Our single primary standard, from which all our doctrines and beliefs are derived, is the Word of God, i.e., the Holy Scripture of the Old and New Testaments. Similarly, our faithful forefathers derived their doctrines also from Scripture and have, at various times in history, preserved those doctrines for us in writing. In keeping with the Scripture’s command, we “hold fast” to the doctrines contained in the documents listed below, insofar as they are agreeable to Scripture. These documents, because their authority is derived from Scripture, are known as our secondary standards or subordinate standards.
Note: Some of the standards below are freely available online. More will become available as we are able to add them.
The Universal Formularies
- The Apostle’s Creed (200?-500?)
- The Nicene Creed (381)
- The Athanasian Creed (415?-550?)
The Scottish Formularies
- The Book of Common Order (1562)
- The Scottish Confession of Faith (1560)
- The First and Second Books of Discipline (1560) (Off-site)
- The Form of Examination Before the Communion (~1567)
- The Psalms of David in Metre (1650) (Off-site)
- The Book of the Universal Kirk (1560-1616)
- The Acts of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland (1638-1649 incl.)
- The True History of the Church of Scotland (1678)
The Westminster Formularies
- The Westminster Confession of Faith (1646) (Off-site)
- The Larger Catechism (1648) (Off-site)
- The Shorter Catechism (1648) (Off-site)
- The Form of Presbyterial Church Government (1645) (Off-site)
- The Directory for the Public Worship of God (1645) (Off-site)
- The Directory for Family Worship (1647) (Off-site)
The Covenants
- The National Covenant (1581) (Spanish Translation)
- The Solemn League and Covenant (1643, approved by the Westminster Assembly) (in Spanish) (in French) (in Dutch)
The Faithful Covenant Renewals and Renovations
- Renewal of the National Covenant, March 30, 1596, at the Assembly held at the Little Church of Edinburgh, and the Synod of Fife, May 12, 1596, and also in the Presbytery of St. Andrews in 1596
- Act ordaining by Ecclesiastical authority, the Subscription of the Confession of Faith and Covenant, with the Assemblies declaration, August 30, 1639, Session 23
- The Act of the Commission of the General Assembly for renewing the Solemn League and Covenant, October 6, 1648, including a Solemn Acknowledgement of the Public Sins and Breaches of the Covenant
- The Auchensaugh Renovation of the National Covenant and the Solemn League and Covenant by the Reformed Presbytery (Auchensaugh, Scotland, 1712)
- The Renovation of These Public Federal Deeds Ordained at Philadelphia, October 8, 1880, by the Reformed Presbytery, With Accommodation of the Original Covenants, in Both Transactions, to their Time and Positions Respectively
The Reformed Presbyterian (Scotland and America) Formularies
Supplements by the Reformed Presbytery of Scotland
- Supplement to Part Second
- Addenda
Supplements by the Reformed Presbytery of the United States
- Supplement to Part III
- Supplement to Part IV
- A Short Directory for Religious Societies (Scotland and America) (1881)
The Constitutions, Terms of Communion, and Judicial Minutes of the Reformed Presbytery in Scotland and America
- The Deed of Constitution of the Reformed Presbytery in America (1840)
- Ecclesiastical Terms of Communion
- Judicial Minutes of the Reformed Presbytery in Scotland (1743-1822)
- Judicial Minutes of the Reformed Presbytery in America (1774 -1778, 1798 -1805, 1840 -1845, 1854 -1887)
- Minutes of the Reformed Presbytery in Ireland (1763-1779, 1782-1839)
- Reformation Principles Exhibited (1806)
Other Formally Approved Subordinate Confessions and Catechisms