1Saved, Even though I suspect you are only here on this board to fight, I will give you the benefit of the doubt and answer your question and try to ignore all your personal attacks. Perhaps the Lord has brought you to this forum to show you the truth and I don't wish to put any stumbling blocks in your way by reacting to your unkind words.
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Let's compare what Calvin wrote to what Scripture says. If it doesn't entirely hold up, there's a problem with claiming ALL the writings of John Calvin can be used as doctrine within the Church.
No one on this board thinks that Calvin was inerrant. I am positive you aren't either! Nor do I claim to be. Some in the reformed camp who are embracing hyper-Covenental teachings are those who have put Calvin on the same level as the writers of Holy Scriptures. Even the best of men are men at best, yet God has gifted the church with teachers and preachers, and has given us faithful leaders to guard His sheep. We are to be on our guard agains traditionalism that does not line up with Scriptures, no matter how much the man is revered. We must be Bereans and compare anyone's teaching with God's Word. There are many false teachers out there.
Here is my church's teaching on our doctrinal beliefs:
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We believe that the only infallible standard for faith and life is the Holy Bible. It alone is inspired by God Almighty, and it alone is free from all errors in every matter to which it speaks (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Consequently, we claim the Holy Bible as our primary standard for all that we believe and do. What it affirms, we seek to affirm. What it commends to be practiced, we seek to practice. What it condemns, we seek to condemn.
Nevertheless, not all branches of the one, true Church of Jesus Christ are agreed on what the Bible teaches about certain doctrinal and practical issues. Therefore, in the interest of clarity and the promotion of greater unity, it is fitting that local congregations summarize their corporate understanding of the Bible's teaching on various important topics in a systematic way. These systematic creeds and confessions serve as a church's secondary standards and are always subservient to the Bible; for, as with any secondary and man-made standard, all creeds and confessions are subject to error and are only authoritative and binding on the human conscience insofar as they rightly summarize the teaching of Holy Scripture. Wherever a human creed or confession is indisputably shown to contradict the clear teachings of the Bible, that creed or confession must be amended or rejected accordingly. Conversely, however, wherever a human creed or confession rightly summarizes the teaching of God's Word it is authoritatively binding and cannot be denied by anyone.
Firstly, then, as a congregation within the universal Church of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 4:4), we affirm the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed as correctly summarizing the true Christian Faith, which was once and for all delivered to the Saints by Christ and His Apostles. Further, we believe that any group or organization which denies the doctrinal content of these early ecumenical creeds cannot rightly be called Christian.*
Secondly, as a congregation of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, we not only affirm but also fully subscribe to the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms as likewise rightly summarizing the system of doctrine given in the Holy Scriptures. These three doctrinal standards are part of our congregation's and denomination's constitution. And, while laymen of OPC congregations need not affirm these standards in every detail in order to be recieved as members, all OPC officers (i.e., ministers, ruling elders, and deacons) must vow to "sincerely receive and adopt the Cofession of Faith and Catechisms of this Church [i.e., the OPC], as containing the system of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures."
Thirdly, as a congregation which is committed to Reformed and Presbyterian beliefs and practices, we also commend the reading of the Belgic Confession of Faith, the Heidelberg Catechism, and the Cannons of Dort, though we do not subscribe to these standards denominationally, nor are they officially part of our constitution. Nevertheless, they are doctrinally sound documents summarizing the teachings of Holy Scripture and Reformed theology, to which we are unashamedly committed.
