19세기말 미국장로교회의 웨스트민스터 신앙고백서 개정 논의에 대한 고찰

Revision of Westminster Confession of Faith in the Presbyterian Church of the U.S.A. at 1903

The Westminster Confession of Faith was composed to bring forth piety in the family. Because ignorance and doctrinal error prevailed in England during the mid 17th century, families and churches were impious. To remedy the situation, the Westminster Divines assembled to draft a confession that would hold forth sound doctrines and rectify errors. One of the errors at the time was Arminianism. In 1729, the Westminster Confession of Faith was adopted as a standard confession of the Presbyterian Church of the U.S.A. Since the Adoption Act (1729), all candidates for the pastoral office in the Presbyterian Church of the U.S.A. had to subscribe to the Westminster Confession of Faith. However, after the Second Great Awakening, in 1837, the Presbyterian Church of the U.S.A. was assailed by Charles Finney's revivalism and semi-Pelagianism which divided the denomination into Old School and New School. As a New School theologian Finney especially attacked the Westminster Confession of Faith. New School essentially followed Pelagianism which was a definite departure from Calvinism. Despite their differences in theological positions, Old and New School were reunited in 1869. After this reunion, Arminianism spread throughout the Presbyterian Church of the U.S.A. At this point, there were some who wanted to revise the Westminster Confession of Faith according to Arminianism and Modern theologies. Finally, in 1903, the Presbyterian Church of the U.S.A. revised the Westminster Confession of Faith. The revision demonstrated that the Presbyterian Church of the U.S.A. had discarded Calvinism and had opened itself to error. Therefore, today's Korean Presbyterian Church should confirm its theological identity and take a firm stance against error. It must see the importance of the Westminster Confession of Faith and encourage its use.