Second London Baptist Confession on Authority of Scripture
Scripture alone is the final, only infallible authority
The supream judge by which all controversies of Religion are to be determined, and all Decrees of Councels, opinions of antient Writers, Doctrines of men, and private Spirits, are to be examined, and in whose sentence we are to rest, can be no other but the Holy Scripture delivered by the Spirit.
THE POSITION
Chapter 1 is Westminster's chapter 1 almost throughout: Scripture is the only sufficient, certain and infallible rule, its authority resting on God and not on the church, and every council, father and private spirit is examined by it. The last paragraph is one of the few places the Baptists changed the wording rather than the doctrine.
15 From infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for instruction, for conviction, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work.
18 OTHERS HOLD THIS
ABOUT THIS FIGURE
The confessional standard of the Particular Baptists, first printed 1677 and adopted by the London General Assembly of 1689. It takes over the Westminster Confession chapter by chapter and rewrites it at four points that matter: the covenant (ch. 7), the gospel and the extent of its grace (ch. 20, which Westminster has no counterpart to), the church (ch. 26), and baptism (ch. 29). This entry rests on the 1677/1689 printing with its own Scripture proofs, read against the Westminster text clause by clause.
Cite this page
"Second London Baptist Confession on Authority of Scripture", Examined Doctrine, July 2026 edition, https://examineddoctrine.com/position/lbc1689/scripture-authority (archived at https://examineddoctrine.com/editions/2026-07/position/lbc1689/scripture-authority).