Creeds, Confessions, and Catechisms: A Reader’s Edition

Chad Van Dixhoorn

Reviewed by: David Winslow Jr.

Creeds, Confessions, and Catechisms: A Reader’s Edition, edited by Chad Van Dixhoorn. Crossway, 2022. Hardcover, 480 pages, $23.49 (Amazon). Reviewed by OP elder David Winslow Jr.

In recent years Crossway has published two titles worthy of note that contain extensive creeds and confessional material. The first was the ESV Bible with Creeds and Confessions, and now comes Creeds, Confessions, and Catechisms: A Reader’s Edition. What ties these two publications together is that the creeds, confessions, and catechisms included are identical. Of further note, is that the Three Forms of Unity and the Westminster Standards are printed exactly as found in the Trinity Psalter Hymnal. Yet another important point of unity is that Dr. Chad Van Dixhoorn, so well-known for his scholarship surrounding the Westminster Standards, provides the introductions to each of these thirteen historic expressions of the Christian faith found in both books. These introductions are written with admirable clarity and conciseness at a level that all readers will appreciate.

What is a reader’s edition, you may well ask? There are no footnotes, and the proof texts are referenced by citation rather than by quoting the biblical text. This allows the reader the pleasure of a good font size and the ability to get quick access to what the five church traditions represented have confessed (Lutheran, Anglican, Dutch Reformed, Presbyterian, and Reformed Baptist).

What sets A Reader’s Edition apart from its Bible companion are the subject and Scripture indexes that the editors at Crossway have helpfully included. This allows for enlightening comparisons of how the churches of the Reformation have handled the doctrinal matters that we believe. It must be noted that the subject index could be more extensive. For example, in looking up “election,” references to important parts of the Canons of Dort and the Larger Catechism were omitted. Nevertheless, this is a very helpful volume that allows us to be both readers and students.