There is all the difference in the world between the one who signs a confession because he passionately believes it to be an accurate summary of scriptural teaching and the one who signs it because, at a pinch, he can just about make it say what he believes the Bible to teach. The former sees the confession as a place to stand from where he can address both church and world; the latter may at best consider the confession to be an unnecessary appendage and, in time, he might well come to see the confession as a problem, a kind of restrictive cage. Indeed, he might end up asking himself, ‘Well, sure, I can just about sign in good conscience – now, what can I get away with saying or doing?’ For such a person, the confession is (at best) a union card, merely a necessary prerequisite for working on the shop floor; it is not the lifeblood of his ministry. Read more»
Carl Trueman | “A Lethal Difference of Attitude” | October 17, 2012
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I think Trueman is attributing a little too much divisive and/or mischievous behavior to those who take the quatenus approach. He is right that it’s essentially a union card. I find (circumstancially) that people just don’t take confessions seriously enough to understand how important they are and how useful they can be. That is certainly worthy of criticism. The work of RRC continues.