Handling a High Mystery: The Westminster Confession on Preaching Predestination

Puritan Reformed Journal 2:2 (June 2010): 235–58

Daniel R. Hyde

How should a pastor preach predestination? This article explores the Westminster Assembly divines' pastoral handling of a doctrine meant to give humility and comfort.

Predestination has long stirred debate, confusion, and even fear within the church.

This article explores how the Westminster divines treated this “high mystery” in their Confession of Faith, offering guidance for preachers and comfort for believers.

Blending history, biblical insight, and pastoral wisdom, it traces the doctrine’s treatment from Augustine through the Reformation and Synod of Dort to the Westminster Assembly, showing how it has been taught for the glory of God and the assurance of His people.

Readers will discover how predestination, far from being a cold abstraction, is meant to inspire humility, strengthen holiness, and provide deep consolation in Christ.

For pastors, students of theology, and thoughtful Christians, this article uncovers the rich, practical, and doxological heart of a doctrine often misunderstood yet vital to the Christian.

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On preaching, see:

• A Catechism on Catechetical Preaching

• Opening Up Romans

• The Principle and Practice of Preaching in the Heidelberg Catechism

• The Value and Power of Expository Preaching

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To attribute: Daniel R. Hyde, “Handling a High Mystery: The Westminster Confession on Preaching Predestination.” Puritan Reformed Journal 2:2 (June 2010): 235–58.