Westminster Confession, Chapter 1, Paragraph 6, Part 2

Westminster Confession, Chapter 1, Paragraph 6, Part 2

6- The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man’s salvation, faith and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture: unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit, or traditions of men.[12] Nevertheless, we acknowledge the inward illumination of the Spirit of God to be necessary for the saving understanding of such things as are revealed in the Word:[13] and that there are some circumstances concerning the worship of God, and government of the church, common to human actions and societies, which are to be ordered by the light of nature, and Christian prudence, according to the general rules of the Word, which are always to be observed.[14]

It’s rather interesting that in the 1689 London Baptist Confession, they felt it necessary to remove the statement, by good and necessary consequence. That phrase today may be translated, by valid logical deduction. The writers of the confession seemed to have a high value upon the science of logic. When we read the writings of Calvin, Edwards, Owen, and so forth, it is evident that this generation surely did.

Do we prise this science today? It does not appear to me that we do. Simply by looking at my life, and the things that I write, I do not value logic in the same way the past writers did. This leads me to ask, should we? Should it be something that we should incorporate in our public, private, and home schools? If we did, would we raise up a generation of young men and women who could think well? Would we raise up a generation who would love truth, righteousness, and holiness? I think not. I think we would raise up a generation like the enlightenment generation who prized the mind, but had no time for the God who created the mind. No what we need is a generation that learns the principles of logic, and then how to deduce all things necessary for life and godliness from the Scriptures. If we separate our logic from the Scriptures, we end up autonomous and proud. Love builds up where knowledge puffs up.