Westminster Confession of Faith (1646)

The Westminster Confession of Faith (1646) was drafted by the Westminster Assembly, a council of theologians (“divines”) and parliamentarians convened by the Long Parliament in 1643 in England. 

1. The People Involved in Drafting the Westminster Confession

The Westminster Assembly included about 121 ministers (the “divines”), 30 lay assessors (from the English Parliament and Scottish commissioners), and several scribes.
Not all attended regularly; the most influential were the theologians.

🔹 Principal English Divines

(Some of the most active and influential)

• William Twisse (prolocutor/chairman)

• Cornelius Burges

• Edward Reynolds

• Thomas Gataker

• Anthony Tuckney

• Edmund Calamy

• Lazarus Seaman

• John Arrowsmith

• Herbert Palmer

• Richard Vines

• Thomas Goodwin

• Philip Nye

• Sidrach Simpson

• Jeremiah Burroughs

• William Bridge

• Stephen Marshall

• Obadiah Sedgwick

🔹 Scottish Commissioners (non-voting but highly influential)

• Alexander Henderson

• Samuel Rutherford

• Robert Baillie

• George Gillespie

2. Their Stand on a “Perfect Bible”

All the Westminster divines held a high view of Scripture — what we’d today call verbal plenary inspiration and inerrancy in the original autographs.

Key statement (WCF 1.8):

“The Old Testament in Hebrew ... and the New Testament in Greek ... being immediately inspired by God, and, by His singular care and providence, kept pure in all ages, are therefore authentical.”

That means:

• They believed the original texts (Hebrew and Greek) were inspired and infallible.

• They also believed that God had preserved those texts sufficiently so that the Church had access to them (though through copies and translations).

• They did not claim any one translation (such as the KJV) was itself perfect or inspired.

4. Their View on the King James Version (KJV)

Context:

The KJV (1611) was about 30 years old when the Assembly met (1643–1649). It was already widely used in English churches but not yet universally accepted as the English Bible — the Geneva Bible (1560) was still popular among Puritans.

The Assembly’s Stance:

• They used the KJV frequently in their proceedings.

• They did not elevate it above the Hebrew/Greek originals.

• They did not call it infallible or inspired.

• Their Confession clearly teaches that translations are only the Word of God insofar as they faithfully represent the original languages (WCF 1.8 again):

“... But, because these original tongues are not known to all the people of God ... they are to be translated into the vulgar language of every nation ...”

So:

• The divines supported vernacular translations (including the KJV),

• But they denied perfection or inspiration of any single translation.

• Their authority was rooted in the original Hebrew and Greek, not the KJV.

5. Summary Table

Aspect	Westminster Divines’ View
Church affiliation	Mostly Anglican Puritans → Presbyterian majority; some Independents
Perfect Bible?	Only the original autographs are perfect/inspired
Scripture preservation	Providential preservation of authentic texts
KJV view	Revered and useful, but not inspired or infallible; one faithful translation among others
Other translations	Approved in the “vulgar tongue” (vernacular) for edification

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In short

The Westminster Confession was drafted by learned Puritan divines—mostly former Anglicans turned Presbyterians—who revered the Bible as infallible in its original languages, respected but did not idolize the KJV, and laid the theological foundation for nearly all later Reformed and Presbyterian doctrines of Scripture.