REFORMED WITNESS
Volume XI, October 2003, Number 10
The Voice of Our Fathers:
The Belgic Confession
A two part article by Prof. Robert D. Decker
From the October 15 and November 1, 1974 issues
of The Standard Bearer
Introduction
This is the third time in the fifty year history of The Standard Bearer that an exposition of the Belgic (or Netherlands) Confession of Faith is begun. The first exposition is a brief series written in the Dutch language and may be found in volume VII [of The Standard Bearer]. In volume XXXVII Prof. H. C. Hoeksema began a new series which, due to the press of other editorial duties, was never completed. Several articles appeared from the pen of the Rev. J. Kortering who is now editor of the rubric, The Strength of Youth. It is our prayer that God in His mercy may grant that this new series of expositions of the Belgic Confession may be completed.
As we begin we pray too that these expositions may contribute toward a deeper understanding and appreciation of the faith of our fathers. The danger threatening the Church of our time is not dead orthodoxy as so many allege. The opinion is widely held that the Church must revise and update the creeds because they as products of their time do not accurately reflect the faith of the Church in the twentieth century. The creeds, so it is said, do not speak to the issues we are facing in these days. If the Church refuses to revise her creeds she will become hopelessly enmeshed in the past and become unable to fulfil her task in the world. From this position we wish to separate ourselves. It is true that creeds are products of their times and we shall take note of this as we proceed with our exposition of each article of the Belgic Confession. Nevertheless it is our firm conviction that the Three Forms of Unity express eloquently the truth of the infallibly inspired Scriptures. If the Church is really serious about her calling she could do no better than listen carefully to "the voice of our fathers." If ever there was a time when the Church needs to be firmly anchored in the truth of the Scriptures as set forth in the Belgic Confession, it is now. The truth is assailed on every crucial point and departures from the faith occur so rapidly that one can hardly keep abreast of them. The Church and our Protestant Reformed Churches in particular had better know the truth lest the lament of God's prophet be true of them: "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge..." (Hosea 4:6).
The Historic Setting. . .
To understand and appreciate the Belgic Confession we ought to know something of the fascinating historical situation in which it was written. Because the period into which we delve is as detailed and complicated as it is fascinating we shall offer but a sketch drawn in only a few, broad strokes. Those readers interested in further study may consult any good Reformation history text or Dr. Peter Y. DeJong's two volume exposition of the Belgic Confession entitled The Church's Witness To The World.
Our interest is in the lowlands during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. These territories included what are now the countries of The Netherlands, Belgium and northern France, and at that time were called simply Netherlands. Until 1477 these lands had been ruled by the Burgundian princes whose line became extinct at that date. In 1515 Charles of Spain, the son of Ferdinand and Isabella, began his rule. Having been crowned emperor of the Holy Roman Empire in 1521 Charles set about the task of unifying the independent states under his rule. This meant trouble, for the states of the lowlands were rather fiercely independent. Though the writings of Martin Luther were widely read they had minimal impact on the people of the lowlands. The latter, who found themselves being robbed of rights and privileges almost daily under Charles V, were much more attracted to the teachings of the Anabaptists who advocated defiance of the government. Charles V, believing himself to be king by divine right, and being a faithful son of the Roman Catholic Church, initiated the infamous inquisition in an attempt to compel the people of the lowlands to submit to the pope. By 1524 the inquisition was in full swing with papal approval.
What the Scriptures say of Israel in Egypt's bondage could be said of the saints who suffered under the inquisition: "the more they were afflicted, the more they multiplied and grew." And they were afflicted! Historians tell us that more Christians were put to death in the sixteenth century than in the days of the persecution of the early church by the Roman emperors. In 1529 an ordinance was imposed which ruled that all who made insulting remarks about images of God, the virgin or saints, failed to report heretics, or who even discussed questions about the faith were to be put to death. Even this failed to stem the tide of the growth of the reformation. Printing presses were groaning under the load of forbidden books and reformation literature pouring into the lowlands especially from Germany. By 1540 all "heretics" were deprived of their property and those who sheltered heretics were liable to the death penalty.
Charles V died and was succeeded by his son, Philip II, in 1555. If Charles was a faithful son of the Roman Catholic Church, Philip was fanatical in his devotion to Rome. He recognized that the Netherlands with its industrial and commercial advances was crucial to the success of the Spanish Empire. In order to increase his control of the lowlands he increased taxes and withdrew the constitutional privileges of many of its cities. Philip appointed his sister, Margaret of Parma, as his regent. Margaret, with the assistance of a council of three, flagrantly ignored the rights of the nobility. At this point Prince William of Orange became leader of the resistance movement which eventually won independence for the northern provinces. By the papal bull of 1559 the lands were divided into fifteen bishoprics and three archbishoprics, appointments to which were made only by the pope. Politically and religiously the lowlands was in the cruel grip of Philip II.
By this time the teachings of Calvin had entered the Netherlands and won the allegiance of thousands, who were attracted to the clear, simple statement of the Christian faith rooted solely in the Word of God, which Calvinism offered. While the Anabaptists continued with no little vigor, Calvinism gained a significant foothold among the people of the lowlands. Among the leaders of the Calvinistic Reformation in the Netherlands was Guido de Bres, the author of the Belgic Confession.
Guido de Bres
This statement of P. Y. DeJong is worthy of emphasis, "The memory of this intrepid preacher and teacher of the holy gospel deserves to be permanently enshrined in our hearts." (The Church's Witness To The World, vol. I, p. 21).
We are told that just prior to his birth (ca.1522) de Bres' mother heard the preaching of an Augustinian monk, Hendrik van Zutphen, as he traveled through Mons, de Bres' birthplace, on his way to Wittenberg. Upon hearing the message, de Bres' mother prayed that if the Lord gave her a son he might become a preacher. Little did she realize what God had in store for her son. As a child de Bres was brought up in the Roman Catholic faith. Later he described himself as being at first unbelieving and blind! Apparently, though we know very little of his early life, he was converted to the Reformed faith at an early age.
These were not easy times for the faithful, for the flames of persecution under the Spanish ruler were burning fiercely. Everywhere those suspected of heresy were hunted and, if found, subjected to the most cruel tortures and put to death. In 1547 de Bres fled for his life to England where under Edward VI adherents to the Reformed faith were cordially welcomed. During the nearly five years de Bres spent in England he came into contact with several gifted leaders of the Reformation. Among these were John a Lasco, the homeless Polish nobleman who was pastoring a refugee church in London, and Petrus Dathenus, an outstanding preacher, later considered to be the father of the liturgy of the Dutch churches. In 1552 de Bres was able to return to his homeland where he traveled from city to city preaching the Reformed faith and gathering small groups of believers into congregations. During this time he wrote his first book, Le Baston de la Foy Chrestienne, "The Rod of the Christian Faith." In this volume de Bres, by quoting voluminously from the Bible, demonstrated that what he and others were teaching was the truth of the Word of God. Many of the subjects dealt with, as well as the general outline of this book, are incorporated in the Belgic Confession. After a period of exile in Frankfurt, Lausanne and Geneva, de Bres was able to return to southern Netherlands in 1559, at which time he married Catherine Ramon. Under Philip II the floodgates of persecution were opened and all who broke with the Romish church were accused of undermining the authority of government, a charge stemming from the excesses of some of the anabaptists with whom the Reformers were lumped by the enemies of the Reformation.
For the two-fold purpose of replying to these unfounded charges and instructing the faithful, de Bres wrote his Confession of Faith. He was laboring in Tournai, a city wrested from the French by Charles V in 1521. Both because of the reformers who resided there and on account of this city's sympathies for the French, Tournai was closely watched by the authorities. When a large group of believers spontaneously gathered in a public place and began singing the Psalms, which was strictly forbidden, Margaret of Parma ordered the arrest of all those suspected of heresy. De Bres was forced to flee once more.
During the night of Nov. 1, 1561, he took a copy of his Confession of Faith, together with a letter addressed to the authorities, and tossed it over the castle wall where the commissioners of Margaret of Parma were lodging. De Bres became the object of an intense and relentless search. He spent the years from 1561 to 1566 in exile in France among the Calvinists. Subsequently de Bres returned and became pastor of a congregation in Valenciennes, a town in southern Netherlands. When the iconoclastic disturbances broke out and many images and relics were destroyed and Roman Catholic sanctuaries profaned, the hostility of the authorities knew no bounds. The city was besieged and capitulated after three months. De Bres was captured while fleeing and imprisoned. On the evening of May 30, 1567, having refused to deny the Reformed faith, Guido de Bres was hanged. He is said to have addressed his fellow prisoners: "My brethren, today I am condemned to death for the doctrine of the Son of God. Let Him be praised for this. I am very glad on account of it. I never thought that God would show me such an honor. I feel my heart swelling with grace, which God causes to descend upon me more and more; and I am from moment to moment strengthened. My heart springs with joy within me."
This is how precious the Reformed faith was to Guido de Bres. He lived for what he wrote in the Belgic Confession and he died for it. Would we?
PART 2: The Value of Our Creeds
It is well, in the light of the times in which we live, to say something concerning the value of our creeds in general and of our Belgic Confession in particular. The churches of the day are increasingly critical of the creeds, and this is no less true in the Reformed tradition both in our own land and abroad. The cry in our time is that the creeds have lost their value and usefulness for the church. They simply, so it is alleged, do not speak to the needs of the world and the calling of the church in the world. They are said to be dated, outmoded, old-fashioned. The best that can be done with the confessions is to preserve them as interesting relics of the church's glorious past, and then compose new creeds which express the faith of the contemporary church and her calling in these days. What must be said about all this? Is it true? Could we just as well revise or discard entirely our Belgic Confession and write a new creed to take its place?
Perhaps it is best to begin our answer by defining the idea of the creeds. What are they? The late Herman Hoeksema in his Reformed Symbols, a syllabus used for the course which goes by that name in the Theological School of the Protestant Reformed Churches, offered this definition: "A symbol is a statement by a church or group of churches containing a declaration of what such a church or group of churches believes to be the truth of the Word of God." There are three terms customarily employed to express the idea set forth in this definition. These terms are: symbol, confession, and creed. A symbol is a sign. The flag of the United States for example is the sign which distinguishes our land from all other countries. A symbol is a sign; therefore, which serves to distinguish a church or denomination from all other churches. The Belgic Confession, in other words as a symbol, distinguishes the Reformed Churches from all other churches. The word "confession" means "to speak with." This term conveys the idea that the church expresses its faith together with one another and with its head, the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, the Belgic Confession as a confession contains the truth which the Protestant Reformed Churches express in union with one another and with Jesus Christ. Creed is a term derived from the Latin verb which means "to believe," and indicates that the content of a confession is the object of the faith of the church. Hence, what we as Protestant Reformed Churches believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths is set forth in the Belgic Confession.
In sum, therefore, what we have in the Three Forms of Unity and in the Belgic Confession in particular is the truth of the Holy Scriptures as that truth has been formulated in the mind of the church by the Spirit and Word of Jesus Christ. This truth, gleaned from the Word of God, set forth in systematic fashion in our creed, is the confession of our faith and serves to distinguish the Reformed churches from all other churches.
The Relation of the Confessions to Scripture
This naturally gives rise to the question of the relationship which obtains between the creeds of the church and the Scriptures. Inseparably bound up in this is, in turn, the question of the authority of the creeds. Writing on this point Hoeksema states: "Even as confessions are historically a reflection of the truth of the Word of God in the believing consciousness of the church, so their permanent criterion is Holy Scripture." (Reformed Symbols, p. 2). This means that our confessions must always be based upon the Word of God, may never be placed on an equal level with the Word of God, and certainly may never be superimposed upon the Word of God. Hoeksema says in this same connection, "... the latter (the Word of God, R.D.D.) must always be the light in which the confessions must constantly be judged. As soon as the church fails to do the latter, confessionalism (dead intellectualism) is the result." (Reformed Symbols, p. 2). The point simply is that the authority of our creeds is not absolute but always derivative. The contents of the creeds must be defended and preached, believed and confessed, obeyed and honored because that content is gleaned out of God's infallible Word, which is the absolute authority for the faith and life of the child of God in this world. Hence, in our expositions of the Belgic Confession we shall be at pains to demonstrate the solid Biblical foundation upon which this eloquent statement of our faith stands.
Objections Against The Creeds
While objections have always been lodged against the creeds, they multiply today. It is "the in thing" to be against the creeds. The striking feature in all this is the fact that what we are hearing in criticism of the creeds in our time is nothing new. It's merely the same tired, old arguments put forth all through the years. How true it is, "There is no new thing under the sun; the thing that is, hath been." One of these objections argues that the creeds are merely human productions and totally unnecessary since the Bible is sufficient. The Church needs nothing more than the Bible. What Hoeksema had to say about this is much to the point: "...historically it is a peculiar fact that very serious objections are raised against creeds when also the contents of the Bible become more and more foreign to the mind of the church. Ignorance of Scripture and its doctrine and opposition to creeds are generally simultaneous. From this it would seem that objectors to creeds are not serious when they claim Scripture is sufficient." (Reformed Symbols, p. 3). How true today! There is woeful ignorance of even the simplest truths of Scripture. Many are not even familiar with Biblical terminology. Yet these same people have the audacity to criticize the creeds and clamor for new ones. But what must be said about this objection? That the Scriptures are sufficient we readily confess. That the truth of the sufficiency of Holy Writ may be used as an argument in opposition to the creeds we wholeheartedly reject. Why? Because this is fundamentally a denial of the continuous guidance of the Church by the Holy Spirit in the past. The fruit of this guidance of the Spirit of Christ is the creedal statements of the church expressing the truth of the Word over against the lie of sin. (cf. John 14:15-18, 26; John 15:26ff.; John 16:13,14). It surely is a great sin to deny and ignore the fruit of the guidance of the Spirit of Truth. Besides, the church always has the calling to express her faith in the midst of the world. This cannot be done simply by saying, "The Bible is enough." The Bible simply is not a logical, systematic presentation of the truth; but it surely is the source out of which the church as guided by Christ's Spirit derives the truth and systematically sets it forth in her creeds.
Another objection is that creeds bind the conscience. This can never be, however, as long as the way remains open for the individual child of God to apply the standard of the Word of God to the confession of his church.
A very common criticism of the creeds today is that they create divisions. We must break down those walls of separation and become one. Such has been the hue and cry of ecumenism the past several years. Today we have a World Council of Churches from which not even the Roman Catholics are excluded and which seeks to unite all churches under the simplest, broadest possible statement of faith. Let it be said that creeds do not create divisions, but simply express the divisions which are already present. They must remain, lest our understanding of the truth be diminished and ultimately lost altogether.
Finally, another common objection today is that creeds impede the development of the truth. What nonsense! As long as Scripture remains the source and criterion for our creeds, how can it fail that these will be vital, living, relevant expressions of the truth? How can we fail to grow in the knowledge of the rich, pure, unfathomable truth of God's Word?
The Value of the Creeds
Positively, the creeds are of inestimable value to the church along a four-fold line.
First, they are the means by which the church as a whole can express its faith over against all the world, or by which a denomination of churches can express its faith over against all other churches. That certainly remains the calling of the Body of Jesus Christ in the world. The people of God as members of God's Church stand as the "light of the world." That light must shine everywhere. It was exactly in this consciousness that our creeds were born. They served to define for kings and governors and for all the world the truth of God's Word which lived in the heart and mind of the Church.
Thus too, the creeds serve as a means to preserve the truth as it is delivered in the line of the generations of believers all through the ages. In this same connection, our creeds serve as the bond of union upon which basis churches of the same faith and mind can unite. Finally, the creeds are wonderful means of instruction. The Heidelberg Catechism, for example, was composed exactly to meet this purpose.
Now in this light is not the time to be critical of the creeds. Now is the time to go back to them and study them in the light of the Word of God. They express the eternal truth of the Scriptures, the glory of which no man will ever fully comprehend! A faithful, prayerful study of the creeds in the light of the Word will lead the church into an ever deeper understanding of the mysteries of the Kingdom of God as taught in the Word.
May God grant us grace always to "..contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.." in these latter days (Jude verses 3ff.). That faith is eloquently set forth in the Belgic or Netherlands Confession of Faith.
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