confessional A confessional is a box, cabinet, booth, or stall in which the priest in some Christian churches sits to hear the confessions of penitents. It is the usual venue for the sacrament in the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran Churches, but si ...

churches, office-bearers (such as ministers and elders) are required to "subscribe" (or agree) to the church's

confession of faith A creed, also known as a confession of faith, a symbol, or a statement of faith, is a statement of the shared beliefs of a community (often a religious community) in a form which is structured by subjects which summarize its core tenets. The e ...

. In

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their na ...

denominations, this is the ''

Westminster Confession of Faith The Westminster Confession of Faith is a Reformed confession of faith. Drawn up by the 1646 Westminster Assembly as part of the Westminster Standards to be a confession of the Church of England, it became and remains the " subordinate standard ...

'', while in

Confessional Lutheranism Confessional Lutheranism is a name used by Lutherans to designate those who believe in the doctrines taught in the ''Book of Concord'' of 1580 (the Lutheran confessional documents) in their entirety. Confessional Lutherans maintain that faithfulne ...

it is the ''

Book of Concord ''The Book of Concord'' (1580) or ''Concordia'' (often referred to as the ''Lutheran Confessions'') is the historic doctrinal standard of the Lutheran Church, consisting of ten credal documents recognized as authoritative in Lutheranism since ...

''. The degree to which subscribers are required to agree with the confession varies from denomination to denomination.

History

The

Presbyterian Church in Ireland The Presbyterian Church in Ireland (PCI; ga, Eaglais Phreispitéireach in Éirinn; Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster-Scots: ''Prisbytairin Kirk in Airlann'') is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the Republic of Ireland, and the largest Prote ...

wrestled with the issue of confessional subscription in the early 18th century. In 1726, the

Synod of Ulster The (General) Synod of Ulster was the forerunner of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. It comprised all the clergy of the church elected by their respective local presbyteries (or church elders) and a section of the laity. ...

expelled ministers who refused to subscribe to the Westminster Confession of Faith – this group formed the Synod of Antrim, which eventually became the

Non-subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland The Non-subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland is a non-creedal Christian Church, which maintains a great emphasis on individual conscience in matters of Christian faith. The Church became part of the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free C ...

. In the American colonies, the

Synod of Philadelphia Synod of the Trinity is an upper judicatory of the Presbyterian Church headquartered in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania. The synod oversees sixteen presbyteries covering all of Pennsylvania, most of West Virginia, and a portion of eastern Ohio. History ...

originally did not have a confession of faith: while the Scots-Irish stressed precise theological formulation, professional ministry, and the orderly and authoritarian nature of church government, the

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian province ...

ers emphasized "spontaneity, vital impulse, adaptability." The Scots-Irish believed that confessional subscription would preserve Reformed orthodoxy from the threat of

rationalistic In philosophy, rationalism is the epistemological view that "regards reason as the chief source and test of knowledge" or "any view appealing to reason as a source of knowledge or justification".Lacey, A.R. (1996), ''A Dictionary of Philosophy'' ...

ideas, while the New England party preferred declaring the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts o ...

to be the common standard for faith and practice. The impasse was resolved with passage of the

Adopting Act of 1729 The Adopting Act of 1729 is an act of the Synod of Philadelphia that made the Westminster Standards, particularly the Westminster Confession of Faith, the official confessional statements for Presbyterian churches in colonial America. Presbyterian ...

. This was a compromise that required subscription to the "essential and necessary" parts of the

Westminster Standards The Westminster Standards is a collective name for the documents drawn up by the Westminster Assembly (1643–49). These include the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Westminster Shorter Catechism, the Westminster Larger Catechism, the Direct ...

– what was deemed to be essential and necessary was left to individual presbyteries to determine.

Levels of subscription

Strict subscription

Strict subscription, sometimes called "full subscription", means that subscribers must agree to everything in the confession, without exception. This was the original approach in the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Scottish Reformation, Reformation of 1560, when it split from t ...

: in 1693 it required all ministers to affirm, "I do sincerely own and declare the above Confession of Faith... to be a Confession of my faith, and that I own the doctrine contained therein to be the true doctrine". However, minor reservations regarding government and church/state relations were allowed. In 1711 this was changed to requiring that ministers believe "the whole doctrine of the Confession... to be the truths of God, contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments". In 1889 this was changed back to something very similar to the original wording: "I declare the Confession of Faith . . . to be the Confession of my faith."

Good faith subscription

Good faith subscription allows subscribers to take certain exceptions to things in the confessional standard. In presbyterian denominations, these exceptions are normally approved by a presbytery. This is the position of the

Presbyterian Church in America The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) is the second-largest Presbyterian church body, behind the Presbyterian Church (USA), and the largest conservative Calvinist denomination in the United States. The PCA is Reformed in theology and pr ...

, adopted in 2002. Its Book of Common Order says,

The court may grant an exception to any difference of doctrine only if in the court’s judgment the applicant’s declared difference is not out of accord with any fundamental of our system of doctrine because the difference is neither hostile to the system nor strikes at the vitals of religion.

System subscription

In system subscription (sometimes called "loose subscription") a subscriber is required to agree with the "system of doctrine" of the confessional standard. According to

Morton H. Smith Morton Howison Smith (December 11, 1923 – November 12, 2017) was an American Presbyterian minister. He was the first Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian Church in America, serving from 1973 to 1988, and also served as its Moderator in 2000. Smith ...

, "System subscription holds to the adoption of all the fundamental and essential doctrines of the system. Other expressions of the Confessions and Catechisms are not judged to be essential to the system of doctrine as a matter of indifference, whether the ordinand adopts them or not." This was the approach adopted by the

Presbyterian Church in the United States of America The Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (PCUSA) was the first national Presbyterian denomination in the United States, existing from 1789 to 1958. In that year, the PCUSA merged with the United Presbyterian Church of North Amer ...

from its founding in 1789: ministers promised to "sincerely receive and adopt the confession of faith of this church, as containing the system of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures". This is still the form of vow used in the

Orthodox Presbyterian Church The Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC) is a confessional Presbyterian denomination located primarily in the United States, with additional congregations in Canada, Bermuda, and Puerto Rico. It was founded by conservative members of the Presbyteri ...

Charles Hodge Charles Hodge (December 27, 1797 – June 19, 1878) was a Reformed Presbyterian theologian and principal of Princeton Theological Seminary between 1851 and 1878. He was a leading exponent of the Princeton Theology, an orthodox Calvinist theol ...

noted that the phrase "system of doctrine" was interpreted in three different ways: (1) "every proposition of the Confession" (equivalent to strict subscription described above); (2) the doctrines "peculiar to" the

Reformed Reform is beneficial change Reform may also refer to: Media * ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang * Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group * ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine *''Reforme'' ("Reforms"), initial name of the ...

churches; (3) the "essential doctrines of Christianity". Of the first, Hodge argued that "Such a rule of interpretation can never be practically carried out, without dividing the Church into innumerable fragments. It is impossible that a body of several thousand ministers and elders should think alike on all the topics embraced in such an extended and minute formula of belief." The third, he said, "has been tried, and found to produce the greatest disorder and contention." Thus, Hodge concluded that the only viable view was the second one.

Declaratory statements

Some Presbyterian denominations have added a

declaratory statement The Basis of Union of the Presbyterian Church of Australia is the document under which the constituent state churches agreed to unite at its first General Assembly on 24 July 1901, and is still a foundational text for the Uniting Church. The Basis ...

to the Westminster Confession of Faith in order to clarify, modify, or soften its teaching, and thus make it easier for office-bearers to subscribe without scruples. Many of these statements include a clause granting liberty of opinion on matters deemed non-essential.

"''Quia''" versus "''Quatenus''" subscription

, a model of "''quia''" subscription is used. From the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

for "because", the ''

'' is adhered to ''because'' it is faithful to the

Scriptures Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They differ from literature by being a compilation or discussion of beliefs, mythologies, ritual pract ...

– the subscriber believes that there is no contradiction between the ''Book of Concord'' and the

. The alternative, "''quatenus''" (

for "insofar as") subscription means there might be a contradiction of the Scriptures in the ''Book of Concord'', in which case the subscriber would hold to the Scriptures against the ''Book of Concord''..