Or go on over to Amazon, it's there too.

[Elise · Rating 3 out of 5]

More devotional than commentary but nice for a gentle introduction to the confession.