Has Protestantism relegated the scripture to be the 'Subordinate Standard'? It was very necessary for the early church to stand against doctrinal errors, such as Arianism and Sabellianism but, in the doing so, some chose to state a creed (the Athanasian Creed), rather than simply make reference to original scripture and it could be argued that the Athanasian Creed came to be regarded as 'scripture'.

Since the seventeenth century the Westminster Confession (and in its other forms, the Savoy Declaration and similar) has become the so-called 'subordinate standard' by which serious Christians (who acknowledge doctrinal issues and acknowledge the necessity of taking a stand on them) state their doctrine.

But is it the case, over the past few centuries, that the Westminster Confession has, in fact, become 'The Standard' and that the scripture has been relegated to a subordinate place ?

The Free Presbyterian website argues :


  When a Confession corresponds to Scripture as an account of the Church’s understanding of what the truth of God is, it is quite out of place to suggest that requiring allegiance to the Confession is interfering with allegiance to the Word of God. For those who recognise the authority of God’s Word as the revelation of His will in every matter, a Confession of Faith is not a substitute for Scripture but a necessary expression and summary of what Scripture teaches.


FP Church.org

The Free Church of Scotland states :


  Ever since the earliest days of the church, Christians have laid out their beliefs in brief ‘creeds’ or ’confessions’ in an attempt to summarise essential Christian truths and to guard the church from error. These statements are always secondary to the Bible but they are enormously helpful. A full summary of our teaching is found in the Westminster Confession of Faith.


Free Church of Scotland.org

The Church of Scotland goes even further :


  The full Confession of Faith was agreed upon by the Assembly of Divines at Westminster and examined and approved in 1647 by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and ratified by Acts of Parliament in 1649 and 1690.


Church of Scotland.org

[Note the word "ratified"...OED 'To confirm or validate (an act, agreement, gift, etc.) by giving formal consent, approval, or sanction.']



So the first requires my 'allegiance' to the WC.

The second say that 'a full summary of their teaching is within it' (thus, they have not added to their teaching for three hundred and seventy years). 

And the third advise me that the British Government have 'ratified' it.

Has, indeed, the Westminster Confession been accepted as 'The Standard' in the Protestant assemblies, to which the text of scripture must take a subordinate place ?
There is a particular problem with using the Westminster Confession of Faith (WCF) to either defend, or attack, doctrinal positions. It is that the Westminster Assembly (in the mid 1600s), and I quote:


  “…was rather reluctant to include texts and only added them after the
  catechism had been completed. In other words, the original catechism
  was not prepared from a narrow, improper proof-texting of Scripture
  but from an overall consideration of Scripture. In written work based
  on the catechism it will be a worthwhile exercise to write out the
  texts and underline those parts which specially relate to the
  catechism answer.”  Learning the Christian Faith – The Shorter
  Catechism for Today, Rowland S Ward, p4 (New Melbourne Press, 2009)


This means that catechisms based on the WCF provide lots of scripture references to be examined, so that you would find the scriptural points in support of the beliefs stated there, in abundance, while the WCF might appear to be rather short on scriptural verses. Is it possible that the quote you were given, that “Adam was created righteous,” never came from the WCF but from expanded notes in a catechism? I have searched for it from I to VII in the WCF. If, however, that phrase does occur in the WCF, the reference would be helpful. The doctrine of righteousness is certainly crucial to a correct understanding and appreciation of the gospel, yet some people would equate Adam being ‘righteous’ with his being created ‘perfect’ – without sin at the outset. To debate that is legitimate, yet to accuse someone of heresy for showing from the Bible why they disagree with the claim that Adam was created righteous is unreasonable.

For any Creed or Confession to be elevated to the ultimate authority for Christians, is heresy! More likely, some Christians just find the format easier to direct others to than picking up a Bible for themselves and going through relevant passages with another person. Perhaps they hope that by citing a Creed or a Confession, they will stop further debate. Unfortunately, that does give the unfortunate impression of basing one’s beliefs upon a Creed or a Confession, rather than by personal conviction from the scriptures. 
Here is the stance that these supporters of the WCF take on scripture, creeds, and ‘subordination’.


  “Westminster Standards: confessional statements and catechisms
  developed and written by the Westminster Assembly in England during
  the years 1643-48. These standards include the Westminster Confession
  of Faith, the Westminster Larger Catechism, and the Westminster
  Shorter Catechism. These documents are the doctrinal standards
  (subordinate to Scripture) in Presbyterian churches throughout the
  world.” Pilgrim Theology, Michael Horton, p 473 (Zondervan, 2011)
  
  Re. the WCF I.9 – “The infallible rule of interpretation of Scripture
  is the Scripture itself; and therefore, when there is a question about
  the true and full sense of any Scripture, (which is not manifold, but
  one) it must be searched and known by other places that speak more
  clearly.” “…We have already seen (I, 1-2) that Roman Catholicism and
  other false religions join in the denial that the Bible is God’s
  complete revelation. They have in common the denial of the sufficiency
  of Scripture (against which, remember II Tim. 3:15-17). These
  religions also share another characteristic, namely, the denial that
  the Bible is capable of being understood without any necessary
  reference to any outside interpreter… As Dr. Cornelius Van Til reminds
  us, ‘No human interpreter needs come between the Scriptures and those
  to whom it comes.’ This view is opposed to clericalism… Again, this
  Reformed stand does not mean that every portion is equally easy to be
  understood. What it means is ‘that with ordinary intelligence any
  person can obtain’ from the Word of God itself ‘the main point of the
  things he needs to know’ (Van Til, Intro. To Systematic Theology, p
  140). This doctrine can, of course, be abused. It is abused by those
  who cry ‘no creed but Christ!’ and then ignore the great creeds of the
  Church. In an odd way this itself is a denial of the clarity of
  Scripture, for it proceeds upon the assumption that in all history no
  one before us has been able to see the truth contained in God’s Word.
  It is precisely because we believe that the Bible is plain that we
  value the creeds. Hence, the creeds are evidence that the Bible is
  clear. The creeds represent the consensus of many, who therein
  testified that they plainly saw the same great truth revealed in the
  Bible. This does not mean that the creeds are ever on a par with the
  Bible. They must always be kept subordinate to the word of Scripture.
  They cannot be regarded as infallible. That attribute belongs to God’s
  Word alone.” pp. 18-19 of The Westminster Confession of Faith for Study Classes by G.I. Williamson (Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing, 1964).


Any Christian professing to uphold the Bible as that infallible standard, above all others, may usefully point to some Creeds or Confessions but will do damage if they infer that that is their ultimate standard, or authority.

Sadly, today, there are many Protestant denominations that no longer claim to take the Bible as their ultimate standard and authority, but that should not be the case in any Reformed groups, especially not those that accept the WCF.