I would say the point of confessions is that the Bible is a large book, and a book that is structured as God’s revelation to his people over time, rather than by theological topic. Confessions summarise our understanding of what the Bible as a whole has to say about the main points of the faith. Confessionalism recognises the need for creeds and confessions for the above reason and because people will usually have a theological framework they are applying to understand the Bible, but not declaring it upfront (as in a confession) makes it harder to discuss properly.
I’ve found The Creedal Imperative by Carl Trueman to be a helpful book on this topic.
I’ll also say that I think it was arrogant of me to just try to understand the Bible without the input of centuries of good scholars, especially when they are like-minded to me, building on the same foundational principles (eg. The Bible is innerant and God’s word)
For me, I just didn’t get confessionalism. I thought, why care so much about a confession when there’s the Bible. Just read the Bible.
How would you explain confessionalism to someone that’s unfamiliar with it?
I would say the point of confessions is that the Bible is a large book, and a book that is structured as God’s revelation to his people over time, rather than by theological topic. Confessions summarise our understanding of what the Bible as a whole has to say about the main points of the faith. Confessionalism recognises the need for creeds and confessions for the above reason and because people will usually have a theological framework they are applying to understand the Bible, but not declaring it upfront (as in a confession) makes it harder to discuss properly.
I’ve found The Creedal Imperative by Carl Trueman to be a helpful book on this topic.
Those are good points.
I’ll also say that I think it was arrogant of me to just try to understand the Bible without the input of centuries of good scholars, especially when they are like-minded to me, building on the same foundational principles (eg. The Bible is innerant and God’s word)