# The Southern Presbyterian Journal/Volume 13/Number 24/Knowledge and Ignorance

For other articles in this series, see Articles on the Westminster Confession of Faith.
Articles on the Westminster Confession by Gordon H. Clark The Word of God (WCF 1) Creeds Knowledge and Ignorance The Trinity (WCF 2) A Hard Saying (WCF 3) Providence (WCF 5) Creation (WCF 4) Healthy, Sick, or Dead? (WCF 6) The Covenant (WCF 7) Christ the Mediator (WCF 8) Justification (WCF 11) Sanctification (WCF 13) Free Will (WCF 9) Effectual Calling (WCF 10) Adoption (WCF 12) The Law of God (WCF 19) Assurance (WCF 18) Saving Faith (WCF 14) Repentance (WCF 15) Good Works (WCF 16) Christian Liberty (WCF 20) Perseverance (WCF 17) Worship and Vows (WCF 21, 22) The Sacraments (WCF 27) Baptism (WCF 28) The Church (WCF 25) The Civil Magistrate (WCF 23) The Lord's Supper (WCF 29) Censures and Councils (WCF 30, 31) Resurrection and Judgment (WCF 32, 33)
​On one occasion I gave a series of (supposedly popular) theological lectures for the congregation of a brother minister. After one service when most of the people had gone home, one of the women with the pastor remained for conversation. Going beyond the limits of the lecture I continued by arguing that the phrase, "He descended into hell," might well be omitted from the Apostle's Creed. True, I had no conscientious reason for not using it, for Christ did indeed suffer the pains of hell for our redemption. But because of the real danger of fanciful interpretation of I Peter 3:19, I thought the omission might be wise. The woman resisted this line of argument with a determination that at first puzzled me. I finally came to understand when she very politely undertook to give me a gentle rebuke. When a group of the most learned and devout Christian scholars, she said, give careful consideration to the formulation of a Creed, it borders on rashness to attempt alterations.
The woman's statement is highly commendable, particularly in the present century when creeds are held in little honor. But unfortunately this woman did not know that the Apostle's Creed was not the result of learned discussions, as was the Nicene Creed, and that from the earliest times to the ​present it has been recited in different forms. On this point the woman was unfortunately ignorant.
To most people such ignorance will appear to be a matter of little importance. "It will not cause the woman to lead an evil life; there is little danger that she will come to believe in purgatory; and even if she entertains fanciful interpretations of I Peter 3:19, what harm will it do?"
Now it must be granted that the illustration gives a rather minor instance of ignorance. It is hard to imagine any great harm resulting from the lack of this one piece of information. On the other hand, do we not all admit that, in general, ignorance is undesirable? And is it not possible that the lack of several pieces of information, even if each by itself is minor, could result in a moderate amount of harm?
Let us choose another illustration. Not long after the conversation with that woman, I was studying the relation of the church to the state. It is an important problem. Now, of course, I am not as other men, or even as this ignorant woman; I study twice in the week, and give attention to all the books I possess; and this I have done from my youth up. But when I read Aaron's Rod Blossoming by George Gillespie, and some other works by that remarkable young man, I could only lower my eyes from heaven to earth, smite on my breast, and cry, God be merciful to me an ignoramus.
The course of church history, like the charts of the stock market, has its peaks and depressions. After the deep abyss of Romish ignorance and superstition there came a great discovery of God's truth in the sixteenth century. At an astounding rate new knowledge of the divine revelation was discovered by the leaders and taught to the populace. The culmination of those times of refreshing is enshrined in the Westminster Confession. But since then there has been a fairly steady process of forgetting. What in that day was a compendium for children, the Shorter Catechism, is today more than ample for a seminary graduate requesting ordination of Presbytery. And is there any twentieth century Jenny Geddes ready to throw her stool at some prominent neo-orthodox moderator? Does our present day Mrs. Geddes know what neo-orthodoxy is? For that matter, does she know what orthodoxy is?
From the time of the apostles to the present moment, there has been no revival of true religion remotely approaching the Protestant Reformation. The conspicuous difference between that age and all others is the amount of Biblical information. Even in the Middle Ages there must have been, and in modern times too there undoubtedly are, men of zeal, humility, and devotion. But the Reformers knew the Scripture in great detail and understood its implications. They took great pains to teach exactly what God had revealed. Would not a rediscovery of this truth today produce results similar to those of the Reformation? And what survey of Biblical teaching is a better guide than the Westminster Confession?
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