CONTENTS.
In view of the importance of this Confession, I give here a condensed translation of the original. [775] It consists of thirty chapters, which cover in natural order all the articles of faith and discipline which then challenged the attention of the Church.
Chap. I. The Holy Scriptures.--This chapter lays down the evangelical rule of faith, or the objective principle of Protestantism.
We believe and confess that the Canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the true Word of God, and have sufficient authority in and of themselves, and not from men; since God himself through them still speaks to us, as he did to the Fathers, the Prophets, and Apostles. They contain all that is necessary to a saving faith and a holy life; and hence nothing should be added to or taken from them (Deut. iv. 2; Rev. xxii. 18, 19).
From the Scriptures must be derived all true wisdom and piety, and also the reformation and government of the Churches, the proof of doctrines, and the refutation of errors (2 Tim. iii. 16, 17; 1 Tim. iii. 15; 1 Thess. ii. 13; Matt. x. 20). God may illuminate men directly by the Holy Spirit, without the external ministry; yet he has chosen the Scriptures and the preaching of the Word as the usual method of instruction.
The apocryphal books of the Old Testament, though they may be read for edification, are not to be used as an authority in matters of faith. [776]
We condemn the doctrines of the Gnostics and Manichæans, and all others who reject the Scriptures in whole or in part.
Chap. II. The Interpretation of the Scriptures; the Fathers, Councils, and Traditions.--We acknowledge only that interpretation as true and correct which is fairly derived from the spirit and language of the Scriptures themselves, in accordance with the circumstances, and in harmony with other and plainer passages (2 Pet. i. 20, 21).
We do not despise the interpretation of the Greek and Latin fathers and the teaching of Councils, but subordinate them to the Scriptures; honoring them as far as they agree with the Scriptures, and modestly dissenting from them when they go beyond or against the Scriptures. In matters of faith we can not admit any other judge than God himself, who through his Word tells us what is true and what is false, what is to be followed, and what is to be avoided.
We reject traditions which contradict the Scriptures, though they may claim to be apostolical. For the Apostles and their disciples could not teach one thing by writing, and another by word of mouth. St. Paul preached the same doctrine to all the churches (1 Cor. iv. 17; 2 Cor. i. 13; xii. 18). The Jews likewise had their traditions of the elders, but they were refuted by our Lord as 'making void the Word of God' (Matt. xv. 8, 9; Mark vii. 6, 7).
Chap III. Of God, his Unity and Trinity.--We believe and teach that God is one in essence (Deut. vi. 4; Exod. xx. 2, 3, etc.), and three in persons--Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. The Father hath begotten the Son from eternity; the Son is begotten in an unspeakable manner; the Holy Ghost eternally proceeds from both, and is to be worshiped with both as one God. There are not three Gods, but three persons--consubstantial, coeternal, distinct as to person and order, yet without any inequality. The divine essence or nature is the same in the Father, the Son, and the Spirit (Luke i. 35; Matt. iii. 17; xxviii. 19; John i. 32; xiv. 26; xv. 26).
In short, we accept the Apostles' Creed, which delivers to us the true faith.
We therefore condemn the Jews and Mohammedans, and all who blaspheme this holy and adorable Trinity. We also condemn all heretics, who deny the Deity of Christ and the Holy Ghost.
Chap. IV Of Idols, Images of Gods and of Saints.--As God is a spirit, he can not be represented by any image (John iv. 24; Isa. xl. 18; xliv. 9, 10; Jer. xvi. 19; Acts xvii. 29, etc.).
And although Christ assumed man's nature, yet he did so not in order to afford a model for sculptors and painters. He instituted for the instruction of the people the preaching of the Gospel, and the sacraments, but not images. Epiphanius tore down an image of Christ and some saint in a church, because he regarded it contrary to the Scriptures.
Chap. V. The Adoration and Invocation of God through the only Mediator Jesus Christ.--God is the only object of worship (Matt. iv. 10). And he is to be worshiped 'in spirit and in truth' (John iv. 24), and through our only and sufficient Mediator and Advocate Jesus Christ (1 Tim. ii. 5; 1 John ii. 1).
Hence we neither adore nor invoke the departed saints, and give no one else the glory that belongs to God alone (Isa. xlii. 8; Acts iv, 12).
Nevertheless, we neither despise nor undervalue the saints, but honor them as the members of Christ and the friends of God, who have gloriously overcome the flesh and the world; we love them as brethren, and hold them up as examples of faith and virtue, desiring to dwell with them eternally in heaven, and to rejoice with them in Christ.
Much less do we believe that the relics of saints should be worshiped. Nor do we swear by saints, since it is forbidden to swear by the name of strange gods (Exod. xxiii. 13; Deut. x. 20).
Chap. VI. The Providence of God.--We believe that the wise, eternal, and almighty God by his providence preserves and rules all things in heaven and earth (Psa. cxiii. 4-6; cxxxix. 3-4; Acts xvii. 28; Rom. xi. 36).
We therefore condemn the Epicureans, who blasphemously affirm that God neither sees nor cares for men (Psa. xciv. 3-9).
We do not despise as unnecessary the means whereby divine Providence works, but make use of them as far as they are commended to us in the Word of God. We disapprove of the rash words of those who say that our efforts and endeavors are vain.
St. Paul well knew that he was sailing under the providence of God, who had assured him that he must bear witness at Rome (Acts xxiii. 11), and that not a soul should perish (xxvii. 21, 34); nevertheless, when the sailors were seeking flight, he said to the centurion and the soldiers: 'Unless these abide in the ship, ye can not be saved' (ver. 31). For God has appointed the means by which we attain to the end. [777]
Chap. VII. Of the Creation of all Things; of Angels, the Devil, and Man.--This good and almighty God created all things, visible and invisible, by his eternal Word, and preserves them by his coeternal Spirit (Psa. xxxiii. 6; John i. 3). He made all things very good and for the use of man (Gen. i. 31).
We condemn the Manichæans who impiously imagine two coeternal principles, the one good, the other evil, and two antagonistic gods.
Angels and men stand at the head of all creatures. Angels are ministers of God (Psa. civ. 4), and ministering spirits sent for them who shall be heirs of salvation (Heb. i. 14).
The devil was a murderer and liar from the beginning (John viii. 44).
Some angels persevered in obedience, and are ordained unto the faithful service of God and men; but others fell of their own accord and ran into destruction, and have become enemies of God and men.
Man was made in the image and likeness of God, and placed by God in paradise as ruler over the earth (Gen. i. 27, 28; ii. 8). This is celebrated by David in the 8th Psalm. Moreover, God gave him a wife and blessed them (Gen. ii. 22 sqq.).
Man consists of two diverse substances in one person--of an immortal soul, which, when separated from the body neither sleeps nor dies, and of a mortal body, which at the last judgment, shall be raised again from the dead.
We condemn those who deny the immortality, or affirm the sleep of the soul, or teach that it is a part of God.
Chap. VIII. Of Man's Fall, Sin, and the Cause of Sin.--Man was created according to the image of God, in true righteousness and holiness, good and upright. But by the instigation of the serpent, and through his own guilt, he fell from goodness and rectitude, and became, with all his offspring, subject to sin, death, and various calamities.
Sin is that inborn corruption of man, derived and propagated from our first parents, whereby we are immersed in depraved lusts, averse to goodness and prone to all evil, and unable of ourselves to do or think any thing that is good. And as years roll on, we bring forth evil thoughts, words, and deeds, as corrupt trees bring forth corrupt fruits (Matt. xii. 33). Therefore we are all by nature under the wrath of God, and subject to just punishment.
By death we understand not only the dissolution of the body, but also the eternal punishments of sin (Eph. ii. 1, 5; Rom. v. 12).
We therefore acknowledge that there is original sin in all men, and that all other sins, whether mortal or venial, also the unpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost, spring from this same source. We acknowledge also that sins are not equal, but some are more grievous than others (Matt. x. 14, 15; xi. 24; 1 John v. 16, 17).
We condemn the Pelagians, who deny original sin; the Jovinianists, who with the Stoics declare all sins to be equal; and those who make God the author of sin against the express teaching of Scriptures (Psa. v. 5-7; John viii. 44).
When God is said to blind or harden men, or to give them over to a reprobate mind (Exod. vii. 13; John xii. 40), it is to be understood as a righteous judgment. Moreover, God overrules the wickedness of men for good, as he did in the case of the brethren of Joseph.
Chap. IX. Of Free Will and Man's Ability.--The will and moral ability of man must be viewed under a threefold state.
First, before the fall, he had freedom to continue in goodness, or to yield to temptation.
Secondly, after the fall, his understanding was darkened and his will became a slave to sin (1 Cor. ii. 14; 2 Cor. iii. 5; John viii. 34; Rom. viii. 7). But he has not been turned into 'a stone or stock;' nor is his will (voluntas) a non-will (noluntas). [778] He serves sin willingly, not unwillingly (servit peccato non nolens, sed volens). In external and worldly matters man retains his freedom even after the fall, under the general providence of God.
Thirdly, in the regenerate state, man is free in the true and proper sense of the term. His intellect is enlightened by the Holy Spirit to understand the mysteries and the will of God; and the will is changed by the Spirit and endowed with the power freely to will and to do what is good (Rom. viii. 5, 6; Jer. xxxi. 33; Ezek. xxxvi. 26; John viii. 36; Phil. i. 6, 29; ii. 13).
In regeneration and conversion men are not merely passive, but also active. They are moved by the Spirit of God to do of themselves what they do. But even in the regenerate there remains some infirmity. The flesh strives against the spirit to the end of life (Rom. vii. 14; Gal. v. 17).
We condemn the Manichæans, who deny that evil originated in the free will of man, and the Pelagians, who teach that fallen man has sufficient freedom to keep God's commandments. The former are refuted by Gen. i. 27; Eccles. vii. 29; the latter by John viii. 36.
Chap. X. The Predestination of God and the Election of Saints.--God has from eternity predestinated or freely chosen, of his mere grace, without any respect of men, the saints whom he will save in Christ (Eph. i. 4; 2 Tim. i. 9, 10).