“Common Confession” - 1647
Westminster Assembly.
Introduction
During the Civil War that overthrew King Charles I, the English Parliament allied itself with the Scottish Covenanters, who had recently overturned the king’s attempt to force a system of bishops on the Church of Scotland. As a condition for its alliance with Parliament, the Scottish Parliament made a Solemn League and Covenant with the English Parliament, under which the Church of England was to abandon its system of bishops and adhere to Scotland’s Calvinistic standards of doctrine and worship. To fulfill this agreement, Parliament called the Westminster Assembly to provide official documents for the reformation of the Church of England.
Among the documents produced was the famous Westminster Confession, accepted by many denominations, although with some alterations. An assembly at Edinburgh, Scotland, approved the Confession on this day 27 August, 1647.
Quote
“It being so necessary, and so much longed for, that the said Confession be, with all possible diligence and expedition, approved and established in both kingdoms, as a principal part of the intended uniformity in religion, and as a special means for the more effectual suppressing of the many dangerous errors and heresies of these times; the General Assembly doth therefore, after mature deliberation, agree unto, and approve the said Confession . . . that it be a common Confession of Faith for the three kingdoms.”
Act Approving The Confession Of Faith Assembly at Edinburgh, August 27, 1647. Sess. 23.