Usefulness of Confessions and Catechisms (A Dispensationalist Take on the Issue)

Usefulness of Confessions and  Catechisms (A Dispensationalist Take on the Issue)

Yes I am unashamedly a Christian who believes in dispensational premillennialism.  That being said there are some valuable points taken from an introduction section of "A Modern Exposition of the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith" by Samuel E. Waldron.  I would encourage you to check them out.

First, every local church I've every attended, joined, or been part of for any length of time for forty-two years has had a confession.  Or at least some form of doctrinal statement.  So this is not an unusual situation to be in.  They almost across the board have been dispensational and premillennial.  So yes these same churches have creeds and confessions as a statement of their core beliefs.  They are not "a-creedal."  I would suggest this is a title (either self-proclaimed or others-invoked) to say that particular body of believers does not hold to a historical creed or confession (in the same way they do).  Thus, since they don't hold to the same historic creeds that I do then they are labeled as "a-creedal."

Second, nearly any historical confession outside of local churches, has not been dispensaional or premillennial.  Please take this into account when you consider these issues.  This applies equally to both the London Baptist Confession and Westminster Confession.  This would also apply to smaller creeds such as the Apostles Creed or Nicene Creed.  Don't expect the time frame they were written in to be friendly toward either dispensationalism or premillennialism.  They addressed issues of concern in their own historical context.  These previous Confessions (LBC and WCF) are both also strongly Calvinistic (in soteriology) and Covenantal (in ecclesiology).  Also as far as I can find, historical creeds also endorse a form of (if not outright) replacement theology.  This controls both their ecclesiology and eschatology (and I would suggest for many reasons their soteriology as well).

Third, concerning catechisms.  If you are of the persuasion that the Decalogue (Ten Commandments) does not apply today for believers in any way, then older catechisms will be an issue.  If this is a door of hindrance then you'll have to write your own.  If you want a different ecclesiology (church) or eschatology (end times) to appear in your Q/A then you'll have to write new ones.  Obviously, rewriting a couple questions for the church and end times issues is much less laborious then replacing the entire Ten Commandments.

Finally, regardless which line of theology you follow: Baptist, Westminster, or Heidelberg you will still have to address what topics you want to address.  Do I stick with some basic categories and then tack on the Ten Commandments and Lord's prayer?  Do  I add extra questions addressing issues that they did not need to address in the 1600-1700s time frame?  Do I need music questions?  Do I need topics addressing the Charismatic/Continuationist movement?   How much Systematic theology do I need to include in a Catechism?

These are just some introductory thoughts for mediation.  My family currently uses a Baptist Confession adapted by John Piper.  Almost verbatim to an early Baptist version by Benjamin Keach.  Of course we adapt some issues and vernacular to fit our current theological situation.  Yes, we keep in the Ten Commandments and the Lord's Prayer.

Enjoy.  Comments as always encouraged.