Lesson 17. (Early Reformed Confessions, and the Duty of Christian Magistrates to Defend True Religion)

Review. 
Where we have come to get to a history of creeds and confessions.

Intro.
The general occasion of Protestant confessions of faith was the demand for public and political affirmation concerning the doctrine they preached. 
They were more or less influential and authoritative based on their clarity, tone, consistency, comprehensiveness, and ability to engender unity concerning doctrine. The history of the early confessions is incredibly important as a introductory defense of the Westminster. 

i. First Helvetic Confession (1536)
Formulated by Bullinger and Leo Jud, was relatively insignificant as it was superceded by the second Helvetic. It was occasioned by a Reformed council that met in 1536 at the request of the magistrates of Basle. “Luther, to whom a copy was sent through Bucer, expressed unexpectedly, in two remarkable letters, his satisfaction with the earnest Christian character of this document, and promised to do all he could to promote union and harmony with the Swiss.”

Leo Jud was a Swiss Reformer, associated with both Zwingli and Bullinger. He was an extraordinarily influential figure who helped to formulate confessions, petition governments on behalf of protestant causes, preached to nuns, taught in a Reformed institution for education. After Zwingli’s death he went into a state of depression that prevented him from taking the position of lead Reformer in Zurich, so the title and position was passed to Heinrich Bullinger. During this time he also began to associate with radical anabaptist views and had some correspondence with their leaders, Bullinger rebuked him and led him back to the Reformed camp. He continued to work with Bullinger and the Reformers writing confessions and translating their works from Latin to German. 

ii. Second Helvetic Confession (1566) 
was written by Bullinger in 1562 and revised in 1564 as a private exercise. It came to the notice of Elector Palatine Frederick III, who had it translated into German and published. It was attractive to some Reformed leaders as a corrective to what they saw as the overly Lutheran statements of the Strasbourg Consensus.
(read Schaff, through the section on its authority) 

iii. French Confession of Faith (1559)
“The French Confession of Faith, Confession de La Rochelle or Gallic Confession of Faith (Confessio Gallicana) was a Reformed confession formulated by John Calvin directly in response to persecution in France.
Under the sponsorship of Geneva a Calvinist church was organised in Paris in 1555 with a formal organisation and regular services. Later other Calvinist churches were organized elsewhere in France. The Gallic Confession began as a statement of faith sent by these “Reformed” churches of France to John Calvin in 1557 during a period of persecution. Working from this, and probably also with the help of Theodore Beza and Pierre Viret, Calvin and his pupil De Chandieu wrote a confession for them in the form of thirty-five articles. 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, apart from the first two which were expanded into six. Thus the Gallic Confession had forty articles. In 1560 the confession was presented to Francis II with a preface requesting that persecution should cease. The confession was confirmed at the seventh national synod of the French churches at La Rochelle in 1571, and recognized by German synods at Wesel in 1568 and Emden in 1571.”

(read the preface to the king)

App. 1. Let us strive to keep the faith in all boldness, and live in good conscience before men seeing we are not yet persecuted. 
2. Let us be ready in spiritual knowledge to stand before kings although we may not be called to it. It is certain we will be called before the great tribunal, and how awful it will be if we know not the great matters of faith? 

YouTube Audio: https://youtu.be/RFqsfWfNU9k