Philip Schaff · 54 of 85

The Second Helvetic Confession in English. · Part 1

APPENDIX:

APPENDIX.

ENGLISH VERSION OF

THE SECOND HELVETIC CONFESSION, A.D. 1566.

(Comp. Vol. III. pp. 233–306.)

[In view of the full summary of this important Confession in Vol. I. 396–420, a translation was omitted in the previous editions of Vol. III. But as the volumes are now sold separately, it is herewith added in the third edition. Several chapters are taken, with slight changes, from the old English translation in The Harmony of Reformed Confessions, Cambridge, 1586; 2d ed. London, 1643; and again, ibid. 1842. The division of chapters into sections is conformed to the Latin text, pp. 233–306.]

CHAPTER I.—OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURE BEING THE TRUE WORD OF GOD.

We believe and confess the Canonical Scriptures of the holy prophets and apostles of both Testaments to be the true Word of God, and to have sufficient authority of themselves, not of men. For God himself spake to the fathers, prophets, apostles, and still speaks to us through the Holy Scriptures.

And in this Holy Scripture, the universal Church of Christ has all things fully expounded which belong to a saving faith, and also to the framing of a life acceptable to God; and in this respect it is expressly commanded of God that nothing be either put to or taken from the same (Deut. iv. 2; Rev. xxii. 18, 19).

We judge, therefore, that from these Scriptures are to be taken true wisdom and godliness, the reformation and government of churches; as also instruction in all duties of piety; and, to be short, the confirmation of doctrines, and the confutation of all errors, with all exhortations; according to that word of the Apostle, 'All Scripture given by inspiration of God is profitable for doctrine, for reproof,' etc. (2 Tim. iii. 16, 17). Again, 'These things write I unto thee,' says the Apostle to Timothy, 'that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God,' etc. (1 Tim. iii. 14, 15). Again, the selfsame Apostle to the Thessalonians: 'When,' says he, 'ye received the word of us, ye received not the word of men, but as it was indeed, the Word of God,' etc. (1 Thess. ii. 13). For the Lord himself has said in the Gospel, 'It is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of my Father speaketh in you;' therefore 'he that heareth you, heareth me; and he that despiseth you, despiseth me' (Matt. x. 20; Luke x. 16; John xiii. 20).

Wherefore when this Word of God is now preached in the church by preachers lawfully called, we believe that the very Word of God is preached, and received of the faithful; and that neither any other Word of God is to be feigned, nor to be expected from heaven: and that now the Word itself which is preached is to be regarded, not the minister that preaches; who, although he be evil and a sinner, nevertheless the Word of God abides true and good.

Neither do we think that therefore the outward preaching is to be thought as fruitless because the instruction in true religion depends on the inward illumination of the Spirit, or because it is written 'No man shall teach his neighbor; for all men shall know me' (Jer. xxxi. 34), and 'He that watereth, or he that planteth, is nothing, but God that giveth the increase' (1 Cor. iii. 7). For albeit 'No man can come to Christ, unless he be drawn by the Heavenly Father' (John vi. 44), and be inwardly lightened by the Holy Spirit, yet we know undoubtedly that it is the will of God that his word should be preached even outwardly. God could indeed, by his Holy Spirit, or by the ministry of an angel, without the ministry of St. Peter, have taught Cornelius in the Acts; but, nevertheless, he refers him to Peter, of whom the angel speaking says, 'He shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do' (Acts x. 6).

For he that illuminates inwardly by giving men the Holy Spirit, the self-same, by way of commandment, said unto his disciples,'Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature'(Mark xvi. 15). And so Paul preached the Word outwardly to Lydia, a purple-seller among the Philippians; but the Lord inwardly opened the woman's heart (Acts xvi. 14). And the same Paul, upon an elegant gradation fitly placed in the tenth chapter to the Romans, at last infers, 'Therefore faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God' (Rom. x. 14–17).

We know, in the mean time, that God can illuminate whom and when he will, even without the external ministry, which is a thing appertaining to his power; but we speak of the usual way of instructing men, delivered unto us from God, both by commandment and examples.

We therefore detest all the heresies of Artemon, the Manichæans, the Valentinians, of Cerdon, and the Marcionites, who denied that the Scriptures proceeded from the Holy Spirit; or else received not, or interpolated and corrupted, some of them.

And yet we do not deny that certain books of the Old Testament were by the ancient authors called Apocryphal, and by others Ecclesiastical; to wit, such as they would have to be read in the churches, but not alleged to avouch or confirm the authority of faith by them. As also Augustine, in his De Civitate Dei, book xviii., chapter 38, makes mention that 'in the books of the Kings, the names and books of certain prophets are reckoned;' but he adds that 'they are not in the canon,' and that 'those books which we have suffice unto godliness.'

CHAPTER II.—OF INTERPRETING THE HOLY SCRIPTURES; AND OF FATHERS, COUNCILS, AND TRADITIONS.

The Apostle Peter has said that 'the Holy Scriptures are not of any private interpretation' (2 Pet. i. 20). Therefore we do not allow all kinds of exposition. Whereupon we do not acknowledge that which they call the meaning of the Church of Rome for the true and natural interpretation of the Scriptures; which, forsooth, the defenders of the Romish Church do strive to force all men simply to receive; but we acknowledge only that interpretation of Scriptures for orthodox and genuine which, being taken from the Scriptures themselves (that is, from the spirit of that tongue in which they were written, they being also weighed according to the circumstances and expounded according to the proportion of places, either of like or of unlike, also of more and plainer), accords with the rule of faith and charity, and makes notably for God's glory and man's salvation.

Wherefore we do not despise the interpretations of the holy Greek and Latin fathers, nor reject their disputations and treatises as far as they agree with the Scriptures; but we do modestly dissent from them when they are found to set down things differing from, or altogether contrary to, the Scriptures. Neither do we think that we do them any wrong in this matter; seeing that they all, with one consent, will not have their writings matched with the Canonical Scriptures, but bid us allow of them so far forth as they either agree with them or disagree.

And in the same order we also place the decrees and canons of councils.

Wherefore we suffer not ourselves, in controversies about religion or matters of faith, to be pressed with the bare testimonies of fathers or decrees of councils; much less with received customs, or with the multitude of men being of one judgment, or with prescription of long time. Therefore, in controversies of religion or matters of faith, we can not admit any other judge than God himself, pronouncing by the Holy Scriptures what is true, what is false, what is to be followed, or what to be avoided. So we do not rest but in the judgment of spiritual men, drawn from the Word of God. Certainly Jeremiah and other prophets did vehemently condemn the assemblies of priests gathered against the law of God; and diligently forewarned us that we should not hear the fathers, or tread in their path who, walking in their own inventions, swerved from the law of God (Ezek. xx. 18).

We do likewise reject human traditions, which, although they be set out with goodly titles, as though they were divine and apostolical, delivered to the Church by the lively voice of the apostles, and, as it were, by the hands of apostolical men, by means of bishops succeeding in their room, yet, being compared with the Scriptures, disagree with them; and that by their disagreement bewray themselves in no wise to be apostolical. For as the apostles did not disagree among themselves in doctrine, so the apostles' scholars did not set forth things contrary to the apostles. Nay, it were blasphemous to avouch that the apostles, by lively voice, delivered things contrary to their writings. Paul affirms expressly that he taught the same things in all churches (1 Cor. iv. 17). And, again, 'We,' says he, 'write none other things unto you than what ye read or acknowledge' (2 Cor. i. 13). Also, in another place, he witnesses that he and his disciples—to wit, apostolic men—walked in the same way, and jointly by the same Spirit did all things (2 Cor. xii. 18). The Jews also, in time past, had their traditions of elders; but these traditions were severely confuted by the Lord, showing that the keeping of them hinders God's law, and that God is in vain worshiped of such (Matt. xv. 8, 9; Mark vii. 6, 7).

CHAPTER III.—OF GOD; THE UNITY AND THE TRINITY.

We believe and teach that God is one in essence or nature, subsisting by himself, all-sufficient in himself, invisible, without a body, infinite, eternal, the Creator of all things both visible and invisible, the chief good, living, quickening and preserving all things, almighty and supremely wise, gentle or merciful, just and true.

And we detest the multitude of gods, because it is expressly written, 'The Lord thy God is one God' (Deut. vi. 4). 'I am the Lord thy God; thou shalt have no strange gods before my face' (Exod. xx. 2, 3). 'I am the Lord, and there is none other; beside me there is no God. Am not I the Lord, and there is none other beside me alone? a just God, and a Saviour; there is none beside me' (Isa. xlv. 5, 21). 'I the Lord, Jehovah, the merciful God, gracious and long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,' etc. (Exod. xxxiv. 6).

We nevertheless believe and teach that the same infinite, one, and indivisible God is in person inseparably and without confusion distinguished into the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit: so, as the Father has begotten the Son from eternity, the Son is begotten in an unspeakable manner; and the Holy Spirit proceeds from them both, and that from eternity, and is to be worshiped with them both. So that there are not three Gods, but three persons, consubstantial, coeternal, and coequal; distinct, as touching their persons; and, in order, one going before another, yet without any inequality. For, as touching their nature or essence, they are so joined together that they are but one God; and the divine essence is common to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

For the Scripture has delivered unto us a manifest distinction of persons; the angel, among other things, saying thus to the Blessed Virgin, 'The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; and that holy thing which shall be born shall be called the Son of God' (Luke i. 35). Also, in the baptism of Christ, a voice was heard from heaven, saying, 'This is my beloved Son' (Matt. iii. 17). The Holy Spirit also appeared in the likeness of a dove (John i. 32). And when the Lord himself commanded to baptize, he commanded to baptize 'in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit' (Matt. xxviii. 19). In like manner, elsewhere in the Gospel he said, 'The Father will send the Holy Spirit in my name' (John xiv. 26). Again he says, 'When the Comforter shall come, whom I will send unto yon from the Father, the Spirit of Truth, who proceedeth from the Father, he shall bear witness of me,' etc. (John xv. 26). In short, we receive the Apostles' Creed, because it delivers unto us the true faith.

We therefore condemn the Jews and the Mohammedans, and all those who blaspheme that sacred and adorable Trinity. We also condemn all heresies and heretics who teach that the Son and the Holy Spirit are God only in name; also, that there is in the Trinity something created, and that serves and ministers unto another; finally, that there is in it something unequal, greater or less, corporeal or corporeally fashioned, in manners or in will diverse, either confounded or sole by itself: as if the Son and Holy Spirit were the affections and proprieties of one God the Father—as the Monarchists, the Novatians, Praxeas, the Patripassians, Sabellius, Samosatenus, Aëtius, Macedonius, the Anthropomorphites, Arius, and such like, have thought.

CHAPTER IV.—OF IDOLS; OR OF IMAGES OF GOD, OF CHRIST, AND OF SAINTS.

And because God is an invisible Spirit, and an incomprehensible Essence, he can not, therefore, by any art or image be expressed. For which cause we fear not, with the Scripture, to term the images of God mere lies.

We do therefore reject not only the idols of the Gentiles, but also the images of Christians. For although Christ took upon him man's nature, yet he did not therefore take it that he might set forth a pattern for carvers and painters. He denied that he came 'to destroy the law and the prophets' (Matt. v. 17), but images are forbidden in the law and the prophets (Deut. iv. 15; Isa. xliv. 9). He denied that his bodily presence would profit the Church, but promised that he would by his Spirit be present with us forever (John xvi. 7; 2 Cor. v. 5).

Who would, then, believe that the shadow or picture of his body doth any whit benefit the godly? And seeing that he abideth in us by the Spirit, 'we are therefore the temples of God' (1 Cor. iii. 16); but 'what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?' (2 Cor. vi. 16). And seeing that the blessed spirits and saints in heaven, while they lived here, abhorred all worship done unto themselves (Acts iii. 12, and xiv. 15; Rev. xix. 10, and xxii. 9), and spake against images, who can think it likely that the saints in heaven, and the angels, are delighted with their own images, whereunto men do bow their knees, uncover their heads, and give such other like honor?

But that men might be instructed in religion, and put in mind of heavenly things and of their own salvation, the Lord commanded to preach the Gospel (Mark xvi. 15)—not to paint and instruct the laity by pictures; he also instituted sacraments, but he nowhere appointed images.

Furthermore, in every place which way soever we turn our eyes, we may see the lively and true creatures of God, which if they be marked, as is meet, they do much more effectually move the beholder than all the images or vain, unmovable, rotten, and dead pictures of all men whatsoever; of which the prophet spake truly, 'They have eyes, and see not,' etc. (Psa. cxv. 5).

Therefore we approve the judgment of Lactantius, an ancient writer, who says, 'Undoubtedly there is no religion where there is a picture.' And we affirm that the blessed bishop Epiphanius did well, who, finding on the church-doors a veil, that had painted on it the picture, as it might be, of Christ or some saint or other, he cut and took it away; for that, contrary to the authority of the Scriptures, he had seen the picture of a man to hang in the Church of Christ: and therefore he charged that from henceforth no such veils, which were contrary to religion, should be hung up in the Church of Christ, but that rather such scruple should be taken away which was unworthy of the Church of Christ and all faithful people. Moreover, we approve this sentence of St. Augustine, 'Let not the worship of men's works be a religion unto us; for the workmen themselves that make such things are better, whom yet we ought not to worship' (De Vera Religione, cap. 55).

CHAPTER V.—OF THE ADORATION, WORSHIP, AND INVOCATION OF GOD THROUGH THE ONLY MEDIATOR JESUS CHRIST.

We teach to adore and worship the true God alone. This honor we impart to none, according to the commandment of the Lord, 'Thou shalt adore the Lord thy God, and him alone shalt thou worship,' or 'him only shalt thou serve' (Matt. iv. 10). Surely all the prophets inveighed earnestly against the people of Israel whensoever they did adore and worship strange gods, and not the only true God.

But we teach that 'God is to be adored and worshiped,' as himself has taught us to worship him—to wit, 'in spirit and in truth' (John iv. 24); not with any superstition, but with sincerity, according to his word, lest at any time he also say unto us, 'Who hath required these things at your hands?' (Isa. i. 12; Jer. vi. 20). For Paul also says, 'God is not worshiped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing,' etc. (Acts xvii. 25).

We, in all dangers and casualties of life, call on him alone, and that by the mediation of the only Mediator, and our Intercessor, Jesus Christ. For it is expressly commanded us, 'Call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me' (Psa. 1. 15). Moreover, the Lord has made a most large promise, saying, 'Whatsoever ye shall ask of my Father, he shall give it you' (John xvi. 23); and again, 'Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give yon rest' (Matt. xi. 28). And seeing it is written, 'How shall they call upon him in whom they have not believed?' (Rom. x. 14), and we do believe in God alone; therefore we call upon him only, and that through Christ. For 'there is one God,' says the apostle, 'and one mediator between God and men, Christ Jesus' (1 Tim. ii. 5). Again, 'If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous,' etc. (1 John ii. 1).

Therefore we do neither adore, worship, nor pray unto the saints in heaven, or to other gods; neither do we acknowledge them for our intercessors or mediators before the Father in heaven. For God and the mediator Christ do suffice us; neither do we impart unto others the honor due to God alone and to his Son, because he has plainly said, 'I will not give my glory to another' (Isa. xli. 8); and because Peter has said, 'There is no other name given unto men, whereby they must be saved, but the name of Christ' (Acts iv. 12). Those, doubtless, who rest in him by faith do not seek any thing without Christ.

Yet, for all that, we do neither despise the saints nor think basely of them; for we acknowledge them to be the lively members of Christ, the friends of God, who have gloriously overcome the flesh and the world. We therefore love them as brethren, and honor them also; yet not with any worship, but with an honorable opinion of them, and with just praises of them. We also do imitate the saints, for we desire, with the most earnest affections and prayers, to be followers of their faith and virtues; to be partakers, also, with them of everlasting salvation; to dwell together with them everlastingly with God, and to rejoice with them in Christ. And in this point we approve that saying of St. Augustine, in his book De Vera Religione, 'Let not the worship of men departed be any religion unto us; for, if they have lived holily, they are not so to be esteemed as that they seek such honors, but they will have us to worship Him by whose illumination they rejoice that we are fellow-servants as touching the reward. They are therefore to be honored for imitation, not to be worshiped for religion's sake,' etc.

And we much less believe that the relics of saints are to be adored and worshiped. Those ancient holy men seemed sufficiently to have honored their dead if they had honestly committed their bodies to the earth after the soul was gone up into heaven; and they thought that the most noble relics of their ancestors were their virtues, doctrine, and faith; which as they commended with the praise of the dead, so they did endeavor to express the same so long as they lived upon earth.

Those ancient men did not swear but by the name of the only Jehovah, as it is commanded by the law of God. Therefore, as we are forbidden to 'swear by the name of strange gods' (Exod. xxiii. 13; Josh. xxiii. 7), so we do not swear by saints, although we be requested there unto. We therefore in all these things do reject that doctrine which gives too much honor unto the saints in heaven.

CHAPTER VI.—OF THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD.

We believe that all things, both in heaven and in earth and in all creatures, are sustained and governed by the providence of this wise, eternal, and omnipotent God. For David witnesses and says, 'The Lord is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens. Who is like unto the Lord, who dwelleth on high, and yet humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven and earth?' (Psa. cxiii. 4–6). Again, he says, 'Thou hast foreseen all my ways; for there is not a word in my tongue which thou knowest not wholly, O Lord,' etc. (Psa. cxxxix. 3, 4). Paul also witnesses and says, 'By him we live, move, and have our being' (Acts xvii. 28); and 'of him, and through him, and from him are all things' (Rom. xi. 36).

Therefore Augustine both truly and according to the Scripture said, in his book De Agone Christi, cap. 8, 'The Lord said, "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall to the ground without the will of your Father." By speaking thus he would give us to understand whatsoever men count most vile, that also is governed by the almighty power of God. For the truth, which said that all the hairs of our head are numbered, says also that the birds of the air are fed by him, and the lilies of the field are clothed by him.'

We therefore condemn the Epicureans, who deny the providence of God, and all those who blasphemously affirm that God is occupied about the poles of heaven, and that he neither sees nor regards us or our affairs. The princely prophet David also condemned these men when he said, 'O Lord, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph? They say the Lord doth not see, neither doth the God of Jacob regard it. Understand, ye unwise among the people; arid ye fools, when will ye be wise? He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? and he that hath formed the eye, shall he not see?' (Psa. xciv. 3, 7–9).

Notwithstanding, we do not condemn the means whereby the providence of God works as though they were unprofitable; but we teach that we must apply ourselves unto them, so far as they are commended unto us in the Word of God. Wherefore we dislike the rash speeches of such as say that if all things are governed by the providence of God, then all our studies and endeavors are unprofitable; it shall be sufficient if we leave or permit all things to be governed by the providence of God; and we shall not need hereafter to behave or act with carefulness in any matter. For though Paul did confess that he did sail by the providence of God, who had said to him, 'Thou must testify of me also at Rome' (Acts xxiii. 11); who, moreover, promised and said, 'There shall not so much as one soul perish, neither shall a hair fall from your heads' (Acts xxvii. 22, 34); yet, the mariners devising how they might find a way to escape, the same Paul says to the centurion and to the soldiers, 'Unless these remain in the ship, ye can not be safe' (Acts xxvii. 31). For God, who has appointed every thing his end, he also has ordained the beginning and the means by which we must attain unto the end. The heathens ascribe things to blind fortune and uncertain chance; but St. James would not have us say, 'Today or to-morrow we will go into such a city, and there buy and sell;' but he adds, 'For that which ye should say, If the Lord will, and if we live, we will do this or that' (James iv. 13, 15). And Augustine says, 'All those things which seem to vain men to be done advisedly in the world, they do but accomplish his word because they are not done by his commandment. And, in his exposition of the 148th Psalm, 'It seemed to be done by chance that Saul, seeking his father's asses, should light on the prophet Samuel;' but the Lord had before said to the prophet, 'To-morrow I will send unto thee a man of the tribe of Benjamin,' etc. (1 Sam. ix. 16).

CHAPTER VII.—OF THE CREATION OF ALL THINGS; OF ANGELS, THE DEVIL, AND MAN.

This good and almighty God created all things, both visible and invisible, by his eternal Word, and preserves the same also by his eternal Spirit: as David witnesses, saying, 'By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth' (Psa. xxxiii. 6); and, as the Scripture says, 'All things that the Lord created were very good' (Gen. i. 31), and made for the use and profit of man.

Now, we say, that all those things do proceed from one beginning: and therefore we detest the Manichees and the Marcionites, who did wickedly imagine two substances and natures, the one of good, the other of evil; and also two beginnings and two gods, one contrary to the other—a good and an evil.

Among all the creatures, the angels and men are most excellent. Touching angels, the Holy Scripture says, 'Who maketh his angels spirits, his ministers a flaming fire' (Psa. civ. 4); also, 'Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?' (Heb. i. 14).

And the Lord Jesus himself testifies of the devil, saying, 'He that hath been a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar and the father of lies' (John viii. 44).

We teach, therefore, that some angels persisted in obedience, and were appointed unto the faithful service of God and men; and that others fell of their own accord, and ran headlong into destruction, and so became enemies to all good, and to all the faithful, etc.

Now, touching man, the Spirit says that in the beginning he was 'created according to the image and likeness of God' (Gen. i. 27); that God placed him in paradise, and made all things subject unto him; which David doth most nobly set forth in the 8th Psalm. Moreover, God gave unto him a wife, and blessed them.

We say, also, that man doth consist of two, and those divers substances in one person; of a soul immortal (as that which being separated from his body doth neither sleep nor die), and a body mortal, which, notwithstanding, at the last judgment shall be raised again from the dead, that from henceforth the whole man may continue forever in life or in death.

We condemn all those who mock at, or by subtle disputations call into doubt, the immortality of the soul, or say that the soul sleeps, or that it is a part of God. To be short, we condemn all opinions of all men whatsoever who think, otherwise of the creation of angels, devils, and men than is delivered unto us by the Scriptures in the Apostolic Church of Christ.

CHAPTER VIII.—OF MAN'S FALL; SIN, AND THE CAUSE OF SIN.

Man was from the beginning created of God after the image of God, in righteousness and true holiness, good and upright; but by the instigation of the serpent and his own fault, falling from the goodness and uprightness, he became subject to sin, death, and divers calamities; and such a one as he became by his fall, such are all his offspring, even subject to sin, death, and sundry calamities.

And we take sin to be that natural corruption of man, derived or spread from our first parents unto us all, through which we, being drowned in evil concupiscence, and clean turned away from God, but prone to all evil, full of all wickedness, distrust, contempt, and hatred of God, can do no good of ourselves—no, not so much as think any (Matt. xii. 34, 35).

And, what is more, even as we do grow in years, so by wicked thoughts, words, and deeds, committed against the law of God, we bring forth corrupt fruits, worthy of an evil tree: in which respect we, through our own desert, being subject to the wrath of God, are in danger of just punishment; so that we had all been cast away from God, had not Christ, the Deliverer, brought us back again.