# What does the last bit of WCF 1.6 mean?



## Mr. Bultitude (Sep 18, 2019)

Here's Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 1, Section 6, with the relevant part bolded:

The whole counsel of God, concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man’s salvation, faith, and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture: unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit, or traditions of men. Nevertheless we acknowledge the inward illumination of the Spirit of God to be necessary for the saving understanding of such things as are revealed in the Word; and *that there are some circumstances concerning the worship of God, and government of the Church, common to human actions and societies, which are to be ordered by the light of nature and Christian prudence, according to the general rules of the Word, which are always to be observed*.​
I don't understand what it's referring to. Can anyone help?


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## py3ak (Sep 18, 2019)

Not everything relating to church worship and government is spelled out in complete detail. Those circumstances, which are understood as what is common to any human action or society, are to be settled according to the light of nature and Christian prudence (sanctified common sense) in keeping with general Scripture principles.

To give one concrete illustration. It is common to every human society that has meetings, that those meetings must be set at a particular time. There is no command that Lord's Day worship should begin at 9 or 10 or 11 am, and so the time at which each individual congregation meets will be determined according to Christian prudence. In many cases, that's somewhere in between breakfast and lunch -- not so early that it's difficult for people to arrive, not so late that they're starving before the end of the service. In keeping with the general rules of the Word, you want things to be decent and orderly, and to take into account people's physical limitations and need for food.

Reactions: Like 4


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## Mr. Bultitude (Sep 19, 2019)

Thank you, that's very helpful.


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