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Top: Society: Religion_and_Spirituality: Christianity: Theology: Reformed: Creeds
Creeds, confessions and statements of faith have always been an important part of the expression of the Reformed faith. Along with classic creeds, such as the Apostle's Creed and Nicene Creed, the written statements of the church of the Reformation grew with the work of Calvin, with his Institutes, and Zwingli, with his Sixty-Seven Articles. During this early time of the Reformed faith, many confessions were written: the Helvetic Confessions, the Confession of Geneva. the Scots Confession the Belgic Confession, and the Westminster Confession, among others.Another form of religious expression was the catechism, such as the Heidelberg and the Westminster catechisms.
Many Reformed denominations claim to believe in the Three Forms of Unity, which are the Belgic Confession, the Heidelberg Catechism and Canons of Dort.
More recent expressions of faith in the Presbyterian Church have been the Confession of 1967, centered around the doctrine of reconciliation, and the "Brief Statement of Faith", on the occasion of the union of two Presbyterian denominations.
The Decision of the Synod of Dordt on the Five Main Points of Doctrine in Dispute in the Netherlands is popularly known as the Canons of Dordt. It consists of statements of doctrine adopted by the great Synod of Dordt which met in the city of Dordrecht in 1618-19. Although this was a national synod of the Reformed churches of the Netherlands, it had an international character, since it was composed not only of Dutch delegates but also of twenty-six delegates from eight foreign countries.The Synod of Dordt was held in order to settle a serious controversy in the Dutch churches initiated by the rise of Arminianism. After Arminius's death, his own followers presented their views on five of these points in the Remonstrance of 1610. In this document or in later more explicit writings, the Arminians taught election based on foreseen faith, universal atonement, partial depravity, resistible grace, and the possibility of a lapse from grace. In the Canons the Synod of Dordt rejected these views and set forth the Reformed doctrine on these points, namely, unconditional election, limited atonement, total depravity, irresistible grace, and the perseverance of saints.
The Confession of 1967 was written by the Presbyterian Church USA during the troubled 1960's and the civil rights movement. Its central doctrines include reconciliation and equality of all persons.
The Gallican (French) Confession is the work of John Calvin, who prepared the first draft, and of his pupil, Antoine de la Roche Chandieu, who, with the Synod of Paris in 1559, brought it into its present enlarged shape. It was then presented, with a Preface, to King Francis II. at Amboise, 1560, and afterwards by Beza to Charles IX. at the religious conference in Poissy, 1561. It was revised and ratified at the seventh National Synod held at La Rochelle, 1571, with Beza as moderator, in the presence of the Queen of Navarre and her son (Henry IV.), and Admiral Coligny. Hence it is also called the 'Confession of Rochelle.'
The Genevan Confession was credited to John Calvin in 1536 by Beza who said Calvin wrote it as a formula of Christian doctrine suited to the church at Geneva.
In 1983, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) was formed by the reunion of the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America and the Presbyterian Church in the United States. Integral to reunion was the preparation of a brief statement of faith. While recognizing realities of diversity and disagreement in both the church and the world, members of the drafting committee sought to articulate Presbyterians' common identity.
The Scots Confession was written by John Knox and five other "Johns" (Willock, Winram, Spottiswood, Row and Douglas), in 1560, at the conclusion of the Scottish civil war in response to medieval catholicism and at the behest of the Scottish Parliament in five days. Its central doctrines are those of election and the Church. It was approved by the Reformation Parliament and Church of Scotland, attaining full legal status with the departure of Mary, Queen of Scots in 1567.
The Second Helvetic Confession was written by Heinrich Bullinger in Switzerland after surviving the Black Plague as a codicil to his will. It is in response to the Anabaptists and makes an attempt to reconcile with the Lutherans. It is influenced by Ulrich Zwingli. Its central doctrines are those of Covenant and Baptism.
The Westminster Confession was written by the Westminster Assembly at the call of Parliament together with the following two catechisms and heavily influenced by Reynolds. It is written in the context of the English Civil War and as a response to high church Anglicanism. The central doctrines of this and the two catechisms are the sovereignty of God and the authority and proper interpretation of Scripture.
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