EP Books has published an updated, modern version of the Westminster Standards. The title is The Westminster Standards for Today: Recovering the Church and Worship for Everyday Christian Living. This is an excellent resource for many reasons!
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The Westminster Standards for Today: Recovering the Church and Worship for Everyday Christian Living
This book is an excellent resource for so many reasons! Here are just a few.
First: though I personally don’t mind the old English that the original Standards have been written in, I certainly love the modern English as found in this book. And, most importantly, I believe that this modern English version will serve the church well today as it makes the Westminster Standards even more accessible for today.
Now I want to explain what makes this updated version superior (in my opinion) to other modern versions of the Standards. There have indeed been a few updates to the Standards in which the English was modernized. However, there has been a little too much liberty taken in those updates, and words and phrases were changed a little too much for my liking.
Perhaps you could think about it in terms of Bible translations: The Westminster Standards would be the KJV (King James Version), and many of the modernized versions of the Standards would be close to the NIV or even the NLT. This book by EP would be more like the NKJV (New King James Version) or the ESV (English Standard Version). Essentially, the “thees” and “thous” and “thys” have been updated, but the rest of the language of the original Standards has been retained. To make it even better, there are places where the original wording has been kept (such as “dispensation” in WCF 8.7), but there is a word in brackets immediately following in order to clarify what is meant (in this case, [administration] follows dispensation.). So I cannot emphasize this enough: this modernization of the language of the Standards is the best out there today! I’ve enjoyed it more than any other modernization available.
Second, this book contains a modernization of the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Shorter Catechism , and the Larger Catechism! Often, when dealing with updates, you’ll find the Confession by itself or the Shorter Catechism by itself. But this volume includes all three! This is truly a wonderful achievement.
Third, I love that this volume uses the ESV instead of the KJV when providing Scripture passages.
Fourth, before the reader even gets to the Standards, there are seven really well-written articles on the topics of the history of the Standards, worship, and family worship/church government. These are written by guys like Rick Phillips, Guy Waters, and Kevin Bidwell (the editor of this volume).
Lastly, this book also includes four creeds in the back of the book. Just when you thought the book wouldn’t get any better, it throws in something sweet like that!
I simply cannot recommend this book highly enough! I treasure the Westminster Standards, and this is an excellent resource for those who are desiring to study or memorize either the Confession or the Catechisms. Tolle lege, take up and read!
Disclaimer: My thanks to Evangelical Press for providing me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. The opinions expressed are my own.
Matt became a joyful follower of Jesus at the age of 21. He is very grateful to be a husband to Lindsey, and a father to four boys. He is an ordained minister (teaching elder) in the PCA. He previously served as a pastor of biblical counseling and is currently a corporate chaplain in southern Delaware. Matt received his Master of Divinity degree in Biblical Counseling from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and holds an advanced certification in biblical counseling from the Association of Biblical Counselors. In his free time, he loves playing with his boys, traveling with his wife, and reading (and buying!) books.
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