The Reformed Standards in Theological Education: Theological Studies Department

Editor’s Note: In this issue we explore the role Reformed confessions and creeds play in the education of our students. To that end we asked each of our three department heads to discuss how our Reformed theological heritage helps shape and direct the curricula, as well as the philosophy of teaching, in their respective fields

Theological Studies Department

DR. DAVID VANDRUNEN, Robert B. Strimple Professor of Systematic Theology and Christian Ethics

The Reformed catechisms and confessions probably play a more direct role in the curriculum of WSC’s Theological Studies Department than in the other two departments. The Theological Studies Department teaches a number of disciplines: systematic theology, church history, historical theology, apologetics, and ethics. Several examples illustrate the importance of the confessions in our department’s work.

First and most obviously, our department offers two courses on the Reformed confessions themselves, one on the Three Forms of Unity (the Heidelberg Catechism, the Belgic Confession, and the Canons of Dort) and the other on the Westminster Standards (the Westminster Confession of Faith and Larger and Shorter Catechisms). Almost all WSC students are required to take one of these courses as part of their degree requirements. While the latter is primarily designed for students in Presbyterian churches and the former primarily for students in historically Dutch Reformed churches, students can take either or both of them. Most students enroll for one of these courses in their final semester, so the courses serve as a sort of capstone for their WSC studies. They provide opportunity to focus on our confessions’ historical and theological background, their structure, and the reasons why they address the topics they do and why they put matters in particular ways. For students pursuing ordination in confessional Reformed and Presbyterian churches, these courses offer an excellent opportunity to sharpen their understanding of these documents that will play a prominent role in their upcoming ecclesiastical exams.

A second example comes from our church history curriculum. The Reformation and Modern Age courses help students understand how our confessions emerged in the historical context of early Reformed Christianity. These courses consider, for example, the theological controversies in the Reformed churches in the Netherlands that led to the Synod of Dort and hence to the Canons of Dort. They also consider the Puritan movement in the Church of England and the English Civil War, during which the Westminster Assembly met and wrote the Westminster Confession and Catechisms. The first one-third of the Modern Age course, in fact, explores the process of confessionalization. In a narrow sense, this refers to the adopting of confessions in an emerging international Reformed church. In a broad sense, it points to the confessional cultures that grew up around these religious identities.

The third and final example comes from my own experience teaching courses in systematic theology and ethics. When we begin a new doctrinal topic in these courses, I ordinarily start by summarizing what Reformed churches and theologians have traditionally taught about the topic. I introduce students to common Reformed terms and categories. The confessions and catechisms play an important role here, since in one place or another these documents encapsulate the consensus Reformed view on almost every important doctrine. After discussing these summaries of Reformed doctrine, as well as how other Christian traditions have understood the topic, I proceed to take students through the biblical and theological reasons why Reformed Christians believe what they do. Being confessionally Reformed isn’t merely a matter of knowing what the confessions say. Reformed churches confess the doctrines they do because they believe Scripture teaches them. Thus, exploring the biblical basis for confessional doctrine helps students become confessional on a deep, and not merely surface, level.

The composing and adopting of confessions is crucial to the identity of Reformed churches. Our Theological Studies Department tries to help students understand and appreciate this—and thus to become better servants of the church and its rich legacy—by exploring these confessions’ content, historical background, and basis in the Scriptures.

This article is from our Spring 2026 edition of UPDATE Magazine, High Standards for a Holy Calling.