Modern Exposition of the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith (part 2)

Modern Exposition of the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith (part 2)

From the new preface to the 5th Edition of A Modern Exposition:

“Let me say something about the reason and necessity for this 5th Edition. In the 2nd and 3rd Editions of A Modern Exposition a number of important improvements to the first edition were made. Somehow in the 4th Edition published in 2009 these improvements were forgotten and the manuscript reverted to its original (1st Edition) form with all of its inaccuracies. I only discovered the extent of the problem in the last year. Graham Hind of Evangelical Press immediately responded to the problem by withdrawing the remaining unsold copies of the 4th Edition from circulation for sale. They also agreed to publish this 5th Edition as soon as I could prepare it for publication.

In this 5th Edition of A Modern Exposition the improvements found in the 2nd and 3rd Editions are restored. I have made further (what I think to be) improvements by revising two appendices found in previous editions and adding two more. The reader (in my opinion) will be greatly helped if he turns to the back of the book and reads these appendices first.”

Dr. Sam Waldron

some thoughts on interpreting the Confession

  1. Like the Bible, the Confession is often self-interpreting, latter statements shedding interpretive light on former statements and former statements upon latter.
  2. Unlike the Bible, however, the self-interpreting phenomena of the Confession are not infallible.
  3. Like the Bible, the Confession is progressive in its formulation, latter statements assuming the former and building upon them.
  4. Like the Bible, inner-biblical (inner-confessional) exegesis/intertexuality is present in the Confession and often the key to its proper interpretation.
  5. Like the Bible, the Confession possesses authorial intent.
  6. Unlike the Bible, there is no divine author.
  7. Like the Bible, seeking to understand human authorial intent requires understanding background information, such as symbolic sources, historical-theological context, the theological nomenclature of the era, and the writings of the editor(s) of the Confession.

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