Baptist Confession of Faith (1689)

Rewritten in modern English by Andrew Kerkham
1st ed. 1999, revised ed. 2001
(email [email protected])

This is a rewrite of the 1689 Baptist Confession by Andrew Kerkham.

The Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689 has its roots firmly in the Westminster Confession of Faith of 1647. It differs from the Wesminster Confession in adding Chapter 20 (The Gospel and its Gracious Extent), and in its understanding of the Church and Baptism. Chapter 20 is identical to the same chapter in the Congregationalists’ Savoy Declaration of Faith and Order of 1658, and where the Baptist Confession differs in minor points from the Wesminster Confession it usually follows the Savoy Declaration.

This revision seeks to follow the original text as closely as possible, yet at the same time to make it readable and understandable for people today. This has been achieved mainly through breaking up longer sentences, substitution of present-day words for words that have become archaic, and keeping transposition of phrases to an absolute minimum. It is important to note that this revision does not seek to alter the truths of the original 1689 Baptist Confession in any way whatever; rather, the intention is to make those same truths more readily understandable to the present generation. Note: the abbreviation WCF refers to the Westminster Confession of Faith, 1647.

The expanded system of scripture references is that found in Samuel E. Waldron’s valuable work, A modern exposition of the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith (2nd ed., Evangelical Press, 1995), and used with permission.

See the BCF Assistant for the original text of the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License




INDEX

Chapter 1: The Holy Scriptures
Chapter 2: God and the Holy Trinity
Chapter 3: God’s Decree
Chapter 4: Creation
Chapter 5: Divine Providence
Chapter 6: The Fall, Sin and its Punishment
Chapter 7: God’s Covenant
Chapter 8: Christ the Mediator
Chapter 9: Free Will
Chapter 10: Effectual Calling
Chapter 11: Justification
Chapter 12: Adoption
Chapter 13: Sanctification
Chapter 14: Saving Faith
Chapter 15: Repentance to Life and Salvation
Chapter 16: Good Works
Chapter 17: The Perseverance of Believers
Chapter 18: The Assurance of Grace and Salvation
Chapter 19: The Law of God
Chapter 20: The Gospel and its Gracious Extent
Chapter 21: Christian Liberty and Liberty of Conscience
Chapter 22: Worship and the Lord’s Day
Chapter 23: Lawful Oaths and Vows
Chapter 24: Civil Government
Chapter 25: Marriage
Chapter 26: The Church
Chapter 27: The Fellowship of Believers
Chapter 28: The Ordinances
Chapter 29: Baptism
Chapter 30: The Lord’s Supper
Chapter 31: The State of People after Death and the Resurrection of the Dead
Chapter 32: The Last Judgement

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