Polemical theology is not a tendentious phrase. It is not a call for one person to win an argument for his team, as if this were a sporting event. Rather, it entails humbly contending for the faith, exposing error to the truth, and promoting the purity and peace of the Church. For God alone is the Lord of the conscience — and He has set it free from the doctrines and commandments of men, which are either contrary to his Word — or beside it — in matters of faith or worship.
Holy Scripture is God’s own inspired, inerrant Word, the ultimate, primary, and complete rule of faith and practice. It clearly teaches that a person is justified by grace alone, through faith alone, because of Christ alone, and all to the Glory of God alone. It plainly declares that God has redeemed His people unto Himself through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms contain the system of doctrine taught in Holy Scripture. Every Presbyterian church has a duty to profess, defend, and teach these standards in their integrity. As a matter of conscience, it must not consent to error that is immoral, destructive, or generates dissension and division. To fail at this task is a breach of faith to God and man.
(Some of this wording is taken from A.A. Hodge’s The Confession of Faith, pages 420-426.)
