The Westminster Confession of Faith was written by the Westminster Assembly, a gathering of ministers and theologians called by the English Parliament, which met in London from 1643 to 1653. Completed in 1646, the Confession, together with the Larger and Shorter Catechisms, has served for nearly four centuries as the doctrinal standard of Presbyterian churches around the world.

The Presbyterian Church in America receives the Confession of Faith and Catechisms as the system of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures. The text below is the edition adopted by the PCA, which includes the revisions made by American Presbyterians in 1788 and later concerning the civil magistrate and related matters (chapters 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, and 31).

The Confession is not Scripture, and it is not above Scripture. As it says itself, “All synods or councils, since the Apostles’ times, whether general or particular, may err; and many have erred. Therefore they are not to be made the rule of faith, or practice; but to be used as a help in both” (WCF 31.3). We commend it to you as a faithful and beautiful summary of the Christian faith.