The Confession of Faith , popularly known as the Belgic Confession , is a confession to which many Reformed churches subscribe as a doctrinal standard. The Confession forms part of the Three Forms of Unity , which are the official subordinate standards of the Dutch Reformed Church. The confession's chief author was Guido de Brès , a Walloon Reformed pastor, active in the Low Countries , who died a martyr to the faith in 1567, during the Dutch Reformation. The name Belgic Confession follows the 17th-century Latin Confessio Belgica . Belgica referred to the whole of the Low Countries, both north and south, which today is divided into the Netherlands and Belgium .
76-474: The initial text was prepared by de Brès in 1559, and was influenced by the Gallic Confession . De Brès showed it in draft to others, including Hadrian à Saravia , Herman Moded and Godfried van Wingen (Wingius). It was revised by Franciscus Junius , who abridged the sixteenth article and sent a copy to Geneva and other churches for approval; and it was presented to Philip II of Spain in 1562, in
152-762: A "preincarnate appearance of the Messiah". While the developed doctrine of the Trinity is not explicit in the books that constitute the New Testament , the New Testament contains several Trinitarian formulas , including Matthew 28:19, 2 Corinthians 13:14, Ephesians 4:4–6, 1 Peter 1:2, and Revelation 1:4–6. Reflection by early Christians on passages such as the Great Commission : "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in
228-610: A common ritual practice inducting new members into the early Jesus sect by baptizing them in Jesus' name (2:38; 8:16; 10:48; 19:5). According to Dale Allison , Acts depicts the appearances of Jesus to Paul as a divine theophany , styled on and identified with the God responsible for the theophany of Ezekiel in the Old Testament. The Gospel of John has been seen as especially aimed at emphasizing Jesus' divinity, presenting Jesus as
304-635: A copy of the revised text of Junius to be made for its archives, to be signed by every new minister; this manuscript has always been regarded in the Belgic churches as the authentic document. The first Latin translation was made from Junius' text by Theodore Beza , or under his direction, for the Harmonia Confessionum (Geneva, 1581), and passed into the first edition of the Corpus et Syntagma Confessionum (Geneva, 1612). A second Latin translation
380-712: A letter to the King Charles IX of France that vindicated their principles. When persecution subsided, twenty delegates representing seventy-two churches met secretly in Paris from 23 to 27 May 1559. With François de Morel as moderator, the delegates produced a Constitution of Ecclesiastical Discipline and a Confession of Faith . Calvin's thirty-five articles were used in the Confession but were revised and extended to forty articles (the first two articles were expanded to six articles). The Confession begins with
456-738: A religious conference in Poitiers. A few years later, the Confession received approval in Germany, and was recognised by German synods at Wesel ( Westphalia ) in 1568 and Emden ( Lower Saxony ) in 1571. The Piedmontese Waldensians , who had already affiliated themselves with the Reformed churches in 1532, presented the French Confession as their own confession of faith to the Duke of Savoy in 1560. The 1655 shortened and revised form of
532-707: A single substance, despite the plurality of persons. Christians interpret the theophanies , or appearances of the Angel of the Lord , as revelations of a person distinct from God, who is nonetheless called God. This interpretation is found in Christianity as early as Justin Martyr and Melito of Sardis , and reflects ideas that were already present in Philo . The Old Testament theophanies were thus seen as Christophanies , each
608-459: A single, centralised church organisation and common confessional document arose. In 1558, doctrinal differences arose among the Reformed churches of Poitiers , leading a visiting Parisian pastor , Antoine de la Roche Chandieu (1534–1591), to propose the convening of a synod with the intention of producing a common confession and book of discipline upon his return to Paris . In 1559, the first national French Reformed synod met in Paris, at which
684-465: A slave performs προσκύνησις to his master so that he would not be sold after being unable to pay his debts). The term can also refer to the religious act of devotion towards a deity. While Jesus receives προσκύνησις a number of times in the synoptic Gospels , only a few can be said to refer to divine worship. This includes Matthew 28:16–20, an account of the resurrected Jesus receiving worship from his disciples after proclaiming his authority over
760-658: A son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed." This is because both the Ancient of Days (God the Father) and the Son of Man (Jesus, Matt 16:13) have an everlasting dominion, which
836-522: A special commission ( Chambre ardente ) was established in each parlement to monitor the execution of the edicts on heretics. Nevertheless, on May 25–28, 1559, the first national Synod of the Reformed Church of France was held in Paris under the chairmanship of the pastor of the Parisian congregation, Jean Morel, a student and friend of John Calvin . The exact number of delegates to the synod
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#1732765422362912-607: A temple of God, thus proving that the Holy Spirit is equal with the Father and the Son. They also combined "the servant does not know what his master is doing" (John 15:15) with 1 Corinthians 2:11 in an attempt to show that the Holy Spirit is not the slave of God, and therefore his equal. The Pneumatomachi contradicted the Cappadocian Fathers by quoting, "Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for
988-462: Is a divine being manifest in flesh, and the point of the texts is in part to make his higher nature known in a kind of intellectual epiphany." In the Gospels Jesus is described as forgiving sins, leading some theologians to believe Jesus is portrayed as God. This is because Jesus forgives sins on the behalf of others, people normally only forgive transgressions against oneself. The teachers of
1064-468: Is ascribed to God in Psalm 145:13. Some also argue "Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven." to be Trinitarian in apparently distinguishing between the Lord in heaven and the Lord on earth. People also see the Trinity when the Old Testament refers to God's word (Psalm 33:6), His Spirit (Isaiah 61:1), and Wisdom (Proverbs 9:1), as well as narratives such as
1140-538: Is at variance with Isaiah 40:13–14, Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord, or what man shows him his counsel? Whom did he consult, and who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding? That is, if the plural pronouns of Genesis 1 teach that God consults and creates with a 'heavenly court', then it contradicts the statement in Isaiah that God seeks
1216-540: Is essentially religious in that it deals with matters of faith, which in Hebrews 11:1, is defined as the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. The theological doctrines confessed are not simply the object of intellectual assent, but of belief and confession, which Curtis elaborates on, 'Belief and confession are presupposed in all the other moods of worship—in praise, in thanksgiving, in self-abasement, in supplication, in hope, and in love; they are
1292-463: Is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God" (1 Corinthians 2:11). They reasoned that this passage proves that the Holy Spirit has the same relationship to God as the spirit within us has to us. The Cappadocian Fathers also quoted, "Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?" (1 Corinthians 3:16) and reasoned that it would be blasphemous for an inferior being to take up residence in
1368-411: Is lying to the Holy Spirit, he then says he is lying to God. In the New Testament, the Spirit is not portrayed as the recipient of cultic devotion, which instead, is typically offered to God the Father and to the risen/glorified Jesus. Although what became mainstream Christianity subsequently affirmed the propriety of including the Spirit as the recipient of worship as reflected in the developed form of
1444-414: Is revealing the roles of the Son and Holy Spirit as co-creators. And since, according to them, because only the holy God can create holy beings such as the angels, the Son and Holy Spirit must be God. Yet another argument from the Cappadocian Fathers to prove that the Holy Spirit is of the same nature as the Father and Son comes from "For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which
1520-530: Is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God , which defines one God existing in three, coeternal , consubstantial divine persons : God the Father , God the Son ( Jesus Christ ) and God the Holy Spirit , three distinct persons ( hypostases ) sharing one essence/substance/nature ( homoousion ). As the Fourth Lateran Council declared, it is the Father who begets ,
1596-526: Is the organ which grasps religious truth. [... Faith] in its full meaning is vital to the highest experience of religion, and as such is bound to find expression when religion becomes self-conscious and articulate. [...] In the language of religious self-utterance, therefore, credo , "I believe," and confiteor , "I confess or acknowledge," must always have a foremost place.' Thus the Belgic Confession, due to its emphasis upon belief and confession,
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#17327654223621672-631: Is the reference in Christian fellowship for a religious ritual meal (the Lord's Supper ; 1 Corinthians 11:17–34). Jesus is described as "existing in the very form of God" (Philippians 2:6), and having the "fullness of the Deity [living] in bodily form" (Colossians 2:9). Jesus is also in some verses directly called God (Romans 9:5, Titus 2:13, 2 Peter 1:1). The Gospels depict Jesus as human through most of their narrative, but "[o]ne eventually discovers that he
1748-467: Is unknown. The Confession was based on a statement of faith sent by the Reformed churches of France to John Calvin in 1557 during a period of persecution. Working from this, and probably with the help of Theodore Beza and Pierre Viret , Calvin and his pupil Antoine de la Roche Chandieu wrote a confession in French for them in the form of thirty-five articles. The Confession was to be presented with
1824-605: The Logos , pre-existent and divine, from its first words: " In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God " (John 1:1). The Gospel of John ends with Thomas's declaration that he believed Jesus was God, "My Lord and my God!" (John 20:28). Modern scholars agree that John 1:1 and John 20:28 identify Jesus with God. However, in a 1973 Journal of Biblical Literature article, Philip B. Harner, Professor Emeritus of Religion at Heidelberg College , claimed that
1900-478: The Augsburg Confession of 1530, as 'apologetic' in character; as a 'vindication of the true character of the religious belief cherished by a body of Christians.' In other words, one of the 'authentic expositions of distinctive doctrine, intended to remove misconceptions and to repudiate misrepresentations.' The Confession avoids explicit provocations of Roman Catholicism which were characteristic of
1976-627: The Gallic Confession or the Confession of La Rochelle , is a Reformed confession of faith , the official doctrinal standard of the Reformed Church of France . The Confession was adopted at the first national synod in 1559. Initially, the French Reformed Protestants, also called Huguenots , had neither an official creed nor centralised organisation. A brief statement of doctrinal principles ("biblical truths")
2052-517: The Gallic Confession , the order of which de Brès closely followed. The Belgic Confession instead expands on the doctrines of the Trinity , Incarnation , Church and sacraments , while frequently distinguishing itself from Anabaptist theology . Philip Schaff said that the Confession is 'upon the whole, the best symbolical statement of the Calvinistic system of doctrine, with the exception of
2128-651: The Nicene Creed , perhaps the closest to this in the New Testament is in Matthew 28:19 and 2 Corinthians 13:14 which describe the Spirit as the subject of religious ritual. As the Arian controversy was dissipating, the debate moved from the deity of Jesus Christ to the equality of the Holy Spirit with the Father and Son. On one hand, the Pneumatomachi sect declared that the Holy Spirit was an inferior person to
2204-405: The divine messenger of Genesis 16:7, Genesis 21:17, Genesis 31:11, Exodus 3:2 and Wisdom of the sapiential books with the Son, and "the spirit of the Lord" with the Holy Spirit. Other Church Fathers, such as Gregory Nazianzen , argued in his Orations that the revelation was gradual, claiming that the Father was proclaimed in the Old Testament openly, but the Son only obscurely, because "it
2280-593: The 4th century and found in later translations such as the King James Translation, cannot be found in the oldest Greek and Latin texts. Verse 7 is known as the Johannine Comma , which most scholars agree to be a later addition by a later copyist or what is termed a textual gloss and not part of the original text. This verse reads: Because there are three in Heaven that testify – the Father,
2356-507: The Confession was presented in Amboise to the new king of France, Francis II . A preface was added to the document—an request for the king to cease the persecution of Protestants. However, on 5 December 1560, the king, who had not yet reached the age of 17, suddenly died in Orléans . A year later, in 1561, Theodore Beza introduced the Confession to the new king of France, Charles IX , at
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2432-564: The Father and Son. On the other hand, the Cappadocian Fathers argued that the Holy Spirit was equal to the Father and Son in nature or substance. Although the main text used in defense of the deity of the Holy Spirit was Matthew 28:19, Cappadocian Fathers such as Basil the Great argued from other verses such as "But Peter said, 'Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of
2508-528: The French Confession is still considered a confession of faith of the Waldensians today. The Belgic Confession (1561) is closely related to the French Confession; the author Guido de Brès closely followed and replicated the order of doctrines in his confession. In 1571, the seventh national synod of the French Reformed churches was held at La Rochelle , which had become the center of
2584-482: The French Reformation. Among the honored guests present were Jeanne III , Queen of Navarre, her son Henry of Navarre (later King Henry IV), Prince Louis of Condé , Admiral Gaspard Coligny and other high-ranking French Huguenots. The text of the French Confession was read to all the representatives of the congregations and guests present at the synod, and then signed by them. After this solemn procedure,
2660-479: The Gallican Confession received a second name—the Confession of La Rochelle . The Confession remained significant in the Reformed Church of France until the 19th century. This article about Reformed Christianity is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Trinity The Trinity ( Latin : Trinitas , lit. 'triad', from Latin : trinus 'threefold')
2736-581: The God who visited Abraham as Jesus, the second person of the Trinity. Augustine, in contrast, held that the three visitors to Abraham were the three persons of the Trinity. He saw no indication that the visitors were unequal, as would be the case in Justin's reading. Then in Genesis 19, two of the visitors were addressed by Lot in the singular: "Lot said to them, 'Not so, my lord ' " (Gen. 19:18). Augustine saw that Lot could address them as one because they had
2812-474: The Messiah will represent the Trinity on earth. This is because Counselor is a title for the Holy Spirit (John 14:26), the Trinity is God, Father is a title for God the Father, and Prince of Peace is a title for Jesus. This verse is also used to support the Deity of Christ . Another verse used to support the Deity of Christ is "I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like
2888-573: The New Testament references often portray actions that seem to give the Spirit an intensely personal quality, probably more so than in Old Testament or ancient Jewish texts. So, for example, the Spirit "drove" Jesus into the wilderness (Mk 1:12; compare "led" in Mt. 4:1/Lk 4:1), and Paul refers to the Spirit interceding for believers (Romans 8:26–27) and witnessing to believers about their filial status with God (Romans 8:14–16). To cite other examples of this, in Acts
2964-516: The New Testament were brought together to form the concept of the Trinity—one Godhead subsisting in three persons and one substance . The concept of the Trinity was used to oppose alternative views of how the three are related and to defend the church against charges of worshiping two or three gods. Modern Biblical scholarship largely agrees that 1 John 5:7 seen in Latin and Greek texts after
3040-422: The Son who is begotten , and the Holy Spirit who proceeds. In this context, one essence/nature defines what God is, while the three persons define who God is. This expresses at once their distinction and their indissoluble unity. Thus, the entire process of creation and grace is viewed as a single shared action of the three divine persons, in which each person manifests the attributes unique to them in
3116-578: The Spirit alerts Peter to the arrival of visitors from Cornelius (10:19), directs the church in Antioch to send forth Barnabas and Saul (13:2–4), guides the Jerusalem council to a decision about Gentile converts (15:28), at one point forbids Paul to missionize in Asia (16:6), and at another point warns Paul (via prophetic oracles) of trouble ahead in Jerusalem (21:11). The Holy Spirit is described as God in
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3192-473: The Spirit within the Old Testament and 35 identified in the non-biblical Dead Sea Scrolls , the New Testament, despite its significantly shorter length, mentions the Spirit 275 times. In addition to its larger emphasis and importance placed on the Spirit in the New Testament, the Spirit is also described in much more personalized and individualized terms than earlier. Larry Hurtado writes; Moreover,
3268-456: The Trinity in many places. For example, in the Genesis creation narrative , specifically the first-person plural pronouns in Genesis 1:26–27 and Genesis 3:22 ('Let us make man in our image [...] the man is become as one of us '). "Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over
3344-415: The Trinity, thereby proving that everything comes "from the Father," "through the Son," and "in the Holy Spirit." This doctrine is called Trinitarianism and its adherents are called Trinitarians , while its opponents are called antitrinitarians or nontrinitarians and considered non-Christian by most mainline groups. Nontrinitarian positions include Unitarianism , Binitarianism and Modalism . While
3420-812: The Westminster Confession.' In the Encyclopedia of the Reformed Faith , M. Eugene Osterhaven outlines the contents of the Confession. The topical order is traditional: God and how God is known (arts. 1-11); creation and providence (arts. 12-13); fall and election (arts. 14-16); salvation in Christ (arts. 17-21); justification and sanctification (arts. 22-26); the church (arts. 27-29); church order (arts. 30-32); sacraments (arts. 33-35); church and state (arts. 36); and last things (arts. 37). Distinctive Reformed emphases are: Scripture as normative;
3496-598: The Word and the Holy Spirit – and these three are one. This verse is absent from the Ethiopic, Aramaic, Syriac, Slavic, early Armenian, Georgian, and Arabic translations of the Greek New Testament. It is primarily found in Latin manuscripts, although a minority of Greek, Slavonic and late Armenian manuscripts contain it. In the Pauline epistles , the public, collective devotional patterns towards Jesus in
3572-410: The appearance of the three men to Abraham . However, it is generally agreed among Trinitarian Christian scholars that it would go beyond the intention and spirit of the Old Testament to correlate these notions directly with later Trinitarian doctrine. Some Church Fathers believed that a knowledge of the mystery was granted to the prophets and saints of the Old Testament, and that they identified
3648-547: The author of Genesis was too theologically primitive to deal with such a concept as 'plurality within unity'; Hamilton thus argues for a framework of progressive revelation , in which the doctrine of the Trinity is revealed at first obscurely then plainly in the New Testament. Another of these places is the prophecy about the Messiah in Isaiah 9. The Messiah is called "Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Some Christians see this verse as meaning
3724-548: The book of the Acts of the Apostles But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? 4 While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God". Acts 5:3–4 Peter first says Ananias
3800-469: The cosmos and his ever-continuing presence with the disciples (forming an inclusion with the beginning of the Gospel, where Jesus is given the name Emmanuel, "God with us," a name that alludes to the God of Israel's ongoing presence with his followers throughout the Old Testament (Genesis 28:15; Deuteronomy 20:1). Whereas some have argued that Matthew 28:19 was an interpolation on account of its absence from
3876-479: The counsel of nobody. According to Hamilton, the best interpretation 'approaches the trinitarian understanding but employs less direct terminology'. Following D. J. A. Clines , he states that the plural reveals a 'duality within the Godhead' that recalls the 'Spirit of God' mentioned in verse 2, And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Hamilton also says that it is unreasonable to assume that
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#17327654223623952-590: The developed doctrine of the Trinity is not explicit in the books that constitute the New Testament , the New Testament possesses a triadic understanding of God and contains a number of Trinitarian formulas . The doctrine of the Trinity was first formulated among the early Christians (mid-2nd century and later) and fathers of the Church as they attempted to understand the relationship between Jesus and God in their scriptural documents and prior traditions. The Old Testament has been interpreted as referring to
4028-400: The developed doctrine of the Trinity is not explicit in the books that constitute the New Testament , it was first formulated as early Christians attempted to understand the relationship between Jesus and God in their scriptural documents and prior traditions. According to Margaret Baker, trinitarian theology has roots in pre-Christian Palestinian beliefs about angels. An early reference to
4104-527: The early Christian community are reflective of Paul's perspective on the divine status of Jesus in what scholars have termed a "binitarian" pattern or shape of devotional practice (worship) in the New Testament, in which "God" and Jesus are thematized and invoked. Jesus receives prayer (1 Corinthians 1:2; 2 Corinthians 12:8–9), the presence of Jesus is confessionally invoked by believers (1 Corinthians 16:22; Romans 10:9–13; Philippians 2:10–11), people are baptized in Jesus' name (1 Corinthians 6:11; Romans 6:3), Jesus
4180-453: The early Christian movement as a public cult centered around Jesus in several passages. In Acts, it is common for individual Christians to "call" upon the name of Jesus (9:14, 21; 22:16), an idea precedented in the Old Testament descriptions of calling on the name of YHWH as a form of prayer. The story of Stephen depicts Stephen invoking and crying out to Jesus in the final moments of his life to receive his spirit (7:59–60). Acts further describes
4256-613: The first few centuries of early Christian quotations, scholars largely accept the passage as authentic due to its supporting manuscript evidence and that it does appear to be either quoted in the Didache (7:1–3) or at least reflected in the Didache as part of a common tradition from which both Matthew and the Didache emerged. Jesus receiving divine worship in the post-resurrection accounts is further mirrored in Luke 24:52. Acts depicts
4332-583: The hope of securing toleration for his Protestant subjects in the Low Countries . In 1566, the text of this confession was revised at a synod held in Antwerp . It was adopted by national synods held during the last three decades of the 16th century. The Belgic Confession became the basis of a counter to the Arminian controversy that arose in the following century, but Jacobus Arminius himself opposed
4408-399: The law next to Jesus recognizes this and said "Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Mark 2:7 Jesus also receives προσκύνησις ( proskynesis ) in the aftermath of the resurrection, a Greek term that either expresses the contemporary social gesture of bowing to a superior, either on one's knees or in full prostration (in Matthew 18:26
4484-408: The livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.' [...] "Then the LORD God said, 'Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil [...]" A traditional Christian interpretation of these pronouns is that they refer to a plurality of persons within the Godhead. Biblical commentator Victor P. Hamilton outlines several interpretations, including
4560-513: The logos, no less than the theos, had the nature of theos," which in his case means the Word is as fully God as the person called "God". John also portrays Jesus as the agent of creation of the universe. Some have suggested that John presents a hierarchy when he quotes Jesus as saying, "The Father is greater than I", a statement which was appealed to by nontrinitarian groups such as Arianism . However, influential theologians such as Augustine of Hippo and Thomas Aquinas argued this statement
4636-538: The most widely held among Biblical scholars, which is that the pronouns do not refer to other persons within the Godhead but to the 'heavenly court' of Isaiah 6 . Theologians Meredith Kline and Gerhard von Rad argue for this view, as von Rad says, 'The extraordinary plural ("Let us") is to prevent one from referring God's image too directly to God the Lord. God includes himself among the heavenly beings of his court and thereby conceals himself in this majority.' Hamilton notes that this interpretation assumes that Genesis 1
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#17327654223624712-411: The name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" and Paul the Apostle 's blessing: "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all", leading theologians across history in attempting to articulate the relationship between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Eventually, the diverse references to God, Jesus, and the Spirit found in
4788-433: The notion that it could be used against his theology. The text was revised again at the Synod of Dort in 1618-1619, was included in the Canons of Dort (1618-1619), and adopted as one of the doctrinal standards to which all office-bearers and members of the Reformed churches were required to subscribe. The first French edition is extant in four printings, two from 1561 and two from 1562. The Synod of Antwerp of 1580 ordered
4864-412: The other was an intriguing text for those who believed in a single God in three persons. Justin Martyr , and John Calvin similarly, interpreted it such that Abraham was visited by God, who was accompanied by two angels. Justin supposed that the God who visited Abraham was distinguishable from the God who remains in the heavens, but was nevertheless identified as the (monotheistic) God. Justin interpreted
4940-531: The persistent undertones in the natural liturgy of the universal religious consciousness. They imply that the period of ignorance or doubt is past; that conviction is attained; that the spiritual life is come to itself; that the seeker has at last found, and that the soul is at rest.' In this way, the Belgic Confession is of a similar nature to the ancient Christian creeds, including the Apostles' Creed , Nicene Creed and Athanasian Creed . The Confession may also be categorised with other Reformation-era creeds, such as
5016-525: The proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God. ' " (Acts 5:3–4). Another passage the Cappadocian Fathers quoted from was "By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host" (Psalm 33:6). According to their understanding, because "breath" and "spirit" in Hebrew are both "רוּחַ" ("ruach"), Psalm 33:6
5092-399: The sake of those who are to inherit salvation?" (Hebrews 1:14) in effect arguing that the Holy Spirit is no different from other created angelic spirits. The Church Fathers disagreed, saying that the Holy Spirit is greater than the angels, since the Holy Spirit is the one who grants the foreknowledge for prophecy (1 Corinthians 12:8–10) so that the angels could announce events to come. While
5168-411: The sovereignty of God and God's grace, sin, salvation in Christ alone, including sanctification and good works; the law of God as a help in Christian living; Calvin's view of the sacraments; and the state as the instrument of God and vehicle of God's grace. Gallic Confession The French Confession of Faith ( Latin : Confessio Gallicana , French : Confession de La Rochelle ), also known as
5244-453: The subtitle "Confession of Faith, made in one accord by the French people, who desire to live according to the purity of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. A.D. 1559." Each article is accompanied by references to the Bible. The structure is similar to Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion (1559) and Genevan Catechism (1542/1545), being divided into the following four sections. On 10 July 1559, Henry II died in Paris. In 1560,
5320-467: The three "persons" of later Trinitarian doctrines appears towards the end of the first century, where Clement of Rome rhetorically asks in his epistle as to why corruption exists among some in the Christian community; "Do we not have one God, and one Christ, and one gracious Spirit that has been poured out upon us, and one calling in Christ?" (1 Clement 46:6). A similar example is found in the first century Didache , which directs Christians to "baptize in
5396-453: The traditional translation of John 1:1c ("and the Word was God") is incorrect. He endorses the New English Bible translation of John 1:1c, "and what God was, the Word was." However Harner's claim has been criticized by other scholars. In the same article, Harner also noted that; "Perhaps the clause could be translated, 'the Word had the same nature as God". This would be one way of representing John's thought, which is, as I understand it, that
5472-658: The two documents were produced. All this activity took place in conditions of strict secrecy. As early as 1555, Henry II issued an edict which mandated the death penalty for all those guilty of heresy , threatening the Huguenots with burning at the stake. After the conclusion of the Italian Wars with the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis in March–April 1559, the king set about eradicating heresy with particular zeal. In 1559,
5548-707: Was included in their editions of the Bible, the translation and publication of which was undertaken by Protestants in the middle of the 16th century. In 1534, Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples published a French translation of the New Testament. In 1552, Robert Estienne published the Bible and New Testament in Latin, and in 1553, J. Gerard published a French translation of the Bible. After the Peace of Augsburg (1555), Reformed congregations no longer needed to operate underground and thus grew to around 400,000 members. They organised in various parts of France between 1555 and 1558 with formal organisation and regular services. The need for
5624-458: Was not safe, when the Godhead of the Father was not yet acknowledged, plainly to proclaim the Son". Genesis 18–19 has been interpreted by Christians as a Trinitarian text. The narrative has the Lord appearing to Abraham, who was visited by three men. In Genesis 19, "the two angels" visited Lot at Sodom. The interplay between Abraham on the one hand and the Lord/three men/the two angels on
5700-713: Was prepared by Festus Hommius for the Synod of Dort, 1618, revised and approved 1619; and from it was made the English translation in use in the Reformed (Dutch) Church in America . It appeared in Greek 1623, 1653, and 1660, at Utrecht . The Confession begins with the phrase 'We all believe with the heart, and confess with the mouth,' which gives it the distinctive character of a confession of faith. W. A. Curtis writes that '[Faith]
5776-476: Was to be understood as Jesus speaking about his human nature. Prior Israelite theology held that the Spirit is merely the divine presence of God himself, whereas orthodox Christian theology holds that the Holy Spirit is a distinct person of God the Father himself. This development begins early in the New Testament, as the Spirit of God receives much more emphasis and description comparably than it had in earlier Jewish writing. Whereas there are 75 references to
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