A Critique of the Covenant of Works in Contemporary Controversy

Protestant Reformed Theological Journal
the heavenly, higher life that Jesus Christ merited. The Westminster
Standards do not speak anywhere of Adam’s meriting or of his coming
into possession of higher, heavenly life. 14
The most involved official statement of the covenant of works
is in the Formula Consensus Helvetica that Johannus Heidegger,
Francis Turretin, and Lucas Gernler wrote in 1675 and that attained
quasi-confessional status in the Reformed tradition. In summary the
Formula taught about the covenant with Adam:
Canon VII:… Having created man in this manner [in God’s image]
he put him under the Covenant of Works, and in this Covenant freely
promised him communion with God, favor, and life, if indeed he acted
in obedience to his will.
Canon VIII: Moreover the promise connected to the Covenant of
Works was not a continuation only of earthly life and happiness, but
the possession especially of eternal and celestial life, a life, namely, of
both body and soul in heaven, if indeed man ran the course of obedience,
with unspeakable joy in communion with God….
Canon IX: Wherefore we can not assent to the opinion of those who
deny that a reward of heavenly bliss was proffered to Adam on condition
of obedience to God, and do not admit that the promise of the
Covenant of Works was any thing more than a promise of perpetual
life abounding in every kind of good that can be suited to the body
and soul of man in a state of perfect nature….
Canon X: God entered into the Covenant of Works not only with
14 Some proponents of the covenant of works appeal loudly to the
Westminster. There is no question that the Westminster explicitly calls the
covenant with Adam a covenant of works, but it also allows other names.
Westminster also does not teach it elaborately. Some have argued that Westminster’s
exact language cannot bear all the freight that has been put onto
it. For instance, Prof. David Engelsma writes, “It is doubtful whether one
bound by the Westminster Standards is committed to the notion that Adam
might have merited eternal life by his obedience…. Nor do they define the
‘life promised to Adam’ as the higher, immortal, eternal life that Christ has
now won for the new human race” (“The Covenant of Creation with Adam,”
Protestant Reformed Theological Journal 40, no. 1 [November 2006]:15).
For a Presbyterian’s view see Eugene Case, “The Doctrine of the Covenant
in the Westminster Standards,” in ibid., 72–102.
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