The Westminster Assembly: History, Scottish Commissioners and Documents

1. Lectures Listen to the lectures in order. Those marked supplementary are optional.

   • A Day at the Assembly: Justification and the Minutes of the Westminster Assembly Chad Van Dixhoorn (OPC minister; Reformed Theological Seminary) 58 min 38 s Open source Doctrinal Westminster Theological Seminary (Westminster Media)
   • The Westminster Assembly and Scripture (2010 GPTS Spring Conference, lecture 02) Chad Van Dixhoorn 59 min 38 s Open source Doctrinal Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary / SermonAudio
   • The Westminster Assembly (Office Hours podcast) Chad Van Dixhoorn with R. Scott Clark Open source Doctrinal Westminster Seminary California
   • The Westminster Assembly (Christ the Center, episode 134) Chad Van Dixhoorn with Camden Bucey, Jeff Waddington, Nick Batzig Open source Supplementary Reformed Forum
   • History of the Reformation series: 'The Westminster Divines' and 'The Westminster Standards' units Joe Morecraft III Westminster Divines part 3: 1 h 9 min 55 s; Westminster Standards parts 1-4: 56 min 36 s; 51 min 28 s; 51 min 25 s; 59 min 57 s Open source Supplementary Heritage Presbyterian Church (RPCUS) / SermonAudio Westminster-subscribing (RPCUS) but teaches a theonomic reading of the civil magistrate and the judicial law, which goes beyond WCF 19.4 ('general equity') and the 1647 text of 23.3 as read by the Scottish churches. Keep as supplementary narrative history only (Knox, Covenanters, Westminster Divines units); do not...

   Total: 3.1 hours

2. Reading Read in the order given. Public-domain and free texts are linked; purchases are optional and never required.

   • Notes of Debates and Proceedings of the Assembly of Divines and Other Commissioners at Westminster, February 1644 to January 1645 George Gillespie (ed. David Meek) 263 scanned pages (archive.org imagecount) Open source Primary text 1846 ed.. Public domain
   • The Letters and Journals of Robert Baillie, 1637-1662, vols. 1-2 Robert Baillie 650 + 560 scanned pages (archive.org imagecount) Open source Primary text 1841. Public domain
   • History of the Westminster Assembly of Divines W. M. Hetherington 510 scanned pages (archive.org imagecount) Open source Doctrinal 1890 ed.. Public domain
   • Aaron's Rod Blossoming, or the Divine Ordinance of Church Government Vindicated George Gillespie 310 scanned pages (archive.org imagecount) Open source Doctrinal 1646; 1844 ed.. Public domain
   • The Due Right of Presbyteries Samuel Rutherford 806 scanned pages (archive.org imagecount) Open source Doctrinal 1644. Public domain
   • The Directory for the Publick Worship of God (1645) Westminster Assembly Open source Primary text 1645. Free online
   • The Form of Presbyterial Church Government (1645) Westminster Assembly Open source Primary text 1645. Free online
   • The Minutes and Papers of the Westminster Assembly, 1643-1653 (5 vols.) Chad Van Dixhoorn, ed. 5 vols. (Oxford University Press, 2012) Open source Supplementary 2012. Purchase (optional)
   • Minutes of the Sessions of the Westminster Assembly of Divines, November 1644 to March 1649 Alexander F. Mitchell and John Struthers, eds. 656 scanned pages (archive.org imagecount) Open source Primary text 1874. Public domain

3. Assignment Write a research paper of 30 pages on a topic drawn from the lectures and readings of this course. Argue from Scripture, the Westminster Standards (1647 text) and the Three Forms of Unity, cite the primary sources you read, and state the points on which the sources differ.

   Open the assignment

Every lecture and reading carries its role. "Under review" means the teacher's subscription to the Westminster Standards or the Three Forms of Unity is not yet established; "Read as comparison" means the material teaches the 1788 American text of WCF 20.4, 23 or 31 or of Larger Catechism Q.109, which the school reads beside the 1647 text. Nothing has been removed.