웨스트민스터 신앙고백서의 "행위언약"에 대한 소고

• 영문명: A Study of "Covenant of Works" in the Westminster Confession of Faith
• 발행기관: 개혁신학회
• 저자명: 장재(Jang, Jae)
• 간행물 정보: 『개혁논총』제14권, 87~126쪽, 전체 40쪽
• 주제분류: 인문학 > 종교학
• 파일형태: PDF
• 발행일자: 2010.06.30

영문 초록

Though most contemporary Korean Presbyterians confess that they believe in the validity of the Westminster Confession of Faith(WCF in the following) in public, they deny the efficacy of it in reality. In fact, they have no concern of the existence of that confession. Confronting this theological crisis, this paper deals with the validity of WCF, especially that of the proper understanding of "covenant of works" in that confession. To that end, the present writer asks the following questions: (1) What is the status and significance of the covenant of works in WCF? (2) What are the opinions of the non-Reformed theologians? (3) Do the reformed theologians share a unified view of the covenant of works? Regarding the first issue, this paper emphasizes that the concept of covenant establishes the architectonic structure of WCF and that the covenant of works and the covenant of grace are inseparably related(WCF 7. 2-3). Especially divine aspect of grace in the way of covenant is stressed as seen in WCF 7:1: "… by some voluntary condescension on God's part, which he hath been pleased to express by way of covenant." After dealing with the next issue in brief, the present writer devote himself to arguing that even the reformed theologians have widespread opinions of the covenant of works. Especially the Murray-Kline debate is discussed in depth. The point is this. While Murray changed the term, the covenant of works, to the Adamic administration, he emphasized the continuity of covenants from the Noahic covenant to the New covenant. For Murray, the essence of covenant lies in the divine grace. On the other hand, Meredith G. Kline emphasizes the discontinuity of the covenants, especially that of the Abrahamic covenant and the Mosaic covenant. For Kline, human merits do something for the Israelites to maintain their status. In fact, Reformed orthodoxy theologians such as Francis Turretin(1623-1687) already classified Kline's line as the subservient covenant championed by Cameron. In fact, the term, the covenant of works in WCF 7.2 has been avoided even in the Reformed circle because of the leading concept of "salvation through grace, not by works." Yet, the term is to be maintained due to the facts that (1) the Bible has no other covenants for human beings to get eternal life except for the covenant of works and the covenant of grace; (2) the two covenants, that is, the covenant of works and the covenant of grace, emphasize the truth that there is no way to the eternal life except for Jesus Christ, who is the kernel of the whole Bible as depicted in Romans 5:12-21. The term, the covenant of works, was, is, and will be valid. As the counterpart of the covenant of grace, the covenant of works is a good foil for the covenant of grace, the essence of which is Jesus Christ. The fact that the Westminster Shorter/Larger Catechism uses the term, the covenant of life, instead of the covenant of works upholds the validity of the above argument.

목차

1 서론

2 웨스트민스터 신앙고백서 중추로서의 언약

3 행위언약에 대한 비개혁주의의 비판적 견해

4 행위언약에 대한 개혁주의 성경신학자의 제 견해

5 결론

키워드

Covenant of Grace Covenant of Life Covenant of Works Murray-Kline Controversy Subservient Covenant Westminster Confession of Faith