Good question, I am not sure! I do know that it is not included as part of our subordinate standard, which was a surprise to me when I moved here from the PCUSA where it is a part of the standards. The first few questions of both the Shorter catechism and the Heidelberg catechism are still, for me, really formative and beautiful measures of faith and life. ~Teri

It does, as the Confession begins with Scripture (rather than with God as many other Reformed Confessions do). The overriding concern of the Confession, though, is definitely the Glory of God. Chapter 1 is clear that is scripture's purpose, and nearly every chapter throughout boils down to how we glorify God -- and they were very concerned about doing so rightly, for their time.

indeed! Something formulated around what Jesus himself said was the most important commandment would certainly lead us well.

LOL -- sometimes a little bit of covering my bases is important! haha. ~TCP

indeed, the Confession would say that without God we can't do anything good, which would then seem to self-evidently mean that those who do good despite not being in the church would also be doing good under the influence of the Holy Spirit, we might say....though then the Confession turns around and basically says "it's not actually good in God's eyes unless you're among the elect" which is super problematic. The good news of predestination or election is that we cannot influence God's grace -- it is what it is, so we can't earn or lose it. It's supposed to make us grateful and want to live in gratitude for grace, to respond to God's goodness by doing good...but some (the writers and first readers of the Confession included) have made it a question of who is in and who is out and how do you know and what can you get away with if you're the elect, etc. Which is definitely not in alignment with either the gospel or even what predestination/election is supposed to be!

Hi Fiona! I came here from Chicago, though I am originally from the Pacific Northwest. I bet the concert was the one in Gourock Park, though I don't know what it was but I saw it on Lynne Quinn's Facebook page. :-) the gin was from Inverclyde Gin -- I saw they have a big billboard down near the Esplanade Cafe one now! It is a lovely gin actually, and would make a great gift. Welcome!

@@stjohnsgourock Hi Teri, thanks for your response. My antenna perked up when I read you are originally from the Pac West. I lived in the States for 20 years and 15 of them were in my beloved Northwest. WA State, Kitsap Peninsula to be precise. I went camping 5 times a year in the mountains and forests there with my friends and neighbours. It is one of the most beautiful places in the world to live. I miss it tremendously.

@@wifi2118 it is beautiful! I was born in Portland, and brought up in the Willamette Valley, then Seattle, then Yakima, before I left for Chicago at 17. :-)

@@stjohnsgourock I went up the Oregon coast when I moved from CA to WA State. The coast is magnificent. I worked in downtown Seattle for 3yrs. All beautiful areas. I miss them very much and I am hoping to go visit my friend in Yakima in the next few years and then over to Kitsap to my own county and my friends there. It's a small world eh?