{{short description|Statements of faith for Calvinist churches}} thumb|The Westminster Confession. Title page, 1st ed. The '''reformed confessions of faith''' are the confessional documents of various Reformed churches. These express the doctrinal views of the churches adopting the confession. Confessions play a crucial part in the theological identity of reformed churches, either as standards to which ministers must subscribe, or more generally as accurate descriptions of their faith. Most confessions date to the 16th and 17th century.

Catechisms, canons, theses and other such documents may not be confessions ''per se,'' yet these still serve as ''symbols'' of the reformed faith.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=Philip Schaff: Creeds of Christendom, with a History and Critical notes. Volume I. The History of Creeds. - Christian Classics Ethereal Library |url=https://ccel.org/ccel/schaff/creeds1/creeds1.iii.ii.html |access-date=2024-03-07 |website=ccel.org |at=§ 2}}</ref>

{{Calvinism}}

== Confessions == thumb|The Belgic Confession.Confessions state that church's beliefs in a full, while not exhaustive, way.

=== Continental Reformed === *Confession of the East Friesland Preachers (1528)<ref name="rohls" />{{rp|15}} *Tetrapolitan Confession (1530) *Synodical Declaration of Bern (1532)<ref name="rohls">{{cite book |last=Rohls |first=Jan |year=1998 |title=Theologie reformierter Bekenntnisschriften |trans-title=Reformed confessions: Theology from Zurich to Barmen |language=de |location=Louisville, Kentucky |publisher=Westminster John Knox Press |isbn=0-664-22078-9 |others=Translated by John Hoffmeyer |orig-year=1987}}</ref>{{rp|13}} *First Confession of Basel (1534)<ref name="cochrane" /> *First Helvetic Confession/Second Confession of Basel (1536)<ref name="cochrane" /> *Geneva Confession (1536)<ref name="cochrane" /> *Altered Augsburg Confession (1540)<ref>{{Cite web |editor-last=Schaff |editor-first=Philip |title=Creeds of Christendom, Volume I. |url=https://ccel.org/ccel/schaff/creeds1/creeds1.viii.ii.html?queryID=34981750&resultID=161051 |access-date=2024-04-18 |website=ccel.org |at=§ 41 |quote=It is, to a certain extent, also the Confession of the Reformed and the so-called Union Churches, in Germany, namely, with the explanations and modifications of the author himself in the edition of 1540}}</ref> *Confession of the English Congregation at Geneva (1556)<ref name="cochrane" /> *Guanabara Confession of Faith (1558)<ref>Carson, D. A. (27 January 2015). ''Themelios, Volume 36, Issue 2''. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 313. {{ISBN|978-1-62564-954-6}}.</ref> **Authored by Huguenots in South America *French Confession of Faith (1559) *Confession of the Christian Faith (1559)<ref name="rohls" />{{rp|19}} *Belgic Confession (1561) *Second Helvetic Confession (1562) *Erlauthal Confession (1562)<ref name="rohls" />{{rp|18}} *Hungarian Confession (1562)<ref name="rohls" />{{rp|19}} *Confession of Nassau (1578)<ref name="rohls" />{{rp|21}} *Bremen Consensus (1595)<ref name="rohls" />{{rp|21}} *Sigismund Confession (1614)<ref name="rohls" />{{rp|21}} *Theological Declaration of Barmen (1934) *Belhar Confession (1986) **First adopted in South Africa and since adopted by many mainline Reformed churches.

=== Presbyterian === [[File:Assertion of Liberty of Conscience by the Independents of the Westminster Assembly of Divines, 1644.jpg|thumb|The Westminster Confession and catechisms were produced by a committee rather than a single author.]] *Scots Confession (1560)<ref>Scots Confession (1560). Confession of Faith Ratification Act (1560), (Acts of the Old Scottish Parliament). https://www.legislation.gov.uk/aosp/1560/1.</ref> *Westminster Confession of Faith (1646)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Confession of Faith: The Orthodox Presbyterian Church |url=https://opc.org/wcf.html |access-date=2023-11-13 |website=opc.org |language=en}}</ref> *Confession of Faith Ratification Act (1690) *Confession of 1967<ref>{{Cite web |last=Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) |date=2004 |title=Book of Confessions, Confession of 1967 |url=https://www.pcusa.org/oga/publications/boc.pdf |access-date=2023-11-13 |publisher=The Office of the General Assembly |pages=252–262 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090811164337/https://www.pcusa.org/oga/publications/boc.pdf |archive-date=2009-08-11 |language=en-us |publication-place=Louisville, Kentucky}}</ref> *Brief Statement of Faith (1991)<ref>{{Cite web |last=Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) |date=2004 |title=Book of Confessions |url=https://www.pcusa.org/oga/publications/boc.pdf |access-date=2023-11-13 |publisher=The Office of the General Assembly, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090811164337/https://www.pcusa.org/oga/publications/boc.pdf |archive-date=2009-08-11 |language=en-us |publication-place=Louisville, Kentucky}}</ref>

=== Congregationalist === The presbyterians' ''Westminster'' was formed by an assembly of ministers called by parliament for use in the established churches of England and Scotland. For congregationalists, this was not the case. The difference in application of the congregationalists' primary confession'', Savoy'', is that it was written as a declaration of consensus, and as such it was not treated as morally binding upon church officers like ''Westminster'' for presbyterians<ref>{{Cite book |last=Davies |first=Horton |url=http://archive.org/details/worshipofenglish0000davi |title=The worship of the English Puritans |date=1948 |publisher=Westminster [London] : Dacre Press |others=Internet Archive |pages=274}}</ref> (called ''subscriptionism''<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Confessional Subscription Debate at Westminster Theological Seminary in California |url=https://opc.org/OS/html/V9/2d.html |access-date=2024-03-07 |website=opc.org}}</ref>).

Local congregational churches are historically formed around covenants (e.g. the Dedham Covenant), often unique to that church, another kind of confession.<ref name=":4" /> * Westminster Confession of Faith (1646) ** Though not produced by congregationalists, the Synod of Cambridge (1648) adopted the WCF without revision, only referring to their own Cambridge Platform regarding church government (ch. XXV., XXX., and XXXI)<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Philip Schaff: Creeds of Christendom, with a History and Critical notes. Volume I. The History of Creeds. - Christian Classics Ethereal Library |url=https://ccel.org/ccel/schaff/creeds1/creeds1.x.iv.html |access-date=2024-03-07 |website=ccel.org |at=§ 103}}</ref> * Savoy Declaration (1658)<ref>Bremer, Francis J.; Webster, Tom, ''Puritans and Puritanism in Europe and America: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia, Volume 1'', ABC-CLIO, USA, 2006, p. 354.</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Philip Schaff: Creeds of Christendom, with a History and Critical notes. Volume I. The History of Creeds. - Christian Classics Ethereal Library |url=https://ccel.org/ccel/schaff/creeds1/creeds1.x.iii.html |access-date=2024-03-07 |website=ccel.org |at=§ 102}}</ref> ** Adopted in America as the ''Saybrook'' (1708)<ref name=":0" /> * The Declaration of 1833<ref name=":1" /> * Declaration of Faith (1865)<ref name=":0" />

=== Baptist === Baptist confessions, like the Congregationalists, are statements of agreement rather than enforceable rules. They "have never been held as tests of orthodoxy, as of any authoritative or binding force; they merely reflect the existing harmony of views and the scriptural interpretations of the churches assenting to them."<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Philip Schaff: Creeds of Christendom, with a History and Critical notes. Volume I. The History of Creeds. - Christian Classics Ethereal Library |url=https://ccel.org/ccel/schaff/creeds1/creeds1.x.vi.html |access-date=2024-03-07 |website=ccel.org |at=§ 105}}</ref>

Only confessional Particular Baptists regard themselves to be "Reformed", since orthodox and historic Reformed theology is inherently paedobaptistic. Part of the Baptist movement finds its origin in the nonconformist movement in England, observing Calvinistic theology with the Presbyterians and Congregationalists. Baptists subscribing to Calvinist soteriology are called Particular Baptists or ''Reformed Baptist''. There are further subdivisions of Particular Baptists, such as ''Regular'' and ''Primitive''.

Baptist churches, like the Congregationalists with whom they share views of polity, compose church covenants for the local congregation.<ref name=":4" /> *First London Baptist Confession (1644)<ref>Gribben, Crawford. ''The Puritan Millennium: Literature and Theology, 1550–1682 (Revised Edition)'', Wipf and Stock Publishers, USA, 2008, p. 252.</ref> *The Confession of Somerset (1656)<ref name=":2" /> *Second London Baptist Confession (1689)<ref>''The 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith'', Documents, Reformed.</ref> **Adopted in America as the ''Philadelphia Confession'' (1742)<ref name=":2" /> *New Hampshire Confession (1833 or 1844)<ref name=":2" /> *Baptist Affirmation of Faith 1966

=== Anglican === Anglican churches are not confessional in the same strict sense as in Lutheran churches.<ref name="Turnbull2010">{{cite book|last=Turnbull|first=Richard |title=Anglican and Evangelical?|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zZy6BwAAQBAJ&pg=PA45|date=15 July 2010|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1-4411-1475-4|pages=45–}}</ref><ref name="Avis2013">{{cite book|last=Avis|first=Paul |title=The Anglican Understanding of the Church: An introduction|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yFqpAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT65|year=2013|publisher=SPCK|isbn=978-0-281-06815-9|pages=65–}}</ref> Anglican doctrine is most defined by ''Lex orandi, lex credendi'' ("the law of praying [is] the law of believing").<ref name="Earey2013">{{cite book|last=Earey|first=Mark |title=Beyond Common Worship: Anglican Identity and Liturgical Diversity|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9a4LAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA100|year=2013|publisher=SCM Press|isbn=978-0-334-04739-1|pages=100–}}</ref><ref name="PlattenWoods2012">{{cite book|last1=Platten|first1=Stephen |last2=Woods|first2=Christopher |title=Comfortable Words: Polity, Piety and the Book of Common Prayer|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g3GfTeT9NgQC&pg=PA142|year=2012|publisher=Hymns Ancient and Modern|isbn=978-0-334-04670-7|pages=142–}}</ref> * Forty-two Articles (1553)<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Reformed Confessions of the 16th and 17th Centuries in English Translation: Volume 2, 1552–1566 |url=https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/themelios/review/reformed-confessions-of-the-16th-and-17th-centuries-in-english-translation/ |access-date=2024-03-07 |website=The Gospel Coalition |language=en-US}}</ref> * Thirty-Nine Articles (1562/63)<ref>{{cite book |last=Muller |first=Richard A. |title=The Cambridge Companion to Reformation Theology |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-52177-662-2 |editor1-last=Bagchi |editor1-first=David |location=New York |page=135 |chapter=John Calvin and later Calvinism |editor2-last=Steinmetz |editor2-first=David C.}}</ref><ref name=":3" />

=== Methodist ===

* Calvinistic Methodist Confession of Faith (1823)<ref name="calvmeth" />

== Catechisms == [[File:Landgraf Ursinusführung.jpg|thumb|German Theologian Michael Landgraf portraying a reenactment of Zacharias Ursinus, principal author of the Heidelberg Catechism.]]Catechisms are teaching tools in the church, usually in a question and answer format.

=== Continental ===

* Genevan Catechism (1541) * Emden Catechism (1554)<ref name="rohls" />{{rp|15}} * Heidelberg Catechism (1563) * Wittenberg Catechism (1571)<ref name="rohls" />{{rp|21}}

=== Presbyterian ===

* Westminster Shorter Catechism (1649) *Westminster Larger Catechism (1649)

=== Congregationalist ===

* Spiritual Milk for Boston Babes (1656)

=== Baptist ===

* Keach's Catechism (1677)

=== Anglican ===

* Anglican Catechism (1549)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Reformed Confessions of the 16th and 17th Centuries in English Translation: Volume 1, 1523–1552 |url=https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/themelios/review/reformed-confessions-of-the-16th-and-17th-centuries-in-english-translation-volume-1-1523-1552/ |access-date=2024-03-07 |website=The Gospel Coalition |language=en-US}}</ref> ** Found within the Book of Common Prayer

== Constitutions, ordinals, and platforms of church order == [[File:The Synod of Dordrecht, Holland, Netherlands (31343788070).jpg|thumb|The Synod of Dort was convened to respond to the Remonstrants.]]These documents relate to the ecclesiastical polity of the church.

=== Continental ===

* Church Order of Dort (1618) * Ecclesiastical Ordinances (1641)<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Calvin |first1=Jean |url=http://archive.org/details/calvintheologica0000calv |title=Calvin: theological treatises |last2=Reid |first2=J. K. S. (John Kelman Sutherland) |date=1977 |publisher=Philadelphia : Westminster Press |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-664-24156-8 |pages=56–72}}</ref>

=== Presbyterian ===

* Form of Presbyterial Church Government (1645)

=== Congregationalist ===

* Cambridge Platform (1648)<ref>Walker 1894, pp. 114, 221.</ref> * Platform of Discipline of the Savoy Declaration (1658) ** Full title: ''Of the Institution of Churches, and the Order appointed in them by Jesus Christ'' * Fifteen Articles of the Saybrook Platform (1708) * Boston Platform (1865)<ref name=":0" />

== Occasional documents == [[File:Consensus Tigurinus.jpg|thumb|The ''Consensus Tigurinus'' found common ground between Calvin in Geneva and Bullinger in Zurich.]]These documents are less general in scope than a usual confession. They may confess that church's response to a theological controversy (e.g. the Canons of Dort) or seek to find common ground between discrete churches (e.g. the Consensus Tigurinus).

* Zwingli's Sixty-Seven Articles (1523)<ref name="cochrane" /> * Ten Theses of Berne (1528)<ref name="cochrane" /> * Lausanne Articles (1536)<ref name="cochrane" /> * Zurich Consensus (1549)<ref name="rohls" />{{rp|14}} * Sendomir Consensus (1570)<ref name="rohls" />{{rp|19}} * Harmony of the Confessions of Faith (1581), a response to the Lutheran Formula of Concord. * Canons of Dort (1619) * Helvetic Consensus (1675) * Conclusions of Utrecht (1905)

==References==

<references> <ref name="cochrane">{{cite book|last=Cochrane|first=Arthur C. |title=Reformed Confessions of the Sixteenth Century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8PdOggp1rN4C|year=2003|publisher=Westminster John Knox Press|isbn=978-0-664-22694-7|location=Louisville, KY }}</ref> <ref name="calvmeth">{{Cite web |url=http://www.creeds.net/cmwales/main.htm |title=Confession of Faith of the Calvinistic Methodists or the Presbyterians of Wales |access-date=November 9, 2017 |archive-date=July 27, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727183215/http://www.creeds.net/cmwales/main.htm |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref> </references> {{Reformed confessions}} {{Reformed Christianity navbox}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reformed Christian Confessions Of Faith}} Category:Reformed confessions of faith Category:Calvinist texts Category:Huguenots