The Westminster Standards among the Reformed Symbols

How might it affect our perception and appreciation of Westminster Presbyterianism if we were to ask what contribution Presbyterianism makes to the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church, instead of thinking of it as a relatively isolated, even insulated church tradition?

At Greystone, we embrace our confessional Reformed identity and practice, but we do so somewhat differently than what has become conventional. Some in the Reformed tradition speak so stridently, confidently, and even triumphantly of the so-called “distinctives” of the Reformed tradition, or an allegedly distinctly Reformed way of asking or answering a question, that it might suggest that critics of the Reformed tradition are correct when they say we are a novum, a new tradition starting in the 16th century. It is not uncommon in fact to hear Reformed theologians refer to “the” Reformed position on something when in fact they are referring only to one or two favorite theologians whose contribution dates back only a generation or two. Among other problems, many of them historical, we can appreciate a theological danger in this way of thinking, especially in the context of the doctrine of the Church. If there wasn’t a new Pentecost event in the 16th century, one which marked the inauguration of the true Church, then we should both expect and revel in at least most of the ways in which the Reformed tradition represents a faithful expression of the one and only Church there is, and whose contributions can and should be recognized in terms of the corrective and productive contributions she makes, in faithfulness, to what that Church has always believed, taught, and confessed, albeit always at least somewhat imperfectly. 

Within the Reformed tradition, of course, in which we identify subgroups or subexpressions we call presbyterian, continental, and anglican, each with their own varying children and grandchildren, this is even more the case. Each of these three principal expressions of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church makes a discrete and valuable contribution to that Church, and does so as a providential form of that Church in history.

In what follows, then, you’ll hear the first of three Greystone Conversation episodes that belong together, one with each of the lead lecturers for each of the three traditions represented in this Greystone course. Michael Lynch, today’s conversation partner, lectured on the Westminster Assembly and its confession and catechisms, Daniel Hyde, our conversation partner in the next episode, lectured on the so-called continental symbols, the Three Forms of Unity, and Henry Jansma of the Anglican Diocese of the Living Word, and our conversation partner in the third and last conversation in this series, lectured on the Anglican Formularies.

For those who are interested in joining this class and who are listening to these episodes in time to do so, note that Greystone will offer this class in the fall term of 2025, September to December, using a combination of the recorded lectures provided by these eminent scholars, and 3-4 1.5 hour live meetings for dedicated seminar discussion, approximately one per month. Please visit our website for more information, or write us at mailto:info@greystoneinstitute.org.