Moved here

This commit is contained in:
Austin
2026-01-03 23:17:46 -06:00
commit 0f5fa3417a
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# Qt / C++ .gitignore
# Build directories
build*/
build/
cmake-build-*/
bin/
lib/
# CMake
CMakeFiles/
CMakeCache.txt
cmake_install.cmake
install_manifest.txt
compile_commands.json
# qmake / Qt Creator
*.pro.user*
*.pro.user
*.qmake.stash
*.qmake.cache
*.qtc*
*.creator.user*
*.session
# Generated by moc/uic/rcc
moc_*.cpp
qrc_*.cpp
ui_*.h
ui_*.hpp
# Object files, libraries, executables
*.o
*.obj
*.lo
*.la
*.al
*.lai
*.a
*.lib
*.so
*.dylib
*.dll
*.exe
*.out
*.app
# Debug / release artifacts
Makefile*
Makefile.Debug
Makefile.Release
*.opt
*.depend
*.dir
# IDEs / editors
.idea/
.vscode/
*.kate-swp
*.swp
*~
*.sublime-workspace
*.sublime-project
# Misc
*.log
*.tmp
*.cache
*.moc
*.gch
tags
tags.*
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cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.20)
project(Konfessio)
find_package(ECM 6.0.0 REQUIRED NO_MODULE)
set(CMAKE_MODULE_PATH ${ECM_MODULE_PATH})
include(KDEInstallDirs)
include(KDECMakeSettings)
include(KDECompilerSettings NO_POLICY_SCOPE)
include(ECMFindQmlModule)
include(ECMQmlModule)
find_package(Qt6 REQUIRED COMPONENTS
Core
Quick
Test
Gui
QuickControls2
Widgets
)
find_package(KF6 REQUIRED COMPONENTS
Kirigami
I18n
CoreAddons
QQC2DesktopStyle
IconThemes
)
ecm_find_qmlmodule(org.kde.kirigami REQUIRED)
add_subdirectory(src)
install(PROGRAMS net.reformedwitness.konfessio.desktop DESTINATION ${KDE_INSTALL_APPDIR})
feature_summary(WHAT ALL INCLUDE_QUIET_PACKAGES FATAL_ON_MISSING_REQUIRED_PACKAGES)
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# Dependencies
## Fedora 43
`sudo dnf install cmake extra-cmake-modules qt6-qtbase-devel qt6-qtdeclarative-devel qt6-qtquickcontrols2-devel kf6-kirigami-devel kf6-ki18n-devel kf6-kcoreaddons-devel kf6-qqc2-desktop-style kf6-kiconthemes-devel qt6-qt5compat-devel`
# Compiling & Installing
Change directories to the project's root folder, then run the following command in a terminal:
```bash
cmake -B build/ --install-prefix ~/.local
cmake --build build/
cmake --install build/
```
# Learning
https://develop.kde.org/docs/getting-started/kirigami/introduction-listviews/
# Creeds Included
## Biblical & Early Jewish Foundations
| Title | Year | Tradition |
|------------|------|-----------|
| Shema Yisrael | -1500 | Ancient Israelite |
| Confession of Peter | 30 | Apostolic / Biblical |
| Christian Shema | 55 | Apostolic / Biblical |
| Christ Hymn of Philippians | 60 | Apostolic / Biblical |
| Christ Hymn of Colossians | 60 | Apostolic / Biblical |
## Patristic / Early Church
| Title | Year | Tradition |
|------------|------|-----------|
| Ignatius' Creed | 110 | Patristic |
| Irenaeus' Rule of Faith | 180 | Patristic |
| Tertullian's Rule of Faith | c. 200 | Patristic |
| Gregory's Declaration of Faith | 265 | Patristic |
| Nicene Creed | 381 | Ecumenical |
| Chalcedonian Definition | 451 | Ecumenical |
| Council of Orange | 529 | Western Catholic |
| Apostles' Creed | 710 | Western Catholic |
| Athanasian Creed | 800 | Western Catholic |
| Waldensian Confession | 1120 | Proto-Reformation |
## Refomed
| Title | Year | Tradition |
|------------|------|-----------|
| Zwingli's 67 Articles | 1523 | Reformed (Swiss) |
| Ten Theses of Berne | 1528 | Reformed (Swiss) |
| Tetrapolitan Confession | 1530 | Reformed (Continental) |
| Zwingli's Fidei Ratio | 1530 | Reformed (Swiss) |
| First Confession of Basel | 1534 | Reformed (Swiss) |
| First Helvetic Confession | 1536 | Reformed (Swiss) |
| Consensus Tigurinus | 1549 | Reformed (Swiss) |
| French Confession of Faith | 1559 | Reformed (French) |
| Scots Confession | 1560 | Reformed (Scottish) |
| Belgic Confession | 1561 | Reformed (Dutch) |
| Second Helvetic Confession | 1562 | Reformed (Swiss) |
| Heidelberg Catechism | 1563 | Reformed (German/Dutch) |
| Canons of Dort | 1619 | Reformed (Dutch) |
| Helvetic Consensus | 1675 | Reformed (Scholastic) |
## Puritan / Westminster (British Reformed)
| Title | Year | Tradition |
|------------|------|-----------|
| Westminster Confession of Faith | 1647 | Reformed (Westminster) |
| Westminster Larger Catechism | 1647 | Reformed (Westminster) |
| Westminster Shorter Catechism | 1647 | Reformed (Westminster) |
| Savoy Declaration of Faith | 1658 | Puritan / Congregational |
| An Exposition of the Assemblies Catechism | 1688 | Puritan |
| Matthew Henry's Scripture Catechism | 1703 | Puritan |
| The Assembly's Shorter Catechism Explained | 1765 | Puritan |
## Baptist
| Title | Year | Tradition |
|------------|------|-----------|
| 1689 London Baptist Confession | 1677 | Reformed Baptist |
| Baptist Catechism | 1695 | Reformed Baptist |
| Keach's Catechism | 1794 | Baptist |
| Abstract of Principles | 1858 | Southern Baptist |
| Catechism For Young Children | 1840 | Baptist |
| Puritan Catechism | 1855 | Baptist / Puritan |
## Modern Evangelical
| Title | Year | Tradition |
|------------|------|-----------|
| Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy | 1978 | Evangelical |
# Acknowledgements
The source for the creeds and confessions was [Creeds.json](https://github.com/NonlinearFruit/Creeds.json/tree/master) by [NonlinearFruit](https://github.com/NonlinearFruit), [James Chen-Smith](https://github.com/jameschensmith), & [Peter Chapman](https://github.com/pmachapman). The Copyrighted material in that repo was removed to allow for the reuse of the texts.
## Removed Texts
* Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy <Copyright - Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, Inc>
* Christ Hymn of Colossians <Copyright - Crossway>
* Christ Hymn of Philippians <Copyright - Crossway>
* Christian Shema <Copyright - Crossway>
* Confession of Peter <Copyright - Crossway>
* Helvetic Consensus <Translation Copyright 1990 - Martin Klauber>
* Savoy Declaration of Faith <Copyright - Reformed Standards>
* Shema Yisrael <Copyright - Crossway>
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{
"end-of-life": "The KDE 6.9 runtime is good for at least another year. Please watch for announcements from KDE about when it will be end-of-lifed.",
"end-of-life-rebase": "org.kde.Platform/x86_64/6.10"
}
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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<component type="desktop-application">
<id>net.reformedwitness.konfessio</id>
<name>Konfessio</name>
<summary>Browser for Christian creeds and confessions</summary>
<metadata_license>CC0-1.0</metadata_license>
<project_license>GPL-3.0-or-later</project_license>
<description>
<p>
Konfessio is a desktop application that allows you to browse and read various Christian creeds, confessions, and catechisms. It provides a simple and intuitive interface for studying and comparing these historical documents.
</p>
</description>
<launchable type="desktop-id">net.reformedwitness.konfessio.desktop</launchable>
<screenshots>
<screenshot type="default">
<caption>Main window showing a confession</caption>
<image>https://raw.githubusercontent.com/reformed-witness/konfessio/master/screenshots/screenshot1.png</image>
</screenshot>
<screenshot>
<caption>Chapter selection</caption>
<image>https://raw.githubusercontent.com/reformed-witness/konfessio/master/screenshots/screenshot2.png</image>
</screenshot>
</screenshots>
<releases>
<release version="1.0.0" date="2026-01-03">
<description>
<p>Initial release of Konfessio.</p>
</description>
</release>
</releases>
<content_rating type="oars-1.1" />
<developer_name>Reformed Witness</developer_name>
<url type="homepage">https://github.com/reformed-witness/konfessio</url>
<url type="bugtracker">https://github.com/reformed-witness/konfessio/issues</url>
<url type="donation">https://github.com/sponsors/reformed-witness</url>
</component>
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[Desktop Entry]
Name=Konfessio
Name[ca]=Konfessio
Name[cs]=Konfessio
Name[eo]=Konfessio
Name[es]=Konfessio
Name[fr]=Konfessio
Name[it]=Konfessio
Name[nl]=Konfessio
Name[pt_BR]=Konfessio
Name[sl]=Konfessio
Name[sv]=Konfessio
Name[tr]=Konfessio
Name[uk]=Konfessio
Name[zh_TW]=Konfessio
Comment=Browser for Christian creeds and confessions
Comment[es]=Navegador de credos y confesiones cristianas
Comment[fr]=Navigateur de confessions et de credos chrétiens
Comment[it]=Browser di credi e confessioni cristiane
Comment[pt_BR]=Navegador de credos e confissões cristãs
Comment[de]=Browser für christliche Glaubensbekenntnisse und Konfessionen
Exec=konfessio
Icon=net.reformedwitness.konfessio
Type=Application
Terminal=false
StartupNotify=true
Categories=Education;Qt;KDE;
Binary file not shown.

After

Width:  |  Height:  |  Size: 144 KiB

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app-id: net.reformedwitness.konfessio
runtime: org.kde.Platform
runtime-version: '6.9'
sdk: org.kde.Sdk
sdk-version: '6.9'
command: konfessio
finish-args:
- --share=ipc
- --socket=fallback-x11
- --socket=wayland
- --device=dri
modules:
- name: konfessio
buildsystem: cmake
sources:
- type: git
url: https://github.com/reformed-witness/konfessio.git
commit: 79923646f990b0939b2606f52919e1e752215f66
# Install data files
post-install:
- install -d ${FLATPAK_DEST}/share/konfessio/
- cp -r src/data ${FLATPAK_DEST}/share/konfessio/
- install -Dm644 net.reformedwitness.konfessio.png ${FLATPAK_DEST}/share/icons/hicolor/128x128/apps/net.reformedwitness.konfessio.png
- install -Dm644 metainfo/net.reformedwitness.konfessio.metainfo.xml ${FLATPAK_DEST}/share/metainfo/net.reformedwitness.konfessio.metainfo.xml
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add_executable(konfessio)
ecm_add_qml_module(konfessio
URI
net.reformedwitness.konfessio
)
target_sources(konfessio
PRIVATE
main.cpp
confessionmodel.h
confessionmodel.cpp
appsettings.h
appsettings.cpp
data.qrc
)
ecm_target_qml_sources(konfessio
SOURCES
Main.qml
qml/components/StatCard.qml
qml/components/InfoPage.qml
qml/components/ChapterPage.qml
qml/components/SettingsPage.qml
)
find_package(KF5Kirigami)
target_link_libraries(konfessio
PRIVATE
Qt6::Quick
Qt6::Qml
Qt6::Gui
Qt6::QuickControls2
Qt6::Widgets
KF6::I18n
KF6::CoreAddons
KF6::IconThemes
KF6::Kirigami
)
install(TARGETS konfessio ${KDE_INSTALL_TARGETS_DEFAULT_ARGS})
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import QtQuick
import QtQuick.Controls as Controls
import QtQuick.Layouts
import org.kde.kirigami as Kirigami
import net.reformedwitness.konfessio
Kirigami.ApplicationWindow {
id: root
title: "Konfessio"
width: 1200
height: 800
property int currentChapterIndex: -1
// Layout constants for responsive content max-width
readonly property int contentMaxWidthNarrow: Kirigami.Units.gridUnit * 50 // ~800px
readonly property int contentMaxWidthWide: Kirigami.Units.gridUnit * 56 // ~900px
// Data model
ConfessionModel {
id: confessionModel
}
Component.onCompleted: {
pageStack.push(infoPageComponent, { "confessionModel": confessionModel })
}
// Keyboard shortcuts
Shortcut {
sequence: StandardKey.Find
onActivated: {
if (root.globalDrawer) {
root.globalDrawer.open()
chapterSearch.forceActiveFocus()
}
}
}
Shortcut {
sequence: "Ctrl+/"
onActivated: {
if (root.globalDrawer) {
root.globalDrawer.open()
confessionSearch.forceActiveFocus()
}
}
}
Shortcut {
sequence: "Alt+Left"
onActivated: {
if (root.currentChapterIndex > 0) {
navigateToPreviousChapter()
}
}
}
Shortcut {
sequence: "Alt+Right"
onActivated: {
if (root.currentChapterIndex < confessionModel.count - 1) {
navigateToNextChapter()
}
}
}
Shortcut {
sequence: "Ctrl+H"
onActivated: {
root.currentChapterIndex = -1
root.pageStack.clear()
root.pageStack.push(infoPageComponent, {
"confessionModel": confessionModel
})
}
}
Shortcut {
sequence: StandardKey.Preferences
onActivated: {
openSettingsPage()
}
}
function openSettingsPage() {
// Check if settings page is already open
for (let i = 0; i < root.pageStack.depth; i++) {
let page = root.pageStack.get(i)
if (page && page.title === "Settings") {
// Settings already open, just pop to it
while (root.pageStack.depth > i + 1) {
root.pageStack.pop()
}
return
}
}
// Settings not open, push it
root.pageStack.push(settingsPageComponent)
}
function navigateToPreviousChapter() {
if (currentChapterIndex > 0) {
var prevIndex = currentChapterIndex - 1
var prevChapter = confessionModel.data(confessionModel.index(prevIndex, 0), ConfessionModel.ChapterNumberRole)
var prevTitle = confessionModel.data(confessionModel.index(prevIndex, 0), ConfessionModel.ChapterTitleRole)
var prevSections = confessionModel.data(confessionModel.index(prevIndex, 0), ConfessionModel.SectionsRole)
currentChapterIndex = prevIndex
pageStack.replace(chapterPageComponent, {
"confessionModel": confessionModel,
"chapterIndex": prevIndex,
"chapterNum": prevChapter,
"chapterTitle": prevTitle,
"sections": prevSections
})
}
}
function navigateToNextChapter() {
if (currentChapterIndex < confessionModel.count - 1) {
var nextIndex = currentChapterIndex + 1
var nextChapter = confessionModel.data(confessionModel.index(nextIndex, 0), ConfessionModel.ChapterNumberRole)
var nextTitle = confessionModel.data(confessionModel.index(nextIndex, 0), ConfessionModel.ChapterTitleRole)
var nextSections = confessionModel.data(confessionModel.index(nextIndex, 0), ConfessionModel.SectionsRole)
currentChapterIndex = nextIndex
pageStack.replace(chapterPageComponent, {
"confessionModel": confessionModel,
"chapterIndex": nextIndex,
"chapterNum": nextChapter,
"chapterTitle": nextTitle,
"sections": nextSections
})
}
}
// Leftmost Sidebar (Confession selector + Chapter list)
globalDrawer: Kirigami.OverlayDrawer {
edge: Qt.LeftEdge
modal: root.width < Kirigami.Units.gridUnit * 60 // ~960px breakpoint
width: {
if (root.width < Kirigami.Units.gridUnit * 40) {
// Mobile: Full width minus margin
return Math.min(root.width - Kirigami.Units.gridUnit * 2, 320)
} else if (root.width < Kirigami.Units.gridUnit * 60) {
// Tablet: 40% of screen
return Math.min(root.width * 0.4, 400)
} else {
// Desktop: Fixed comfortable width
return 320
}
}
onModalChanged: {
if (!modal && root.currentChapterIndex >= 0) {
// On desktop, keep drawer open
open()
}
}
contentItem: ColumnLayout {
spacing: 0
anchors.fill: parent
// Header with confession selector
ColumnLayout {
Layout.fillWidth: true
Layout.leftMargin: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing
Layout.rightMargin: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing
Layout.topMargin: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing
Layout.bottomMargin: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing
spacing: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing
Kirigami.Heading {
text: "Confessions"
level: 2
}
Kirigami.SearchField {
id: confessionSearch
Layout.fillWidth: true
placeholderText: "Search confessions..."
onTextChanged: {
confessionSelector.currentIndex = -1
for (let i = 0; i < confessionModel.availableConfessions.length; i++) {
if (confessionModel.availableConfessions[i].toLowerCase().includes(text.toLowerCase())) {
confessionSelector.currentIndex = i
break
}
}
}
}
Controls.ComboBox {
id: confessionSelector
Layout.fillWidth: true
model: confessionModel.availableConfessions
currentIndex: 0
onCurrentTextChanged: {
if (currentText) {
confessionModel.currentConfession = currentText
root.currentChapterIndex = -1
chapterSearch.text = ""
root.pageStack.clear()
root.pageStack.push(infoPageComponent, {
"confessionModel": confessionModel
})
}
}
}
}
Kirigami.Separator {
Layout.fillWidth: true
}
// Chapters section
ColumnLayout {
Layout.fillWidth: true
Layout.leftMargin: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing
Layout.rightMargin: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing
Layout.topMargin: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing
spacing: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing
RowLayout {
Layout.fillWidth: true
spacing: Kirigami.Units.smallSpacing
Kirigami.Heading {
text: "Chapters"
level: 3
Layout.fillWidth: true
}
Controls.Label {
text: {
if (chapterSearch.text === "") {
return confessionModel.count
} else {
var visibleCount = 0
for (var i = 0; i < confessionModel.count; i++) {
var chapterNum = confessionModel.data(
confessionModel.index(i, 0),
ConfessionModel.ChapterNumberRole
)
var chapterTitle = confessionModel.data(
confessionModel.index(i, 0),
ConfessionModel.ChapterTitleRole
)
if (chapterTitle.toLowerCase().includes(chapterSearch.text.toLowerCase()) ||
chapterNum.toLowerCase().includes(chapterSearch.text.toLowerCase())) {
visibleCount++
}
}
return visibleCount + " / " + confessionModel.count
}
}
opacity: 0.7
font.pointSize: 9
}
}
Kirigami.SearchField {
id: chapterSearch
Layout.fillWidth: true
placeholderText: "Filter chapters..."
}
}
// Chapter list
ListView {
id: chapterListView
Layout.fillWidth: true
Layout.fillHeight: true
model: confessionModel
clip: true
currentIndex: root.currentChapterIndex
section.property: "chapterNumber"
section.criteria: ViewSection.FirstCharacter
delegate: Controls.ItemDelegate {
width: ListView.view.width
visible: chapterSearch.text === "" ||
chapterTitle.toLowerCase().includes(chapterSearch.text.toLowerCase()) ||
chapterNumber.toLowerCase().includes(chapterSearch.text.toLowerCase())
height: visible ? implicitHeight : 0
highlighted: root.currentChapterIndex === index
hoverEnabled: true
leftPadding: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing
rightPadding: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing
topPadding: Kirigami.Units.smallSpacing
bottomPadding: Kirigami.Units.smallSpacing
background: Rectangle {
color: {
if (root.currentChapterIndex === index) {
return Qt.rgba(Kirigami.Theme.highlightColor.r,
Kirigami.Theme.highlightColor.g,
Kirigami.Theme.highlightColor.b, 0.3)
} else if (parent.pressed) {
return Qt.rgba(Kirigami.Theme.highlightColor.r,
Kirigami.Theme.highlightColor.g,
Kirigami.Theme.highlightColor.b, 0.2)
} else if (parent.hovered) {
return Qt.rgba(Kirigami.Theme.highlightColor.r,
Kirigami.Theme.highlightColor.g,
Kirigami.Theme.highlightColor.b, 0.1)
} else {
return "transparent"
}
}
radius: Kirigami.Units.smallSpacing
}
contentItem: RowLayout {
spacing: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing
Rectangle {
Layout.preferredWidth: 4
Layout.preferredHeight: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing * 2
radius: 2
color: Kirigami.Theme.highlightColor
visible: root.currentChapterIndex === index
}
ColumnLayout {
Layout.fillWidth: true
spacing: Kirigami.Units.smallSpacing / 2
Controls.Label {
text: chapterNumber
font.bold: true
font.pointSize: root.currentChapterIndex === index ? 10 : 9
opacity: root.currentChapterIndex === index ? 1.0 : 0.7
color: root.currentChapterIndex === index ? Kirigami.Theme.highlightColor : Kirigami.Theme.textColor
}
Controls.Label {
Layout.fillWidth: true
text: chapterTitle
elide: Text.ElideRight
wrapMode: Text.WordWrap
maximumLineCount: 2
font.pointSize: root.currentChapterIndex === index ? 11 : 10
font.weight: root.currentChapterIndex === index ? Font.DemiBold : Font.Normal
color: root.currentChapterIndex === index ? Kirigami.Theme.textColor : Kirigami.Theme.textColor
}
}
}
onClicked: {
root.currentChapterIndex = index
root.pageStack.clear()
root.pageStack.push(chapterPageComponent, {
"confessionModel": confessionModel,
"chapterIndex": index,
"chapterNum": chapterNumber,
"chapterTitle": chapterTitle,
"sections": sections
})
// Auto-close drawer on mobile
if (root.globalDrawer && root.globalDrawer.modal) {
root.globalDrawer.close()
}
}
}
}
// Settings button at bottom
Kirigami.Separator {
Layout.fillWidth: true
}
Controls.ItemDelegate {
Layout.fillWidth: true
Layout.margins: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing
icon.name: "settings-configure"
text: "Settings"
hoverEnabled: true
background: Rectangle {
color: {
if (parent.pressed) {
return Qt.rgba(Kirigami.Theme.highlightColor.r,
Kirigami.Theme.highlightColor.g,
Kirigami.Theme.highlightColor.b, 0.2)
} else if (parent.hovered) {
return Qt.rgba(Kirigami.Theme.highlightColor.r,
Kirigami.Theme.highlightColor.g,
Kirigami.Theme.highlightColor.b, 0.1)
} else {
return "transparent"
}
}
radius: Kirigami.Units.smallSpacing
}
onClicked: {
root.openSettingsPage()
}
}
}
}
// Main Content Area - Start with info page
Component {
id: infoPageComponent
InfoPage {
confessionModel: root.confessionModel
}
}
Component {
id: chapterPageComponent
ChapterPage {
confessionModel: root.confessionModel
onNavigateToPrevious: {
root.navigateToPreviousChapter()
}
onNavigateToNext: {
root.navigateToNextChapter()
}
}
}
Component {
id: settingsPageComponent
SettingsPage {
fontSize: AppSettings.fontSize
showSectionHeaders: AppSettings.showSectionHeaders
onSettingsChanged: {
AppSettings.fontSize = fontSize
AppSettings.showSectionHeaders = showSectionHeaders
}
}
}
}
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#include "appsettings.h"
using namespace Qt::StringLiterals;
AppSettings::AppSettings(QObject *parent)
: QObject(parent)
, m_settings(u"reformedwitness"_s, u"Konfessio"_s)
, m_fontSize(12)
, m_showSectionHeaders(true)
{
loadSettings();
}
int AppSettings::fontSize() const
{
return m_fontSize;
}
void AppSettings::setFontSize(int size)
{
if (m_fontSize == size)
return;
m_fontSize = size;
saveSettings();
Q_EMIT fontSizeChanged();
}
bool AppSettings::showSectionHeaders() const
{
return m_showSectionHeaders;
}
void AppSettings::setShowSectionHeaders(bool show)
{
if (m_showSectionHeaders == show)
return;
m_showSectionHeaders = show;
saveSettings();
Q_EMIT showSectionHeadersChanged();
}
void AppSettings::reset()
{
setFontSize(12);
setShowSectionHeaders(true);
}
void AppSettings::loadSettings()
{
m_fontSize = m_settings.value(u"Reading/fontSize"_s, 12).toInt();
m_showSectionHeaders = m_settings.value(u"Reading/showSectionHeaders"_s, true).toBool();
// Clamp font size to valid range
if (m_fontSize < 8) m_fontSize = 8;
if (m_fontSize > 20) m_fontSize = 20;
}
void AppSettings::saveSettings()
{
m_settings.setValue(u"Reading/fontSize"_s, m_fontSize);
m_settings.setValue(u"Reading/showSectionHeaders"_s, m_showSectionHeaders);
m_settings.sync();
}
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#pragma once
#include <QObject>
#include <QSettings>
class AppSettings : public QObject
{
Q_OBJECT
Q_PROPERTY(int fontSize READ fontSize WRITE setFontSize NOTIFY fontSizeChanged)
Q_PROPERTY(bool showSectionHeaders READ showSectionHeaders WRITE setShowSectionHeaders NOTIFY showSectionHeadersChanged)
public:
explicit AppSettings(QObject *parent = nullptr);
int fontSize() const;
void setFontSize(int size);
bool showSectionHeaders() const;
void setShowSectionHeaders(bool show);
Q_INVOKABLE void reset();
Q_SIGNALS:
void fontSizeChanged();
void showSectionHeadersChanged();
private:
QSettings m_settings;
int m_fontSize;
bool m_showSectionHeaders;
void loadSettings();
void saveSettings();
};
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#include "confessionmodel.h"
#include <QFile>
#include <QJsonArray>
#include <QJsonDocument>
#include <QJsonObject>
#include <QDebug>
#include <QStandardPaths>
#include <QDir>
using namespace Qt::StringLiterals;
ConfessionModel::ConfessionModel(QObject *parent)
: QAbstractListModel(parent)
{
// Map display names to file paths - try local files first for development
QDir dataDir(u"src/data"_s);
bool useLocalFiles = dataDir.exists();
auto addConfession = [&](const QString &title, const QString &filename) {
if (useLocalFiles) {
m_confessionFiles[title] = dataDir.absoluteFilePath(filename);
} else {
m_confessionFiles[title] = u":/data/"_s + filename;
}
};
// Biblical & Early Jewish Foundations
addConfession(u"Shema Yisrael"_s, u"shema_yisrael.json"_s);
addConfession(u"Confession of Peter"_s, u"confession_of_peter.json"_s);
addConfession(u"Christian Shema"_s, u"christian_shema.json"_s);
addConfession(u"Christ Hymn of Philippians"_s, u"christ_hymn_of_philippians.json"_s);
addConfession(u"Christ Hymn of Colossians"_s, u"christ_hymn_of_colossians.json"_s);
// Patristic / Early Church
addConfession(u"Ignatius' Creed"_s, u"ignatius_creed.json"_s);
addConfession(u"Irenaeus' Rule of Faith"_s, u"irenaeus_rule_of_faith.json"_s);
addConfession(u"Tertullian's Rule of Faith"_s, u"tertullians_rule_of_faith.json"_s);
addConfession(u"Gregory's Declaration of Faith"_s, u"gregorys_declaration_of_faith.json"_s);
addConfession(u"Nicene Creed"_s, u"nicene_creed.json"_s);
addConfession(u"Chalcedonian Definition"_s, u"chalcedonian_definition.json"_s);
addConfession(u"Council of Orange"_s, u"council_of_orange.json"_s);
addConfession(u"Apostles' Creed"_s, u"apostles_creed.json"_s);
addConfession(u"Athanasian Creed"_s, u"athanasian_creed.json"_s);
addConfession(u"Waldensian Confession"_s, u"waldensian_confession.json"_s);
// Reformed
addConfession(u"Zwingli's 67 Articles"_s, u"zwinglis_67_articles.json"_s);
addConfession(u"Ten Theses of Berne"_s, u"ten_theses_of_berne.json"_s);
addConfession(u"Tetrapolitan Confession"_s, u"tetrapolitan_confession.json"_s);
addConfession(u"Zwingli's Fidei Ratio"_s, u"zwinglis_fidei_ratio.json"_s);
addConfession(u"First Confession of Basel"_s, u"first_confession_of_basel.json"_s);
addConfession(u"First Helvetic Confession"_s, u"first_helvetic_confession.json"_s);
addConfession(u"Consensus Tigurinus"_s, u"consensus_tigurinus.json"_s);
addConfession(u"French Confession of Faith"_s, u"french_confession_of_faith.json"_s);
addConfession(u"Scots Confession"_s, u"scots_confession.json"_s);
addConfession(u"Belgic Confession"_s, u"belgic_confession_of_faith.json"_s);
addConfession(u"Second Helvetic Confession"_s, u"second_helvetic_confession.json"_s);
addConfession(u"Heidelberg Catechism"_s, u"heidelberg_catechism.json"_s);
addConfession(u"Canons of Dort"_s, u"canons_of_dort.json"_s);
addConfession(u"Helvetic Consensus"_s, u"helvetic_consensus.json"_s);
// Puritan / Westminster (British Reformed)
addConfession(u"Westminster Confession of Faith"_s, u"westminster_confession_of_faith.json"_s);
addConfession(u"Westminster Larger Catechism"_s, u"westminster_larger_catechism.json"_s);
addConfession(u"Westminster Shorter Catechism"_s, u"westminster_shorter_catechism.json"_s);
addConfession(u"Savoy Declaration of Faith"_s, u"savoy_declaration.json"_s);
addConfession(u"An Exposition of the Assemblies Catechism"_s, u"exposition_of_the_assemblies_catechism.json"_s);
addConfession(u"Matthew Henry's Scripture Catechism"_s, u"matthew_henrys_scripture_catechism.json"_s);
addConfession(u"The Assembly's Shorter Catechism Explained"_s, u"shorter_catechism_explained.json"_s);
// Baptist
addConfession(u"1689 London Baptist Confession"_s, u"london_baptist_1689.json"_s);
addConfession(u"1695 Baptist Catechism"_s, u"1695_baptist_catechism.json"_s);
addConfession(u"Keach's Catechism"_s, u"keachs_catechism.json"_s);
addConfession(u"Abstract of Principles"_s, u"abstract_of_principles.json"_s);
addConfession(u"Catechism For Young Children"_s, u"catechism_for_young_children.json"_s);
addConfession(u"Puritan Catechism"_s, u"puritan_catechism.json"_s);
// Modern Evangelical
addConfession(u"Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy"_s, u"chicago_statement_on_biblical_inerrancy.json"_s);
// Load first confession by default
if (!m_confessionFiles.isEmpty()) {
setCurrentConfession(m_confessionFiles.firstKey());
}
}
int ConfessionModel::rowCount(const QModelIndex &parent) const
{
if (parent.isValid())
return 0;
return m_data.chapters.count();
}
QVariant ConfessionModel::data(const QModelIndex &index, int role) const
{
if (!index.isValid() || index.row() >= m_data.chapters.count())
return QVariant();
const Chapter &chapter = m_data.chapters.at(index.row());
switch (role) {
case ChapterNumberRole:
return chapter.chapter;
case ChapterTitleRole:
return chapter.title;
case SectionsRole: {
QVariantList sectionsList;
for (const Section &section : chapter.sections) {
QVariantMap sectionMap;
sectionMap[u"section"_s] = section.section;
sectionMap[u"content"_s] = section.content;
sectionsList.append(sectionMap);
}
return sectionsList;
}
}
return QVariant();
}
QHash<int, QByteArray> ConfessionModel::roleNames() const
{
QHash<int, QByteArray> roles;
roles[ChapterNumberRole] = "chapterNumber";
roles[ChapterTitleRole] = "chapterTitle";
roles[SectionsRole] = "sections";
return roles;
}
QString ConfessionModel::currentConfession() const
{
return m_currentConfession;
}
void ConfessionModel::setCurrentConfession(const QString &confession)
{
if (m_currentConfession == confession)
return;
if (!m_confessionFiles.contains(confession)) {
qWarning() << "Unknown confession:" << confession;
return;
}
QString filePath = m_confessionFiles[confession];
if (loadConfession(filePath)) {
m_currentConfession = confession;
Q_EMIT currentConfessionChanged();
}
}
QVariantMap ConfessionModel::metadata() const
{
return m_data.metadata;
}
QStringList ConfessionModel::availableConfessions() const
{
return m_confessionFiles.keys();
}
bool ConfessionModel::loadConfession(const QString &filePath)
{
QFile file(filePath);
if (!file.open(QIODevice::ReadOnly)) {
qWarning() << "Could not open file:" << filePath << file.errorString();
return false;
}
QByteArray data = file.readAll();
file.close();
QJsonDocument doc = QJsonDocument::fromJson(data);
if (!doc.isObject()) {
qWarning() << "Invalid JSON in file:" << filePath;
return false;
}
QJsonObject root = doc.object();
beginResetModel();
m_data.chapters.clear();
// Parse metadata
QJsonObject metadataObj = root[u"Metadata"_s].toObject();
m_data.metadata.clear();
m_data.metadata[u"title"_s] = metadataObj[u"Title"_s].toString();
m_data.metadata[u"year"_s] = metadataObj[u"Year"_s].toString();
m_data.metadata[u"location"_s] = metadataObj[u"Location"_s].toString();
m_data.metadata[u"originalLanguage"_s] = metadataObj[u"OriginalLanguage"_s].toString();
m_data.metadata[u"creedFormat"_s] = metadataObj[u"CreedFormat"_s].toString();
QJsonArray authorsArray = metadataObj[u"Authors"_s].toArray();
QStringList authorsList;
for (const QJsonValue &author : authorsArray) {
authorsList.append(author.toString());
}
m_data.metadata[u"authors"_s] = authorsList;
// Parse chapters - handle different JSON structures
QJsonValue dataValue = root[u"Data"_s];
if (dataValue.isArray()) {
QJsonArray dataArray = dataValue.toArray();
for (int i = 0; i < dataArray.size(); ++i) {
QJsonObject item = dataArray.at(i).toObject();
Chapter chapter;
// Check if this is a catechism format (Question/Answer)
if (item.contains(u"Question"_s)) {
// Catechism format: Number, Question, Answer
chapter.chapter = item[u"Number"_s].toVariant().toString();
chapter.title = item[u"Question"_s].toString();
Section section;
section.section = u"1"_s;
section.content = item[u"Answer"_s].toString();
chapter.sections.append(section);
}
// Check if this is a chapter/section format
else if (item.contains(u"Sections"_s)) {
chapter.chapter = item[u"Chapter"_s].toString();
chapter.title = item[u"Title"_s].toString();
QJsonArray sections = item[u"Sections"_s].toArray();
for (const QJsonValue &sectionValue : sections) {
QJsonObject sectionObj = sectionValue.toObject();
Section section;
section.section = sectionObj[u"Section"_s].toString();
section.content = sectionObj[u"Content"_s].toString();
chapter.sections.append(section);
}
}
// Fallback for simple chapter format
else {
chapter.chapter = item[u"Chapter"_s].toString();
chapter.title = item[u"Title"_s].toString();
// Create a single section with content if available
if (item.contains(u"Content"_s)) {
Section section;
section.section = u"1"_s;
section.content = item[u"Content"_s].toString();
chapter.sections.append(section);
}
}
m_data.chapters.append(chapter);
}
}
// Handle simple creed format where Data is just an object with Content
else if (dataValue.isObject()) {
QJsonObject dataObj = dataValue.toObject();
Chapter chapter;
chapter.chapter = u"1"_s;
chapter.title = m_data.metadata[u"title"_s].toString();
Section section;
section.section = u"1"_s;
section.content = dataObj[u"Content"_s].toString();
chapter.sections.append(section);
m_data.chapters.append(chapter);
}
endResetModel();
Q_EMIT metadataChanged();
Q_EMIT countChanged();
return true;
}
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#pragma once
#include <QAbstractListModel>
#include <QJsonObject>
#include <QObject>
#include <QString>
#include <QVariantMap>
#include <QVector>
struct Section {
QString section;
QString content;
};
struct Chapter {
QString chapter;
QString title;
QVector<Section> sections;
};
struct ConfessionData {
QVariantMap metadata;
QVector<Chapter> chapters;
};
class ConfessionModel : public QAbstractListModel
{
Q_OBJECT
Q_PROPERTY(QString currentConfession READ currentConfession WRITE setCurrentConfession NOTIFY currentConfessionChanged)
Q_PROPERTY(QVariantMap metadata READ metadata NOTIFY metadataChanged)
Q_PROPERTY(QStringList availableConfessions READ availableConfessions CONSTANT)
Q_PROPERTY(int count READ rowCount NOTIFY countChanged)
public:
enum ConfessionRoles {
ChapterNumberRole = Qt::UserRole + 1,
ChapterTitleRole,
SectionsRole
};
Q_ENUM(ConfessionRoles)
explicit ConfessionModel(QObject *parent = nullptr);
int rowCount(const QModelIndex &parent = QModelIndex()) const override;
QVariant data(const QModelIndex &index, int role = Qt::DisplayRole) const override;
QHash<int, QByteArray> roleNames() const override;
QString currentConfession() const;
void setCurrentConfession(const QString &confession);
QVariantMap metadata() const;
QStringList availableConfessions() const;
Q_SIGNALS:
void currentConfessionChanged();
void metadataChanged();
void countChanged();
private:
bool loadConfession(const QString &filePath);
QString m_currentConfession;
ConfessionData m_data;
QMap<QString, QString> m_confessionFiles;
};
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<RCC>
<qresource prefix="/">
<file>data/1695_baptist_catechism.json</file>
<file>data/abstract_of_principles.json</file>
<file>data/apostles_creed.json</file>
<file>data/athanasian_creed.json</file>
<file>data/belgic_confession_of_faith.json</file>
<file>data/canons_of_dort.json</file>
<file>data/catechism_for_young_children.json</file>
<file>data/chalcedonian_definition.json</file>
<file>data/chicago_statement_on_biblical_inerrancy.json</file>
<file>data/christ_hymn_of_colossians.json</file>
<file>data/christ_hymn_of_philippians.json</file>
<file>data/christian_shema.json</file>
<file>data/confession_of_peter.json</file>
<file>data/consensus_tigurinus.json</file>
<file>data/council_of_orange.json</file>
<file>data/exposition_of_the_assemblies_catechism.json</file>
<file>data/first_confession_of_basel.json</file>
<file>data/first_helvetic_confession.json</file>
<file>data/french_confession_of_faith.json</file>
<file>data/gregorys_declaration_of_faith.json</file>
<file>data/heidelberg_catechism.json</file>
<file>data/helvetic_consensus.json</file>
<file>data/ignatius_creed.json</file>
<file>data/irenaeus_rule_of_faith.json</file>
<file>data/keachs_catechism.json</file>
<file>data/london_baptist_1689.json</file>
<file>data/matthew_henrys_scripture_catechism.json</file>
<file>data/nicene_creed.json</file>
<file>data/puritan_catechism.json</file>
<file>data/savoy_declaration.json</file>
<file>data/scots_confession.json</file>
<file>data/second_helvetic_confession.json</file>
<file>data/shema_yisrael.json</file>
<file>data/shorter_catechism_explained.json</file>
<file>data/ten_theses_of_berne.json</file>
<file>data/tertullians_rule_of_faith.json</file>
<file>data/tetrapolitan_confession.json</file>
<file>data/waldensian_confession.json</file>
<file>data/westminster_confession_of_faith.json</file>
<file>data/westminster_larger_catechism.json</file>
<file>data/westminster_shorter_catechism.json</file>
<file>data/zwinglis_67_articles.json</file>
<file>data/zwinglis_fidei_ratio.json</file>
</qresource>
</RCC>
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{
"Metadata": {
"Title": "Abstract of Principles",
"AlternativeTitles": [
"Abstract"
],
"Year": "1858",
"Authors": [
"Basil Manly, Jr",
"James P. Boyce",
"John Broadus",
"E.T. Winkler",
"William Williams"
],
"Location": "Louisville, Kentucky",
"OriginalLanguage": "English",
"OriginStory": "After the idea to found a seminary caught on among Southern Baptists in the late 1850s, Boyce called on his fellow Princetonian Basil Manly, Jr. to draw up the \"Abstract of Principles,\" as Boyce termed it, in 1857. Manly, Jr. and Boyce shared a mind on the necessity of such a statement. Manly took up the task with vested diligence, working for much of the spring of 1858 on the document.\n\nWhen he had authored in draft form the twenty articles that comprised the Abstract, Manly presented his work to the SBC Committee charged with formation of the statement. The group met in May 1858 at the Plan of Organization meeting in Greenville prior to the main Convention meeting. For five intensive days, Manly, Boyce, John Broadus, E.T. Winkler, and William Williams hammered out the document, working from the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith, the Westminster Confession, the Philadelphia Confession, and the 1833 New Hampshire Confession. Manly later remembered the occasion with fondness: \"Those were memorable days to some at least of those who engaged in them. In the freedom of brotherly discussion, in the warmth occasioned by the contact and collision of ideas of the younger and the older, there was keen stimulus to thought. Every great topic in theology was handled earnestly, freely, and yet reverently.\" Following the revision sessions, the committee commended the reworked document to the convention. In 1858, a year before Southern opened its doors, the convention accepted the Abstract and instituted it as the seminary's official creed.",
"SourceUrl": "https://www.sbts.edu/about/abstract/",
"SourceAttribution": "Public Domain",
"CreedFormat": "Canon"
},
"Data": [
{
"Article": "1",
"Title": "I. The Scriptures",
"Content": "The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments were given by inspiration of God, and are the only sufficient, certain and authoritative rule of all saving knowledge, faith and obedience."
},
{
"Article": "2",
"Title": "II. God",
"Content": "There is but one God, the Maker, Preserver and Ruler of all things, having in and of Himself, all perfections, and being infinite in them all; and to Him all creatures owe the highest love, reverence and obedience."
},
{
"Article": "3",
"Title": "III. The Trinity",
"Content": "God is revealed to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit each with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence or being."
},
{
"Article": "4",
"Title": "IV. Providence",
"Content": "God from eternity, decrees or permits all things that come to pass, and perpetually upholds, directs and governs all creatures and all events; yet so as not in any wise to be the author or approver of sin nor to destroy the free will and responsibility of intelligent creatures."
},
{
"Article": "5",
"Title": "V. Election",
"Content": "Election is God's eternal choice of some persons unto everlasting life-not because of foreseen merit in them, but of His mere mercy in Christ-in consequence of which choice they are called, justified and glorified."
},
{
"Article": "6",
"Title": "VI. The Fall of Man",
"Content": "God originally created Man in His own image, and free from sin; but, through the temptation of Satan, he transgressed the command of God, and fell from his original holiness and righteousness; whereby his posterity inherit a nature corrupt and wholly opposed to God and His law, are under condemnation, and as soon as they are capable of moral action, become actual transgressors."
},
{
"Article": "7",
"Title": "VII. The Mediator",
"Content": "Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, is the divinely appointed mediator between God and man. Having taken upon Himself human nature, yet without sin, He perfectly fulfilled the law; suffered and died upon the cross for the salvation of sinners. He was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended to His Father, at whose right hand He ever liveth to make intercession for His people. He is the only Mediator, the Prophet, Priest and King of the Church, and Sovereign of the Universe."
},
{
"Article": "8",
"Title": "VIII. Regeneration",
"Content": "Regeneration is a change of heart, wrought by the Holy Spirit, who quickeneth the dead in trespasses and sins enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the Word of God, and renewing their whole nature, so that they love and practice holiness. It is a work of God's free and special grace alone."
},
{
"Article": "9",
"Title": "IX. Repentance",
"Content": "Repentance is an evangelical grace, wherein a person being by the Holy Spirit, made sensible of the manifold evil of his sin, humbleth himself for it, with godly sorrow, detestation of it, and self-abhorrence, with a purpose and endeavor to walk before God so as to please Him in all things."
},
{
"Article": "10",
"Title": "X. Faith",
"Content": "Saving faith is the belief, on God's authority, of whatsoever is revealed in His Word concerning Christ; accepting and resting upon Him alone for justification and eternal life. It is wrought in the heart by the Holy Spirit, and is accompanied by all other saving graces, and leads to a life of holiness."
},
{
"Article": "11",
"Title": "XI. Justification",
"Content": "Justification is God's gracious and full acquittal of sinners, who believe in Christ, from all sin, through the satisfaction that Christ has made; not for anything wrought in them or done by them; but on account of the obedience and satisfaction of Christ, they receiving and resting on Him and His righteousness by faith."
},
{
"Article": "12",
"Title": "XII. Sanctification",
"Content": "Those who have been regenerated are also sanctified by God's word and Spirit dwelling in them. This sanctification is progressive through the supply of Divine strength, which all saints seek to obtain, pressing after a heavenly life in cordial obedience to all Christ's commands."
},
{
"Article": "13",
"Title": "XIII. Perseverance of the Saints",
"Content": "Those whom God hath accepted in the Beloved, and sanctified by His Spirit, will never totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere to the end; and though they may fall through neglect and temptation, into sin, whereby they grieve the Spirit, impair their graces and comforts, bring reproach on the Church, and temporal judgments on themselves, yet they shall be renewed again unto repentance, and be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation."
},
{
"Article": "14",
"Title": "XIV. The Church",
"Content": "The Lord Jesus is the head of the Church, which is composed of all His true disciples, and in Him is invested supremely all power for its government. According to His commandment, Christians are to associate themselves into particular societies or churches; and to each of these churches He hath given needful authority for administering that order, discipline and worship which He hath appointed. The regular officers of a Church are Bishops or Elders, and Deacons."
},
{
"Article": "15",
"Title": "XV. Baptism",
"Content": "Baptism is an ordinance of the Lord Jesus, obligatory upon every believer, wherein he is immersed in water in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, as a sign of his fellowship with the death and resurrection of Christ, of remission of sins, and of giving himself up to God, to live and walk in newness of life. It is prerequisite to church fellowship, and to participation in the Lord's Supper."
},
{
"Article": "16",
"Title": "XVI. The Lord's Supper",
"Content": "The Lord's Supper is an ordinance of Jesus Christ, to be administered with the elements of bread and wine, and to be observed by His churches till the end of the world. It is in no sense a sacrifice, but is designed to commemorate His death, to confirm the faith and other graces of Christians, and to be a bond, pledge and renewal of their communion with Him, and of their church fellowship."
},
{
"Article": "17",
"Title": "XVII. The Lord's Day",
"Content": "The Lord's Day is a Christian institution for regular observance, and should be employed in exercises of worship and spiritual devotion, both public and private, resting from worldly employments and amusements, works of necessity and mercy only excepted."
},
{
"Article": "18",
"Title": "XVIII. Liberty of Conscience",
"Content": "God alone is Lord of the conscience; and He hath left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men, which are in anything contrary to His word, or not contained in it. Civil magistrates being ordained of God, subjection in all lawful things commanded by them ought to be yielded by us in the Lord, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake."
},
{
"Article": "19",
"Title": "XIX. The Resurrection",
"Content": "The bodies of men after death return to dust, but their spirits return immediately to God-the righteous to rest with Him; the wicked, to be reserved under darkness to the judgment. At the last day, the bodies of all the dead, both just and unjust, will be raised."
},
{
"Article": "20",
"Title": "XX. The Judgment",
"Content": "God hath appointed a day, wherein He will judge the world by Jesus Christ, when every one shall receive according to his deeds; the wicked shall go into everlasting punishment; the righteous, into everlasting life."
}
]
}
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{
"Metadata": {
"Title": "Apostles' Creed",
"AlternativeTitles": [
"Apostolic Creed",
"Symbol of the Apostles"
],
"Year": "710",
"Authors": [],
"Location": null,
"OriginalLanguage": "Latin",
"OriginStory": "The title Symbolum Apostolicum (Symbol or Creed of the Apostles) appears for the first time in a letter, probably written by Ambrose, from a Council in Milan to Pope Siricius in about AD 390. The earliest appearance of what we know as the Apostles' Creed was in the De singulis libris canonicis scarapsus ('Excerpt from Individual Canonical Books') of St. Pirminius, written between 710 and 714.",
"SourceUrl": "https://www.crcna.org/welcome/beliefs/creeds/apostles-creed",
"SourceAttribution": "Public Domain",
"CreedFormat": "Creed"
},
"Data": {
"Content": "I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.\n\nI believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come to judge the living and the dead.\n\nI believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen."
}
}
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{
"Metadata": {
"Title": "Athanasian Creed",
"AlternativeTitles": [],
"Year": "800",
"Authors": [],
"Location": null,
"OriginalLanguage": "Latin",
"OriginStory": "The oldest surviving manuscripts of the Athanasian Creed date from the late 8th century",
"SourceUrl": "https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Athanasian_Creed",
"SourceAttribution": "Public Domain",
"CreedFormat": "Creed"
},
"Data": {
"Content": "Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the catholic faith. Which faith unless every one do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly. And the catholic faith is this: that we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity; neither confounding the Persons, nor dividing the Essence. For there is one Person of the Father; another of the Son; and another of the Holy Ghost. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, is all one; the Glory equal, the Majesty coeternal. Such as the Father is; such is the Son; and such is the Holy Ghost. The Father uncreated; the Son uncreated; and the Holy Ghost uncreated. The Father unlimited; the Son unlimited; and the Holy Ghost unlimited. The Father eternal; the Son eternal; and the Holy Ghost eternal. And yet they are not three eternals; but one eternal. As also there are not three uncreated; nor three infinites, but one uncreated; and one infinite. So likewise the Father is Almighty; the Son Almighty; and the Holy Ghost Almighty. And yet they are not three Almighties; but one Almighty. So the Father is God; the Son is God; and the Holy Ghost is God. And yet they are not three Gods; but one God. So likewise the Father is Lord; the Son Lord; and the Holy Ghost Lord. And yet not three Lords; but one Lord. For like as we are compelled by the Christian verity; to acknowledge every Person by himself to be God and Lord; So are we forbidden by the catholic religion; to say, There are three Gods, or three Lords. The Father is made of none; neither created, nor begotten. The Son is of the Father alone; not made, nor created; but begotten. The Holy Ghost is of the Father and of the Son; neither made, nor created, nor begotten; but proceeding. So there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Ghost, not three Holy Ghosts. And in this Trinity none is before, or after another; none is greater, or less than another. But the whole three Persons are coeternal, and coequal. So that in all things, as aforesaid; the Unity in Trinity, and the Trinity in Unity, is to be worshipped. He therefore that will be saved, let him thus think of the Trinity.\n\nFurthermore it is necessary to everlasting salvation; that he also believe faithfully the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the right Faith is, that we believe and confess; that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man; God, of the Essence of the Father; begotten before the worlds; and Man, of the Essence of his Mother, born in the world. Perfect God; and perfect Man, of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting. Equal to the Father, as touching his Godhead; and inferior to the Father as touching his Manhood. Who although he is God and Man; yet he is not two, but one Christ. One; not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh; but by assumption of the Manhood by God. One altogether; not by confusion of Essence; but by unity of Person. For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man; so God and Man is one Christ; Who suffered for our salvation; descended into hell; rose again the third day from the dead. He ascended into heaven, he sitteth on the right hand of the God the Father Almighty, from whence he will come to judge the living and the dead. At whose coming all men will rise again with their bodies; And shall give account for their own works. And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting; and they that have done evil, into everlasting fire. This is the catholic faith; which except a man believe truly and firmly, he cannot be saved."
}
}
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{
"Metadata": {
"Title": "Belgic Confession",
"AlternativeTitles": [
"Belgic Confession of Faith"
],
"Year": "1561",
"Authors": [
"Guido de Bres"
],
"Location": "Low Countries",
"OriginalLanguage": "French",
"OriginStory": "First printed in 1561 at Rouen, it was revised at a synod in Antwerp in 1566",
"SourceUrl": "http://apostles-creed.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/belgic_confession.pdf",
"SourceAttribution": "Public Domain",
"CreedFormat": "Canon"
},
"Data": [
{
"Article": "1",
"Title": "The Only God",
"Content": "We all believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths that there is a single and simple spiritual being, whom we call God- eternal, incomprehensible, invisible, unchangeable, infinite, almighty; completely wise, just, and good, and the overflowing source of all good."
},
{
"Article": "2",
"Title": "The Means by Which We Know God",
"Content": "We know God by two means: First, by the creation, preservation, and government of the universe, since that universe is before our eyes like a beautiful book in which all creatures, great and small, are as letters to make us ponder the invisible things of God: God's eternal power and divinity, as the apostle Paul says in Romans 1:20. All these things are enough to convict humans and to leave them without excuse. Second, God makes himself known to us more clearly by his holy and divine Word, as much as we need in this life, for God's glory and for our salvation."
},
{
"Article": "3",
"Title": "The Written Word of God",
"Content": "We confess that this Word of God was not sent nor delivered \"by human will,\" but that \"men and women moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God,\" as Peter says. (2 Pet. 1:21) Afterward our God- with special care for us and our salvation- commanded his servants, the prophets and apostles, to commit this revealed Word to writing. God, with his own finger, wrote the two tables of the law. Therefore we call such writings holy and divine Scriptures."
},
{
"Article": "4",
"Title": "The Canonical Books",
"Content": "We include in the Holy Scripture the two volumes of the Old and New Testaments. They are canonical books with which there can be no quarrel at all. In the church of God the list is as follows: In the Old Testament, the five books of Moses- Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy; the books of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth; the two books of Samuel, and two of Kings; the two books of Chronicles, called Paralipomenon; the first book of Ezra; Nehemiah, Esther, Job; the Psalms of David; the three books of Solomon- Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song; the four major prophets- Isaiah, Jeremiah*, Ezekiel, Daniel; and then the other twelve minor prophets- Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi. In the New Testament, the four gospels- Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John; the Acts of the Apostles; the fourteen letters of Paul- to the Romans; the two letters to the Corinthians; to the Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians; the two letters to the Thessalonians; the two letters to Timothy; to Titus, Philemon, and to the Hebrews; the seven letters of the other apostles- one of James; two of Peter; three of John; one of Jude; and the Revelation of the apostle John. * \"Jeremiah\" here includes the Book of Lamentations as well as the Book of Jeremiah."
},
{
"Article": "5",
"Title": "The Authority of Scripture",
"Content": "We receive all these books and these only as holy and canonical, for the regulating, founding, and establishing of our faith. And we believe without a doubt all things contained in them- not so much because the church receives and approves them as such but above all because the Holy Spirit testifies in our hearts that they are from God, and also because they prove themselves to be from God. For even the blind themselves are able to see that the things predicted in them do happen."
},
{
"Article": "6",
"Title": "The Difference Between Canonical and Apocryphal Books",
"Content": "We distinguish between these holy books and the apocryphal ones, which are the third and fourth books of Esdras; the books of Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Jesus Sirach, Baruch; what was added to the Story of Esther; the Song of the Three Children in the Furnace; the Story of Susannah; the Story of Bel and the Dragon; the Prayer of Manasseh; and the two books of Maccabees. The church may certainly read these books and learn from them as far as they agree with the canonical books. But they do not have such power and virtue that one could confirm from their testimony any point of faith or of the Christian religion. Much less can they detract from the authority of the other holy books."
},
{
"Article": "7",
"Title": "The Sufficiency of Scripture",
"Content": "We believe that this Holy Scripture contains the will of God completely and that everything one must believe to be saved is sufficiently taught in it. For since the entire manner of service which God requires of us is described in it at great length, no one- even an apostle or an angel from heaven, as Paul says- (Gal. 1:8) ought to teach other than what the Holy Scriptures have already taught us. For since it is forbidden to add to the Word of God, or take anything away from it, (Deut. 12:32, Rev. 22:18-19) it is plainly demonstrated that the teaching is perfect and complete in all respects. Therefore we must not consider human writings- no matter how holy their authors may have been- equal to the divine writings; nor may we put custom, nor the majority, nor age, nor the passage of times or persons, nor councils, decrees, or official decisions above the truth of God, for truth is above everything else. For all human beings are liars by nature and more vain than vanity itself. Therefore we reject with all our hearts everything that does not agree with this infallible rule, as we are taught to do by the apostles when they say, \"Test the spirits to see whether they are from God,\" (1 John 4:1) and also, \"Do not receive into the house or welcome anyone who comes to you and does not bring this teaching.\" (2 John 10)"
},
{
"Article": "8",
"Title": "The Trinity",
"Content": "In keeping with this truth and Word of God we believe in one God, who is one single essence, in whom there are three persons, really, truly, and eternally distinct according to their incommunicable properties- namely, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Father is the cause, origin, and source of all things, visible as well as invisible. The Son is the Word, the Wisdom, and the image of the Father. The Holy Spirit is the eternal power and might, proceeding from the Father and the Son. Nevertheless, this distinction does not divide God into three, since Scripture teaches us that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit each has a distinct subsistence distinguished by characteristics- yet in such a way that these three persons are only one God. It is evident then that the Father is not the Son and that the Son is not the Father, and that likewise the Holy Spirit is neither the Father nor the Son. Nevertheless, these persons, thus distinct, are neither divided nor fused or mixed together. For the Father did not take on flesh, nor did the Spirit, but only the Son. The Father was never without the Son, nor without the Holy Spirit, since all these are equal from eternity, in one and the same essence. There is neither a first nor a last, for all three are one in truth and power, in goodness and mercy."
},
{
"Article": "9",
"Title": "The Scriptural Witness on the Trinity",
"Content": "All these things we know from the testimonies of Holy Scripture as well as from the effects of the persons, especially from those we feel within ourselves. The testimonies of the Holy Scriptures, which teach us to believe in this Holy Trinity, are written in many places of the Old Testament, which need not be enumerated but only chosen with discretion. In the book of Genesis God says, \"Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness.\" So \"God created humankind in his image\"-indeed, \"male and female he created them.\" (Gen. 1:26-27) \"See, the man has become like one of us.\" (Gen. 3:22) It appears from this that there is a plurality of persons within the Deity, when God says, \"Let us make humankind in our image\"- and afterward God indicates the unity in saying, \"God created.\" It is true that God does not say here how many persons there are- but what is somewhat obscure to us in the Old Testament is very clear in the New. For when our Lord was baptized in the Jordan, the voice of the Father was heard saying, \"This is my Son, the Beloved;\" (Matt. 3:17) the Son was seen in the water; and the Holy Spirit appeared in the form of a dove. So, in the baptism of all believers this form was prescribed by Christ: Baptize all people \"in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.\" (Matt. 28:19) In the Gospel according to Luke the angel Gabriel says to Mary, the mother of our Lord: \"The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God.\" (Luke 1:35) And in another place it says: \"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.\" (2 Cor. 13:14) [\"There are three that testify in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one.\"(1 John 5:7) In all these passages we are fully taught that there are three persons in the one and only divine essence. And although this doctrine surpasses human understanding, we nevertheless believe it now, through the Word, waiting to know and enjoy it fully in heaven. Furthermore, we must note the particular works and activities of these three persons in relation to us. The Father is called our Creator, by reason of his power. The Son is our Savior and Redeemer, by his blood. The Holy Spirit is our Sanctifier, by living in our hearts. This doctrine of the holy Trinity has always been maintained in the true church, from the time of the apostles until the present, against Jews, Muslims, and certain false Christians and heretics, such as Marcion, Mani, Praxeas, Sabellius, Paul of Samosata, Arius, and others like them, who were rightly condemned by the holy fathers. And so, in this matter we willingly accept the three ecumenical creeds- the Apostles', Nicene, and Athanasian- as well as what the ancient fathers decided in agreement with them."
},
{
"Article": "10",
"Title": "The Deity of Christ",
"Content": "We believe that Jesus Christ, according to his divine nature, is the only Son of God- eternally begotten, not made or created, for then he would be a creature. He is one in essence with the Father; coeternal; the exact image of the person of the Father and the \"reflection of God's glory,\" (Col. 1:15, Heb. 1:3) being like the Father in all things. Jesus Christ is the Son of God not only from the time he assumed our nature but from all eternity, as the following testimonies teach us when they are taken together. Moses says that God created the world; (Gen. 1:1) and John says that all things were created through the Word, (John 1:3) which he calls God. The apostle says that God created the world through the Son. (Heb. 1:2) He also says that God created all things through Jesus Christ. (Col. 1:16) And so it must follow that the one who is called God, the Word, the Son, and Jesus Christ already existed before creating all things. Therefore the prophet Micah says that Christ's origin is \"from ancient days.\" (Mic. 5:2) And the apostle says that the Son has \"neither beginning of days nor end of life.\" (Heb. 7:3) So then, he is the true eternal God, the Almighty, whom we invoke, worship, and serve."
},
{
"Article": "11",
"Title": "The Deity of the Holy Spirit",
"Content": "We believe and confess also that the Holy Spirit proceeds eternally from the Father and the Son- neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but only proceeding from the two of them. In regard to order, the Spirit is the third person of the Trinity- of one and the same essence, and majesty, and glory, with the Father and the Son, being true and eternal God, as the Holy Scriptures teach us."
},
{
"Article": "12",
"Title": "The Creation of All Things",
"Content": "We believe that the Father, when it seemed good to him, created heaven and earth and all other creatures from nothing, by the Word- that is to say, by the Son. God has given all creatures their being, form, and appearance and their various functions for serving their Creator. Even now God also sustains and governs them all, according to his eternal providence and by his infinite power, that they may serve humanity, in order that humanity may serve God. God has also created the angels good, that they might be messengers of God and serve the elect. Some of them have fallen from the excellence in which God created them into eternal perdition; and the others have persisted and remained in their original state, by the grace of God. The devils and evil spirits are so corrupt that they are enemies of God and of everything good. They lie in wait for the church and every member of it like thieves, with all their power, to destroy and spoil everything by their deceptions. So then, by their own wickedness they are condemned to everlasting damnation, daily awaiting their torments. For that reason we detest the error of the Sadducees, who deny that there are spirits and angels, and also the error of the Manicheans, who say that the devils originated by themselves, being evil by nature, without having been corrupted."
},
{
"Article": "13",
"Title": "The Doctrine of God's Providence",
"Content": "We believe that this good God, after creating all things, did not abandon them to chance or fortune but leads and governs them according to his holy will, in such a way that nothing happens in this world without God's orderly arrangement. Yet God is not the author of, and cannot be charged with, the sin that occurs. For God's power and goodness are so great and incomprehensible that God arranges and does his works very well and justly even when the devils and the wicked act unjustly. We do not wish to inquire with undue curiosity into what God does that surpasses human understanding and is beyond our ability to comprehend. But in all humility and reverence we adore the just judgments of God, which are hidden from us, being content to be Christ's disciples, so as to learn only what God shows us in the Word, without going beyond those limits. This doctrine gives us unspeakable comfort since it teaches us that nothing can happen to us by chance but only by the arrangement of our gracious heavenly Father, who watches over us with fatherly care, sustaining all creatures under his lordship, so that not one of the hairs on our heads (for they are all numbered) nor even a little bird can fall to the ground without the will of our Father. (Matt. 10:29-30) In this thought we rest, knowing that God holds in check the devils and all our enemies, who cannot hurt us without divine permission and will. For that reason we reject the damnable error of the Epicureans, who say that God does not get involved in anything and leaves everything to chance."
},
{
"Article": "14",
"Title": "The Creation and Fall of Humanity",
"Content": "We believe that God created human beings from the dust of the earth and made and formed them in his image and likeness- good, just, and holy; able by their will to conform in all things to the will of God. But when they were in honor they did not understand it (Ps. 49:20) and did not recognize their excellence. But they subjected themselves willingly to sin and consequently to death and the curse, lending their ear to the word of the devil. For they transgressed the commandment of life, which they had received, and by their sin they separated themselves from God, who was their true life, having corrupted their entire nature. So they made themselves guilty and subject to physical and spiritual death, having become wicked, perverse, and corrupt in all their ways. They lost all their excellent gifts which they had received from God, and retained none of them except for small traces which are enough to make them inexcusable. Moreover, all the light in us is turned to darkness, as the Scripture teaches us: \"The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.\" (John 1:5) Here John calls the human race \"darkness.\" Therefore we reject everything taught to the contrary concerning human free will, since humans are nothing but the slaves of sin and cannot do a thing unless it is given them from heaven. (John 3:27) For who can boast of being able to do anything good by oneself, since Christ says, \"No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me\"? (John 6:44) Who can glory in their own will when they understand that \"the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God\"? (Rom. 8:7) Who can speak of their own knowledge in view of the fact that \"those who are unspiritual do not receive the gifts of God's Spirit\"? (1 Cor. 2:14) In short, who can produce a single thought, knowing that we are not able to think a thing about ourselves, by ourselves, but that \"our competence is from God\"? (2 Cor. 3:5) And therefore, what the apostle says ought rightly to stand fixed and firm: God works within us both to will and to do according to his good pleasure. (Phil. 2:13) For there is no understanding nor will conforming to God's understanding and will apart from Christ's involvement, as he teaches us when he says, \"Apart from me you can do nothing.\" (John 15:5)"
},
{
"Article": "15",
"Title": "The Doctrine of Original Sin",
"Content": "We believe that by the disobedience of Adam original sin has been spread through the whole human race. (Rom. 5:12-13) It is a corruption of the whole human nature- an inherited depravity which even infects small infants in their mother's womb, and the root which produces in humanity every sort of sin. It is therefore so vile and enormous in God's sight that it is enough to condemn the human race, and it is not abolished or wholly uprooted even by baptism, seeing that sin constantly boils forth as though from a contaminated spring. Nevertheless, it is not imputed to God's children for their condemnation but is forgiven by his grace and mercy- not to put them to sleep but so that the awareness of this corruption might often make believers groan as they long to be set free from the body of this death. (Rom. 7:24) Therefore we reject the error of the Pelagians who say that this sin is nothing else than a matter of imitation."
},
{
"Article": "16",
"Title": "The Doctrine of Election",
"Content": "We believe that- all Adam's descendants having thus fallen into perdition and ruin by the sin of Adam- God showed himself to be as he is: merciful and just. God is merciful in withdrawing and saving from this perdition those who, in the eternal and unchangeable divine counsel, have been elected and chosen in Jesus Christ our Lord by his pure goodness, without any consideration of their works. God is just in leaving the others in their ruin and fall into which they plunged themselves."
},
{
"Article": "17",
"Title": "The Recovery of Fallen Humanity",
"Content": "We believe that our good God, by marvelous divine wisdom and goodness, seeing that Adam and Eve had plunged themselves in this manner into both physical and spiritual death and made themselves completely miserable, set out to find them, though they, trembling all over, were fleeing from God. And God comforted them, promising to give them his Son, born of a woman, (Gal. 4:4) to crush the head of the serpent, (Gen. 3:15) and to make them blessed."
},
{
"Article": "18",
"Title": "The Incarnation",
"Content": "So then we confess that God fulfilled the promise made to the early fathers and mothers by the mouth of the holy prophets when he sent the only and eternal Son of God into the world at the time appointed. The Son took the \"form of a slave\" and was made in \"human form,\" (Phil. 2:7) truly assuming a real human nature, with all its weaknesses, except for sin; being conceived in the womb of the blessed virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit, without male participation. And Christ not only assumed human nature as far as the body is concerned but also a real human soul, in order to be a real human being. For since the soul had been lost as well as the body, Christ had to assume them both to save them both together. Therefore we confess (against the heresy of the Anabaptists who deny that Christ assumed human flesh from his mother) that Christ shared the very flesh and blood of children; (Heb. 2:14) being the fruit of the loins of David according to the flesh, (Acts 2:30) descended from David according to the flesh; (Rom. 1:3) the fruit of the womb of the virgin Mary; (Luke 1:42) born of a woman; (Gal. 4:4) the seed of David; (2 Tim. 2:8) the root of Jesse; (Rom. 15:12) descended from Judah, (Heb. 7:14) having descended from the Jews according to the flesh; descended from Abraham- having assumed descent from Abraham and Sarah, and was made like his brothers and sisters, yet without sin. (Heb. 2:17, Heb 4:15) In this way Christ is truly our Immanuel- that is: \"God with us.\" (Matt. 1:23)"
},
{
"Article": "19",
"Title": "The Two Natures of Christ",
"Content": "We believe that by being thus conceived the person of the Son has been inseparably united and joined together with human nature, in such a way that there are not two Sons of God, nor two persons, but two natures united in a single person, with each nature retaining its own distinct properties. Thus his divine nature has always remained uncreated, without beginning of days or end of life, (Heb. 7:3) filling heaven and earth. Christ's human nature has not lost its properties but continues to have those of a creature- it has a beginning of days; it is of a finite nature and retains all that belongs to a real body. And even though he, by his resurrection, gave it immortality, that nonetheless did not change the reality of his human nature; for our salvation and resurrection depend also on the reality of his body. But these two natures are so united together in one person that they are not even separated by his death. So then, what he committed to his Father when he died was a real human spirit which left his body. But meanwhile his divine nature remained united with his human nature even when he was lying in the grave; and his deity never ceased to be in him, just as it was in him when he was a little child, though for a while it did not so reveal itself. These are the reasons why we confess him to be true God and truly human- true God in order to conquer death by his power, and truly human that he might die for us in the weakness of his flesh."
},
{
"Article": "20",
"Title": "The Justice and Mercy of God in Christ",
"Content": "We believe that God- who is perfectly merciful and also very just- sent the Son to assume the nature in which the disobedience had been committed, in order to bear in it the punishment of sin by his most bitter passion and death. So God made known his justice toward his Son, who was charged with our sin, and he poured out his goodness and mercy on us, who are guilty and worthy of damnation, giving to us his Son to die, by a most perfect love, and raising him to life for our justification, in order that by him we might have immortality and eternal life."
},
{
"Article": "21",
"Title": "The Atonement",
"Content": "We believe that Jesus Christ is a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek- made such by an oath- and that he presented himself in our name before his Father, to appease his Father's wrath with full satisfaction by offering himself on the tree of the cross and pouring out his precious blood for the cleansing of our sins, as the prophets had predicted. For it is written that \"the punishment that made us whole\" was placed on the Son of God and that \"by his bruises we are healed.\" He was \"like a lamb that is led to the slaughter\"; he was \"numbered with the transgressors\" (Isa. 53:4-12) and condemned as a criminal by Pontius Pilate, though Pilate had declared that he was innocent. So he paid back what he had not stolen, (Ps. 69:4) and he suffered- \"the righteous for the unrighteous,\" (1 Pet. 3:18) in both his body and his soul- in such a way that when he sensed the horrible punishment required by our sins \"his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground.\" (Luke 22:44) He cried, \"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?\" (Matt. 27:46) And he endured all this for the forgiveness of our sins. Therefore we rightly say with Paul that we know nothing \"except Jesus Christ, and him crucified\"; (1 Cor. 2:2) we \"regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus [our] Lord.\" (Phil. 3:8) We find all comforts in his wounds and have no need to seek or invent any other means to reconcile ourselves with God than this one and only sacrifice, once made, which renders believers perfect forever. This is also why the angel of God called him Jesus- that is, \"Savior\"- because he would save his people from their sins. (Matt. 1:21)"
},
{
"Article": "22",
"Title": "The Righteousness of Faith",
"Content": "We believe that for us to acquire the true knowledge of this great mystery the Holy Spirit kindles in our hearts a true faith that embraces Jesus Christ, with all his merits, and makes him its own, and no longer looks for anything apart from him. For it must necessarily follow that either all that is required for our salvation is not in Christ or, if all is in him, then those who have Christ by faith have his salvation entirely. Therefore, to say that Christ is not enough but that something else is needed as well is a most enormous blasphemy against God- for it then would follow that Jesus Christ is only half a Savior. And therefore we justly say with Paul that we are justified \"by faith alone\" or \"by faith apart from works.\" (Rom. 3:28) However, we do not mean, properly speaking, that it is faith itself that justifies us- for faith is only the instrument by which we embrace Christ, our righteousness. But Jesus Christ is our righteousness in making available to us all his merits and all the holy works he has done for us and in our place. And faith is the instrument that keeps us in communion with him and with all his benefits. When those benefits are made ours, they are more than enough to absolve us of our sins."
},
{
"Article": "23",
"Title": "The Justification of Sinners",
"Content": "We believe that our blessedness lies in the forgiveness of our sins because of Jesus Christ, and that in it our righteousness before God is contained, as David and Paul teach us when they declare those people blessed to whom God grants righteousness apart from works. (Ps. 32:1, Rom. 4:6) And the same apostle says that we are \"justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.\" (Rom. 3:24) And therefore we cling to this foundation, which is firm forever, giving all glory to God, humbling ourselves, and recognizing ourselves as we are; not claiming a thing for ourselves or our merits and leaning and resting on the sole obedience of Christ crucified, which is ours when we believe in him. That is enough to cover all our sins and to make us confident, freeing the conscience from the fear, dread, and terror of God's approach, without doing what our first parents, Adam and Eve, did, who trembled as they tried to cover themselves with fig leaves. In fact, if we had to appear before God relying- no matter how little- on ourselves or some other creature, then, alas, we would be swallowed up. Therefore everyone must say with David: \"[Lord,] do not enter into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you.\" (Ps. 143:2)"
},
{
"Article": "24",
"Title": "The Sanctification of Sinners",
"Content": "We believe that this true faith, produced in us by the hearing of God's Word and by the work of the Holy Spirit, regenerates us and makes us new creatures, (2 Cor. 5:17) causing us to live a new life (Rom. 6:4) and freeing us from the slavery of sin. Therefore, far from making people cold toward living in a pious and holy way, this justifying faith, quite to the contrary, so works within them that apart from it they will never do a thing out of love for God but only out of love for themselves and fear of being condemned. So then, it is impossible for this holy faith to be unfruitful in a human being, seeing that we do not speak of an empty faith but of what Scripture calls \"faith working through love,\" (Gal. 5:6) which moves people to do by themselves the works that God has commanded in the Word. These works, proceeding from the good root of faith, are good and acceptable to God, since they are all sanctified by God's grace. Yet they do not count toward our justification- for by faith in Christ we are justified, even before we do good works. Otherwise they could not be good, any more than the fruit of a tree could be good if the tree is not good in the first place. So then, we do good works, but not for merit- for what would we merit? Rather, we are indebted to God for the good works we do, and not God to us, since God \"is at work in [us], enabling [us] both to will and to work for his good pleasure\" (Phil. 2:13) - thus keeping in mind what is written: \"When you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, 'We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done.'\" (Luke 17:10) Yet we do not wish to deny that God rewards good works- but it is by grace that God crowns these gifts. Moreover, although we do good works we do not base our salvation on them; for we cannot do any work that is not defiled by our flesh and also worthy of punishment. And even if we could point to one, memory of a single sin is enough for God to reject that work. So we would always be in doubt, tossed back and forth without any certainty, and our poor consciences would be tormented constantly if they did not rest on the merit of the suffering and death of our Savior."
},
{
"Article": "25",
"Title": "The Fulfillment of the Law",
"Content": "We believe that the ceremonies and symbols of the law have ended with the coming of Christ, and that all foreshadowings have come to an end, so that the use of them ought to be abolished among Christians. Yet the truth and substance of these things remain for us in Jesus Christ, in whom they have been fulfilled. Nevertheless, we continue to use the witnesses drawn from the law and prophets to confirm us in the gospel and to regulate our lives with full integrity for the glory of God, according to the will of God."
},
{
"Article": "26",
"Title": "The Intercession of Christ",
"Content": "We believe that we have no access to God except through the one and only Mediator and Intercessor, \"Jesus Christ the righteous,\" (1 John 2:1) who therefore was made human, uniting together the divine and human natures, so that we human beings might have access to the divine Majesty. Otherwise we would have no access. But this Mediator, whom the Father has appointed between himself and us, ought not terrify us by his greatness, so that we have to look for another one, according to our fancy. For neither in heaven nor among the creatures on earth is there anyone who loves us more than Jesus Christ does. Although he was \"in the form of God,\" Christ nevertheless \"emptied himself,\" taking \"human form\" and \"the form of a slave\" for us; (Phil. 2:6-8) and he made himself \"like his brothers and sisters in every respect.\" (Heb. 2:17) Suppose we had to find another intercessor. Who would love us more than he who gave his life for us, even though \"we were enemies\"? (Rom. 5:10) And suppose we had to find one who has prestige and power. Who has as much of these as he who is seated at the right hand of the Father, (Rom. 8:34, Heb. 1:3) and who has \"all authority in heaven and on earth\"? (Matt. 28:18) And who will be heard more readily than God's own dearly beloved Son? So, the practice of honoring the saints as intercessors in fact dishonors them because of its misplaced faith. That was something the saints never did nor asked for, but which in keeping with their duty, as appears from their writings, they consistently refused. We should not plead here that we are unworthy- for it is not a question of offering our prayers on the basis of our own dignity but only on the basis of the excellence and dignity of Jesus Christ, whose righteousness is ours by faith. Since the apostle for good reason wants us to get rid of this foolish fear- or rather, this unbelief- he says to us that Jesus Christ was made like \"his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest\" to purify the sins of the people. (Heb. 2:17) For since he suffered, being tempted, he is also able to help those who are tempted. (Heb. 2:18) And further, to encourage us more to approach him he says, \"Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.\" (Heb. 4:14-16) The same apostle says that we \"have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus.\" \"Let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith....\" (Heb. 10:19, Heb. 10:22) Likewise, Christ \"holds his priesthood permanently.... Consequently, he is able for all time to save those who approach God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.\" (Heb. 7:24-25) What more do we need? For Christ himself declares: \"I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.\" (John 14:6) Why should we seek another intercessor? Since it has pleased God to give us the Son as our Intercessor. let us not leave him for another- or rather seek, without ever finding. For, when giving Christ to us, God knew well that we were sinners. Therefore, in following the command of Christ we call on the heavenly Father through Christ, our only Mediator, as we are taught by the Lord's Prayer, being assured that we shall obtain all we ask of the Father in his name."
},
{
"Article": "27",
"Title": "The Holy Catholic Church",
"Content": "We believe and confess one single catholic or universal church- a holy congregation and gathering of true Christian believers, awaiting their entire salvation in Jesus Christ, being washed by his blood, and sanctified and sealed by the Holy Spirit. This church has existed from the beginning of the world and will last until the end, as appears from the fact that Christ is eternal King who cannot be without subjects. And this holy church is preserved by God against the rage of the whole world, even though for a time it may appear very small to human eyes- as though it were snuffed out. For example, during the very dangerous time of Ahab the Lord preserved for himself seven thousand who did not bend their knees to Baal. (1 Kings 19:18) And so this holy church is not confined, bound, or limited to a certain place or certain people. But it is spread and dispersed throughout the entire world, though still joined and united in heart and will, in one and the same Spirit, by the power of faith."
},
{
"Article": "28",
"Title": "The Obligations of Church Members",
"Content": "We believe that since this holy assembly and congregation is the gathering of those who are saved and there is no salvation apart from it, people ought not to withdraw from it, content to be by themselves, regardless of their status or condition. But all people are obliged to join and unite with it, keeping the unity of the church by submitting to its instruction and discipline, by bending their necks under the yoke of Jesus Christ, and by serving to build up one another, according to the gifts God has given them as members of each other in the same body. And to preserve this unity more effectively, it is the duty of all believers, according to God's Word, to separate themselves from those who do not belong to the church, in order to join this assembly wherever God has established it, even if civil authorities and royal decrees forbid and death and physical punishment result. And so, all who withdraw from the church or do not join it act contrary to God's ordinance."
},
{
"Article": "29",
"Title": "The Marks of the True Church",
"Content": "We believe that we ought to discern diligently and very carefully, by the Word of God, what is the true church- for all sects in the world today claim for themselves the name of \"the church.\" We are not speaking here of the company of hypocrites who are mixed among the good in the church and who nonetheless are not part of it, even though they are physically there. But we are speaking of distinguishing the body and fellowship of the true church from all sects that call themselves \"the church.\" The true church can be recognized if it has the following marks: The church engages in the pure preaching of the gospel; it makes use of the pure administration of the sacraments as Christ instituted them; it practices church discipline for correcting faults. In short, it governs itself according to the pure Word of God, rejecting all things contrary to it and holding Jesus Christ as the only Head. By these marks one can be assured of recognizing the true church- and no one ought to be separated from it. As for those who can belong to the church, we can recognize them by the distinguishing marks of Christians: namely by faith, and by their fleeing from sin and pursuing righteousness, once they have received the one and only Savior, Jesus Christ. They love the true God and their neighbors, without turning to the right or left, and they crucify the flesh and its works. Though great weakness remains in them, they fight against it by the Spirit all the days of their lives, appealing constantly to the blood, suffering, death, and obedience of the Lord Jesus, in whom they have forgiveness of their sins, through faith in him. As for the false church, it assigns more authority to itself and its ordinances than to the Word of God; it does not want to subject itself to the yoke of Christ; it does not administer the sacraments as Christ commanded in his Word; it rather adds to them or subtracts from them as it pleases; it bases itself on humans, more than on Jesus Christ; it persecutes those who live holy lives according to the Word of God and who rebuke it for its faults, greed, and idolatry. These two churches are easy to recognize and thus to distinguish from each other."
},
{
"Article": "30",
"Title": "The Government of the Church",
"Content": "We believe that this true church ought to be governed according to the spiritual order that our Lord has taught us in his Word. There should be ministers or pastors to preach the Word of God and administer the sacraments. There should also be elders and deacons, along with the pastors, to make up the council of the church. By this means true religion is preserved; true doctrine is able to take its course; and evil people are corrected spiritually and held in check, so that also the poor and all the afflicted may be helped and comforted according to their need. By this means everything will be done well and in good order in the church, when such persons are elected who are faithful and are chosen according to the rule that Paul gave to Timothy. (1 Tim. 3)"
},
{
"Article": "31",
"Title": "The Officers of the Church",
"Content": "We believe that ministers of the Word of God, elders, and deacons ought to be chosen to their offices by a legitimate election of the church, with prayer in the name of the Lord, and in good order, as the Word of God teaches. So all must be careful not to push themselves forward improperly, but must wait for God's call, so that they may be assured of their calling and be certain that they are chosen by the Lord. As for the ministers of the Word, they all have the same power and authority, no matter where they may be, since they are all servants of Jesus Christ, the only universal bishop, and the only head of the church. Moreover, to keep God's holy order from being violated or despised, we say that everyone ought, as much as possible, to hold the ministers of the Word and elders of the church in special esteem, because of the work they do, and be at peace with them, without grumbling, quarreling, or fighting."
},
{
"Article": "32",
"Title": "The Order and Discipline of the Church",
"Content": "We also believe that although it is useful and good for those who govern the churches to establish and set up a certain order among themselves for maintaining the body of the church, they ought always to guard against deviating from what Christ, our only Master, has ordained for us. Therefore we reject all human innovations and all laws imposed on us, in our worship of God, which bind and force our consciences in any way. So we accept only what is proper to maintain harmony and unity and to keep all in obedience to God. To that end excommunication, with all it involves, according to the Word of God, is required."
},
{
"Article": "33",
"Title": "The Sacraments",
"Content": "We believe that our good God, mindful of our crudeness and weakness, has ordained sacraments for us to seal his promises in us, to pledge good will and grace toward us, and also to nourish and sustain our faith. God has added these to the Word of the gospel to represent better to our external senses both what God enables us to understand by the Word and what he does inwardly in our hearts, confirming in us the salvation he imparts to us. For they are visible signs and seals of something internal and invisible, by means of which God works in us through the power of the Holy Spirit. So they are not empty and hollow signs to fool and deceive us, for their truth is Jesus Christ, without whom they would be nothing. Moreover, we are satisfied with the number of sacraments that Christ our Master has ordained for us. There are only two: the sacrament of baptism and the Holy Supper of Jesus Christ."
},
{
"Article": "34",
"Title": "The Sacrament of Baptism",
"Content": "We believe and confess that Jesus Christ, in whom the law is fulfilled, has by his shed blood put an end to every other shedding of blood, which anyone might do or wish to do in order to atone or satisfy for sins. Having abolished circumcision, which was done with blood, Christ established in its place the sacrament of baptism. By it we are received into God's church and set apart from all other people and alien religions, that we may wholly belong to him whose mark and sign we bear. Baptism also witnesses to us that God, being our gracious Father, will be our God forever. Therefore Christ has commanded that all those who belong to him be baptized with pure water \"in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.\" (Matt. 28:19) In this way God signifies to us that just as water washes away the dirt of the body when it is poured on us and also is seen on the bodies of those who are baptized when it is sprinkled on them, so too the blood of Christ does the same thing internally, in the soul, by the Holy Spirit. It washes and cleanses it from its sins and transforms us from being the children of wrath into the children of God. This does not happen by the physical water but by the sprinkling of the precious blood of the Son of God, who is our Red Sea, through which we must pass to escape the tyranny of Pharaoh, who is the devil, and to enter the spiritual land of Canaan. So ministers, as far as their work is concerned, give us the sacrament and what is visible, but our Lord gives what the sacrament signifies- namely the invisible gifts and graces; washing, purifying, and cleansing our souls of all filth and unrighteousness; renewing our hearts and filling them with all comfort; giving us true assurance of his fatherly goodness; clothing us with the \"new self\" and stripping off the \"old self with its practices.\" (Col. 3:9-10) For this reason we believe that anyone who aspires to reach eternal life ought to be baptized only once without ever repeating it- for we cannot be born twice. Yet this baptism is profitable not only when the water is on us and when we receive it but throughout our entire lives. For that reason we reject the error of the Anabaptists who are not content with a single baptism once received and also condemn the baptism of the children of believers. We believe our children ought to be baptized and sealed with the sign of the covenant, as little children were circumcised in Israel on the basis of the same promises made to our children. And truly, Christ has shed his blood no less for washing the little children of believers than he did for adults. Therefore they ought to receive the sign and sacrament of what Christ has done for them, just as the Lord commanded in the law that by offering a lamb for them the sacrament of the suffering and death of Christ would be granted them shortly after their birth. This was the sacrament of Jesus Christ. Furthermore, baptism does for our children what circumcision did for the Jewish people. That is why Paul calls baptism the \"circumcision of Christ.\" (Col. 2:11)"
},
{
"Article": "35",
"Title": "The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper",
"Content": "We believe and confess that our Savior Jesus Christ has ordained and instituted the sacrament of the Holy Supper to nourish and sustain those who are already regenerated and ingrafted into his family, which is his church. Now those who are born again have two lives in them. The one is physical and temporal- they have it from the moment of their first birth, and it is common to all. The other is spiritual and heavenly, and is given them in their second birth- it comes through the Word of the gospel in the communion of the body of Christ; and this life is common to God's elect only. Thus, to support the physical and earthly life God has prescribed for us an appropriate earthly and material bread, which is as common to all people as life itself. But to maintain the spiritual and heavenly life that belongs to believers, God has sent a living bread that came down from heaven: namely Jesus Christ, who nourishes and maintains the spiritual life of believers when eaten- that is, when appropriated and received spiritually by faith. To represent to us this spiritual and heavenly bread Christ has instituted an earthly and visible bread as the sacrament of his body and wine as the sacrament of his blood. He did this to testify to us that just as truly as we take and hold the sacrament in our hands and eat and drink it with our mouths, by which our life is then sustained, so truly we receive into our souls, for our spiritual life, the true body and true blood of Christ, our only Savior. We receive these by faith, which is the hand and mouth of our souls. Now it is certain that Jesus Christ did not prescribe his sacraments for us in vain, since he works in us all he represents by these holy signs, although the manner in which he does it goes beyond our understanding and is incomprehensible to us, just as the operation of God's Spirit is hidden and incomprehensible. Yet we do not go wrong when we say that what is eaten is Christ's own natural body and what is drunk is his own blood- but the manner in which we eat it is not by the mouth, but by the Spirit through faith. In that way Jesus Christ remains always seated at the right hand of God the Father in heaven- but he never refrains on that account to communicate himself to us through faith. This banquet is a spiritual table at which Christ communicates himself to us with all his benefits. At that table he makes us enjoy himself as much as the merits of his suffering and death, as he nourishes, strengthens, and comforts our poor, desolate souls by the eating of his flesh, and relieves and renews them by the drinking of his blood. Moreover, though the sacraments and what they signify are joined together, not all receive both of them. The wicked certainly take the sacrament, to their condemnation, but do not receive the truth of the sacrament, just as Judas and Simon the Sorcerer both indeed received the sacrament, but not Christ, who was signified by it. He is communicated only to believers. Finally, with humility and reverence we receive the holy sacrament in the gathering of God's people, as we engage together, with thanksgiving, in a holy remembrance of the death of Christ our Savior, and as we thus confess our faith and Christian religion. Therefore none should come to this table without examining themselves carefully, lest by eating this bread and drinking this cup they \"eat and drink judgment against themselves.\" (1 Cor. 11:29) In short, by the use of this holy sacrament we are moved to a fervent love of God and our neighbors. Therefore we reject as desecrations of the sacraments all the muddled ideas and condemnable inventions that people have added and mixed in with them. And we say that we should be content with the procedure that Christ and the apostles have taught us and speak of these things as they have spoken of them."
},
{
"Article": "36",
"Title": "The Civil Government",
"Content": "We believe that because of the depravity of the human race, our good God has ordained kings, princes, and civil officers. God wants the world to be governed by laws and policies so that human lawlessness may be restrained and that everything may be conducted in good order among human beings. For that purpose God has placed the sword in the hands of the government, to punish evil people and protect the good."
},
{
"Article": "37",
"Title": "The Last Judgement",
"Content": "Finally we believe, according to God's Word, that when the time appointed by the Lord is come (which is unknown to all creatures) and the number of the elect is complete, our Lord Jesus Christ will come from heaven, bodily and visibly, as he ascended, with great glory and majesty, to declare himself the judge of the living and the dead. He will burn this old world, in fire and flame, in order to cleanse it. Then all human creatures will appear in person before the great judge- men, women, and children, who have lived from the beginning until the end of the world. They will be summoned there \"with the archangel's call and with the sound of God's trumpet.\" (1 Thess. 4:16) For all those who died before that time will be raised from the earth, their spirits being joined and united with their own bodies in which they lived. And as for those who are still alive, they will not die like the others but will be changed \"in the twinkling of an eye\" from perishable to imperishable. (1 Cor. 15:51-53) Then the books (that is, the consciences) will be opened, and the dead will be judged according to the things they did in the world, (Rev. 20:12) whether good or evil. Indeed, all people will give account of all the idle words they have spoken, (Matt. 12:36) which the world regards as only playing games. And then the secrets and hypocrisies of all people will be publicly uncovered in the sight of all. Therefore, with good reason the thought of this judgment is horrible and dreadful to wicked and evil people. But it is very pleasant and a great comfort to the righteous and elect, since their total redemption will then be accomplished. They will then receive the fruits of their labor and of the trouble they have suffered; their innocence will be openly recognized by all; and they will see the terrible vengeance that God will bring on the evil ones who tyrannized, oppressed, and tormented them in this world. The evil ones will be convicted by the witness of their own consciences, and shall be made immortal- but only to be tormented in \"the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.\" (Matt. 25:41) In contrast, the faithful and elect will be crowned with glory and honor. The Son of God will profess their names (Matt. 10:32) before God his Father and the holy and elect angels; all tears will be wiped from their eyes; (Rev. 7:17) and their cause- at present condemned as heretical and evil by many judges and civil officers- will be acknowledged as the cause of the Son of God. And as a gracious reward the Lord will make them possess a glory such as the human heart could never imagine. So we look forward to that great day with longing in order to enjoy fully the promises of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord."
}
]
}
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{
"Metadata": {
"Title": "Canons of Dort",
"AlternativeTitles": [
"Canons of Dordrecht",
"The Decision of the Synod of Dort on the Five Main Points of Doctrine in Dispute in the Netherlands"
],
"Year": "1619",
"Authors": [
"Synod of Dort"
],
"Location": "Dordrecht, Netherlands",
"OriginalLanguage": null,
"OriginStory": "The canons are the judgment of the Synod against the Remonstrance",
"SourceUrl": "http://apostles-creed.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/canons-of-dort.pdf",
"SourceAttribution": "Public Domain",
"CreedFormat": "Confession"
},
"Data": [
{
"Chapter": "1",
"Title": "Of Divine Predestination",
"Sections": [
{
"Section": "A1",
"Content": "As all men have sinned in Adam, lie under the curse, and are deserving of eternal death, God would have done no injustice by leaving them all to perish, and delivering them over to condemnation on account of sin, according to the words of the apostle, \"that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God\" (Rom. 3:19). And verse 23: \"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.\" And Romans 6:23: \"For the wages of sin is death\"."
},
{
"Section": "A2",
"Content": "But in this the love of God was manifested, that He sent His only begotten Son into the world, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. \"In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him\" (1 John 4:9). \"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life\" (John 3:16)."
},
{
"Section": "A3",
"Content": "And that men may be brought to believe, God mercifully sends the messengers of these most joyful tidings to whom He will and at what time He pleaseth; by whose ministry men are called to repentance and faith in Christ crucified. \"How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent?\" (Rom. 10:14-15)."
},
{
"Section": "A4",
"Content": "The wrath of God abideth upon those who believe not this gospel. But such as receive it, and embrace Jesus the Savior by a true and living faith, are by Him delivered from the wrath of God and from destruction, and have the gift of eternal life conferred upon them."
},
{
"Section": "A5",
"Content": "The cause or guilt of this unbelief, as well as of all other sins, is no wise in God, but in man himself; whereas faith in Jesus Christ and salvation through Him is the free gift of God, as it is written: \"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God\" (Eph. 2:8). \"For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him,\" etc. (Phil. 1:29)."
},
{
"Section": "A6",
"Content": "That some receive the gift of faith from God and others do not receive it proceeds from God's eternal decree, for \"known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world\" (Acts 15:18). \"Who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will\" (Eph. 1:11). According to which decree, He graciously softens the hearts of the elect, however obstinate, and inclines them to believe, while He leaves the non-elect in His just judgment to their own wickedness and obduracy. And herein is especially displayed the profound, the merciful, and at the same time the righteous discrimination between men, equally involved in ruin; or that decree of election and reprobation revealed in the Word of God, which though men of perverse, impure and unstable minds wrest to their own destruction, yet to holy and pious souls affords unspeakable consolation."
},
{
"Section": "A7",
"Content": "Election is the unchangeable purpose of God, whereby, before the foundation of the world, He hath out of mere grace, according to the sovereign good pleasure of His own will, chosen, from the whole human race, which had fallen through their own fault from their primitive state of rectitude into sin and destruction, a certain number of persons to redemption in Christ, whom He from eternity appointed the Mediator and Head of the elect, and the foundation of salvation.\n\nThis elect number, though by nature neither better nor more deserving than others, but with them involved in one common misery, God hath decreed to give to Christ, to be saved by Him, and effectually to call and draw them to His communion by His Word and Spirit, to bestow upon them true faith, justification and sanctification; and having powerfully preserved them in the fellowship of His Son, finally, to glorify them for the demonstration of His mercy and for the praise of His glorious grace, as it is written: \"According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love: having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the beloved\" (Eph. 1:4-6). And elsewhere: \"Whom He did predestinate, them He also called: and whom He called, them He also justified: and whom He justified them He also glorified\" (Rom. 8:30)."
},
{
"Section": "A8",
"Content": "There are not various decrees of election, but one and the same decree respecting all those who shall be saved, both under the Old and New Testament; since the Scripture declares the good pleasure, purpose and counsel of the divine will to be one, according to which He hath chosen us from eternity, both to grace and glory, to salvation and the way of salvation, which He hath ordained that we should walk therein."
},
{
"Section": "A9",
"Content": "This election was not founded upon foreseen faith, and the obedience of faith, holiness, or any other good quality or disposition in man, as the prerequisite, cause or condition on which it depended; but men are chosen to faith and to the obedience of faith, holiness, etc.; therefore election is the fountain of every saving good, from which proceeds faith, holiness, and the other gifts of salvation, and finally eternal life itself, as its fruits and effects, according to that of the apostle: \"He hath chosen us [not because we were but] that we should be holy, and without blame, before Him in love\" (Eph. 1:4)."
},
{
"Section": "A10",
"Content": "The good pleasure of God is the sole cause of this gracious election, which doth not consist herein, that out of all possible qualities and actions of men God has chosen some as a condition of salvation; but that He was pleased out of the common mass of sinners to adopt some certain persons as a peculiar people to Himself, as it is written, \"For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil,\" etc., it was said (namely to Rebecca): \"The elder shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated\" (Rom. 9:11-13). \"And as many as were ordained to eternal life believed\" (Acts 13:48)."
},
{
"Section": "A11",
"Content": "And as God Himself is most wise, unchangeable, omniscient and omnipotent, so the election made by Him can neither be interrupted nor changed, recalled or annulled; neither can the elect be cast away, nor their number diminished."
},
{
"Section": "A12",
"Content": "The elect in due time, though in various degrees and in different measures, attain the assurance of this their eternal and unchangeable election, not by inquisitively prying into the secret and deep things of God, but by observing in themselves, with a spiritual joy and holy pleasure, the infallible fruits of election pointed out in the Word of God - such as a true faith in Christ, filial fear, a godly sorrow for sin, a hungering and thirsting after righteousness, etc."
},
{
"Section": "A13",
"Content": "The sense and certainty of this election afford to the children of God additional matter for daily humiliation before Him, for adoring the depth of His mercies, for cleansing themselves, and rendering grateful returns of ardent love to Him, who first manifested so great love towards them. The consideration of this doctrine of election is so far from encouraging remissness in the observance of the divine commands or from sinking men in carnal security, that these, in the just judgment of God, are the usual effects of rash presumption or of idle and wanton trifling with the grace of election in those who refuse to walk in the ways of the elect."
},
{
"Section": "A14",
"Content": "As the doctrine of divine election by the most wise counsel of God was declared by the prophets, by Christ Himself, and by the apostles, and is clearly revealed in the Scriptures, both of the Old and New Testament, so it is still to be published in due time and place in the Church of God, for which it was peculiarly designed, provided it be done with reverence, in the spirit of discretion and piety, for the glory of God's most holy Name, and for enlivening and comforting His people, without vainly attempting to investigate the secret ways of the Most High. \"For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God\" (Acts 20:27); \"O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been His counsellor?\" (Rom. 11:33-34); \"For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith\" (Rom. 12:3); \"Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath: that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us\" (Heb. 6:17-18)."
},
{
"Section": "A15",
"Content": "What peculiarly tends to illustrate and recommend to us the eternal and unmerited grace of election, is the express testimony of sacred Scripture that not all, but some only are elected, while others are passed by in the eternal decree; whom God, out of His sovereign, most just, irreprehensible and unchangeable good pleasure, hath decreed to leave in the common misery into which they have wilfully plunged themselves, and not to bestow upon them saving faith and the grace of conversion; but permitting them in His just judgment to follow their own ways, at last for the declaration of His justice, to condemn and perish them forever, not only on account of their unbelief, but also for all their other sins. And this is the decree of reprobation which by no means makes God the author of sin (the very thought of which is blasphemy), but declares Him to be an awful, irreprehensible, and righteous Judge and avenger thereof."
},
{
"Section": "A16",
"Content": "Those who do not yet experience a lively faith in Christ, an assured confidence of soul, peace of conscience, an earnest endeavor after filial obedience, and glorying in God through Christ, efficaciously wrought in them, and do nevertheless persist in the use of the means which God hath appointed for working these graces in us, ought not to be alarmed at the mention of reprobation, nor to rank themselves among the reprobate, but diligently to persevere in the use of means, and with ardent desires devoutly and humbly to wait for a season of richer grace. Much less cause have they to be terrified by the doctrine of reprobation, who, though they seriously desire to be turned to God, to please Him only, and to be delivered from the body of death, cannot yet reach that measure of holiness and faith to which they aspire; since a merciful God has promised that He will not quench the smoking flax nor break the bruised reed. But this doctrine is justly terrible to those, who, regardless of God and of the Savior Jesus Christ, have wholly given themselves up to the cares of the world and the pleasures of the flesh, so long as they are not seriously converted to God."
},
{
"Section": "A17",
"Content": "Since we are to judge of the will of God from His Word which testifies that the children of believers are holy, not by nature, but in virtue of the covenant of grace, in which they, together with the parents, are comprehended, godly parents have no reason to doubt of the election and salvation of their children whom it pleaseth God to call out of this life in their infancy."
},
{
"Section": "A18",
"Content": "To those who murmur at the free grace of election and just severity of reprobation, we answer with the apostle: \"Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God?\" (Rom. 9:20), and quote the language of our Savior: \"Is it not lawful for Me to do what I will with Mine own?\" (Matt. 20:15). And therefore with holy adoration of these mysteries, we exclaim in the words of the apostle: \"O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been His counsellor? Or who hath first given to Him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen\" (Rom. 11:33- 36)."
},
{
"Section": "R1",
"Content": "That the will of God to save those who would believe and would persevere in faith and in the obedience of faith, is the whole and entire decree of election unto salvation, and that nothing else concerning this decree has been revealed in God's Word.\n\nFor these deceive the simple and plainly contradict the Scriptures which declare that God will not only save those who will believe, but that He has also from eternity chosen certain particular persons to whom above others He in time will grant both faith in Christ and perseverance, as it is written: \"I have manifested Thy Name unto the men which Thou gavest Me out of the world\" (John 17:6). \"And as many as were ordained to eternal life believed\" (Acts 13:48). And: \"According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love\" (Eph. 1:4)."
},
{
"Section": "R2",
"Content": "That there are various kinds of election of God unto eternal life: the one general and indefinite, the other particular and definite; and that the latter in turn is either incomplete, revocable, nondecisive and conditional, or complete, irrevocable, decisive and absolute. Likewise: that there is one election unto faith and another unto salvation, so that election can be unto justifying faith without being a decisive election unto salvation.\n\nFor this is a fancy of men's minds, invented regardless of the Scriptures, whereby the doctrine of election is corrupted, and this golden chain of our salvation is broken: \"Moreover whom He did predestinate, them He also called: and whom He called, them He also justified: and whom He justified, them He also glorified\" (Rom. 8:30)."
},
{
"Section": "R3",
"Content": "That the good pleasure and purpose of God, of which Scripture makes mention in the doctrine of election, does not consist in this, that God chose certain persons rather than others, but in this, that He chose out of all possible conditions (among which are also the works of the law), or out of the whole order of things, the act of faith which from its very nature is undeserving, as well as its incomplete obedience, as a condition of salvation, and that He would graciously consider this in itself as a complete obedience and count it worthy of the reward of eternal life\n\nFor by this injurious error the pleasure of God and the merits of Christ are made of none effect, and men are drawn away by useless questions from the truth of gracious justification and from the simplicity of Scripture, and this declaration of the apostle is charged as untrue: \"Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began\" (2 Tim. 1:9)."
},
{
"Section": "R4",
"Content": "That in the election unto faith this condition is beforehand demanded, namely, that man should use the light of nature aright, be pious, humble, meek, and fit for eternal life, as if on these things election were in any way dependent\n\nFor this savors of the teaching of Pelagius, and is opposed to the doctrine of the apostle, when he writes: \"Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast\" (Eph. 2:3-9)."
},
{
"Section": "R5",
"Content": "That the incomplete and non-decisive election of particular persons to salvation occurred because of a foreseen faith, conversion, holiness, godliness, which either began or continued for some time; but that the complete and decisive election occurred because of foreseen perseverance unto the end in faith, conversion, holiness and godliness; and that this is the gracious and evangelical worthiness for the sake of which he who is chosen is more worthy than he who is not chosen; and that therefore faith, the obedience of faith, holiness, godliness and perseverance are not fruits of the unchangeable election unto glory, but are conditions, which, being required beforehand, were foreseen as being met by those who will be fully elected, and are causes without which the unchangeable election to glory does not occur.\n\nThis is repugnant to the entire Scripture which constantly inculcates this and similar declarations: Election is not out of works, but of Him that calleth. \"That the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of Him that calleth\" (Rom. 9:11). \"And as many as were ordained to eternal life believed\" (Acts 13:48). \"He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy\" (Eph. 1:4). \"Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you\" (John 15:16). \"But if it be of works, then is it no more grace\" (Rom. 11:6). \"Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son\" (1 John 4:10)."
},
{
"Section": "R6",
"Content": "That not every election unto salvation is unchangeable, but that some of the elect, any decree of God notwithstanding, can yet perish and do indeed perish.\n\nBy which gross error they make God to be changeable, and destroy the comfort which the godly obtain out of the firmness of their election, and contradict the Holy Scripture which teaches that the elect cannot be led astray: \"Insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect\" (Matt. 24:24); that Christ does not lose those whom the Father gave Him: \"And this is the Father's will which hath sent Me, that of all which He hath given Me I should lose nothing\" (John 6:39); and that God hath also glorified those whom He foreordained, called and justified: \"Moreover whom He did predestinate, them He also called: and whom He called, them He also justified: and whom He justified, them He also glorified\" (Rom. 8:30)."
},
{
"Section": "R7",
"Content": "That there is in this life no fruit and no consciousness of the unchangeable election to glory, nor any certainty, except that which depends on a changeable and uncertain condition.\n\nFor not only is it absurd to speak of an uncertain certainty, but also contrary to the experience of the saints, who by virtue of the consciousness of their election rejoice with the apostle and praise this favor of God, Ephesians 1; who according to Christ's admonition rejoice with His disciples that their names are written in heaven, \"but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven\" (Luke 10:20); who also place the consciousness of their election over against the fiery darts of the devil, asking: \"Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect?\" (Rom. 8:33)."
},
{
"Section": "R8",
"Content": "That God, simply by virtue of His righteous will, did not decide either to leave anyone in the fall of Adam and in the common state of sin and condemnation, or to pass anyone by in the communication of grace which is necessary for faith and conversion.\n\nFor this is firmly decreed: \"Therefore hath He mercy on whom He will have mercy, and whom He will He hardeneth\" (Rom. 9:18). And also this: \"It is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given\" (Matt. 13:11). Likewise: \"I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in Thy sight\" (Matt. 11:25-26)."
},
{
"Section": "R9",
"Content": "That the reason why God sends the gospel to one people rather than to another is not merely and solely the good pleasure of God, but rather the fact that one people is better and worthier than another to whom the gospel is not communicated.\n\nFor this Moses denies, addressing the people of Israel as follows: \"Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the LORD'S thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is. Only the LORD had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and He chose their seed after them, even you above all people, as it is this day\" (Deut. 10:14-15). And Christ said: \"Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes\" (Matt. 11:21)."
}
]
},
{
"Chapter": "2",
"Title": "Of the Death of Christ and the Redemption of Men Thereby",
"Sections": [
{
"Section": "A1",
"Content": "God is not only supremely merciful, but also supremely just. And His justice requires (as He hath revealed Himself in His Word), that our sins committed against His infinite majesty should be punished, not only with temporal, but with eternal punishment, both in body and soul; which we cannot escape unless satisfaction be made to the justice of God."
},
{
"Section": "A2",
"Content": "Since therefore we are unable to make that satisfaction in our own persons or to deliver ourselves from the wrath of God, He hath been pleased in His infinite mercy to give His only begotten Son, for our surety, who was made sin, and became a curse for us and in our stead, that He might make satisfaction to divine justice on our behalf."
},
{
"Section": "A3",
"Content": "The death of the Son of God is the only and most perfect sacrifice and satisfaction for sin, and is of infinite worth and value, abundantly sufficient to expiate the sins of the whole world."
},
{
"Section": "A4",
"Content": "This death derives its infinite value and dignity from these considerations because the person who submitted to it was not only really man and perfectly holy, but also the only begotten Son of God, of the same eternal and infinite essence with the Father and the Holy Spirit, which qualifications were necessary to constitute Him a Savior for us; and because it was attended with a sense of the wrath and curse of God due to us for sin."
},
{
"Section": "A5",
"Content": "Moreover, the promise of the gospel is, that whosoever believeth in Christ crucified, shall not perish, but have everlasting life. This promise, together with the command to repent and believe, ought to be declared and published to all nations, and to all persons promiscuously and without distinction, to whom God out of His good pleasure sends the gospel."
},
{
"Section": "A6",
"Content": "And whereas many who are called by the gospel do not repent nor believe in Christ, but perish in unbelief, this is not owing to any defect or insufficiency in the sacrifice offered by Christ upon the cross, but is wholly to be imputed to themselves."
},
{
"Section": "A7",
"Content": "But as many as truly believe, and are delivered and saved from sin and destruction through the death of Christ, are indebted for this benefit solely to the grace of God, given them in Christ from everlasting, and not to any merit of their own."
},
{
"Section": "A8",
"Content": "For this was the sovereign counsel, and most gracious will and purpose of God the Father, that the quickening and saving efficacy of the most precious death of His Son should extend to all the elect, for bestowing upon them alone the gift of justifying faith, thereby to bring them infallibly to salvation: that is, it was the will of God, that Christ by the blood of the cross, whereby He confirmed the new covenant, should effectually redeem out of every people, tribe, nation, and language, all those, and those only, who were from eternity chosen to salvation and given to Him by the Father; that He should confer upon them faith, which together with all the other saving gifts of the Holy Spirit, He purchased for them by His death; should purge them from all sin, both original and actual, whether committed before or after believing; and having faithfully preserved them even to the end, should at last bring them free from every spot and blemish to the enjoyment of glory in His own presence forever."
},
{
"Section": "A9",
"Content": "This purpose proceeding from everlasting love towards the elect has from the beginning of the world to this day been powerfully accomplished, and will henceforward still continue to be accomplished, notwithstanding all the ineffectual opposition of the gates of hell, so that the elect in due time may be gathered together into one, and that there never may be wanting a church composed of believers, the foundation of which is laid in the blood of Christ, which may steadfastly love and faithfully serve Him as their Savior, who as a bridegroom for his bride, laid down His life for them upon the cross, and which may celebrate His praises here and through all eternity."
},
{
"Section": "R1",
"Content": "That God the Father has ordained His Son to the death of the cross without a certain and definite decree to save any, so that the necessity, profitableness and worth of what Christ merited by His death might have existed, and might remain in all its parts complete, perfect and intact, even if the merited redemption had never in fact been applied to any person.\n\nFor this doctrine tends to the despising of the wisdom of the Father and of the merits of Jesus Christ, and is contrary to Scripture. For thus saith our Savior: \"I lay down My life for the sheep, and I know them\" (John 10:15, 27). And the prophet Isaiah saith concerning the Savior: \"When thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand\" (Is. 53:10). Finally, this contradicts the article of faith according to which we believe the catholic Christian church."
},
{
"Section": "R2",
"Content": "That it was not the purpose of the death of Christ that He should confirm the new covenant of grace through His blood, but only that He should acquire for the Father the mere right to establish with man such a covenant as He might please, whether of grace or of works.\n\nFor this is repugnant to Scripture which teaches that Christ has become the Surety and Mediator of a better, that is, the new covenant, and that a testament is of force where death has occurred. \"By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament\" (Heb. 7:22); \"And for this cause He is the Mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance\"; \"For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth\" (Heb. 9:15, 17)."
},
{
"Section": "R3",
"Content": "That Christ by His satisfaction merited neither salvation itself for anyone, nor faith, whereby this satisfaction of Christ unto salvation is effectually appropriated; but that He merited for the Father only the authority or the perfect will to deal again with man, and to prescribe new conditions as He might desire, obedience to which, however, depended on the free will of man, so that it therefore might have come to pass that either none or all should fulfill these conditions.\n\nFor these adjudge too contemptuously of the death of Christ, do in no wise acknowledge the most important fruit or benefit thereby gained, and bring again out of hell the Pelagian error."
},
{
"Section": "R4",
"Content": "That the new covenant of grace, which God the Father, through the mediation of the death of Christ, made with man, does not herein consist that we by faith, inasmuch as it accepts the merits of Christ, are justified before God and saved, but in the fact that God having revoked the demand of perfect obedience of faith, regards faith itself and the obedience of faith, although imperfect, as the perfect obedience of the law, and does esteem it worthy of the reward of eternal life through grace.\n\nFor these contradict the Scriptures: \"Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood\" (Rom. 3:24-25). And these proclaim, as did the wicked Socinus, a new and strange justification of man before God against the consensus of the whole church."
},
{
"Section": "R5",
"Content": "That all men have been accepted unto the state of reconciliation and unto the grace of the covenant, so that no one is worthy of condemnation on account of original sin, and that no one shall be condemned because of it, but that all are free from the guilt of original sin\n\nFor this opinion is repugnant to Scripture which teaches that we are by nature children of wrath (Eph. 2:3)."
},
{
"Section": "R6",
"Content": "The use of the difference between meriting and appropriating, to the end that they may instill into the minds of the imprudent and inexperienced this teaching that God, as far as He is concerned, has been minded of applying to all equally the benefits gained by the death of Christ; but that, while some obtain the pardon of sin and eternal life, and others do not, this difference depends on their own free will, which joins itself to the grace that is offered without exception, and that it is not dependent on the special gift of mercy, which powerfully works in them, that they rather than others should appropriate unto themselves this grace.\n\nFor these, while they feign that they present this distinction in a sound sense, seek to instill into the people the destructive poison of the Pelagian errors."
},
{
"Section": "R7",
"Content": "That Christ neither could die, needed to die, nor did die for those whom God loved in the highest degree and elected to eternal life, and did not die for these, since these do not need the death of Christ.\n\nFor they contradict the apostle, who declares: \"the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me\" (Gal. 2:20). Likewise: \"Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died\" (Rom. 8:33-34), namely, for them; and the Savior who says: \"I lay down My life for the sheep\" (John 10:15). And: \"This is My commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends\" (John 15:12-13)."
}
]
},
{
"Chapter": "3&4",
"Title": "Of the Corruption of Man, His Conversion to God, and the Manner Thereof",
"Sections": [
{
"Section": "A1",
"Content": "Man was originally formed after the image of God. His understanding was adorned with a true and saving knowledge of his Creator and of spiritual things; his heart and will were upright; all his affections pure; and the whole man was holy; but revolting from God by the instigation of the devil, and abusing the freedom of his own will, he forfeited these excellent gifts; and on the contrary entailed on himself blindness of mind, horrible darkness, vanity and perverseness of judgment, became wicked, rebellious, and obdurate in heart and will, and impure in his affections."
},
{
"Section": "A2",
"Content": "Man after the fall begat children in his own likeness. A corrupt stock produced a corrupt offspring. Hence all the posterity of Adam, Christ only excepted, have derived corruption from their original parent, not by imitation, as the Pelagians of old asserted, but by the propagation of a vicious nature."
},
{
"Section": "A3",
"Content": "Therefore all men are conceived in sin, and by nature children of wrath, incapable of saving good, prone to evil, dead in sin, and in bondage thereto, and without the regenerating grace of the Holy Spirit, they are neither able nor willing to return to God, to reform the depravity of their nature, or to dispose themselves to reformation."
},
{
"Section": "A4",
"Content": "There remain, however, in man since the fall, the glimmerings of natural light, whereby he retains some knowledge of God, of natural things, and of the differences between good and evil, and discovers some regard for virtue, good order in society, and for maintaining an orderly external deportment. But so far is this light of nature from being sufficient to bring him to a saving knowledge of God and to true conversion, that he is incapable of using it aright even in things natural and civil. Nay, further, this light, such as it is, man in various ways renders wholly polluted and holds it in unrighteousness, by doing which he becomes inexcusable before God."
},
{
"Section": "A5",
"Content": "In the same light are we to consider the law of the decalogue, delivered by God to His peculiar people the Jews by the hands of Moses. For though it discovers the greatness of sin, and more and more convinces man thereof, yet as it neither points out a remedy nor imparts strength to extricate him from misery, and thus being weak through the flesh leaves the transgressor under the curse, man cannot by this law obtain saving grace."
},
{
"Section": "A6",
"Content": "What therefore neither the light of nature, nor the law could do, that God performs by the operation of the Holy Spirit through the Word or ministry of reconciliation, which is the glad tidings concerning the Messiah, by means whereof it hath pleased God to save such as believe, as well under the Old, as under the New Testament."
},
{
"Section": "A7",
"Content": "This mystery of His will God discovered to but a small number under the Old Testament; under the New (the distinction between various peoples having been removed), He reveals Himself to many without any distinction of people. The cause of this dispensation is not to be ascribed to the superior worth of one nation above another, nor to their making a better use of the light of nature, but results wholly from the sovereign good pleasure and unmerited love of God. Hence they, to whom so great and so gracious a blessing is communicated above their desert, or rather notwithstanding their demerits, are bound to acknowledge it with humble and grateful hearts, and with the apostle to adore, not curiously to pry into the severity and justice of God's judgments displayed to others, to whom this grace is not given."
},
{
"Section": "A8",
"Content": "As many as are called by the gospel are unfeignedly called. For God hath most earnestly and truly declared in His Word what will be acceptable to Him; namely, that all who are called, should comply with the invitation. He, moreover, seriously promises eternal life and rest to as many as shall come to Him and believe on Him."
},
{
"Section": "A9",
"Content": "It is not the fault of the gospel nor of Christ, offered therein, nor of God, who calls men by the gospel and confers upon them various gifts, that those who are called by the ministry of the Word refuse to come and be converted. The fault lies in themselves, some of whom when called, regardless of their danger, reject the word of life; others, though they receive it, suffer it not to make a lasting impression on their heart; therefore, their joy, arising only from a temporary faith, soon vanishes and they fall away; while others choke the seed of the Word by perplexing cares and the pleasures of this world, and produce no fruit. This our Savior teaches in the parable of the sower (Matt. 13)."
},
{
"Section": "A10",
"Content": "But that others who are called by the gospel obey the call and are converted is not to be ascribed to the proper exercise of free will, whereby one distinguishes himself above others, equally furnished with grace sufficient for faith and conversions as the proud heresy of Pelagius maintains; but it must be wholly ascribed to God, who as He has chosen His own from eternity in Christ, so He confers upon them faith and repentance, rescues them from the power of darkness, and translates them into the kingdom of His own Son, that they may show forth the praises of Him who hath called them out of darkness into His marvelous light; and may glory not in themselves, but in the Lord according to the testimony of the apostles in various places."
},
{
"Section": "A11",
"Content": "But when God accomplishes His good pleasure in the elect or works in them true conversion, He not only causes the gospel to be externally preached to them and powerfully illuminates their mind by His Holy Spirit, that they may rightly understand and discern the things of the Spirit of God; but by the efficacy of the same regenerating Spirit, pervades the inmost recesses of the man; He opens the closed, and softens the hardened heart, and circumcises that which was uncircumcised, infuses new qualities into the will, which though heretofore dead, He quickens; from being evil, disobedient, and refractory, He renders it good, obedient, and pliable; actuates and strengthens it, that like a good tree, it may bring forth the fruits of good actions."
},
{
"Section": "A12",
"Content": "And this is the regeneration so highly celebrated in Scripture and denominated a new creation: a resurrection from the dead, a making alive, which God works in us without our aid. But this is in no wise effected merely by the external preaching of the gospel, by moral suasion, or such a mode of operation, that after God has performed His part, it still remains in the power of man to be regenerated or not, to be converted or to continue unconverted; but it is evidently a supernatural work, most powerful, and at the same time most delightful, astonishing, mysterious, and ineffable; not inferior in efficacy to creation or the resurrection from the dead, as the Scripture inspired by the author of this work declares; so that all in whose heart God works in this marvelous manner are certainly, infallibly, and effectually regenerated, and do actually believe. Whereupon the will thus renewed is not only actuated and influenced by God, but in consequence of this influence, becomes itself active. Wherefore also, man is himself rightly said to believe and repent, by virtue of that grace received."
},
{
"Section": "A13",
"Content": "The manner of this operation cannot be fully comprehended by believers in this life. Notwithstanding which, they rest satisfied with knowing and experiencing that by this grace of God they are enabled to believe with the heart, and love their Savior."
},
{
"Section": "A14",
"Content": "Faith is therefore to be considered as the gift of God, not on account of its being offered by God to man, to be accepted or rejected at his pleasure; but because it is in reality conferred, breathed, and infused into him; or even because God bestows the power or ability to believe, and then expects that man should by the exercise of his own free will, consent to the terms of salvation and actually believe in Christ; but because He who works in man both to will and to do, and indeed all things in all, produces both the will to believe and the act of believing also."
},
{
"Section": "A15",
"Content": "God is under no obligation to confer this grace upon any; for how can He be indebted to man, who had no previous gifts to bestow, as a foundation for such recompense? Nay, who has nothing of his own but sin and falsehood? He therefore who becomes the subject of this grace, owes eternal gratitude to God, and gives Him thanks forever. Whoever is not made partaker thereof, is either altogether regardless of these spiritual gifts and satisfied with his own condition, or is in no apprehension of danger and vainly boasts the possession of that which he has not. With respect to those who make an external profession of faith and live regular lives, we are bound, after the example of the apostle, to judge and speak of them in the most favorable manner. For the secret recesses of the heart are unknown to us. And as to others, who have not yet been called, it is our duty to pray for them to God, who calls the things that are not, as if they were. But we are in no wise to conduct ourselves towards them with haughtiness, as if we had made ourselves to differ."
},
{
"Section": "A16",
"Content": "But as man by the fall did not cease to be a creature endowed with understanding and will, nor did sin which pervaded the whole race of mankind deprive him of the human nature, but brought upon him depravity and spiritual death; so also this grace of regeneration does not treat men as senseless stocks and blocks, nor takes away their will and its properties, neither does violence thereto; but spiritually quickens, heals, corrects, and at the same time sweetly and powerfully bends it; that where carnal rebellion and resistance formerly prevailed, a ready and sincere spiritual obedience begins to reign, in which the true and spiritual restoration and freedom of our will consist. Wherefore unless the admirable Author of every good work wrought in us, man could have no hope of recovering from his fall by his own free will, by the abuse of which, in a state of innocence, he plunged himself into ruin."
},
{
"Section": "A17",
"Content": "As the almighty operation of God, whereby He prolongs and supports this our natural life, does not exclude, but requires the use of means, by which God of His infinite mercy and goodness hath chosen to exert His influence, so also the beforementioned supernatural operation of God, by which we are regenerated, in no wise excludes or subverts the use of the gospel, which the most wise God has ordained to be the seed of regeneration and food of the soul. Wherefore, as the apostles, and teachers who succeeded them, piously instructed the people concerning this grace of God, to His glory, and the abasement of all pride, and in the meantime, however, neglected not to keep them by the sacred precepts of the gospel in the exercise of the Word, sacraments and discipline; so even to this day, be it far from either instructors or instructed to presume to tempt God in the church by separating what He of His good pleasure hath most intimately joined together. For grace is conferred by means of admonitions; and the more readily we perform our duty, the more eminent usually is this blessing of God working in us, and the more directly is His work advanced; to whom alone all the glory both of means, and of their saving fruit and efficacy is forever due. Amen."
},
{
"Section": "R1",
"Content": "That it cannot properly be said that original sin in itself suffices to condemn the whole human race or to deserve temporal and eternal punishment.\n\nFor these contradict the apostle, who declares: \"Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned\" (Rom. 5:12). And: \"The judgment was by one to condemnation\" (Rom. 5:16). And: \"The wages of sin is death\" (Rom. 6:23)."
},
{
"Section": "R2",
"Content": "That the spiritual gifts or the good qualities and virtues, such as goodness, holiness, righteousness, could not belong to the will of man when he was first created, and that these, therefore, could not have been separated therefrom in the fall.\n\nFor such is contrary to the description of the image of God which the apostle gives in Ephesians 4:24, where he declares that it consists in righteousness and holiness, which undoubtedly belong to the will."
},
{
"Section": "R3",
"Content": "That in spiritual death the spiritual gifts are not separate from the will of man, since the will in itself has never been corrupted, but only hindered through the darkness of the understanding and the irregularity of the affections; and that, these hindrances having been removed, the will can then bring into operation its native powers, that is, that the will of itself is able to will and to choose, or not to will and not to choose, all manner of good which may be presented to it.\n\nThis is an innovation and an error, and tends to elevate the powers of the free will, contrary to the declaration of the prophet: \"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked\" (Jer. 17:9); and of the apostle: \"Among whom (sons of disobedience) also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind\" (Eph. 2:3)."
},
{
"Section": "R4",
"Content": "That the unregenerate man is not really nor utterly dead in sin, nor destitute of all powers unto spiritual good, but that he can yet hunger and thirst after righteousness and life, and offer the sacrifice of a contrite and broken spirit, which is pleasing to God\n\nFor these are contrary to the express testimony of Scripture. \"Who were dead in trespasses and sins\"; \"Even when we were dead in sins\" (Eph. 2:1, 5); and: \"every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually\" (Gen. 6:5); \"for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth\" (Gen. 8:21).\n\nMoreover, to hunger and thirst after deliverance from misery, and after life, and to offer unto God the sacrifice of a broken spirit, is peculiar to the regenerate and those that are called blessed. \"Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me\"; \"Then shalt Thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon Thine altar\" (Ps. 51:10, 19); \"Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled\" (Matt. 5:6)."
},
{
"Section": "R5",
"Content": "That the corrupt and natural man can so well use the common grace (by which they understand the light of nature), or the gifts still left him after the fall, that he can gradually gain by their good use a greater, namely, the evangelical or saving grace and salvation itself. And that in this way God on His part shows Himself ready to reveal Christ unto all men, since He applies to all sufficiently and efficiently the means necessary to conversion.\n\nFor the experience of all ages and the Scriptures do both testify that this is untrue. \"He sheweth His word unto Jacob, His statutes and His judgments unto Israel. He hath not dealt so with any nation: and as for His judgments, they have not known them\" (Ps. 147:19, 20). \"Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways\" (Acts 14:16). And: \"Now when they (Paul and his companions) had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Page 13 Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia, after they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them not\" (Acts 16:6, 7)."
},
{
"Section": "R6",
"Content": "That in the true conversion of man no new qualities, powers or gifts can be infused by God into the will, and that therefore faith through which we are first converted, and because of which we are called believers, is not a quality or gift infused by God, but only an act of man, and that it cannot be said to be a gift, except in respect of the power to attain to this faith.\n\nFor thereby they contradict the Holy Scriptures which declare that God infuses new qualities of faith, of obedience, and of the consciousness of His love into our hearts: \"I will put My law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts\" (Jer. 31:33). And: \"I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour My Spirit upon thy seed\" (Is. 44:3). And: \"the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us\" (Rom. 5:5). This is also repugnant to the continuous practice of the Church, which prays by the mouth of the prophet thus: \"turn Thou me, and I shall be turned\" (Jer. 31:18)."
},
{
"Section": "R7",
"Content": "That the grace whereby we are converted to God is only a gentle advising, or (as others explain it), that this is the noblest manner of working in the conversion of man, and that this manner of working, which consists in advising, is most in harmony with man's nature; and that there is no reason why this advising grace alone should not be sufficient to make the natural man spiritual, indeed, that God does not produce the consent of the will except through this manner of advising; and that the power of the divine working, whereby it surpasses the working of Satan, consists in this, that God promises eternal, while Satan promises only temporal goods.\n\nBut this is altogether Pelagian and contrary to the whole Scripture which, besides this, teaches yet another and far more powerful and divine manner of the Holy Spirit's working in the conversion of man, as in Ezekiel: \"A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh\" (Ezek. 36:26)."
},
{
"Section": "R8",
"Content": "That God in the regeneration of man does not use such powers of His omnipotence as potently and infallibly bend man's will to faith and conversion; but that all the works of grace having been accomplished, which God employs to convert man, man may yet so resist God and the Holy Spirit when God intends man's regeneration and wills to regenerate him, and indeed that man often does so resist that he prevents entirely his regeneration, and that it therefore remains in man's power to be regenerated or not\n\nFor this is nothing less than the denial of all the efficiency of God's grace in our conversion, and the subjecting of the working of the Almighty God to the will of man, which is contrary to the apostles, who teach: \"who believe, according to the working of His mighty power\" (Eph. 1:19). And: \"That our God would...fulfil all the good pleasure of His goodness, and the work of faith with power\" (2 Thess. 1:11). And: \"According as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness\" (2 Pet. 1:3)."
},
{
"Section": "R9",
"Content": "That grace and free will are partial causes, which together work the beginning of conversion, and that grace, in order of working, does not precede the working of the will; that is, that God does not efficiently help the will of man unto conversion until the will of man moves and determines to do this.\n\nFor the ancient Church has long ago condemned this doctrine of the Pelagians according to the words of the apostle: \"So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy\" (Rom. 9:16). Likewise: \"For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive?\" (1 Cor. 4:7). And: \"For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure\" (Phil. 2:13)."
}
]
},
{
"Chapter": "4",
"Title": "Of the Perseverance of the Saints",
"Sections": [
{
"Section": "A1",
"Content": "Whom God calls, according to his purpose, to the communion of his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and regenerates by the Holy Spirit, he delivers also from the dominion and slavery of sin in this life; though not altogether from the body of sin, and from the infirmities of the flesh, so long as they continue in this world."
},
{
"Section": "A2",
"Content": "Hence spring daily sins of infirmity, and hence spots adhere to the best works of the saints; which furnish them with constant matter for humiliation before God, and flying for refuge to Christ crucified; for mortifying the flesh more and more by the spirit of prayer, and by holy exercises of piety; and for pressing forward to the goal of perfection, till being at length delivered from this body of death, they are brought to reign with the Lamb of God in heaven."
},
{
"Section": "A3",
"Content": "By reason of these remains of indwelling sin, and the temptations of sin and of the world, those who are converted could not persevere in a state of grace, if left to their own strength. But God is faithful, who having conferred grace, mercifully confirms, and powerfully preserves them herein, even to the end."
},
{
"Section": "A4",
"Content": "Although the weakness of the flesh cannot prevail against the power of God, who confirms and preserves true believers in a state of grace, yet converts are not always so influenced and actuated by the Spirit of God, as not in some particular instances sinfully to deviate from the guidance of divine grace, so as to be seduced by, and to comply with the lusts of the flesh; they must, therefore, be constant in watching and in prayer, that they be not led into temptation. When these are neglected, they are not only liable to be drawn into great and heinous sins, by Satan, the world and the flesh, but sometimes by the righteous permission of God actually fall into these evils. This, the lamentable fall of David, Peter, and other saints described in Holy Scripture, demonstrates."
},
{
"Section": "A5",
"Content": "By such enormous sins, however, they very highly offend God, incur a deadly guilt, grieve the Holy Spirit, interrupt the exercise of faith, very grievously wound their consciences, and sometimes lose the sense of God's favor, for a time, until on their returning into the right way of serious repentance, the light of God's fatherly countenance again shines upon them."
},
{
"Section": "A6",
"Content": "But God, who is rich in mercy, according to his unchangeable purpose of election, does not wholly withdraw the Holy Spirit from his own people, even in their melancholy falls; nor suffers them to proceed so far as to lose the grace of adoption, and forfeit the state of justification, or to commit sins unto death; nor does he permit them to be totally deserted, and to plunge themselves into everlasting destruction."
},
{
"Section": "A7",
"Content": "For in the first place, in these falls he preserves them in the incorruptible seed of regeneration from perishing, or being totally lost; and again, by his Word and Spirit, certainly and effectually renews them to repentance, to a sincere and godly sorrow for their sins, that they may seek and obtain remission in the blood of the Mediator, may again experience the favor of a reconciled God, through faith adore his mercies, and henceforward more diligently work out their own salvation with fear and trembling."
},
{
"Section": "A8",
"Content": "Thus, it is not in consequence of their own merits, or strength, but of God's free mercy, that they do not totally fall from faith and grace, nor continue and perish finally in their backslidings; which, with respect to themselves, is not only possible, but would undoubtedly happen; but with respect to God, it is utterly impossible, since his counsel cannot be changed, nor his promise fail, neither can the call according to his purpose be revoked, nor the merit, intercession and preservation of Christ be rendered ineffectual, nor the sealing of the Holy Spirit be frustrated or obliterated."
},
{
"Section": "A9",
"Content": "Of this preservation of the elect to salvation, and of their perseverance in the faith, true believers for themselves may and ought to obtain assurance according to the measure of their faith, whereby they arrive at the certain persuasion, that they ever will continue true and living members of the church; and that they experience forgiveness of sins, and will at last inherit eternal life."
},
{
"Section": "A10",
"Content": "This assurance, however, is not produced by any peculiar revelation contrary to, or independent of the Word of God; but springs from faith in God's promises, which he has most abundantly revealed in his Word for our comfort; from the testimony of the Holy Spirit, witnessing with our spirit, that we are children and heirs of God, Romans 8:16; and lastly, from a serious and holy desire to preserve a good conscience, and to perform good works. And if the elect of God were deprived of this solid comfort, that they shall finally obtain the victory, and of this infallible pledge or earnest of eternal glory, they would be of all men the most miserable."
},
{
"Section": "A11",
"Content": "The Scripture moreover testifies, that believers in this life have to struggle with various carnal doubts, and that under grievous temptations they are not always sensible of this full assurance of faith and certainty of persevering. But God, who is the Father of all consolation, does not suffer them to be tempted above that they are able, but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that they may be able to bear it, I Corinthians 10:13, and by the Holy Spirit again inspires them with the comfortable assurance of persevering."
},
{
"Section": "A12",
"Content": "This certainty of perseverance, however, is so far from exciting in believers a spirit of pride, or of rendering them carnally secure, that on the contrary, it is the real source of humility, filial reverence, true piety, patience in every tribulation, fervent prayers, constancy in suffering, and in confessing the truth, and of solid rejoicing in God: so that the consideration of this benefit should serve as an incentive to the serious and constant practice of gratitude and good works, as appears from the testimonies of Scripture, and the examples of the saints."
},
{
"Section": "A13",
"Content": "Neither does renewed confidence or persevering produce licentiousness, or a disregard to piety in those who are recovering from backsliding; but it renders them much more careful and solicitous to continue in the ways of the Lord, which he hath ordained, that they who walk therein may maintain an assurance of persevering, lest by abusing his fatherly kindness, God should turn away his gracious countenance from them, to behold which is to the godly dearer than life: the withdrawing thereof is more bitter than death, and they in consequence hereof should fall into more grievous torments of conscience."
},
{
"Section": "A14",
"Content": "And as it hath pleased God, by the preaching of the gospel, to begin this work of grace in us, so he preserves, continues, and perfects it by the hearing and reading of his Word, by meditation thereon, and by the exhortations, threatenings, and promises thereof, as well as by the use of the sacraments."
},
{
"Section": "A15",
"Content": "The carnal mind is unable to comprehend this doctrine of the perseverance of the saints, and the certainty thereof; which God hath most abundantly revealed in his Word, for the glory of his name, and the consolation of pious souls, and which he impresses upon the hearts of the faithful. Satan abhors it; the world ridicules it; the ignorant and hypocrite abuse, and heretics oppose it; but the spouse of Christ hath always most tenderly loved and constantly defended it, as an inestimable treasure; and God, against whom neither counsel nor strength can prevail, will dispose her to continue this conduct to the end. Now, to this one God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, forever. AMEN."
},
{
"Section": "R1",
"Content": "Who teach: That the perseverance of the true believers is not a fruit of election, or a gift of God, gained by the death of Christ, but a condition of the new covenant, which (as they declare) man before his decisive election and justification must fulfill through his free will. For the Holy Scripture testifies that this follows out of election, and is given the elect in virtue of the death, the resurrection and intercession of Christ: \"But the elect obtained it and the rest were hardened,\" Romans 11:7. Likewise: \"He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not also with him freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth; who is he that condemneth? It is Christ Jesus that died, yea rather, that was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?\" Romans 8:32-35."
},
{
"Section": "R2",
"Content": "Who teach: That God does indeed provide the believer with sufficient powers to persevere, and is ever ready to preserve these in him, if he will do his duty; but that though all things, which are necessary to persevere in faith and which God will use to preserve faith, are made use of, it even then ever depends on the pleasure of the will whether it will persevere or not. For this idea contains an outspoken Pelagianism, and while it would make men free, it makes them robbers of God's honor, contrary to the prevailing agreement of the evangelical doctrine, which takes from man all cause of boasting, and ascribes all the praise for this favor to the grace of God alone; and contrary to the Apostle, who declares: \"That it is God, who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye be unreprovable in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ,\" I Corinthians 1:8."
},
{
"Section": "R3",
"Content": "Who teach: That the true believers and regenerate not only can fall from justifying faith and likewise from grace and salvation wholly and to the end, but indeed often do fall from this and are lost forever. For this conception makes powerless the grace, justification, regeneration, and continued keeping by Christ, contrary to the expressed words of the Apostle Paul: \"That while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Much more then, being justified by his blood, shall we be saved from the wrath of God through him,\" Romans 5:8,9. And contrary to the Apostle John: \"Whosoever is begotten of God doeth no sin, because his seed abideth in him; and he can not sin, because he is begotten of God,\" I John 3:9. And also contrary to the words of Jesus Christ: \"I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. My Father who hath given them to me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand,\" John 10:28,29."
},
{
"Section": "R4",
"Content": "Who teach: That true believers and regenerate can sin the sin unto death or against the Holy Spirit. Since the same Apostle John, after having spoken in the fifth chapter of his first epistle, vss. 16 and 17, of those who sin unto death and having forbidden to pray for them, immediately adds to this in vs. 18: \"We know that whosoever is begotten of God sinneth not (meaning a sin of that character), but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and the evil one toucheth him not,\" I John 5:18."
},
{
"Section": "R5",
"Content": "Who teach: That without a special revelation we can have no certainty of future perseverance in this life. For by this doctrine the sure comfort of all believers is taken away in this life, and the doubts of the papist are again introduced into the church, while the Holy Scriptures constantly deduce this assurance, not from a special and extraordinary revelation, but from the marks proper to the children of God and from the constant promises of God. So especially the Apostle Paul: \"No creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord,\" Romans 8:39. And John declares: \"And he that keepeth his commandments abideth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he gave us,\" I John 3:24."
},
{
"Section": "R6",
"Content": "Who teach: That the doctrine of the certainty of perseverance and of salvation from its own character and nature is a cause of indolence and is injurious to godliness, good morals, prayers and other holy exercises, but that on the contrary it is praiseworthy to doubt. For these show that they do not know the power of divine grace and the working of the indwelling Holy Spirit. And they contradict the Apostle John, who teaches the opposite with express words in his first epistle: \"Beloved, now are we the children of God, and it is not yet made manifest what we shall be. We know that, if he shall be manifested, we shall be like him, for we shall see him even as he is. And every one that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure,\" I John 3:2, 3. Furthermore, these are contradicted by the example of the saints, both of the Old and New Testament, who though they were assured of their perseverance and salvation, were nevertheless constant in prayers and other exercises of godliness."
},
{
"Section": "R7",
"Content": "Who teach: That the faith of those, who believe for a time, does not differ from justifying and saving faith except only in duration. For Christ himself, in Matthew 13:20, Luke 8:13, and in other places, evidently notes, besides this duration, a threefold difference between those who believe only for a time and true believers, when he declares that the former receive the seed in stony ground, but the latter in the good ground or heart; that the former are without root, but that the latter have a firm root; that the former are without fruit, but that the latter bring forth their fruit in various measure, with constancy and steadfastness."
},
{
"Section": "R8",
"Content": "Who teach: That it is not absurd that one having lost his first regeneration, is again and even often born anew. For these deny by this doctrine the incorruptibleness of the seed of God, whereby we are born again. Contrary to the testimony of the Apostle Peter: \"Having been begotten again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible,\" I Peter 1:23."
},
{
"Section": "R9",
"Content": "Who teach: That Christ has in no place prayed that believers should infallibly continue in faith. For they contradict Christ himself, who says: \"I have prayed for thee (Simon), that thy faith fail not,\" Luke 22:32; and the Evangelist John, who declares, that Christ has not prayed for the Apostles only, but also for those who through their word would believer: \"Holy Father, keep them in thy name,\" and: \"I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil one,\" John 17:11, 15, 20."
}
]
}
]
}
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{
"Metadata": {
"Title": "Catechism For Young Children",
"AlternativeTitles": [],
"Year": "1840",
"Authors": [
"Joseph Engles"
],
"Location": "Pennsylvania, United States",
"OriginalLanguage": "English",
"OriginStory": null,
"SourceUrl": "https://static1.squarespace.com/static/590be125ff7c502a07752a5b/t/5a84cca971c10b7697dda564/1518652588323/Engles%2C+Joseph+Patterson%2C+Catechism+for+Young+Children.pdf",
"SourceAttribution": "Public Domain",
"CreedFormat": "Catechism"
},
"Data": [
{
"Number": 1,
"Question": "Who made you?",
"Answer": "God."
},
{
"Number": 2,
"Question": "What else did God make?",
"Answer": "God made all things."
},
{
"Number": 3,
"Question": "Why did God make you and all things?",
"Answer": "For his own glory."
},
{
"Number": 4,
"Question": "How can you glorify God?",
"Answer": "By loving him and doing what he commands."
},
{
"Number": 5,
"Question": "Why ought you to glorify God?",
"Answer": "Because he made me and takes care of me."
},
{
"Number": 6,
"Question": "Are there more gods than one?",
"Answer": "There is only one God."
},
{
"Number": 7,
"Question": "In how many persons does this one God exist?",
"Answer": "In three persons."
},
{
"Number": 8,
"Question": "What are they?",
"Answer": "The Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost."
},
{
"Number": 9,
"Question": "What is God?",
"Answer": "God is a Spirit, and has not a body like men."
},
{
"Number": 10,
"Question": "Where is God?",
"Answer": "God is everywhere."
},
{
"Number": 11,
"Question": "Can you see God?",
"Answer": "No; I cannot see God, but he always sees me."
},
{
"Number": 12,
"Question": "Does God know all things?",
"Answer": "Yes; nothing can be hid from God."
},
{
"Number": 13,
"Question": "Can God do all things?",
"Answer": "Yes; God can do all his holy will."
},
{
"Number": 14,
"Question": "Where do you learn how to love and obey God?",
"Answer": "In the Bible alone."
},
{
"Number": 15,
"Question": "Who wrote the Bible?",
"Answer": "Holy men who were taught by the Holy Ghost."
},
{
"Number": 16,
"Question": "Who were our first parents?",
"Answer": "Adam and Eve."
},
{
"Number": 17,
"Question": "Of what were our first parents made?",
"Answer": "God made the body of Adam out of the ground, and formed Eve from the body of Adam."
},
{
"Number": 18,
"Question": "What did God give Adam and Eve besides bodies?",
"Answer": "He gave them souls that could never die."
},
{
"Number": 19,
"Question": "Have you a soul as well as a body?",
"Answer": "Yes; I have a soul that can never die."
},
{
"Number": 20,
"Question": "How do you know that you have a soul?",
"Answer": "Because I can think about God and the world to come."
},
{
"Number": 21,
"Question": "In what condition did God make Adam and Eve?",
"Answer": "He made them holy and happy."
},
{
"Number": 22,
"Question": "What is a covenant?",
"Answer": "An agreement between two or more persons."
},
{
"Number": 23,
"Question": "What covenant did God make with Adam?",
"Answer": "The covenant of works."
},
{
"Number": 24,
"Question": "What was Adam bound to do by the covenant of works?",
"Answer": "To obey God perfectly."
},
{
"Number": 25,
"Question": "What did God promise in the covenant of works?",
"Answer": "To reward Adam with life if he obeyed him."
},
{
"Number": 26,
"Question": "What did God threaten in the covenant of works?",
"Answer": "To punish Adam with death if he disobeyed."
},
{
"Number": 27,
"Question": "Did Adam keep the covenant of works?",
"Answer": "No; he sinned against God."
},
{
"Number": 28,
"Question": "What is sin?",
"Answer": "Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God."
},
{
"Number": 29,
"Question": "What is meant by want of conformity?",
"Answer": "Not being or doing what God requires."
},
{
"Number": 30,
"Question": "What is meant by transgression?",
"Answer": "Doing what God forbids."
},
{
"Number": 31,
"Question": "What was the sin of our first parents?",
"Answer": "Eating the forbidden fruit."
},
{
"Number": 32,
"Question": "Who tempted them to this sin?",
"Answer": "The devil tempted Eve, and she gave the fruit to Adam."
},
{
"Number": 33,
"Question": "What befell our first parents when they had sinned?",
"Answer": "Instead of being holy and happy, they became sinful and miserable."
},
{
"Number": 34,
"Question": "Did Adam act for himself alone in the covenant of works?",
"Answer": "No; he represented all his posterity."
},
{
"Number": 35,
"Question": "What effect had the sin of Adam on all mankind?",
"Answer": "All mankind are born in a state of sin and misery."
},
{
"Number": 36,
"Question": "What is that sinful nature which we inherit from Adam called?",
"Answer": "Original sin."
},
{
"Number": 37,
"Question": "What does every sin deserve?",
"Answer": "The wrath and curse of God."
},
{
"Number": 38,
"Question": "Can any one go to heaven with this sinful nature?",
"Answer": "No, our hearts must be changed before we can be fit for heaven."
},
{
"Number": 39,
"Question": "What is a change of heart called?",
"Answer": "Regeneration."
},
{
"Number": 40,
"Question": "Who can change a sinner's heart?",
"Answer": "The Holy Spirit alone."
},
{
"Number": 41,
"Question": "Can any one be saved through the covenant of works?",
"Answer": "None can be saved through the covenant of works."
},
{
"Number": 42,
"Question": "Why can none be saved through the covenant of works?",
"Answer": "Because all have broken it, and are condemned by it."
},
{
"Number": 43,
"Question": "With whom did God the Father make the covenant of grace?",
"Answer": "With Christ, his eternal Son. "
},
{
"Number": 44,
"Question": "Whom did Christ represent in the covenant of grace?",
"Answer": "His elect people."
},
{
"Number": 45,
"Question": "What did Christ undertake in the covenant of grace?",
"Answer": "To keep the whole law for his people, and to suffer the punishment due to their sins."
},
{
"Number": 46,
"Question": "Did our Lord Jesus Christ ever commit the least sin?",
"Answer": "No; he was holy, harmless and undefiled."
},
{
"Number": 47,
"Question": "How could the Son of God suffer?",
"Answer": "Christ, the Son of God, became man that he might obey and suffer in our nature."
},
{
"Number": 48,
"Question": "What is meant by the Atonement?",
"Answer": "Christ's satisfying divine justice, by his sufferings and death, in the place of sinners."
},
{
"Number": 49,
"Question": "What did God the Father undertake in the covenant of grace?",
"Answer": "To justify and sanctify those for whom Christ should die."
},
{
"Number": 50,
"Question": "What is justification?",
"Answer": "It is God's forgiving sinners, and treating them as if they had never sinned."
},
{
"Number": 51,
"Question": "What is sanctification?",
"Answer": "It is God's making sinners holy in heart and conduct."
},
{
"Number": 52,
"Question": "For whom did Christ obey and suffer?",
"Answer": "For those whom the Father had given him."
},
{
"Number": 53,
"Question": "What kind of life did Christ live on earth?",
"Answer": "A life of poverty and suffering."
},
{
"Number": 54,
"Question": "What kind of death did Christ die?",
"Answer": "The painful and shameful death of the cross."
},
{
"Number": 55,
"Question": "Who will be saved?",
"Answer": "Only those who repent of sin, believe in Christ and lead holy lives."
},
{
"Number": 56,
"Question": "What is it to repent?",
"Answer": "To be sorry for sin, and to hate and forsake it because it is displeasing to God."
},
{
"Number": 57,
"Question": "What is it to believe or have faith in Christ?",
"Answer": "To trust in Christ alone for salvation."
},
{
"Number": 58,
"Question": "Can you repent and believe in Christ by your own power?",
"Answer": "No; I can do nothing good without the help of God's Holy Spirit."
},
{
"Number": 59,
"Question": "How can you get the help of the Holy Spirit?",
"Answer": "God has told us that we must pray to him for the Holy Spirit."
},
{
"Number": 60,
"Question": "How long ago is it since Christ died?",
"Answer": "More than eighteen hundred years."
},
{
"Number": 61,
"Question": "How were pious persons saved before the coming of Christ if",
"Answer": "By believing in a Saviour to come."
},
{
"Number": 62,
"Question": "How did they show their faith?",
"Answer": "By offering sacrifices on God's altar."
},
{
"Number": 63,
"Question": "What did these sacrifices represent?",
"Answer": "Christ, the Lamb of God, who was to die for sinners."
},
{
"Number": 64,
"Question": "What offices has Christ?",
"Answer": "Christ has three offices."
},
{
"Number": 65,
"Question": "What are they?",
"Answer": "The offices of a prophet, of a priest, and of a king."
},
{
"Number": 66,
"Question": "How is Christ a prophet? ",
"Answer": "Because he teaches us the will of God."
},
{
"Number": 67,
"Question": "How is Christ a priest?",
"Answer": "Because he died for our sins and pleads with God for us."
},
{
"Number": 68,
"Question": "How is Christ a king?",
"Answer": "Because he rules over us and defends us."
},
{
"Number": 69,
"Question": "Why do you need Christ as a prophet?",
"Answer": "Because I am ignorant."
},
{
"Number": 70,
"Question": "Why do you need Christ as a priest?",
"Answer": "Because I am guilty."
},
{
"Number": 71,
"Question": "Why do you need Christ as a king?",
"Answer": "Because I am weak and helpless."
},
{
"Number": 72,
"Question": "How many commandments did God give on Mount Sinai?",
"Answer": "Ten commandments. "
},
{
"Number": 73,
"Question": "What are the ten commandments sometimes called?",
"Answer": "The Decalogue."
},
{
"Number": 74,
"Question": "What do the first four commandments teach?",
"Answer": "Our duty to God."
},
{
"Number": 75,
"Question": "What do the last six commandments teach?",
"Answer": "Our duty to our fellow-men."
},
{
"Number": 76,
"Question": "What is the sum of the ten commandments?",
"Answer": "To love God with all my heart, and my neighbor as myself."
},
{
"Number": 77,
"Question": "Who is your neighbor?",
"Answer": "All my fellow-men are my neighbors."
},
{
"Number": 78,
"Question": "Is God pleased with those who love and obey him?",
"Answer": "Yes; he says, 'I love them that love me.'"
},
{
"Number": 79,
"Question": "Is God displeased with those who do not love and obey him?",
"Answer": "Yes; 'God is angry with the wicked every day.'"
},
{
"Number": 80,
"Question": "What is the first commandment?",
"Answer": "The first commandment is, Thou shalt have no other gods before me."
},
{
"Number": 81,
"Question": "What does the first commandment teach us?",
"Answer": "To worship God alone."
},
{
"Number": 82,
"Question": "What is the second commandment?",
"Answer": "The second commandment is, Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them; for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments."
},
{
"Number": 83,
"Question": "What does the second commandment teach us?",
"Answer": "To worship God in a proper manner, and to avoid idolatry."
},
{
"Number": 84,
"Question": "What is the third commandment?",
"Answer": "The third commandment is, Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain."
},
{
"Number": 85,
"Question": "What does the third commandment teach us?",
"Answer": "To reverence God's name, word, and works."
},
{
"Number": 86,
"Question": "What is the fourth commandment? ",
"Answer": "The fourth commandment is, Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested on the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it."
},
{
"Number": 87,
"Question": "What does the fourth commandment teach us?",
"Answer": "To keep the Sabbath holy."
},
{
"Number": 88,
"Question": "What day of the week is the Christian Sabbath?",
"Answer": "The first day of the week, called the Lord's day."
},
{
"Number": 89,
"Question": "Why is it called the Lord's day? ",
"Answer": "Because on that day Christ rose from the dead."
},
{
"Number": 90,
"Question": "How should the Sabbath be spent?",
"Answer": "In prayer and praise, in hearing and reading God's word, and in doing good to our fellow-men."
},
{
"Number": 91,
"Question": "What is the fifth commandment?",
"Answer": "The fifth commandment is, Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee."
},
{
"Number": 92,
"Question": "What does the fifth commandment teach us?",
"Answer": "To love and obey our parents and teachers."
},
{
"Number": 93,
"Question": "What is the sixth commandment? ",
"Answer": "The sixth commandment is, Thou shalt not kill."
},
{
"Number": 94,
"Question": "What does the sixth commandment teach us?",
"Answer": "To avoid angry passions."
},
{
"Number": 95,
"Question": "What is the seventh commandment?",
"Answer": "The seventh commandment is, Thou shalt not commit adultery."
},
{
"Number": 96,
"Question": "What does the seventh commandment teach us?",
"Answer": "To be pure in heart, language, and conduct."
},
{
"Number": 97,
"Question": "What is the eighth commandment?",
"Answer": "The eighth commandment is, Thou shalt not steal."
},
{
"Number": 98,
"Question": "What does the eighth commandment teach us?",
"Answer": "To be honest and industrious."
},
{
"Number": 99,
"Question": "What is the ninth commandment?",
"Answer": "The ninth commandment is, Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor."
},
{
"Number": 100,
"Question": "What does the ninth commandment teach us?",
"Answer": "To tell the truth."
},
{
"Number": 101,
"Question": "What is the tenth commandment?",
"Answer": "The tenth commandment is, Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor's."
},
{
"Number": 102,
"Question": "What does the tenth commandment teach us?",
"Answer": "To be content with our lot."
},
{
"Number": 103,
"Question": "Can any man keep these ten commandments perfectly?",
"Answer": "No mere man, since the fall of Adam, ever did or can keep the ten commandments perfectly."
},
{
"Number": 104,
"Question": "Of what use are the ten commandments to us?",
"Answer": "They teach us our duty, and show our need of a Saviour."
},
{
"Number": 105,
"Question": "What is prayer?",
"Answer": "Prayer is asking God for things which he has promised to give."
},
{
"Number": 106,
"Question": "In whose name should we pray?",
"Answer": "Only in the name of Christ."
},
{
"Number": 107,
"Question": "What has Christ given us to teach us how to pray?",
"Answer": "The Lord's Prayer."
},
{
"Number": 108,
"Question": "Repeat the Lord's Prayer.",
"Answer": "OUR FATHER WHICH ART IN HEAVEN, HALLOWED BE THY NAME. THY KINGDOM COME. THY WILL BE DONE IN EARTH, AS IT IS IN HEAVEN. GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD; AND FORGIVE US OUR DEBTS, AS WE FORGIVE OUR DEBTORS; AND LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION, BUT DELIVER US FROM EVIL. FOR THINE IS THE KINGDOM, AND THE POWER, AND THE GLORY, FOR EVER. AMEN."
},
{
"Number": 109,
"Question": "How many petitions are there in the Lord's Prayer?",
"Answer": "Six."
},
{
"Number": 110,
"Question": "What is the first petition?",
"Answer": "'Hallowed be thy name.'"
},
{
"Number": 111,
"Question": "What do we pray for in the first petition?",
"Answer": "That God's name may be honored by us and all men."
},
{
"Number": 112,
"Question": "What is the second petition?",
"Answer": "'Thy kingdom come.'"
},
{
"Number": 113,
"Question": "What do we pray for in the second petition?",
"Answer": "That the gospel may be preached in all the world, and believed and obeyed by us and all men."
},
{
"Number": 114,
"Question": "What is the third petition?",
"Answer": "'Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.'"
},
{
"Number": 115,
"Question": "What do we pray for in the third petition?",
"Answer": "That men on earth may serve God as the angels do in heaven."
},
{
"Number": 116,
"Question": "What is the fourth petition?",
"Answer": "'Give us this day our daily bread.'"
},
{
"Number": 117,
"Question": "What do we pray for in the fourth petition?",
"Answer": "That God would give us all things needful for our bodies and souls."
},
{
"Number": 118,
"Question": "What is the fifth petition?",
"Answer": "'And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.'"
},
{
"Number": 119,
"Question": "What do we pray for in the fifth petition?",
"Answer": "That God would pardon our sins for Christ's sake, and enable us to forgive those who have injured us."
},
{
"Number": 120,
"Question": "What is the sixth petition?",
"Answer": "'And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.'"
},
{
"Number": 121,
"Question": "What do we pray for in the sixth petition?",
"Answer": "That God would keep us from sin."
},
{
"Number": 122,
"Question": "How many sacraments are there?",
"Answer": "Two."
},
{
"Number": 123,
"Question": "What are they?",
"Answer": "Baptism and the Lord's Supper."
},
{
"Number": 124,
"Question": "Who appointed these sacraments?",
"Answer": "The Lord Jesus Christ. "
},
{
"Number": 125,
"Question": "Why did Christ appoint these sacraments?",
"Answer": "To distinguish his disciples from the world, and to comfort and strengthen them."
},
{
"Number": 126,
"Question": "What sign is used in baptism?",
"Answer": "The washing with water."
},
{
"Number": 127,
"Question": "What does this signify?",
"Answer": "That we are cleansed from sin by the blood of Christ."
},
{
"Number": 128,
"Question": "In whose name are we baptized?",
"Answer": "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."
},
{
"Number": 129,
"Question": "Who are to be baptized?",
"Answer": "Believers and their children."
},
{
"Number": 130,
"Question": "Why should infants be baptized?",
"Answer": "Because they have a sinful nature and need a Saviour."
},
{
"Number": 131,
"Question": "Does Christ care for little children?",
"Answer": "Yes; for he says, SUFFER THE LITTLE CHILDREN TO COME UNTO ME, AND FORBID THEM NOT, FOR OF SUCH IS THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN."
},
{
"Number": 132,
"Question": "To what does your baptism bind you?",
"Answer": "To be a true follower of Christ."
},
{
"Number": 133,
"Question": "What is the Lord's Supper?",
"Answer": "The eating of bread and drinking of wine in remembrance of the sufferings and death of Christ."
},
{
"Number": 134,
"Question": "What does the bread represent?",
"Answer": "The body of Christ, broken for our sins."
},
{
"Number": 135,
"Question": "What does the wine represent?",
"Answer": "The blood of Christ, shed for our salvation."
},
{
"Number": 136,
"Question": "Who should partake of the Lord's Supper?",
"Answer": "Only those who repent of their sins, believe in Christ for salvation, and love their fellow-men."
},
{
"Number": 137,
"Question": "Did Christ remain in the tomb after his crucifixion?",
"Answer": "No; he rose from the tomb on the third day after his death."
},
{
"Number": 138,
"Question": "Where is Christ now?",
"Answer": "In heaven, interceding for sinners."
},
{
"Number": 139,
"Question": "Will he come again?",
"Answer": "Yes; at the last day Christ will come to judge the world."
},
{
"Number": 140,
"Question": "What becomes of men at death?",
"Answer": "The body returns to dust, and the soul goes into the world of spirits."
},
{
"Number": 141,
"Question": "Will the bodies of the dead be raised to life again?",
"Answer": "Yes; 'the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised.'"
},
{
"Number": 142,
"Question": "What will become of the wicked in the day of judgment?",
"Answer": "They shall be cast into hell."
},
{
"Number": 143,
"Question": "What is hell?",
"Answer": "A place of dreadful and endless torment."
},
{
"Number": 144,
"Question": "What will become of the righteous?",
"Answer": "They shall be taken to heaven."
},
{
"Number": 145,
"Question": "What is heaven?",
"Answer": "A glorious and happy place, where the righteous shall be for ever with the LORD."
}
]
}
+23
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{
"Metadata": {
"Title": "Chalcedonian Definition",
"AlternativeTitles": [
"Chalcedonian Creed",
"Definition of Chalcedon",
"The Symbol of Chalcedon"
],
"Year": "451",
"Authors": [
"Council of Chalcedon"
],
"Location": "Chalcedon, Bithynia",
"OriginalLanguage": "Greek",
"OriginStory": "The Council of Chalcedon was summoned to consider the 'one nature' view of Christ",
"SourceUrl": "https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/creeds2.iv.i.iii.html",
"SourceAttribution": "Public Domain",
"CreedFormat": "Creed"
},
"Data": {
"Content": "Therefore, following the holy fathers, we all with one accord teach men to acknowledge one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, at once complete in Godhead and complete in manhood, truly God and truly man, consisting also of a reasonable soul and body; of one substance with the Father as regards his Godhead, and at the same time of one substance with us as regards his manhood; like us in all respects, apart from sin; as regards his Godhead, begotten of the Father before the ages, but yet as regards his manhood begotten, for us men and for our salvation, of Mary the Virgin, the God-bearer; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten, recognized in two natures, without confusion, without change, without division, without separation; the distinction of natures being in no way annulled by the union, but rather the characteristics of each nature being preserved and coming together to form one person and subsistence, not as parted or separated into two persons, but one and the same Son and Only-begotten God the Word, Lord Jesus Christ; even as the prophets from earliest times spoke of him, and our Lord Jesus Christ himself taught us, and the creed of the fathers has handed down to us."
}
}
@@ -0,0 +1,113 @@
{
"Metadata": {
"Title": "Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy",
"AlternativeTitles": [],
"Year": "1978",
"Authors": [
"International Council on Biblical Inerrancy"
],
"Location": "Chicago, Illinois",
"OriginalLanguage": "English",
"OriginStory": "The International Council on Biblical Inerrancy was founded to clarify and defend the doctrine of biblical inerrancy.",
"SourceUrl": "https://library.dts.edu/Pages/TL/Special/ICBI_1.pdf",
"SourceAttribution": "Copyright - Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, Inc",
"CreedFormat": "Canon"
},
"Data": [
{
"Article": "1",
"Title": "Article I",
"Content": "WE AFFIRM that the Holy Scriptures are to be received as the authoritative Word of God.\n\nWE DENY that the Scriptures receive their authority from the Church, tradition, or any other human source."
},
{
"Article": "2",
"Title": "Article II",
"Content": "WE AFFIRM that the Scriptures are the supreme written norm by which God binds the conscience, and that the authority of the Church is subordinate to that of Scripture.\n\nWE DENY that Church creeds, councils, or declarations have authority greater than or equal to the authority of the Bible."
},
{
"Article": "3",
"Title": "Article III",
"Content": "WE AFFIRM that the written Word in its entirety is revelation given by God.\n\nWE DENY that the Bible is merely a witness to revelation, or only becomes revelation in encounter, or depends on the responses of men for its validity."
},
{
"Article": "4",
"Title": "Article IV",
"Content": "WE AFFIRM that God who made mankind in His image has used language as a means of revelation.\n\nWE DENY that human language is so limited by our creatureliness that it is rendered inadequate as a vehicle for divine revelation. We further deny that the corruption of human culture and language through sin has thwarted God's work of inspiration."
},
{
"Article": "5",
"Title": "Article V",
"Content": "WE AFFIRM that God's revelation within the Holy Scriptures was progressive.\n\nWE DENY that later revelation, which may fulfill earlier revelation, ever corrects or contradicts it. We further deny that any normative revelation has been given since the completion of the New Testament writings."
},
{
"Article": "6",
"Title": "Article VI",
"Content": "WE AFFIRM that the whole of Scripture and all its parts, down to the very words of the original, were given by divine inspiration.\n\nWE DENY that the inspiration of Scripture can rightly be affirmed of the whole without the parts, or of some parts but not the whole."
},
{
"Article": "7",
"Title": "Article VII",
"Content": "WE AFFIRM that inspiration was the work in which God by His Spirit, through human writers, gave us His Word. The origin of Scripture is divine. The mode of divine inspiration remains largely a mystery to us.\n\nWE DENY that inspiration can be reduced to human insight, or to heightened states of consciousness of any kind."
},
{
"Article": "8",
"Title": "Article VIII",
"Content": "WE AFFIRM that God in His work of inspiration utilized the distinctive personalities and literary styles of the writers whom He had chosen and prepared.\n\nWE DENY that God, in causing these writers to use the very words that He chose, overrode their personalities."
},
{
"Article": "9",
"Title": "Article IX",
"Content": "WE AFFIRM that inspiration, though not conferring omniscience, guaranteed true and trustworthy utterance on all matters of which the Biblical authors were moved to speak and write.\n\nWE DENY that the finitude or fallenness of these writers, by necessity or otherwise, introduced distortion or falsehood into God's Word."
},
{
"Article": "10",
"Title": "Article X",
"Content": "WE AFFIRM that inspiration, strictly speaking, applies only to the autographic text of Scripture, which in the providence of God can be ascertained from available manuscripts with great accuracy. We further affirm that copies and translations of Scripture are the Word of God to the extent that they faithfully represent the original.\n\nWE DENY that any essential element of the Christian faith is affected by the absence of the autographs. We further deny that this absence renders the assertion of Biblical inerrancy invalid or irrelevant."
},
{
"Article": "11",
"Title": "Article XI",
"Content": "WE AFFIRM that Scripture, having been given by divine inspiration, is infallible, so that, far from misleading us, it is true and reliable in all the matters it addresses.\n\nWE DENY that it is possible for the Bible to be at the same time infallible and errant in its assertions. Infallibility and inerrancy may be distinguished, but not separated."
},
{
"Article": "12",
"Title": "Article XII",
"Content": "WE AFFIRM that Scripture in its entirety is inerrant, being free from all falsehood, fraud, or deceit.\n\nWE DENY that Biblical infallibility and inerrancy are limited to spiritual, religious, or redemptive themes, exclusive of assertions in the fields of history and science. We further deny that scientific hypotheses about earth history may properly be used to overturn the teaching of Scripture on creation and the flood."
},
{
"Article": "13",
"Title": "Article XIII",
"Content": "WE AFFIRM the propriety of using inerrancy as a theological term with reference to the complete truthfulness of Scripture.\n\nWE DENY that it is proper to evaluate Scripture according to standards of truth and error that are alien to its usage or purpose. We further deny that inerrancy is negated by Biblical phenomena such as a lack of modern technical precision, irregularities of grammar or spelling, observational descriptions of nature, the reporting of falsehoods, the use of hyperbole and round numbers, the topical arrangement of material, variant selections of material in parallel accounts, or the use of free citations."
},
{
"Article": "14",
"Title": "Article XIV",
"Content": "WE AFFIRM the unity and internal consistency of Scripture.\n\nWE DENY that alleged errors and discrepancies that have not yet been resolved vitiate the truth claims of the Bible."
},
{
"Article": "15",
"Title": "Article XV",
"Content": "WE AFFIRM that the doctrine of inerrancy is grounded in the teaching of the Bible about inspiration.\n\nWE DENY that Jesus' teaching about Scripture may be dismissed by appeals to accommodation or to any natural limitation of His humanity."
},
{
"Article": "16",
"Title": "Article XVI",
"Content": "WE AFFIRM that the doctrine of inerrancy has been integral to the Church's faith throughout its history.\n\nWE DENY that inerrancy is a doctrine invented by scholastic Protestantism, or is a reactionary position postulated in response to negative higher criticism."
},
{
"Article": "17",
"Title": "Article XVII",
"Content": "WE AFFIRM that the Holy Spirit bears witness to the Scriptures, assuring believers of the truthfulness of God's written Word.\n\nWE DENY that this witness of the Holy Spirit operates in isolation from or against Scripture."
},
{
"Article": "18",
"Title": "Article XVIII",
"Content": "WE AFFIRM that the text of Scripture is to be interpreted by grammatico-historical exegesis, taking account of its literary forms and devices, and that Scripture is to interpret Scripture.\n\nWE DENY the legitimacy of any treatment of the text or quest for sources lying behind it that leads to relativizing, dehistoricizing, or discounting its teaching, or rejecting its claims to authorship."
},
{
"Article": "19",
"Title": "Article XIX",
"Content": "WE AFFIRM that a confession of the full authority, infallibility, and inerrancy of Scripture is vital to a sound understanding of the whole of the Christian faith. We further affirm that such confession should lead to increasing conformity to the image of Christ.\n\nWE DENY that such confession is necessary for salvation. However, we further deny that inerrancy can be rejected without grave consequences, both to the individual and to the Church."
}
]
}
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{
"Metadata": {
"Title": "Christ Hymn of Colossians",
"AlternativeTitles": [],
"Year": "60",
"Authors": [
"Paul"
],
"Location": "Rome, Italy",
"OriginalLanguage": "Greek",
"OriginStory": "To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae",
"SourceUrl": "https://esv.literalword.com/?q=colossians+1%3A15-19",
"SourceAttribution": "Copyright - Crossway",
"CreedFormat": "Creed"
},
"Data": {
"Content": "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.",
"ContentWithProofs": "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.[1]",
"Proofs": [
{
"Id": 1,
"References": ["Col.1.15-Col.1.19"]
}
]
}
}
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{
"Metadata": {
"Title": "Christ Hymn of Philippians",
"AlternativeTitles": [],
"Year": "60",
"Authors": [
"Paul"
],
"Location": "Rome, Italy",
"OriginalLanguage": "Greek",
"OriginStory": "To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons",
"SourceUrl": "https://esv.literalword.com/?q=Philippians+2%3A6-10",
"SourceAttribution": "Copyright - Crossway",
"CreedFormat": "Creed"
},
"Data": {
"Content": "Who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.",
"ContentWithProofs": "Who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.[1]",
"Proofs": [
{
"Id": 1,
"References": ["Phil.2.6-Phil.2.10"]
}
]
}
}
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{
"Metadata": {
"Title": "Christian Shema",
"AlternativeTitles": [],
"Year": "55",
"Authors": [
"Paul"
],
"Location": "Ephesus, Roman Empire",
"OriginalLanguage": "Greek",
"OriginStory": "To the church of God that is in Corinth",
"SourceUrl": "https://esv.literalword.com/?q=1+corinthians+8%3A6",
"SourceAttribution": "Copyright - Crossway",
"CreedFormat": "Creed"
},
"Data": {
"Content": "There is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.",
"ContentWithProofs": "There is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.[1]",
"Proofs": [
{
"Id": 1,
"References": [ "1Cor.8.6" ]
}
]
}
}
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{
"Metadata": {
"Title": "Confession of Peter",
"AlternativeTitles": ["Petrine Confession"],
"Year": "30",
"Authors": [],
"Location": "",
"OriginalLanguage": "",
"OriginStory": "",
"SourceUrl": "https://esv.literalword.com/?q=Matthew+16%3A16",
"SourceAttribution": "Copyright - Crossway",
"CreedFormat": "Creed"
},
"Data": {
"Content": "Simon Peter replied, \"You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.\"",
"ContentWithProofs": "Simon Peter replied, \"You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.\"[1]",
"Proofs": [
{
"Id": 1,
"References": [
"Matt.16.16", "Mark.8.29", "Luke.9.20", "John.20.31", "1John.5.1", "John.9.22", "John.11.27", "Mark.14.61"
]
}
]
}
}
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{
"Metadata": {
"Title": "Consensus Tigurinus",
"AlternativeTitles": [
"Consensus of Zurich"
],
"Year": "1549",
"Authors": [
"John Calvin"
],
"Location": "Geneva, Switzerland",
"OriginalLanguage": "Latin",
"OriginStory": "Calvin presents a defense and explanation for his view of the Lord's Supper to explain his preaching on the topic and to unite the Reformed churches.",
"SourceUrl": "http://apostles-creed.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/The-Consenus-Tigurinus-Zurich.pdf",
"SourceAttribution": "Public Domain",
"CreedFormat": "Canon"
},
"Data": [
{
"Article": "1",
"Title": "The Whole Spiritual Government of the Church Leads us to Christ",
"Content": "Seeing that Christ is the end of the law, and the knowledge of him comprehends in itself the whole sum of the gospel, there is no doubt that the object of the whole spiritual government of the Church is to lead us to Christ, as it is by him alone we come to God, who is the final end of a happy life. Whosoever deviates from this in the slightest degree, can never speak duly or appositely of any ordinances of God."
},
{
"Article": "2",
"Title": "A True Knowledge of the Sacraments from the Knowledge of Christ",
"Content": "As the sacraments are appendages of the gospel, he only can discourse aptly and usefully of their nature, virtue, office, and benefit, who begins with Christ: and that not by adverting cursorily to the name of Christ, but by truly holding for what end he was given us by the Father, and what blessings he has conferred upon us."
},
{
"Article": "3",
"Title": "Nature of the Knowledge of Christ",
"Content": "We must hold therefore that Christ, being the eternal Son of God, and of the same essence and glory with the Father, assumed our flesh, to communicate to us by right of adoption that which he possessed by nature, namely, to make us sons of God. This is done when ingrafted by faith into the body of Christ, and that by the agency of the Holy Spirit we are first counted righteous by a free imputation of righteousness, and then regenerated to a new life: whereby being formed again in the image of our heavenly Father, we renounce the old man."
},
{
"Article": "4",
"Title": "Christ a Priest and King",
"Content": "Thus Christ, in his human nature, is to be considered as our priest, who expiated our sins by the one sacrifice of his death, put away all our transgressions by his obedience, provided a perfect righteousness for us, and now intercedes for us, that we may have access to God. He is to be considered as a repairer, who, by the agency of his Spirit, reforms whatever is vicious in us, that we may cease to live to the world and the flesh, and God himself may live in us. He is to be considered as a king, who enriches us with all kinds of blessings, governs and defends us by his power, provides us with spiritual weapons, delivers us from all harm, and rules and guides us by the sceptre of his mouth. And he is to be so considered, that he may raise us to himself, the true God, and to the Father, until the fulfilment of what is finally to take place, viz., God be all in all."
},
{
"Article": "5",
"Title": "How Christ Communicates Himself to Us",
"Content": "Moreover, that Christ may thus exhibit himself to us and produce these effects in us, he must be made one with us, and we must be ingrafted into his body. He does not infuse his life into us unless he is our head, and from him the whole body, fitly joined together through every joint of supply, according to his working, maketh increase of the body in the proportion of each member."
},
{
"Article": "6",
"Title": "Spiritual Communion. Institution of the Sacraments",
"Content": "The spiritual communion which we have with the Son of God takes place when he, dwelling in us by his Spirit, makes all who believe capable of all the blessings which reside in him. In order to testify this, both the preaching of the gospel was appointed, and the use of the sacraments committed to us, namely, the sacraments of holy Baptism and the holy Supper."
},
{
"Article": "7",
"Title": "The Ends of the Sacrament",
"Content": "The ends of the sacraments are to be marks and badges of Christian profession and fellowship or fraternity, to be incitements to gratitude and exercises of faith and a godly life; in short, to be contracts binding us to this. But among other ends the principal one is, that God may, by means of them, testify, represent, and seal his grace to us. For although they signify nothing else than is announced to us by the Word itself, yet it is a great matter, first, that there is submitted to our eye a kind of living images which make a deeper impression on the senses, by bringing the object in a manner directly before them, while they bring the death of Christ and all his benefits to our remembrance, that faith may be the better exercised; and, secondly, that what the mouth of God had announced is, as it were, confirmed and ratified by seals."
},
{
"Article": "8",
"Title": "Gratitude",
"Content": "Now, seeing that these things which the Lord has given as testimonies and seals of his grace are true, he undoubtedly truly performs inwardly by his Spirit that which the sacraments figure to our eyes and other senses; in other words, we obtain possession of Christ as the fountain of all blessings, both in order that we may be reconciled to God by means of his death, be renewed by his Spirit to holiness of life, in short, obtain righteousness and salvation; and also in order that we may give thanks for the blessings which were once exhibited on the cross, and which we daily receive by faith."
},
{
"Article": "9",
"Title": "The Signs and the Things Signified Not Disjoined but Distinct",
"Content": "Wherefore, though we distinguish, as we ought, between the signs and the things signified, yet we do not disjoin the reality from the signs, but acknowledge that all who in faith embrace the promises there offered receive Christ spiritually, with his spiritual gifts, while those who had long been made partakers of Christ continue and renew that communion."
},
{
"Article": "10",
"Title": "The Promise Principally to Be Looked To in the Sacraments",
"Content": "And it is proper to look not to the bare signs, but rather to the promise thereto annexed. As far, therefore, as our faith in the promise there offered prevails, so far will that virtue and efficacy of which we speak display itself. Thus the substance of water, bread, and wine, by no means offers Christ to us, nor makes us capable of his spiritual gifts. The promise rather is to be looked to, whose office it is to lead us to Christ by the direct way of faith, faith which makes us partakers of Christ."
},
{
"Article": "11",
"Title": "We Are Not to Stand Gazing on the Elements",
"Content": "This refutes the error of those who stand gazing on the elements, and attach their confidence of salvation to them; seeing that the sacraments separated from Christ are but empty shows, and a voice is distinctly heard throughout proclaiming that we must adhere to none but Christ alone, and seek the gift of salvation from none but him."
},
{
"Article": "12",
"Title": "The Sacraments Effect Nothing by Themselves",
"Content": "Besides, if any good is conferred upon us by the sacraments, it is not owing to any proper virtue in them, even though in this you should include the promise by which they are distinguished. For it is God alone who acts by his Spirit. When he uses the instrumentality of the sacraments, he neither infuses his own virtue into them nor derogates in any respect from the effectual working of his Spirit, but, in adaptation to our weakness, uses them as helps; in such manner, however, that the whole power of acting remains with him alone."
},
{
"Article": "13",
"Title": "God Uses the Instrument, but All the Virtue Is His",
"Content": "Wherefore, as Paul reminds us, that neither he that planteth nor he that watereth is any thing, but God alone that giveth the increase; so also it is to be said of the sacraments that they are nothing, because they will profit nothing, unless God in all things make them effectual. They are indeed instruments by which God acts efficaciously when he pleases, yet so that the whole work of our salvation must be ascribed to him alone."
},
{
"Article": "14",
"Title": "The Whole Accomplished by Christ",
"Content": "We conclude, then, that it is Christ alone who in truth baptizes inwardly, who in the Supper makes us partakers of himself, who, in short, fulfils what the sacraments figure, and uses their aid in such manner that the whole effect resides in his Spirit."
},
{
"Article": "15",
"Title": "How the Sacraments Confirm",
"Content": "Thus the sacraments are sometimes called seals, and are said to nourish, confirm, and advance faith, and yet the Spirit alone is properly the seal, and also the beginner and finisher of faith. For all these attributes of the sacraments sink down to a lower place, so that not even the smallest portion of our salvation is transferred to creatures or elements."
},
{
"Article": "16",
"Title": "All Who Partake of the Sacraments Do Not Partake of the Reality",
"Content": "Besides, we carefully teach that God does not exert his power indiscriminately in all who receive the sacraments, but only in the elect. For as he enlightens unto faith none but those whom he hath foreordained to life, so by the secret agency of his Spirit he makes the elect receive what the sacraments offer."
},
{
"Article": "17",
"Title": "The Sacraments Do Not Confer Grace",
"Content": "By this doctrine is overthrown that fiction of the sophists which teaches that the sacraments confer grace on all who do not interpose the obstacle of mortal sin. For besides that in the sacraments nothing is received except by faith, we must also hold that the grace of God is by no means so annexed to them that whoso receives the sign also gains possession of the thing. For the signs are administered alike to reprobate and elect, but the reality reaches the latter only."
},
{
"Article": "18",
"Title": "The Gifts Offered to All, but Received by Believers Only",
"Content": "It is true indeed that Christ with his gifts is offered to all in common, and that the unbelief of man not overthrowing the truth of God, the sacraments always retain their efficacy; but all are not capable of receiving Christ and his gifts. Wherefore nothing is changed on the part of God, but in regard to man each receives according to the measure of his faith."
},
{
"Article": "19",
"Title": "Believers Before, and Without the Use of the Sacraments, Communicate with Christ",
"Content": "As the use of the sacraments will confer nothing more on unbelievers than if they had abstained from it, nay, is only destructive to them, so without their use believers receive the reality which is there figured. Thus the sins of Paul were washed away by baptism, though they had been previously washed away. So likewise baptism was the laver of regeneration to Cornelius, though he had already received the Holy Spirit. So in the Supper Christ communicates himself to us, though he had previously imparted himself, and perpetually remains in us. For seeing that each is enjoined to examine himself, it follows that faith is required of each before coming to the sacrament. Faith is not without Christ; but inasmuch as faith is confirmed and increased by the sacraments, the gifts of God are confirmed in us, and thus Christ in a manner grows in us and we in him."
},
{
"Article": "20",
"Title": "The Benefit Not Always Received in the Act of Communicating",
"Content": "The advantage which we receive from the sacraments ought by no means to be restricted to the time at which they are administered to us, just as if the visible sign, at the moment when it is brought forward, brought the grace of God along with it. For those who were baptized when mere infants, God regenerates in childhood or adolescence, occasionally even in old age. Thus the utility of baptism is open to the whole period of life, because the promise contained in it is perpetually in force. And it may sometimes happen that the use of the holy Supper, which, from thoughtlessness or slowness of heart does little good at the time, afterward bears its fruit."
},
{
"Article": "21",
"Title": "No Local Presence Must Be Imagined",
"Content": "We must guard particularly against the idea of any local presence. For while the signs are present in this world, are seen by the eyes and handled by the hands, Christ, regarded as man, must be sought nowhere else than in Heaven, and not otherwise than with the mind and eye of faith. Wherefore it is a perverse and impious superstition to inclose him under the elements of this world."
},
{
"Article": "22",
"Title": "Explanation of the Words \"This Is My Body.\"",
"Content": "Those who insist that the formal words of the Supper, \"This is my body; this is my blood,\" are to be taken in what they call the precisely literal sense, we repudiate as preposterous interpreters. For we hold it out of controversy that they are to be taken figuratively, the bread and wine receiving the name of that which they signify. Nor should it be thought a new or unwonted thing to transfer the name of things figured by metonomy to the sign, as similar modes of expression occur throughout the Scriptures, and we by so saying assert nothing but what is found in the most ancient and most approved writers of the Church."
},
{
"Article": "23",
"Title": "Of the Eating of the Body",
"Content": "When it is said that Christ, by our eating of his flesh and drinking of his blood, which are here figured, feeds our souls through faith by the agency of the Holy Spirit, we are not to understand it as if any mingling or transfusion of substance took place, but that we draw life from the flesh once offered in sacrifice and the blood shed in expiation."
},
{
"Article": "24",
"Title": "Transubstantiation and Other Follies",
"Content": "In this way are refuted not only the fiction of the Papists concerning transubstantiation, but all the gross figments and futile quibbles which either derogate from his celestial glory or are in some degree repugnant to the reality of his human nature. For we deem it no less absurd to place Christ under the bread or couple him with the bread, than to transubstantiate the bread into his body."
},
{
"Article": "25",
"Title": "The Body of Christ Locally in Heaven",
"Content": "And that no ambiguity may remain when we say that Christ is to be sought in Heaven, the expression implies and is understood by us to intimate distance of place. For though philosophically speaking there is no place above the skies, yet as the body of Christ, bearing the nature and mode of a human body, is finite and is contained in Heaven as its place, it is necessarily as distant from us in point of space as Heaven is from Earth."
},
{
"Article": "26",
"Title": "Christ Not to Be Adored in the Bread",
"Content": "If it is not lawful to affix Christ in our imagination to the bread and the wine, much less is it lawful to worship him in the bread. For although the bread is held forth to us as a symbol and pledge of the communion which we have with Christ, yet as it is a sign and not the thing itself, and has not the thing either included in it or fixed to it, those who turn their minds towards it, with the view of worshipping Christ, make an idol of it."
}
]
}
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{
"Metadata": {
"Title": "Council of Orange",
"AlternativeTitles": [
"Second Council of Orange",
"Second Synod of Orange"
],
"Year": "529",
"Authors": [
"Caesarius of Arles",
"Julianus Amartolus, Bishop of Carpentras",
"Constantius, Bishop of Gap",
"Cyprianus, Bishop of Toulon",
"Eucherius, Bishop of Avignon",
"Eucherius",
"Heraclius, Bishop of Saint-Paul-trois-Chateaux",
"Principius",
"Philagrius, Bishop of Cavaillon",
"Maximus",
"Praetextatus, Bishop of Apt",
"Alethius, Bishop of Vaison",
"Lupercianus, Bishop of Frejus",
"Vindemialis, Bishop of Orange"
],
"Location": "Orange, France",
"OriginalLanguage": "Latin",
"OriginStory": "This councel met to decide between semi-Pelagianism and Augustinianism. They decided on semi-Augustinianism",
"SourceUrl": "www.onthewing.org/user/Creed_Council%20of%20Orange%20-%20Pelagianism.pdf",
"SourceAttribution": "Public Domain",
"CreedFormat": "Canon"
},
"Data": [
{
"Article": "1",
"Title": "Canon 1",
"Content": "If anyone denies that it is the whole man, that is, both body and soul, that was \"changed for the worse\" through the offense of Adam's sin, but believes that the freedom of the soul remains unimpaired and that only the body is subject to corruption, he is deceived by the error of Pelagius and contradicts the scripture which says, \"The soul that sins shall die\" (Ezek. 18:20); and, \"Do you not know that if you yield yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are the slaves of the one whom you obey?\" (Rom. 6:16); and, \"For whatever overcomes a man, to that he is enslaved\" (2 Pet. 2:19)."
},
{
"Article": "2",
"Title": "Canon 2",
"Content": "If anyone asserts that Adam's sin affected him alone and not his descendants also, or at least if he declares that it is only the death of the body which is the punishment for sin, and not also that sin, which is the death of the soul, passed through one man to the whole human race, he does injustice to God and contradicts the Apostle, who says, \"Therefore as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men sinned\" (Rom. 5:12)."
},
{
"Article": "3",
"Title": "Canon 3",
"Content": "If anyone says that the grace of God can be conferred as a result of human prayer, but that it is not grace itself which makes us pray to God, he contradicts the prophet Isaiah, or the Apostle who says the same thing, \"I have been found by those who did not seek me; I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me\" (Rom 10:20, quoting Isa. 65:1)."
},
{
"Article": "4",
"Title": "Canon 4",
"Content": "If anyone maintains that God awaits our will to be cleansed from sin, but does not confess that even our will to be cleansed comes to us through the infusion and working of the Holy Spirit, he resists the Holy Spirit himself who says through Solomon, \"The will is prepared by the Lord\" (Prov. 8:35, LXX), and the salutary word of the Apostle, \"For God is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure\" (Phil. 2:13)."
},
{
"Article": "5",
"Title": "Canon 5",
"Content": "If anyone says that not only the increase of faith but also its beginning and the very desire for faith, by which we believe in Him who justifies the ungodly and comes to the regeneration of holy baptism -- if anyone says that this belongs to us by nature and not by a gift of grace, that is, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit amending our will and turning it from unbelief to faith and from godlessness to godliness, it is proof that he is opposed to the teaching of the Apostles, for blessed Paul says, \"And I am sure that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ\" (Phil. 1:6). And again, \"For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God\" (Eph. 2:8). For, those who state that the faith by which we believe in God is natural make all who are separated from the Church of Christ by definition in some measure believers."
},
{
"Article": "6",
"Title": "Canon 6",
"Content": "If anyone says that God has mercy upon us when, apart from his grace, we believe, will, desire, strive, labor, pray, watch, study, seek, ask, or knock, but does not confess that it is by the infusion and inspiration of the Holy Spirit within us that we have the faith, the will, or the strength to do all these things as we ought; or if anyone makes the assistance of grace depend on the humility or obedience of man and does not agree that it is a gift of grace itself that we are obedient and humble, he contradicts the Apostle who says, \"What have you that you did not receive?\" (1 Cor. 4:7), and, \"But by the grace of God I am what I am\" (1 Cor. 15:10)."
},
{
"Article": "7",
"Title": "Canon 7",
"Content": "If anyone affirms that we can form any right opinion or make any right choice which relates to the salvation of eternal life, as is expedient for us, or that we can be saved, that is, assent to the preaching of the gospel through our natural powers without the illumination and inspiration of the Holy Spirit, who makes all men gladly assent to and believe in the truth, he is led astray by a heretical spirit, and does not understand the voice of God who says in the Gospel, \"For apart from me you can do nothing\" (John 15:5), and the word of the Apostle, \"Not that we are competent of ourselves to claim anything as coming from us; our competence is from God\" (2 Cor. 3:5)."
},
{
"Article": "8",
"Title": "Canon 8",
"Content": "If anyone maintains that some are able to come to the grace of baptism by mercy but others through free will, which has manifestly been corrupted in all those who have been born after the transgression of the first man, it is proof that he has no place in the true faith. For he denies that the free will of all men has been weakened through the sin of the first man, or at least holds that it has been affected in such a way that they have still the ability to seek the mystery of eternal salvation by themselves without the revelation of God. The Lord himself shows how contradictory this is by declaring that no one is able to come to him \"unless the Father who sent me draws him\" (John 6:44), as he also says to Peter, \"Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven\" (Matt. 16:17), and as the Apostle says, \"No one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except by the Holy Spirit\" (1 Cor. 12:3)."
},
{
"Article": "9",
"Title": "Canon 9",
"Content": "Concerning the succor of God. It is a mark of divine favor when we are of a right purpose and keep our feet from hypocrisy and unrighteousness; for as often as we do good, God is at work in us and with us, in order that we may do so."
},
{
"Article": "10",
"Title": "Canon 10",
"Content": "Concerning the succor of God. The succor of God is to be ever sought by the regenerate and converted also, so that they may be able to come to a successful end or persevere in good works."
},
{
"Article": "11",
"Title": "Canon 11",
"Content": "Concerning the duty to pray. None would make any true prayer to the Lord had he not received from him the object of his prayer, as it is written, \"Of your own have we given you\" (1 Chron. 29:14)."
},
{
"Article": "12",
"Title": "Canon 12",
"Content": "Of what sort we are whom God loves. God loves us for what we shall be by his gift, and not by our own deserving."
},
{
"Article": "13",
"Title": "Canon 13",
"Content": "Concerning the restoration of free will. The freedom of will that was destroyed in the first man can be restored only by the grace of baptism, for what is lost can be returned only by the one who was able to give it. Hence the Truth itself declares: \"So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed\" (John 8:36)."
},
{
"Article": "14",
"Title": "Canon 14",
"Content": "No mean wretch is freed from his sorrowful state, however great it may be, save the one who is anticipated by the mercy of God, as the Psalmist says, \"Let thy compassion come speedily to meet us\" (Ps. 79:8), and again, \"My God in his steadfast love will meet me\" (Ps. 59:10)."
},
{
"Article": "15",
"Title": "Canon 15",
"Content": "Adam was changed, but for the worse, through his own iniquity from what God made him. Through the grace of God the believer is changed, but for the better, from what his iniquity has done for him. The one, therefore, was the change brought about by the first sinner; the other, according to the Psalmist, is the change of the right hand of the Most High (Ps. 77:10). "
},
{
"Article": "16",
"Title": "Canon 16",
"Content": "No man shall be honored by his seeming attainment, as though it were not a gift, or suppose that he has received it because a missive from without stated it in writing or in speech. For the Apostle speaks thus, \"For if justification were through the law, then Christ died to no purpose\" (Gal. 2:21); and \"When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men\" (Eph. 4:8, quoting Ps. 68:18). It is from this source that any man has what he does; but whoever denies that he has it from this source either does not truly have it, or else \"even what he has will be taken away\" (Matt. 25:29)."
},
{
"Article": "17",
"Title": "Canon 17",
"Content": "Concerning Christian courage. The courage of the Gentiles is produced by simple greed, but the courage of Christians by the love of God which \"has been poured into our hearts\" not by freedom of will from our own side but \"through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us\" (Rom. 5:5)."
},
{
"Article": "18",
"Title": "Canon 18",
"Content": "That grace is not preceded by merit. Recompense is due to good works if they are performed; but grace, to which we have no claim, precedes them, to enable them to be done."
},
{
"Article": "19",
"Title": "Canon 19",
"Content": "That a man can be saved only when God shows mercy. Human nature, even though it remained in that sound state in which it was created, could by no means save itself, without the assistance of the Creator; hence since man cannot safe-guard his salvation without the grace of God, which is a gift, how will he be able to restore what he has lost without the grace of God?"
},
{
"Article": "20",
"Title": "Canon 20",
"Content": "That a man can do no good without God. God does much that is good in a man that the man does not do; but a man does nothing good for which God is not responsible, so as to let him do it."
},
{
"Article": "21",
"Title": "Canon 21",
"Content": "Concerning nature and grace. As the Apostle most truly says to those who would be justified by the law and have fallen from grace, \"If justification were through the law, then Christ died to no purpose\" (Gal. 2:21), so it is most truly declared to those who imagine that grace, which faith in Christ advocates and lays hold of, is nature: \"If justification were through nature, then Christ died to no purpose.\" Now there was indeed the law, but it did not justify, and there was indeed nature, but it did not justify. Not in vain did Christ therefore die, so that the law might be fulfilled by him who said, \"I have come not to abolish them (the law and prophets) but to fulfill them\" (Matt. 5:17), and that the nature which had been destroyed by Adam might be restored by him who said that he had come \"to seek and to save the lost\" (Luke 19:10)."
},
{
"Article": "22",
"Title": "Canon 22",
"Content": "Concerning those things that belong to man. No man has anything of his own but untruth and sin. But if a man has any truth or righteousness, it from that fountain for which we must thirst in this desert, so that we may be refreshed from it as by drops of water and not faint on the way."
},
{
"Article": "23",
"Title": "Canon 23",
"Content": "Concerning the will of God and of man. Men do their own will and not the will of God when they do what displeases him; but when they follow their own will and comply with the will of God, however willingly they do so, yet it is his will by which what they will is both prepared and instructed."
},
{
"Article": "24",
"Title": "Canon 24",
"Content": "Concerning the branches of the vine. The branches on the vine do not give life to the vine, but receive life from it; thus the vine is related to its branches in such a way that it supplies them with what they need to live, and does not take this from them. Thus it is to the advantage of the disciples, not Christ, both to have Christ abiding in them and to abide in Christ. For if the vine is cut down another can shoot up from the live root; but one who is cut off from the vine cannot live without the root (John 15:5ff)."
},
{
"Article": "25",
"Title": "Canon 25",
"Content": "Concerning the love with which we love God. It is wholly a gift of God to love God. He who loves, even though he is not loved, allowed himself to be loved. We are loved, even when we displease him, so that we might have means to please him. For the Spirit, whom we love with the Father and the Son, has poured into our hearts the love of the Father and the Son (Rom. 5:5)."
},
{
"Article": "C",
"Title": "Conclusion",
"Content": "And thus according to the passages of Holy Scripture quoted above or the interpretations of the ancient Fathers we must, under the blessing of God, preach and believe as follows. The sin of the first man has so impaired and weakened free will that no one thereafter can either love God as he ought or believe in God or do good for God's sake, unless the grace of divine mercy has preceded him. We therefore believe that the glorious faith which was given to Abel the righteous, and Noah, and Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and to all the saints of old, and which the Apostle Paul1 commends in extolling them (Heb. 11), was not given through natural goodness as it was before to Adam, but was bestowed by the grace of God. And we know and also believe that even after the coming of our Lord this grace is not to be found in the free will of all who desire to be baptized, but is bestowed by the kindness of Christ, as has already been frequently stated and as the Apostle Paul declares, \"For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake\" (Phil. 1:29). And again, \"He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ\" (Phil. 1:6). And again, \"For by grace you have been saved through faith; and it is not your own doing, it is the gift of God\" (Eph. 2:8). And as the Apostle says of himself, \"I have obtained mercy to be faithful\" (1 Cor. 7:25, cf. 1 Tim. 1:13). He did not say, \"because I was faithful,\" but \"to be faithful.\" And again, \"What have you that you did not receive?\" (1 Cor. 4:7). And again, \"Every good endowment and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights\" (Jas. 1:17). And again, \"No one can receive anything except what is given him from heaven\" (John 3:27). There are innumerable passages of Holy Scripture which can be quoted to prove the case for grace, but they have been omitted for the sake of brevity, because further examples will not really be of use where few are deemed sufficient. According to the catholic faith we also believe that after grace has been received through baptism, all baptized persons have the ability and responsibility, if they desire to labor faithfully, to perform with the aid and cooperation of Christ what is of essential importance in regard to the salvation of their soul. We not only do not believe that any are foreordained to evil by the power of God, but even state with utter abhorrence that if there are those who want to believe so evil a thing, they are anathema. We also believe and confess to our benefit that in every good work it is not we who take the initiative and are then assisted through the mercy of God, but God himself first inspires in us both faith in him and love for him without any previous good works of our own that deserve reward, so that we may both faithfully seek the sacrament of baptism, and after baptism be able by his help to do what is pleasing to him. We must therefore most evidently believe that the praiseworthy faith of the thief whom the Lord called to his home in paradise, and of Cornelius the centurion, to whom the angel of the Lord was sent, and of Zacchaeus, who was worthy to receive the Lord himself, was not a natural endowment but a gift of God's kindness."
}
]
}
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{
"Metadata": {
"Title": "First Confession of Basel",
"AlternativeTitles": [
"Confession of Muhlhausen"
],
"Year": "1534",
"Authors": [
"John Oecolampadius",
"Oswald Myconius"
],
"Location": "Basel, Switzerland",
"OriginalLanguage": "",
"OriginStory": "",
"SourceUrl": "http://apostles-creed.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/The-First-Confession-of-Basel-1534.pdf",
"SourceAttribution": "Public Domain",
"CreedFormat": "Canon"
},
"Data": [
{
"Article": "I",
"Title": "CONCERNING GOD",
"Content": "We believe in God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, one holy, divine Trinity, three Persons and one single, eternal, almighty God, in essence and substance, and not three gods. We also believe that God has created all things by His eternal Word, that is, by His only-begotten Son, and preserves and strengthens all things by His Spirit, that is, by His power; and therefore, God sustains and governs all things as He created them.\n\nHence we confess that before He created the world God elected all those upon whom He willed to bestow the inheritance of eternal salvation.",
"ContentWithProofs": "We believe in God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, one holy, divine Trinity, three Persons and one single, eternal, almighty God, in essence and substance, and not three gods. We also believe that God has created all things by His eternal Word, that is, by His only-begotten Son, and preserves and strengthens all things by His Spirit, that is, by His power; and therefore, God sustains and governs all things as He created them.[1]\n\nHence we confess that before He created the world God elected all those upon whom He willed to bestow the inheritance of eternal salvation.[2]",
"Proofs": [
{
"Id": 1,
"References": ["Gen.1.1", "John.1.14", "1Chr.29.11-1Chr.29.12", "Acts.2.23"]
},
{
"Id": 2,
"References": ["Rom.8.28", "Rom.9.6", "Rom.11.5", "Eph.1.4"]
}
],
"ProofsWithScripture": [
{
"Id": 1,
"References": ["The universal faith. This is proved by the whole Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments in many passages. Gen. 1:1 ff.", "John 1:14", "I Chron. 29:11.12", "Acts 2:23."]
},
{
"Id": 2,
"References": ["Rom. 8:28 ff.", "Rom. 9:6 ff.", "Rom. 11:5 ff.", "Eph. 1:4 ff."]
}
]
},
{
"Article": "II",
"Title": "CONCERNING MAN",
"Content": "We confess that in the beginning God made man faultless in the likeness of righteousness and holiness. But he willfully fell into sin. Through this fall the whole human race was corrupted and made subject to damnation. Moreover, our nature was enfeebled and became so inclined to sin that, unless it is restored by the Spirit of God, man neither does nor wants to do anything good of himself.",
"ContentWithProofs": "We confess that in the beginning God made man faultless in the likeness of righteousness and holiness. But he willfully fell into sin. Through this fall the whole human race was corrupted and made subject to damnation. Moreover, our nature was enfeebled and became so inclined to sin that, unless it is restored by the Spirit of God, man neither does nor wants to do anything good of himself.[1]",
"Proofs": [
{
"Id": 1,
"References": ["Gen.1.26", "Eph.4.21", "Gen.8.6", "Gen.5.3", "Rom.5.12,Rom.5.15", "1Cor.15.21", "Eph.2.1", "Gen.6.5", "Gen.8.21", "John.3.3", "Rom.3.10,Rom.3.23", "Ps.143.2,Ps.143.10", "Eph.2.1"]
}
],
"ProofsWithScripture": [
{
"Id": 1,
"References": ["Gen. 1:26", "Eph. 4:21", "Gen. 8:6", "Gen. 5:3", "Rom. 5:12, 15 ff.", "I Cor. 15:21 f.", "Eph. 2:1 ff.", "Gen. 6:5", "Gen. 8:21", "John 3:3 ff.", "Rom. 3:10 ff., 23", "Ps. 143:2, 10", "Eph. 2:1 ff."]
}
]
},
{
"Article": "III",
"Title": "GOD'S CARE FOR US",
"Content": "Although man through the fall became subject to damnation and became God's enemy, yet God never ceased to care for the human race. Witnesses to this are the patriarchs, the promises before and after the flood, the law given by God through Moses, and the holy prophets.",
"ContentWithProofs": "Although man through the fall became subject to damnation and became God's enemy, yet God never ceased to care for the human race. Witnesses to this are the patriarchs, the promises before and after the flood, the law given by God through Moses, and the holy prophets.[1]",
"Proofs": [
{
"Id": 1,
"References": ["Rom.5.16", "Gen.3.15", "Gen.21.15", "Gen.26.3-Gen.26.4,Gen.26.24", "Gen.28.13"]
}
],
"ProofsWithScripture": [
{
"Id": 1,
"References": ["Rom. 5:16", "Gen. 3:15", "Gen. 21:15", "Gen. 26:3-4, 24", "Gen. 28:13"]
}
]
},
{
"Article": "IV",
"Title": "CONCERNING CHRIST, TRUE GOD AND TRUE MAN",
"Content": "We firmly believe and confess that Christ was given to us by the Father at the appointed time according to the promises of God, and that the eternal, divine Word became flesh, that is, the Son of God, united with human nature in one person, became our brother in order that we might become heirs of God through Him.\n\nConcerning this Jesus Christ, we believe that He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the pure, undefiled Virgin Mary, suffered tinder Pontius Pilate, was crucified and died for our sins; and thus by offering up Himself He made satisfaction to God for our sins and the sins of all believers and reconciled us to God, our heavenly Father, and by His death has conquered and overcome the world, death and hell. Moreover, we believe that according to the flesh He was buried, descended into hell, on the third day rose from the dead, and when He had sufficiently shown himself, He ascended into heaven with body and soul where He sits at the right hand of God in the glory of God His heavenly Father, whence He will come to judge the living and the dead. Furthermore, as He had promised He sent to His disciples His Holy Spirit, in whom we believe even as we believe in the Father and the Son.",
"ContentWithProofs": "We firmly believe and confess that Christ was given to us by the Father at the appointed time according to the promises of God, and that the eternal, divine Word became flesh, that is, the Son of God, united with human nature in one person, became our brother in order that we might become heirs of God through Him.[1]\n\nConcerning this Jesus Christ, we believe that He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the pure, undefiled Virgin Mary, suffered tinder Pontius Pilate, was crucified and died for our sins; and thus by offering up Himself He made satisfaction to God for our sins and the sins of all believers and reconciled us to God, our heavenly Father, and by His death has conquered and overcome the world, death and hell. Moreover, we believe that according to the flesh He was buried, descended into hell, on the third day rose from the dead, and when He had sufficiently shown himself, He ascended into heaven with body and soul where He sits at the right hand of God in the glory of God His heavenly Father, whence He will come to judge the living and the dead. Furthermore, as He had promised He sent to His disciples His Holy Spirit, in whom we believe even as we believe in the Father and the Son.[2]",
"Proofs": [
{
"Id": 1,
"References": ["Matt.1.20", "Luke.2.10", "John.1.14", "Phil.2.6-Phil.2.7", "Rom.6.8", "Rom.8.15", "Heb.2.10"]
},
{
"Id": 2,
"References": ["Matt.1.18", "Luke.1.35", "Luke.2.7", "Matt.20.28", "Matt.26.28", "Rom.5.6", "1Cor.15.3", "1Pet.2.24", "Heb.9.14,Heb.9.26,Heb.9.28", "Heb.10.10,Heb.10.12,Heb.10.14", "Rom.6.10", "1Pet.3.18", "John.16.11,John.16.33", "Phil.2.9", "Col.2.14", "1Cor.15.4,1Cor.15.14", "Mark.16.19", "Luke.24.51", "Acts.1.9", "Matt.26.64", "Eph.1.20", "Col.3.1", "Heb.1.13", "Heb.10.12", "Heb.12.2", "Acts.2.1"]
}
],
"ProofsWithScripture": [
{
"Id": 1,
"References": ["Man. 1:20 ff.", "Luke 2:10 ff.", "John 1:14", "Phil. 2:6-7. We have one Father, namely, God through Christ. Rom. 6:8 f.", "Rom. 8:15 ff.", "Heb. 2:10 f."]
},
{
"Id": 2,
"References": ["Matt. 1:18 ff.", "Luke 1:35", "Luke 2:7. All the Evangelists attest it. Matt. 20:28", "26e28", "Rom. 5:6 ff.", "I Cor. 15:3 f.", "1 Peter 2:24", "Heb. 9:14 1.", "26. 28", "10:10, 12, 14", "Rom. 6:10", "I Peter 3:18", "John 16:11, 33", "Phil. 2:9 IL", "Col. 2:14 1.", "I Cor. 15:4 ff., 14", "Mark 16:19", "Luke 24:51", "Acts 1:9 ff.", "matt. 26:64", "Eph. 1:20 ff.", "Col. 3:1", "Heb. 1:13", "Heb. 10:12", "Heb. 12:2", "Acts 2:1 ff."]
}
]
},
{
"Article": "V",
"Title": "CONCERNING THE CHURCH",
"Content": "We believe one holy, Christian Church, the fellowship of the saints, the spiritual assembly of believers which is holy and the one bride of Christ, and in which all are citizens who truly confess that Jesus is the Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, and who also confirm such faith by works of love.\n\nIn this Church one and the same sacrament is used, namely, Baptism upon entering the Church, and in due time in later life the Lord's Supper, as a testimony to faith and brotherly love as was promised in Baptism.\n\nThis Christian Church endeavors to keep the bonds of peace and love in unity, and therefore it has no fellowship with sects and the rules of religious orders which are determined to distinguish between days, food, clothing, and ecclesiastical pageantry.",
"ContentWithProofs": "We believe one holy, Christian Church, the fellowship of the saints, the spiritual assembly of believers which is holy and the one bride of Christ, and in which all are citizens who truly confess that Jesus is the Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, and who also confirm such faith by works of love.[1]\n\nIn this Church one and the same sacrament is used, namely, Baptism upon entering the Church, and in due time in later life the Lord's Supper, as a testimony to faith and brotherly love as was promised in Baptism.[2]\n\nThis Christian Church endeavors to keep the bonds of peace and love in unity, and therefore it has no fellowship with sects and the rules of religious orders which are determined to distinguish between days, food, clothing, and ecclesiastical pageantry.[3]",
"Proofs": [
{
"Id": 1,
"References": ["Matt.16.18", "Eph.1.22", "Eph.5.25", "John.3.29", "2Cor.11.2", "Eph.2.19", "Heb.12.22", "John.1.29", "Gal.5.6"]
},
{
"Id": 2,
"References": ["Matt.3.11", "Matt.28.19", "Acts.2.41", "Acts.16.15,Acts.16.33", "Col.2.12", "Matt.26.26", "Matt.14.22", "Luke.22.19", "1Cor.11.23"]
},
{
"Id": 3,
"References": ["Rom.12.9", "John.15.12,John.15.17", "1John.3.11,1John.3.14,1John.3.16,1John.3.23", "1John.4.7,1John.4.20"]
}
],
"ProofsWithScripture": [
{
"Id": 1,
"References": ["Matt. 16:18", "Eph. 1:22", "Eph. 5:25", "John 3:29", "II Cor. 11:2", "Eph. 2:19", "Heb. 12:22", "John 1:29", "Gal. 5:6"]
},
{
"Id": 2,
"References": ["Matt. 3:11", "Matt. 28:19", "Acts 2:41", "Acts 16:15, 33", "Col. 2:12", "Matt. 26:26", "Matt. 14:22", "Luke 22:19", "I Cor. 11:23"]
},
{
"Id": 3,
"References": ["Rom. 12:9", "John 15:12, 17", "I John 3:11, 14, 16, 23", "I John 4:7, 20"]
}
]
},
{
"Article": "VI",
"Title": "CONCERNING OUR LORD'S SUPPER",
"Content": "We confess that the Lord Jesus instituted His holy Supper for the observance of His holy passion with thanksgiving, to proclaim His death, and also to attest Christian love and unity with true faith.\n\nAnd just as in Baptism, in which the washing away of sins is offered to us by the ministers of the Church but can only be effected by the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, water remains truly water, so also does the bread and wine remain bread and wine in the Lord's Supper, in which the true body and blood of Christ is portrayed and offered to us with the bread and wine of the Lord, together with the words of institution.\n\nWe firmly believe, however, that Christ Himself is the food of a believing soul unto eternal life, and that our souls are nourished through true faith in the crucified Christ with the flesh and blood of Christ, and that we, as members of His body of which He is our only Head, live in Him and He in us, so that on the Day of Judgment we may be raised by Him and in Him to eternal joy and blessedness. Therefore we confess this: that Christ is present in His holy Supper for all who truly believe. However, we do not enclose in the bread and wine of the Lord the natural, true and essential body of Christ who was born of the pure Virgin Mary, suffered for us and has ascended into heaven. Consequently we do not adore Christ in these signs of bread and wine which we commonly call sacraments of the body and blood of Christ, but in heaven at the right hand of God the Father, whence He will come to judge the living and the dead.",
"ContentWithProofs": "We confess that the Lord Jesus instituted His holy Supper for the observance of His holy passion with thanksgiving, to proclaim His death, and also to attest Christian love and unity with true faith.[1]\n\nAnd just as in Baptism, in which the washing away of sins is offered to us by the ministers of the Church but can only be effected by the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, water remains truly water, so also does the bread and wine remain bread and wine in the Lord's Supper, in which the true body and blood of Christ is portrayed and offered to us with the bread and wine of the Lord, together with the words of institution.[2]\n\nWe firmly believe, however, that Christ Himself is the food of a believing soul unto eternal life, and that our souls are nourished through true faith in the crucified Christ with the flesh and blood of Christ,[3] and that we, as members of His body of which He is our only Head, live in Him and He in us, so that on the Day of Judgment we may be raised by Him and in Him to eternal joy and blessedness. Therefore we confess this: that Christ is present in His holy Supper for all who truly believe.[4] However, we do not enclose in the bread and wine of the Lord the natural, true and essential body of Christ who was born of the pure Virgin Mary, suffered for us and has ascended into heaven.[5] Consequently we do not adore Christ in these signs of bread and wine which we commonly call sacraments of the body and blood of Christ, but in heaven at the right hand of God the Father, whence He will come to judge the living and the dead.[6]",
"Proofs": [
{
"Id": 1,
"References": ["Luke.22.19", "1Cor.11.23", "1Cor.10.16"]
},
{
"Id": 2,
"References": ["John.6.35"]
},
{
"Id": 3,
"References": ["John.11.25", "Eph.1.22", "Eph.4.15", "Eph.5.23", "Col.1.18"]
},
{
"Id": 4,
"References": []
},
{
"Id": 5,
"References": ["Acts.1.9", "Acts.7.55", "Col.3.1", "Heb.1.3", "Heb.10.19"]
},
{
"Id": 6,
"References": ["Acts.3.21", "2Tim.4.1"]
}
],
"ProofsWithScripture": [
{
"Id": 1,
"References": ["Luke 22:19", "I Cor. 11:23", "I Cor. 10:16"]
},
{
"Id": 2,
"References": ["A powerful parable against the enemies of truth. John 6:35f. It is in. deed a spiritual food and hence it has to be enjoyed by a believing soul."]
},
{
"Id": 3,
"References": ["That is, the souls are satisfied, made strong and robust, contented and at peace, cheerful and a match for anything, just as the body is nourished by bodily food. A man becomes a spiritual member of the spiritual body of Christ. John 11:25 f.", "Eph. 1:22 f.", "Eph. 4:15", "Eph. 5:23", "Col. 1:18 f."]
},
{
"Id": 4,
"References": ["Sacramentally and through the contemplation of faith which raises a man in his thoughts to heaven, but does not draw Christ down in his human nature from the right hand of God."]
},
{
"Id": 5,
"References": ["Acts 1:9", "Acts 7:55", "Col. 3:1", "Heb. 1:3", "Heb. 10:19"]
},
{
"Id": 6,
"References": ["Acts 3:21", "II Tim. 4:1"]
}
]
},
{
"Article": "VII",
"Title": "CONCERNING THE USE OF EXCOMMUNICATION",
"Content": "Because weeds are mixed with the Church of Christ, Christ has given His Church authority to excommunicate such weeds when they show themselves by intolerable crimes and sins against the commandment of the Lord, in order that as much as possible the Church may keep her appearance unspotted. This is the reason we use excommunication in the Church.\n\nBut the Christian Church excommunicates solely for the sake of the reclamation of offenders, and consequently it gladly receives them again after they have put away their scandalous life and have improved.",
"ContentWithProofs": "Because weeds are mixed with the Church of Christ, Christ has given His Church authority to excommunicate such weeds when they show themselves by intolerable crimes and sins against the commandment of the Lord, in order that as much as possible the Church may keep her appearance unspotted. This is the reason we use excommunication in the Church.[1]\n\nBut the Christian Church excommunicates solely for the sake of the reclamation of offenders, and consequently it gladly receives them again after they have put away their scandalous life and have improved.[2]",
"Proofs": [
{
"Id": 1,
"References": ["Matt.18.15", "1Cor.5.3", "2Thess.3.6,2Thess.3.14", "1Tim.1.19"]
},
{
"Id": 2,
"References": ["2Cor.2.6", "1Tim.1.20"]
}
],
"ProofsWithScripture": [
{
"Id": 1,
"References": ["Matt. 18:15", "I Cor. 5:3", "II Thess. 3:6, 14", "I Tim. 1:19"]
},
{
"Id": 2,
"References": ["11 Cor. 2:6", "I Tim. 1:20"]
}
]
},
{
"Article": "VIII",
"Title": "CONCERNING GOVERNMENT",
"Content": "God has charged governments, His servants, with the sword and with the highest external power for the protection of the good and for vengeance upon and punishment of evildoers. For this reason, every Christian government with which we desire to be numbered, should do all in its power to see that God's Name is hallowed among its subjects, God's kingdom extended, and His will observed by the assiduous extirpation of crimes.",
"ContentWithProofs": "God has charged governments, His servants, with the sword and with the highest external power for the protection of the good and for vengeance upon and punishment of evildoers. For this reason, every Christian government with which we desire to be numbered, should do all in its power to see that God's Name is hallowed among its subjects, God's kingdom extended, and His will observed by the assiduous extirpation of crimes.[1]",
"Proofs": [
{
"Id": 1,
"References": ["Rom.13.1", "1Pet.2.13"]
}
],
"ProofsWithScripture": [
{
"Id": 1,
"References": ["Rom. 13:1", "I Peter 2:13 Pagan governments have always been charged with this office", "how much more should a Christian government be required to be a true lieutenant of God!"]
}
]
},
{
"Article": "IX",
"Title": "CONCERNING FAITH AND WORKS",
"Content": "We confess that there is forgiveness of sins through faith in Jesus Christ the crucified. Although this faith is continually exercised, signalized, and thus confirmed by works of love, yet do we not ascribe to works, which are the fruit of faith, the righteousness and satisfaction for our sins. On the contrary, we ascribe it solely to a genuine trust and faith in the shed blood of the Lamb of God. For we freely confess that all things are granted to us in Christ, Who is our righteousness, holiness, redemption, the way, the truth, the wisdom and the life. Therefore the works of believers are not for the satisfaction of their sins, but solely for the purpose of showing in some degree our gratitude to the Lord God for the great kindness He has shown us in Christ.",
"ContentWithProofs": "We confess that there is forgiveness of sins through faith in Jesus Christ the crucified. Although this faith is continually exercised, signalized, and thus confirmed by works of love, yet do we not ascribe to works, which are the fruit of faith, the righteousness and satisfaction for our sins. On the contrary, we ascribe it solely to a genuine trust and faith in the shed blood of the Lamb of God. For we freely confess that all things are granted to us in Christ, Who is our righteousness, holiness, redemption, the way, the truth, the wisdom and the life. Therefore the works of believers are not for the satisfaction of their sins, but solely for the purpose of showing in some degree our gratitude to the Lord God for the great kindness He has shown us in Christ.[1]",
"Proofs": [
{
"Id": 1,
"References": ["Matt.20.28", "Mark.10.45", "Luke.7.48,Luke.7.50", "John.3.15,John.3.36", "John.5.24", "John.6.28,John.6.35,John.6.40,John.6.47", "Rom.3.21", "Rom.4", "Rom.10.4", "Gal.2.16", "Rom.3.27", "Eph.2.8,Eph.2.13", "1Cor.1.1,1Cor.1.30", "Rom.8.32", "Eph.2.9", "John.14.6"]
}
],
"ProofsWithScripture": [
{
"Id": 1,
"References": ["Matt. 20:28", "Mark 10:45", "Luke 7:48, 50", "John 3:15 f., 36", "John 5:24", "John 6:28 35, 40, 47", "Rom. 3:21 ff.", "4", "10:4 ff.", "Gal. 2:16 ff.", "Rom. 3:27 f.", "Eph. 2:8 1.. 13 ff.", "I Cor. 1:1, 30 f.", "Rom. 8:32", "Eph. 2:9 f.", "John 14:6. Gratitude consists in recompensing blessings received. Now God cannot be recompensed at all since He does not lack anything. Hence we look to His demand, namely, faith and works of love. God demands faith for Himself and love for our fellowman."]
}
]
},
{
"Article": "X",
"Title": "CONCERNING THE DAY OF JUDGMENT",
"Content": "We believe that there will be a Day of Judgment on which the resurrection of the flesh will take place, when every man will receive from Christ the Judge, according as he has lived in this life: eternal life, if out of true faith and with unfeigned love he has brought works of righteousness which are the fruit of faith; or everlasting fire if he has done either good or evil without faith or with a feigned faith without love.",
"ContentWithProofs": "We believe that there will be a Day of Judgment on which the resurrection of the flesh will take place, when every man will receive from Christ the Judge, according as he has lived in this life: eternal life, if out of true faith and with unfeigned love he has brought works of righteousness which are the fruit of faith; or everlasting fire if he has done either good [1] or evil without faith or with a feigned faith without love.[2]",
"Proofs": [
{
"Id": 1,
"References": []
},
{
"Id": 2,
"References": ["Matt.24.30", "Matt.25.31", "2Tim.4.1,2Tim.4.8", "Rom.2.5", "2Cor.5.10", "John.5.25"]
}
],
"ProofsWithScripture": [
{
"Id": 1,
"References": ["\"Good\" is to be understood as good according to human judgment."]
},
{
"Id": 2,
"References": ["Matt. 24:30", "Matt. 25:31", "II Tim. 4:1, 8", "Rom. 2:5", "II Cor. 5:10", "John 5:25"]
}
]
},
{
"Article": "XI",
"Title": "CONCERNING THINGS COMMANDED AND NOT COMMANDED",
"Content": "We confess that just as no one may require things which Christ has not commanded, so in the same way no one may forbid what He has not forbidden. For this reason we hold that the confessional, fasting during Lent, holy days and such things introduced by men are not commanded, and, on the other hand, that the marriage of priests is not forbidden.\n\nStill less may anyone permit what God has forbidden. This is the reason we reject the veneration and invoking of departed saints, the veneration and setting up of images, and such like. Moreover, no one may forbid what God has permitted. For this reason we do not think it is forbidden to enjoy food with thanksgiving.",
"ContentWithProofs": "We confess that just as no one may require things which Christ has not commanded, so in the same way no one may forbid what He has not forbidden. For this reason we hold that the confessional, fasting during Lent, holy days and such things introduced by men are not commanded, and, on the other hand, that the marriage of priests is not forbidden.[1]\n\nStill less may anyone permit what God has forbidden. This is the reason we reject the veneration and invoking of departed saints,[2] the veneration and setting up of images, and such like. Moreover, no one may forbid what God has permitted. For this reason we do not think it is forbidden to enjoy food with thanksgiving.[3]",
"Proofs": [
{
"Id": 1,
"References": ["Matt.17.5", "Luke.9.35", "Deut.18.18", "Acts.7.37"]
},
{
"Id": 2,
"References": []
},
{
"Id": 3,
"References": ["Lev.18.2", "Deut.10.17", "1Tim.1.4"]
}
],
"ProofsWithScripture": [
{
"Id": 1,
"References": ["It is written: \"Hear Him!\" Matt. 17:5", "Luke 9:35", "Deist. 18:18 f.", "Acts 7:37."]
},
{
"Id": 2,
"References": ["Concerning them we confess, however, that they are with God, reigning with Christ in eternity, because they have confessed Christ by words and deeds as their Savior, their redemption and righteousness, without any assistance of human merit. Therefore we highly praise them as those who have been pardoned by God and are now heirs of an eternal kingdom, yet all to the honor of God and of Christ."]
},
{
"Id": 3,
"References": ["He says: \"I am the Lord your God,\" Lev. 18:2, and in Dent. 10:17 He speaks through Moses: For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, etc. Therefore who would want to permit among His creatures what He has forbidden? I Tim. 1:4 ff."]
}
]
},
{
"Article": "XII",
"Title": "AGAINST THE ERROR OF THE ANABAPTISTS",
"Content": "We publicly declare that we not only do not accept but reject as an abomination and as blasphemy the alien false doctrines which are among the damnable and wicked opinions uttered by these factious spirits, namely, that children (whom we baptize according to the custom of the apostles and the early Church and because baptism has replaced circumcision) should not be baptized; that in no case may an oath be taken, even though the honor of God and love for one's neighbor require it; and that Christians may not hold political offices; together with all other doctrines which are opposed to the sound, pure teaching of Jesus Christ.",
"ContentWithProofs": "We publicly declare that we not only do not accept but reject as an abomination and as blasphemy the alien false doctrines which are among the damnable and wicked opinions uttered by these factious spirits, namely, that children (whom we baptize according to the custom of the apostles and the early Church and because baptism has replaced circumcision) should not be baptized; that in no case may an oath be taken, even though the honor of God and love for one's neighbor require it; [1] and that Christians may not hold political offices; [2] together with all other doctrines which are opposed to the sound, pure teaching of Jesus Christ.",
"Proofs": [
{
"Id": 1,
"References": []
},
{
"Id": 2,
"References": []
}
],
"ProofsWithScripture": [
{
"Id": 1,
"References": ["An oath may be taken at appropriate times: for God has enjoined it in the Old Testament and Christ has not forbidden it in the New. Christ and also the apostles have themselves taken oaths."]
},
{
"Id": 2,
"References": ["Government is only then a true government when it is truly Christian. "]
}
]
},
{
"Article": "C",
"Title": "CONCLUSION",
"Content": "Finally, we desire to submit this our confession to the judgment of the divine Biblical Scriptures. And should we be informed from the same Holy Scriptures of a better one, we have thereby expressed our readiness to be willing at any time to obey God and His holy Word with great thanksgiving. Enacted at a meeting of our Council, Wednesday, January 21, in the year 1534 after the birth of Christ our only Saviour.",
"ContentWithProofs": "Finally, we desire to submit this our confession to the judgment of the divine Biblical Scriptures. And should we be informed from the same Holy Scriptures of a better one, we have thereby expressed our readiness to be willing at any time to obey God and His holy Word with great thanksgiving. Enacted at a meeting of our Council, Wednesday, January 21, in the year 1534 after the birth of Christ our only Saviour.",
"Proofs": [],
"ProofsWithScripture": []
}
]
}
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{
"Metadata": {
"Title": "First Helvetic Confession",
"AlternativeTitles": [
"Second Confession of Basel"
],
"Year": "1536",
"Authors": [
"Heinrich Bullinger"
],
"Location": "Basel, Switzerland",
"OriginalLanguage": "",
"OriginStory": "",
"SourceUrl": "https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo/A13256.0001.001?rgn=main;view=fulltext",
"SourceAttribution": "Public Domain - Translated by George Wishart (1537?)",
"CreedFormat": "Canon"
},
"Data": [
{
"Article": "1",
"Title": "Of the Holy Scrypture",
"Content": "The canonycall or holy scrypture whiche is the worde of god taught and gyuen by the holy spryte, & puplyshed vnto the worlde by the prophetes and holy apostles, which also is the moost perfyte and auncient science and doctryne of wysoome it alone contayneth consumatly all godlynes and all sorte and maner of facyon of lyfe."
},
{
"Article": "2",
"Title": "Of the Exposicion of Scrypture",
"Content": "The interpretacion or exposicio of this holy wrytte ought and shuld be sought out of it selfe, so that it shulde be the owne interpretour, the rule of charite and faythe hauynge gouernaunce."
},
{
"Article": "3",
"Title": "Of Mannes Tradicions",
"Content": "As to other thynges, of tradicions of men howe bewtifull & how moch receyued soeuer they be, what so euer tradicions withdraweth vs & stoppeth vs fro the scripture, of such do we answere the sayenges of the lord as of thynges hurt full and vnprofytable, they worshyppe me in vayne teachyng the doctrynes of man. Math i. xv."
},
{
"Article": "4",
"Title": "Of the Holy Fathers",
"Content": "For the whiche sorte of interpretacyon so farre as the holy fathers hathe not gone fro it, not onely do we receyue them as interpretours of the scripture but also we honour and worshyp them as chosen and beloued instrumentes of God."
},
{
"Article": "5",
"Title": "The Ende & Entent of the Scrypture",
"Content": "The pryncypal entent of al the scripture canonicall is to declare that God is beniuolent and frendly mynded to mankynde, and that he hathe declared that kyndnes in and throughe Iesu Chryste his onely sone, the which kynd nes is receyuyd by fayth, but this fayth is effectuous through charitie and expressed in an innocent lyfe"
},
{
"Article": "6",
"Title": "Of God",
"Content": "Of God we byleue in this sorte, that he is almyghtie, beynge one in substance and thre in persones, whiche euen as he hathe created by his worde, that is his sone, all thynges of nothynge, so by his spirite and prouydence gouerns he, preserue, & norysheth he, most truly, ryghtously, and wysely all thynges."
},
{
"Article": "7",
"Title": "Of Man",
"Content": "Man whiche is the perfectest image of God in earthe, and also is the chefe dignite and honoure amonge all creatures visible, beynge made of soule and body, of the whiche twayne the body is mortall, the soule immortall, whan he was creat of god holy, by fallynge in vyce and synne throughe his owne fal, drew with hym in that same ruen & fal, & so subiected all mankynde to the same calamitie & wretchydnes that he fell in."
},
{
"Article": "8",
"Title": "Of Originall Synne",
"Content": "And so this pestiferous infection whiche men calleth originall, hathe infecte and ouerspred the whole kynde of man, so far that by no helpe (he beynge the sone of wrathe and vengaunge and enemye of god) coulde be healed by any meanes but by the helpe of god onely, for yf there be any good that remayneth in man after the fall, that same beynge ioyntelie made weaker and weaker by our vyce tournes to the worse, because the strengthe and power of euyll ouercometh it, and nother suffereth it vs to folowe reason nor yet to exersyse ye godlynes of our mynde."
},
{
"Article": "9",
"Title": "Of Frewyll",
"Content": "Wherfore we attribute so free wyll to man as we whiche wyttynge & wyllynge to do good, fele experiece of euyll, Also euyll trewly we maye do of oure owne wyll, but to enbrace and folowe good (except we be elluminat styred vp and mounted, by the grace of Chryst) we maye not, for god is he whiche worketh in vs, bothe to wyll, to performe, and to accomplyshe for his owne good wyll sake, and of god cometh our helth and saluacion, but of our selfe commeth perdicion."
},
{
"Article": "10",
"Title": "Of the Eternall Mynde of God to Restore Man",
"Content": "And howbeit that through his fault man was subiecte vnto dampnacion, and also was runne vnder the iuste indingnacion of God to take vengaunce of hym, yet god the father neuer seaced to take a mercyfull cure ouer hym, the whiche thynge is manifest not onely of the fyrste prynces and the whole lawe, whiche as it is holy and good teaching vs the wyll of god, ryghtuousnes, and truthe, so worketh it wrath and storeth vp synne within vs, and slacketh it not, and that not through any faulte of it selfe but through oure vyce, but also clerely appereth it through Christ whiche was ordayned and geuen for that purpose."
},
{
"Article": "11",
"Title": "Of Iesus Christ and that is Done by Hym",
"Content": "This Christ the very sone of God, & very God and very man also was made our brother, at the tyme appoynted he toke vpon hi whole man, made of soule and body, hauynge two natures vnpermyxte and one deuyne parsone, to the intent that he shulde restore vnto lyfe vs that were deed, and make vs aryse of God annexte with hym selfe, he also after that he had taken vpon him of the immaculate virgin by operacion of the holy goost fleshe, whiche was holy bycause of the vnion of the godhed, which is and also was lyke to our fleshe in all thynges excepte in synfulnes, and that bycause it behoued ye sacrefice for synne to be cleane and inmaculate, gaue that same fleshe to death for to expell all our synne by that meanes, and he also to the entent that we shuld haue one full and perfecte hope and trust of our inmortalitie hathe raysed vp agayne fro death to lyfe his owne fleshe, and hathe set it and placed it in heauen at the ryghte hande of his almyghty father.\n\nAnd there he sytteth our victorious champion, our gyder, our capitayne, and heed, also our hyghest bysshop in dede synne, death, and hell, beynge victoriously ouercome by hym, and defendeth oure cause and pleateth it perpetually vntyll he shall reforme and fascion vs to that lykenes to whiche we were create, and brynge vs to be partakers of eternall lyfe, and we loke for hym and beleueth that he shall come at the ende of all ages to be our trewe ryghtuous iust Iudge, and shall pronofice sentence agaynst all fleshe, whiche shalbe raysed vp before to that Iudgement and that he shall exalte the godly a boue the heauens, but the vngodly shall he codepne bothe body & soule to eternal distruction.\n\nAnd as he onely is oure mediatour, and entercessour, hoste and sacrifice, bysshop, lorde, and our kynge. Also do we acknowlage and confesse hym onely to be our attonement and raunsome, satisfaction, expiacion, or wysdome, our defence, and our onely deliuerer, refusyng vtterly all other meane of lyfe and saluacion, excepte thus by Chryst onely."
},
{
"Article": "12",
"Title": "The Ende of the Preachynge of the Gospell",
"Content": "And therfore in the whole doctryne of the euangelystes anunciat and shew to be the fyrste, and chefely to be inculcated and taught that we are safe onely by the marcie of God, and merite of our sauiour Christ. And that men maye perceyue and vnderstande the better howe necessary is the mercie of god, and Christes merites for the, theyr synnes shuld be clerely shewed to them by the lawe, and remission by Christes death."
},
{
"Article": "13",
"Title": "Of Fayth & of the Power of It",
"Content": "And these so godly benifites with the very sanctificacion of the holy spirite, do we optayne by fayth, the very trewe gyfte of God, and not throughe any other power or strength of oure selues or merytes.\n\nWhiche faythe is one certayne and vndouted substance and aprehensyon of all thynges that we hope for to come of the kyndnes of god, and it cometh firste out of the selfe charitie, it worketh noble frutes of al vertues, yet not with standynge we atribute no thyng to the dedes, althoughe they be godly yet be they mennes workes and actes, but the helthe and saluacion that is optayned, we atribute to the grace of god onely, and truely this worshypynge a lone is the very trewe worshypynge of god, faythe I meane mooste pryngnaunt & plentifull of good workes without any confydence in the workes."
},
{
"Article": "14",
"Title": "The Congregacion or Churche",
"Content": "Also we holde and beleue that the churche, whiche is the congregacion & eleccion of all holy men, whiche also is the spouse of Christ whom he shall presente without spot vnto his father washynge it in his owne blode, is of suche lyuely stones aforesayd layde vpo this lyuely rocke on this maner..n\n he whiche churche howbeit, it be euydently knowne onely to the eyes of God, yet be certayne eternall ryghtes institute by Christ and be one publyke and lawful teachynge, teachynge of the worde of god, not onely is it spyed and knowen, but it is also so constituted by them that without the cerimonies there is no man reconed to be of it, excepte it be by a synguler preuilege of God"
},
{
"Article": "15",
"Title": "The Ministers of the Word of God",
"Content": "And for this cause we graunte the ministers of the church to be Cooperators of God as Paule calleth the, by whome God geueth and ministreth both know ledge of our selfe, and remission of synne, and conuerteth men to hym selfe, rayseth them vp, and comforteth the, affrayeth them also, and iudgeth them but so that the vertue and efficacie therof we ascrybe also to the Lorde, and the ministracion of the sacramentes. For it is manifest that this efficacie and powre is not bounde nor knytte to any creature, but is dyspensed lyberally and freely who soeuer and when soeuer he shall please for he that watereth is nothyng, nor yet is he that planteth any thynge, but he that geueth the encreasment, whiche is God."
},
{
"Article": "16",
"Title": "The Power of the Churche",
"Content": "The aucthorite to preache Goddes worde, and to feede the Lordes flocke, the whiche properly is the power of the keyes, prescribynge and comaundyng, all men bothe hye and lowe all lyke, shulde be holy and inuiolat, and shulde be comitted onely to them that are mete therfore and chosen other by the eleccion of God, or elles by a sure and aduysed eleccion of the churche, or by theyr wyll to whome the churches depute & apoynt that offyce of chosynge."
},
{
"Article": "17",
"Title": "The Chosyng of Ministers or Officers",
"Content": "This ministracion and offyce shulde be graunted to no man but to him whom the ministers of the churche, and they vnto whom the charge is gyuen by the churches, & foud iudged to be of knowlage in the law of god, & of inocent lyfe, the whiche seynge it is the very eleccion God, it is well and iustlye approued by the voyce of the churche, and the imposicion of handes of the heedes of the preestes."
},
{
"Article": "18",
"Title": "The Heed & Sheperd of the Churche",
"Content": "Christe verely hym selfe is the very trewe heed of his churche and congregacion, and the onely pastor and heerd, and he also geueth presydetes, heedes, and teachers, to the entent that in the externall administracion they shulde vse the ppower of the churche well and lawfully, wherfore we knowe not them that are heedes & pastors in name onely, nor yet the Romenishe heedes."
},
{
"Article": "19",
"Title": "The Dutie of Ministers or Officers",
"Content": "The chefe and pryncypall offyce of this ministracion is to preache repentaunce and remission of synne through Iesu Christe, to praye continually for the people, to geue diligence wholy to holy stodyes and to the worde of God, and resyst and pursue the deuyll alway with the word of god, as wt the sworde of the spirite, and that with a deadly ha tered, and by all meanes to chasten him awaye, to defende the holy citezens of Christe.\n\nAnd by all meanes compell and reproue the fautie and vicious, and to exclude from the churche them that stereth to farre, and that by a godly consente and agrement of them whiche are chosen of ye ministers and magistrates for correccyon, or to ponyshe them by any other waye conuenient and profytable meanes, so longe vntyll they come to a mendement, and so be safe, for this is the returnynge of the churche agayne, for one suche Citezen of Chryst yf he acknowlage and confesse his erroure with conuerted mynde and lyfe, for all this doctryne seketh and wylleth that we requyre wyllynge and helthefull correccion, exhilarite, or comforte all godly by a newe studdy of godlynes."
}
]
}
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{
"Metadata": {
"Title": "Gregory's Declaration of Faith",
"AlternativeTitles": [
"A Declaration of Faith"
],
"Year": "265",
"Authors": [
"Gregory Thaumaturgus"
],
"Location": "Neocaesarea, Turkey",
"OriginalLanguage": "Greek",
"OriginStory": null,
"SourceUrl": "https://ccel.org/ccel/gregory_thau/writings/anf06.iii.iii.i.i.html",
"SourceAttribution": "Public Domain",
"CreedFormat": "Creed"
},
"Data": {
"Content": "There is one God, the Father of the living Word, who is His subsistent Wisdom and Power and Eternal Image: perfect Begetter of the perfect Begotten, Father of the only-begotten Son. There is one Lord, Only of the Only, God of God, Image and Likeness of Deity, Efficient Word, Wisdom comprehensive of the constitution of all things, and Power formative of the whole creation, true Son of true Father, Invisible of Invisible, and Incorruptible of Incorruptible, and Immortal of Immortal and Eternal of Eternal. And there is One Holy Spirit, having His subsistence from God, and being made manifest by the Son, to wit to men: Image of the Son, Perfect Image of the Perfect; Life, the Cause of the living; Holy Fount; Sanctity, the Supplier, or Leader, of Sanctification; in whom is manifested God the Father, who is above all and in all, and God the Son, who is through all. There is a perfect Trinity, in glory and eternity and sovereignty, neither divided nor estranged. Wherefore there is nothing either created or in servitude in the Trinity; nor anything superinduced, as if at some former period it was non-existent, and at some later period it was introduced. And thus neither was the Son ever wanting to the Father, nor the Spirit to the Son; but without variation and without change, the same Trinity abideth ever."
}
}
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{
"Metadata": {
"Title": "Helvetic Consensus",
"AlternativeTitles": [
"Formula Consensus Helvetica"
],
"Year": "1675",
"Authors": [
"Johann Heidegger"
],
"Location": "Zurich, Switzerland",
"OriginalLanguage": "Latin",
"OriginStory": "A formula to stop the heterodoxy taught at the French Academy of Saumur.",
"SourceUrl": "http://apostles-creed.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Creed_Helvetic.pdf",
"SourceAttribution": "Translation Copyright 1990 - Martin Klauber",
"CreedFormat": "Canon"
},
"Data": [
{
"Article": "I",
"Title": "Canon I",
"Content": "God, the Supreme Judge, not only took care to have his word, which is the \"power of God unto salvation to every one that believes\" (Rom 1:16), committed to writing by Moses, the Prophets and the Apostles, but has also watched and cherished it with paternal care from the time it was written up to the present, so that it could not be corrupted by craft of Satan or fraud of man. Therefore the Church justly ascribes to it his singular grace and goodness that she has, and will have to the end of the world (2 Pet 1:19), a \"sure word of prophecy\" and \"Holy Scriptures\" (2 Tim 3:15), from which though heaven and earth pass away, \"the smallest letter or the least stroke of a pen will not disappear by any means\" (Matt 5:18)."
},
{
"Article": "II",
"Title": "Canon II",
"Content": "But, in particular, The Hebrew original of the OT which we have received and to this day do retain as handed down by the Hebrew Church, \"who had been given the oracles of God\" (Rom 3:2), is, not only in its consonants, but in its vowels either the vowel points themselves, or at least the power of the points not only in its matter, but in its words, inspired by God. It thus forms, together with the Original of the NT the sole and complete rule of our faith and practice; and to its standard, as to a Lydian stone, all extant versions, eastern or western, ought to be applied, and wherever they differ, be conformed."
},
{
"Article": "III",
"Title": "Canon III",
"Content": "Therefore, we are not able to approve of the opinion of those who believe that the text which the Hebrew Original exhibits was determined by man's will alone, and do not hesitate at all to remodel a Hebrew reading which they consider unsuitable, and amend it from the versions of the LXX and other Greek versions, the Samaritan Pentateuch, by the Chaldaic Targums, or even from other sources. They go even to the point of following the corrections that their own rational powers dictate from the various readings of the Hebrew Original itself which, they maintain, has been corrupted in various ways; and finally, they affirm that besides the Hebrew edition of the present time, there are in the versions of the ancient interpreters which differ from our Hebrew text, other Hebrew Originals. Since these versions are also indicative of ancient Hebrew Originals differing from each other, they thus bring the foundation of our faith and its sacred authority into perilous danger."
},
{
"Article": "IV",
"Title": "Canon IV",
"Content": "Before the creation of the world, God decreed in Christ Jesus our Lord according to his eternal purpose (Eph 3:11), in which, from the mere good pleasure of his own will, without any prevision of the merit of works or of faith, to the praise of his glorious grace, to elect some out of the human race lying in the same mass of corruption and of common blood, and, therefore, corrupted by sin. He elected a certain and definite number to be led, in time, unto salvation in Christ, their Guarantor and sole Mediator. And on account of his merit, by the mighty power of the regenerating Holy Spirit, he decreed these elect to be effectually called, regenerated and gifted with faith and repentance. So, indeed, God, determining to illustrate his glory, decreed to create man perfect, in the first place, then permit him to fall, and finally pity some of the fallen, and therefore elect those, but leave the rest in the corrupt mass, and finally give them over to eternal destruction."
},
{
"Article": "V",
"Title": "Canon V",
"Content": "Christ himself is also included in the gracious decree of divine election, not as the meritorious cause, or foundation prior to election itself, but as being himself also elect (I Pet 2:4, 6). Indeed, he was foreknown before the foundation of the world, and accordingly, as the first requisite of the execution of the decree of election, chosen Mediator, and our first born Brother, whose precious merit God determined to use for the purpose of conferring, without detriment to his own justice, salvation upon us. For the Holy Scriptures not only declare that election was made according to the mere good pleasure of the divine counsel and will (Eph 1:5, 9; Matt 11:26), but was also made that the appointment and giving of Christ, our Mediator, was to proceed from the zealous love of God the Father toward the world of the elect."
},
{
"Article": "VI",
"Title": "Canon VI",
"Content": "Wherefore, we can not agree with the opinion of those who teach: l) that God, moved by philanthropy, or a kind of special love for the fallen of the human race, did, in a kind of conditioned willing, first moving of pity, as they call it, or inefficacious desire, determine the salvation of all, conditionally, i.e., if they would believe, 2) that he appointed Christ Mediator for all and each of the fallen; and 3) that, at length, certain ones whom he regarded, not simply as sinners in the first Adam, but as redeemed in the second Adam, he elected, that is, he determined graciously to bestow on these, in time, the saving gift of faith; and in this sole act election properly so called is complete. For these and all other similar teachings are in no way insignificant deviations from the proper teaching concerning divine election; because the Scriptures do not extend unto all and each God's purpose of showing mercy to man, but restrict it to the elect alone, the reprobate being excluded even by name, as Esau, whom God hated with an eternal hatred (Rom 9:11). The same Holy Scriptures testify that the counsel and will of God do not change, but stand immovable, and God in the, heavens does whatsoever he will (Ps 115:3; Isa 47:10); for God is in finitely removed from all that human imperfection which characterizes inefficacious affections and desires, rashness repentance and change of purpose. The appointment, also, of Christ, as Mediator, equally with the salvation of those who were given to him for a possession and an inheritance that can not be taken away, proceeds from one and the same election, and does not form the basis of election."
},
{
"Article": "VII",
"Title": "Canon VII",
"Content": "As all his works were known unto God from eternity, (Acts 15:18), so in time, according to his infinite power, wisdom, and goodness, he made man, the glory and end of his works, in his own image, and, therefore, upright, wise, and just. Having created man in this manner, he put him under the Covenant of Works, and in this Covenant freely promised him communion with God, favor and life, if indeed he acted in obedience to his will."
},
{
"Article": "VIII",
"Title": "Canon VIII",
"Content": "Moreover that promise connected to the Covenant of Works was not a continuation only of earthly life and happiness but the possession especially of eternal and celestial life, a life namely, of both body and soul in heaven, if indeed man ran the course of perfect obedience, with unspeakable joy in communion with God. For not only did the Tree of Life prefigure this very thing unto Adam, but the power of the law, which, being fulfilled by Christ, who went under it in our place, awards to us nothing other than celestial life in Christ who kept the same righteousness of the law. The power of the law also threatens man with both temporal and eternal death."
},
{
"Article": "IX",
"Title": "Canon IX",
"Content": "Wherefore we can not agree with the opinion of those who deny that a reward of heavenly bliss was offered to Adam on condition of obedience to God. We also do not admit that the promise of the Covenant of Works was any thing more than a promise of perpetual life abounding in every kind of good that can be suited to the body and soul of man in a state of perfect nature, and the enjoyment thereof in an earthly Paradise. For this also is contrary to the sound sense of the Divine Word, and weakens the power of the law considered in itself."
},
{
"Article": "X",
"Title": "Canon X",
"Content": "God entered into the Covenant of Works not only with Adam for himself, but also, in him as the head and root with thc whole human race. Man would, by virtue of the blessing of the nature derived from Adam, inherit also the same perfection, provided he continued in it. So Adam by his sorrowful fall sinned and lost the benefits promised in the Covenant not only for himself, but also for the whole human race that would be born by the flesh. We hold, therefore, that the sin of Adam is imputed by the mysterious and just judgment of God to all his posterity. For the Apostle testifies that \"in Adam all sinned, by one man's disobedience many were made sinners\" (Rom 5:12,19) and \"in Adam all die\" (I Cor 15:21-22). But there appears no way in which hereditary corruption could fall, as a spiritual death, upon the whole human race by the just judgment of God, unless some sin of that race preceded, incurring the penalty of that death. For God, the most supreme Judge of all the earth, punishes none but the guilty."
},
{
"Article": "XI",
"Title": "Canon XI",
"Content": "For a double reason, therefore, man, because of sin, is by nature, and hence from his birth, before committing any actual sin, exposed to God's wrath and curse; first, on account of the transgression and disobedience which he committed in the loins of Adam; and, secondly, on account of the consequent hereditary corruption implanted to his very conception, whereby his whole nature is depraved and spiritually dead; so that original sin may rightly be regarded as twofold, imputed sin and inherent hereditary sin."
},
{
"Article": "XII",
"Title": "Canon XII",
"Content": "Accordingly we can not, without harm to the Divine truth, agree with those who deny that Adam represented his posterity by God's intention, and that his sin is imputed, therefore, immediately to his posterity; and under this mediate and consequent imputation not only destroy the imputation of the first sin, but also expose the doctrine of hereditary corruption to grave danger."
},
{
"Article": "XIII",
"Title": "Canon XIII",
"Content": "As Christ was elected from eternity the Head, the Leader and Lord of all who, in time, are saved by his grace, so also, in time, he was made Guarantor of the New Covenant only for those who, by the eternal election, were given to him as his own people, his seed and inheritance. For according to the determinate counsel of the Father and his own intention, he encountered dreadful death instead of the elect alone, and restored only these into the bosom of the Father's grace, and these only he reconciled to God, the offended Father, and delivered from the curse of the law. For our Jesus saves his people from their sins (Matt 1:21), who gave his life a ransom for many sheep (Matt 20:24, 28; John 10:15), his own, who hear his voice (John 10:27-28), and he intercedes for these only, as a divinely appointed Priest, arid not for the world (John 17:9). Accordingly in expiatory sacrifice, they are regarded as having died with him and as being justified from sin (2 Cor 5:12): and thus, with the counsel of the Father who gave to Christ none but the elect to be redeemed, and also with the working of the Holy Spirit, who sanctifies and seals unto a living hope of eternal life none but the elect. The will of Christ who died so agrees and amicably conspires in perfect harmony, that the sphere of the Father's election, the Son's redemption. And the Spirit's sanctification are one and the same."
},
{
"Article": "XIV",
"Title": "Canon XIV",
"Content": "This very thing further appears in this also, that Christ provided the means of salvation for those in whose place he died, especially the regenerating Spirit and the heavenly gift o faith, as well as salvation itself, and actually confers these upon, them. For the Scriptures testify that Christ, the Lord, came to say, the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matt 15:24), and sends the, same Holy Spirit, the source of regeneration, as his own (John 16:7 8): that among the better promises of the New Covenant of which he was made Mediator and Guarantor this one is preeminent, the he will inscribe his law, the law of faith, in the hearts of his people (Heb 8:10); that whatsoever the Father has given to Chris will come to him, by faith, surely; and finally, that we are chose' in Christ to be his children, holy and blameless (Eph. 1:4-5); but our being God's holy children proceeds only from faith and the Spirit of regeneration."
},
{
"Article": "XV",
"Title": "Canon XV",
"Content": "But by the obedience of his death Christ, in place o the elect, so satisfied God the Father, that in the estimate of his vicarious righteousness and of that obedience, all of that which he rendered to the law, as its just servant, during his entire life whether by doing or by suffering, ought to be called obedience. For Christ's life, according to the Apostle's testimony (Phil 1:8), was nothing but submission, humiliation and a continuous emptying of self, descending step by step to the lowest extreme even to the point of death on the Cross; and the Spirit of God plainly declares that Christ in our stead satisfied the law and divine justice by His most, holy life, and makes that ransom with which God has redeemed us to consist not in His sufferings only, but in his whole life conformed to the law. The Spirit, however, ascribes our redemption to the death, or the blood, of Christ, in no other sense than that it was consummated by sufferings; and from that last definitive and no blest act derives a name indeed, but not in such a way as to separate the life preceding from his death."
},
{
"Article": "XVI",
"Title": "Canon XVI",
"Content": "Since all these things are entirely so, we can hardly approve the opposite doctrine of those who affirm that of his own intention and counsel and that of the Father who sent him, Christ died for each and every one upon the condition, that they believe. [We also cannot affirm the teaching! that he obtained for all a salvation, which, nevertheless, is not applied to all, and by his death merited a salvation and faith for no one individually but only removed the obstacle of divine justice, and acquired for the Father the liberty of entering into a new covenant of grace with all men. Finally, they so separate the active and passive righteousness of Christ, as to assert that he claims his active righteousness as his own, but gives and imputes only his passive righteousness to the elect. All these opinions, and all that are like these, are contrary to the plain Scriptures and the glory of Christ, who is Author and Finisher of our faith and salvation; they make his cross of none effect, and under the appearance of exalting his merit, they, in reality diminish it."
},
{
"Article": "XVII",
"Title": "Canon XVII",
"Content": "The call to salvation was suited to its due time (l Tim 2:6). Since by God's will it was at one time more restricted, at another, more widespread and general, but never completely universal. For, indeed, in the OT God announced his word to Jacob, his statutes and his judgments to Israel he did not do so with any other nation (Ps 147:19-20). In the NT, peace being made in the blood of Christ and the inner walls of partition broken down, God so extended the limits of the preaching of the Gospel and the external call, that there is no longer any difference between the Jew and the Greek; for the same Lord is over all and is gracious to every one who calls upon him (Rom 10:12). But not even thus is the call universal. For Christ testifies that many are called (Matt 20:14), but not all; and when Paul and Timothy tried to go into Bithynia to preach the Gospel, the Spirit prevented them (Acts 16:7). And there have been and there are today, as experience testifies, innumerable myriads of men to whom Christ is not known even by rumor."
},
{
"Article": "XVIII",
"Title": "Canon XVIII",
"Content": "Meanwhile God has not left himself without witness (Acts 14:7) to those whom he refused to call by his Word unto salvation. For he provided to them the witness of the heavens and the stars (Deut 4:19), and that which may be known of God, even from the works of nature and Providence, he has shown to them (Rom 1:19), for the purpose of showing his long suffering. Yet it is not true that the works of nature and divine Providence are selfsufficient means which fulfilled the function of the external call, whereby he would reveal unto them the mystery of the good pleasure or the mercy of God in Christ. For the Apostle immediately adds: \"For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen\" (Rom 1:20). So they might learn the mystery of salvation through Christ and be without excuse, because they did not correctly use the knowledge that was left to them, but when they knew God, they did not glorify him as God, neither were they thankful. Wherefore also Christ glorifies God, his Father, because he had hidden these things from the wise and the prudent, and revealed them unto babes (Matt 1:25). And as the Apostle teaches: \"God has made known unto us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure which He has purposed in Christ\" (Eph 1:9)."
},
{
"Article": "XIX",
"Title": "Canon XIX",
"Content": "Likewise the external call itself, which is made by the preaching of the Gospel, is on the part of God also, who earnestly and sincerely calls. For in his Word he most earnestly and truly reveals, not, indeed, his secret will respecting the salvation or destruction of each individual, but our responsibility, and what will happen to us if we do or neglect this duty. Clearly it is the will of God who calls, that they who are called come to him and not neglect so great a salvation, and so he earnestly promises eternal life to those who come to him by faith; for, as the Apostle declares, \"It is a trustworthy saying: For if we have died with Him, we shall also live with Him; if we disown Him, He will also disown us; if we are faithless, He will remain faithful, for He cannot disown Himself (2 Tim 2:12-13). Neither is this call without result for those who disobey; for God always accomplishes his will, even the demonstration of duty, and following this, either the salvation of the elect who fulfill their responsibility, or the inexcusableness of the rest who neglect the duty set before them. Certainly the spiritual man in no way determined the eternal purpose of God to produce faith along with the externally offered, or written Word of God. Moreover, because God approved every truth which flows from his counsel, it is correctly said to be his will, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have everlasting life (John 6:40). Although these \"all\" are the elect alone, and God formed no plan of universal salvation without any selection of persons, and Christ therefore died not for everyone but only for the elect who were given to him; yet he intends this in any case to be universally true, which follows from his special and definite purpose. But that, by God's will, the elect alone believe in the external call which is universally offered, while the reprobate are hardened. This proceeds solely from the discriminating grace of God; election by the same grace to those who believe, but their own native wickedness to the reprobate who remain in sin, who after their hardened and impenitent heart build up for themselves wrath for the Day of Judgment, and revelation of the righteous judgment of God"
},
{
"Article": "XX",
"Title": "Canon XX",
"Content": "Accordingly we have no doubt that they are wrong who hold that the call to salvation is disclosed not by the preaching of the Gospel solely, but even by the works of nature and Providence without any further proclamation. They add that the call to salvation is so indefinite and universal that there is no mortal who is not, at least objectively, as they say, sufficiently called either mediately, meaning that God will provide the light of grace to those who use the light of nature correctly, or immediately, to Christ and salvation. They finally deny that the external call can be said to be serious and true, or the candor and sincerity of God bc defended, without asserting the absolute universality of grace. For such doctrines are contrary to the Holy Scriptures and the experience of all ages, and manifestly confuse nature with grace and confuse the things which we can know about God with his hidden wisdom. They further confuse the light of reason with the light of divine Revelation."
},
{
"Article": "XXI",
"Title": "Canon XXI",
"Content": "Those who are called to salvation through thc preaching of the Gospel are not able to believe or obey the call, unless they are raised up out of spiritual death by that very power that God used to command the light to shine out of darkness, and God shines into their hearts with the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor 4:6). For the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they spiritually discerned (Cor 2:14). And Scripture demonstrates this utter inability by so many direct testimonies and under so many mosaics that scarcely in any other point is it surer. This inability may, indeed, be called moral even in so far as it pertains to a moral subject or object: but it ought to be at the same time called natural because man by nature, and so by the law of his formation in the womb, and hence from his birth, is the child of disobedience (Eph 2:2); and has that inability that is so innate that it cannot be shaken off except by the omnipotent heart-turning grace of the Holy Spirit."
},
{
"Article": "XXII",
"Title": "Canon XXII",
"Content": "We hold therefore that they speak inaccurately and dangerously, who call this inability to believe moral inability, and do not say that it is natural, adding that man in whatever condition he may be placed is able to believe if he desires, and that faith in some way or other, indeed, is self-originated. The Apostle, however, clearly calls [salvation] the gift of God (Eph 2:8)."
},
{
"Article": "XXIII",
"Title": "Canon XXIII",
"Content": "There are two ways in which God, the just Judge, has promised justification: either by one's own works or deeds in the law, or by the obedience or righteousness of another, even of Christ our Guarantor. [This justification! is imputed by grace to those who believe in the Gospel. The former is the method of justifying man because of perfection; but the latter, of justifying man who is a corrupt sinner. In accordance with these two ways of justification the Scripture establishes these two covenants: the Covenant of Works, entered into with Adam and with each one of his descendants in him, but made void by sin; and the Covenant of Grace, made with only the elect in Christ, the second Adam, eternal. [This covenant] cannot be broken while [the Covenant of Works] can be abrogated."
},
{
"Article": "XXIV",
"Title": "Canon XXIV",
"Content": "But this later Covenant of Grace according to the diversity of times has also different dispensations. For when the Apostle speaks of the dispensation of the fullness of times, that is, the administration of the last time (Eph 1:10), he very clearly indicates that there had been another dispensation and administration until the times which the Father appointed. Yet in the dispensation of the Covenant of Grace the elect have not been saved in any other way than by the Angel of his presence (Isa 63:9), the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Rev 13:8), Christ Jesus, through the knowledge of that just Servant and faith in him and in the Father and his Spirit. For Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb 13:8). And by His grace we believe that we are saved in the same manner as the Fathers also were saved, and in both Testaments these statutes remain unchanged: \"Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him,\" (the Son) (Ps 2:12); \"He that believes in Him is not condemned, but he that does not believe is condemned already\" (John 3:18). \"You believe in God,\" even the Father, \"believe also in me\" (John 14:1). But if, moreover, the holy Fathers believed in Christ as their God, it follows that they also believed in the Holy Spirit, without whom no one can call Jesus Lord. Truly there are so many clearer exhibitions of this faith of the Fathers and of the necessity of such faith in either Covenant, that they can not escape any one unless one wills it. But though this saving knowledge of Christ and the Holy Trinity was necessarily derived, according to the dispensation of that time, both from thc promise and from shadows and figures and mysteries, with greater difficulty than in the NT. Yet it was a true knowledge, and, in proportion to the measure of divine Revelation, it was sufficient to procure salvation and peace of conscience for the elect, by the help of God's grace."
},
{
"Article": "XXV",
"Title": "Canon XXV",
"Content": "We disapprove therefore of the doctrine of those who fabricate for us three Covenants, the Natural, the Legal, and the Gospel, different in their entire nature and essence, and in explaining these and assigning their differences, so intricately entangle themselves that they greatly obscure and even impair the nucleus of solid truth and piety. Nor do they hesitate at all, with regard to the necessity, under the OT dispensation, of knowledge of Christ and faith in him and his satisfaction and in the whole sacred Trinity, to speculate much too loosely and dangerously."
},
{
"Article": "XXVI",
"Title": "Canon XXVI",
"Content": "Finally, both to us, to whom in the Church, which is God's house, has been entrusted the dispensation for the present, and unto all our Nazarenes, and to those who under the will and direction of God will at any time succeed us in our responsibility, in order to prevent the fearful enkindling of dissensions with which the Church of God in different places is disturbed in terrible ways, we earnestly wish the following to be done. That in this corruption of the world, with the Apostle of the Gentiles as our faithful monitor, we all keep faithfully that which is committed to our trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings (I Tim 6:20); and religiously guard the purity and simplicity of that knowledge which is according to piety, constantly clinging to that beautiful pair, Charity and Faith, unstained. Moreover, in order that no one may be induced to propose either publicly or privately some doubtful or new dogma of faith previously unheard of in our churches, and contrary to God's Word, to our Helvetic Confession, to our Symbolical Books, and to the Canons of the Synod of Dort, and not proved and sanctioned in a public assembly of brothers according to the Word of God, let it also be required: that we not only hand down sincerely in accordance with the divine Word, the special necessity of the sanctification of the Lord's Day, and also impressively teach and fervently urge its observation. In conclusion, that in our churches and schools, as often as occasion demands, we unanimously and faithfully hold, teach, and assert that the truth of the Canons recorded here, is deduced from the indubitable Word of God."
},
{
"Article": "C",
"Title": "Conclusion",
"Content": "The very God of peace and truth sanctify us wholly, and preserve our whole spirit and soul and body blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ! To whom, with the Father and the Holy Spirit be eternal honor, praise and glory. Amen!"
}
]
}
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{
"Metadata": {
"Title": "Ignatius' Creed",
"AlternativeTitles": [],
"Year": "110",
"Authors": [
"Ignatius of Antioch"
],
"Location": "Smyrna, Greece",
"OriginalLanguage": "Greek",
"OriginStory": "The Christians at Tralles (a town some seventeen miles east of Magnesia) had sent their bishop, Polybius, to greet Ignatius in Smyrna.",
"SourceUrl": "https://www.ccel.org/ccel/richardson/fathers.vi.ii.iii.iii.html",
"SourceAttribution": "Public Domain",
"CreedFormat": "Creed"
},
"Data": {
"Content": "Jesus Christ, of David's lineage, of Mary; who was really born, ate; and drank; was really persecuted under Pontius Pilate; was really crucified and died, in the sight of heaven and earth and the underworld. He was really raised from the dead, for his Father raised him, just as his Father will raise us, who believe on him, through Christ Jesus, apart from whom we have no genuine life."
}
}
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{
"Metadata": {
"Title": "Irenaeus' Rule of Faith",
"AlternativeTitles": [],
"Year": "180",
"Authors": [
"Irenaeus"
],
"Location": "Lyon, France",
"OriginalLanguage": "Greek",
"OriginStory": null,
"SourceUrl": "https://ccel.org/ccel/irenaeus/against_heresies_i/anf01.ix.ii.xi.html",
"SourceAttribution": "Public Domain",
"CreedFormat": "Creed"
},
"Data": {
"Content": "This faith: in one God, the Father Almighty, who made the heaven and the earth and the seas and all the things that are in them; and in one Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who was made flesh for our salvation; and in the Holy Spirit, who made known through the prophets the plan of salvation, and the coming, and the birth from a virgin, and the passion, and the resurrection from the dead, and the bodily ascension into heaven of the beloved Christ Jesus, our Lord, and his future appearing from heaven in the glory of the Father to sum up all things and to raise anew all flesh of the whole human race."
}
}
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{
"Metadata": {
"Title": "1689 London Baptist Confession",
"AlternativeTitles": [
"1689 Baptist Confession",
"Second London Baptist Confession",
"A confession of Faith put forth by the Elders and Brethren of many Congregations of Christians, Baptized upon Profession of their Faith in London and the Country. With an Appendix concerning Baptism."
],
"Year": "1677",
"Authors": [
"Andrew Gifford",
"Benjamin Keach",
"Charles Archer",
"Christopher Price",
"Daniel Finch",
"Edmond White",
"Edward Man",
"Edward Price",
"George Barret",
"Hansard Knollys",
"Hurcules Collins",
"Isaac Lamb",
"James Hitt",
"James Webb",
"John Ball",
"John Carter",
"John Harris",
"John Tomkins",
"Leonard Harrison",
"Paul Fruin",
"Richard Adams",
"Richard Ring",
"Richard Sutton",
"Richard Tidmarsh",
"Robert Knight",
"Robert Steed",
"Samuel Buttall",
"Samuel Ewer",
"Thomas Vaux",
"Thomas Winnel",
"Toby Willes",
"William Collins",
"William Facey",
"William Hawkins",
"William Kiffin",
"William Phipps",
"William Prichard"
],
"Location": "London, England",
"OriginalLanguage": "English",
"OriginStory": "",
"SourceUrl": "http://apostles-creed.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/London-Baptist-of-Faith-1689.pdf",
"SourceAttribution": "Public Domain",
"CreedFormat": "Confession"
},
"Data": [
{
"Chapter": "1",
"Title": "Of the Holy Scriptures",
"Sections": [
{
"Section": "1",
"Content": "The Holy Scripture is the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all saving Knowledge, Faith and Obedience; Although the light of Nature, and the works of Creation and Providence do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom and power of God, as to leave men unexcusable; yet are they not sufficient to give that knowledge of God and His will, which is necessary unto Salvation. Therefore it pleased the Lord at sundry times, and in divers manners, to reveal himself, and to declare that His will unto his Church; and afterward for the better preserving, and propagating of the Truth, and for the more sure Establishment, and Comfort of the Church against the corruption of the flesh, and the malice of Satan, and of the World, to commit the same wholly unto writing; which maketh the Holy Scriptures to be most necessary, those former ways of Gods revealing his will unto his people being now ceased."
},
{
"Section": "2",
"Content": "Under the Name of Holy Scripture or the Word of God written; are now contained all the Books of the Old and New Testament which are these: Of the Old Testament: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, The Song of Songs, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi. Of the New Testament: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, The Acts of the Apostles, Pauls Epistle to the Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Phillippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, to Titus, to Philemon, the Epistle to the Hebrews, the Epistle of James, the First and Second Epistles of Peter, the First, Second and Third Epistles of John, the Epistle of Jude, the Revelation."
},
{
"Section": "3",
"Content": "The Books commonly called Apocrypha not being of Divine inspiration, are no part of the Canon (or rule) of the Scripture, and therefore are of no authority to the Church of God, nor to be any otherwise approved or made use of, then other humane writings."
},
{
"Section": "4",
"Content": "The Authority of the Holy Scripture for which it ought to be believed dependeth not upon the testimony of any man, or Church; but wholly upon God (who is truth it self) the Author thereof; therefore it is to be received, because it is the Word of God."
},
{
"Section": "5",
"Content": "We may be moved and induced by the testimony of the Church of God, to an high and reverent esteem of the Holy Scriptures; and the heavenliness of the matter, the efficacy of the Doctrine, and the Majesty of the stile, the consent of all the parts, the scope of the whole (which is to give all glory to God) the full discovery it makes of the only way of mans salvation, and many other incomparable Excellencies, and intire perfections thereof, are arguments whereby it doth abundantly evidence it self to be the Word of God; yet notwithstanding; our full perswasion, and assurance of the infallible truth, and divine authority thereof, is from the inward work of the Holy Spirit, bearing witness by and with the Word in our Hearts."
},
{
"Section": "6",
"Content": "The whole Councel of God concerning all things necessary for his own Glory, Mans Salvation, Faith and Life, is either expressely set down or necessarily contained in the Holy Scripture; unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new Revelation of the Spirit, or traditions of men.Nevertheless we acknowledge the inward illumination of the Spirit of God, to be necessary for the saving understanding of such things as are revealed in the Word, and that there are some circumstances concerning the worship of God, and government of the Church common to humane actions and societies; which are to be ordered by the light of nature, and Christian prudence according to the general rules of the Word, which are always to be observed."
},
{
"Section": "7",
"Content": "All things in Scripture are not alike plain in themselves, nor alike clear unto all; yet those things which are necessary to be known, believed, and observed for Salvation, are so clearly propounded, and opened in some place of Scripture or other, that not only the learned, but the unlearned, in a due use of ordinary means, may attain to a sufficient understanding of them."
},
{
"Section": "8",
"Content": "The Old Testament in Hebrew, (which was the Native language of the people of God of old) and the New Testament in Greek (which at the time of the writing of it was most generally known to the Nations being immediately inspired by God, and by his singular care and Providence kept pure in all Ages, are therefore authentical; so as in all controversies of Religion the Church is finally to appeal unto them But because these original tongues are not known to all the people of God, who have a right unto, and interest in the Scriptures, and are commanded in the fear of God to read and search them, therefore they are to be translated into the vulgar language of every Nation, unto which they come, that the Word of God dwelling plentifully in all, they may worship him in an acceptable manner, and through patience and comfort of the Scriptures may have hope."
},
{
"Section": "9",
"Content": "The infallible rule of interpretation of Scripture is the Scripture it self: And therefore when there is a question about the true and full sense of any Scripture (which is not manifold but one) it must be searched by other places that speak more clearly."
},
{
"Section": "10",
"Content": "The supream judge by which all controversies of Religion are to be determined, and all Decrees of Councels, opinions of antient Writers, Doctrines of men, and private Spirits, are to be examined, and in whose sentence we are to rest, can be no other but the Holy Scripture delivered by the Spirit, into which Scripture so delivered, our faith is finally resolved."
}
]
},
{
"Chapter": "2",
"Title": "Of God and of the Holy Trinity",
"Sections": [
{
"Section": "1",
"Content": "The Lord our God is but one only living, and true God; whose subsistence is in and of himself, infinite in being, and perfection, whose Essence cannot be comprehended by any but himself; a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions, who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light, which no man can approach unto, who is immutable, immense, eternal, incomprehensible, Almighty, every way infinit, most holy, most wise, most free, most absolute, working all things according to the councel of his own immutable, and most righteous will, for his own glory, most loving, gracious, merciful, long suffering, abundant in goodness and truth, forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin, the rewarder of them that diligently seek him, and withall most just, and terrible in his judgements, hating all sin, and who will by no means clear the guilty."
},
{
"Section": "2",
"Content": "God having all life, glory, goodness, blessedness, in and of himself: is alone in, and unto himself all-sufficient, not standing in need of any Creature which he hath made, nor deriving any glory from them, but onely manifesting his own glory in, by, unto, and upon them, he is the alone fountain of all Being, of whom, through whom, and to whom are all things, and he hath most soveraign dominion over all creatures, to do by them, for them, or upon them, whatsoever himself pleaseth; in his sight all things are open and manifest, his knowledge is infinite, infallible, and independant upon the Creature, so as nothing is to him contingent, or uncertain; he is most holy in all his Councels, in all his Works, and in all his Commands; to him is due from Angels and men, whatsoever worship, service, or obedience as Creatures they owe unto the Creator, and whatever he is further pleased to require of them."
},
{
"Section": "3",
"Content": "In this divine and infinite Being there are three subsistences, the Father the Word (or Son) and Holy Spirit, of one substance, power, and Eternity, each having the whole Divine Essence, yet the Essence undivided, the Father is of none neither begotten nor proceeding, the Son is Eternally begotten of the Father, the holy Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son, all infinite, without beginning, therefore but one God, who is not to be divided in nature and Being; but distinguished by several peculiar, relative properties, and personal relations; which doctrine of the Trinity is the foundation of all our Communion with God, and comfortable dependance on him."
}
]
},
{
"Chapter": "3",
"Title": "Of God's Decree",
"Sections": [
{
"Section": "1",
"Content": "God hath Decreed in himself from all Eternity, by the most wise and holy Councel of his own will, freely and unchangeably, all things whatsoever comes to passe; yet so as thereby is God neither the author of sin, nor hath fellowship with any therein, nor is violence offered to the will of the Creature, nor yet is the liberty, or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established, in which appears his wisdom in disposing all things, and power, and faithfulness in accomplishing his Decree."
},
{
"Section": "2",
"Content": "Although God knoweth whatsoever may, or can come to passe upon all supposed conditions; yet hath he not Decreed anything, because he foresaw it as future, or as that which would come to pass upon such conditions."
},
{
"Section": "3",
"Content": "By the decree of God for the manifestation of his glory some men and Angels, are predestinated, or fore-ordained to Eternal Life, through Jesus Christ to the praise of his glorious grace; others being left to act in their sin to their just condemnation, to the praise of his glorious justice."
},
{
"Section": "4",
"Content": "These Angels and Men thus predestinated, and fore-ordained, are particularly, and unchangeably designed; and their number so certain, and definite, that it cannot be either increased, or diminished."
},
{
"Section": "5",
"Content": "Those of mankind that are predestinated to life, God before the foundation of the world was laid, according to his eternal and immutable purpose, and the secret Councel and good pleasure of his will, hath chosen in Christ unto everlasting glory, out of his meer free grace and love; without any other thing in the creature as a condition or cause moving him thereunto."
},
{
"Section": "6",
"Content": "As God hath appointed the Elect unto glory, so he hath by the eternal and most free purpose of his will, fore-ordained all the means thereunto, wherefore they who are elected, being faln in Adam, are redeemed by Christ, are effectually called unto faith in Christ, by his spirit working in due season, are justifyed, adopted, sanctified, and kept by his power through faith unto salvation; neither are any other redeemed by Christ, or effectually called, justified, adopted, sanctified, and saved, but the Elect only."
},
{
"Section": "7",
"Content": "The Doctrine of this high mystery of predestination, is to be handled with special prudence, and care; that men attending the will of God revealed in his word, and yeilding obedience thereunto, may from the certainty of their effectual vocation, be assured of their eternal election; so shall this doctrine afford matter of praise, reverence, and admiration of God, and of humility, diligence, and abundant consolation, to all that sincerely obey the Gospel."
}
]
},
{
"Chapter": "4",
"Title": "Of Creation",
"Sections": [
{
"Section": "1",
"Content": "In the beginning it pleased God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, for the manifestation of the glory of his eternal power, wisdom, and goodness, to Create or make the world, and all things therein, whether visible or invisible, in the space of six days, and all very good."
},
{
"Section": "2",
"Content": "After God had made all other Creatures, he Created man, male and female, with reasonable and immortal souls, rendring them fit unto that life to God; for which they were Created; being made after the image of God, in knowledge, righteousness, and true holyness; having the Law of God written in their hearts, and power to fulfill it; and yet under a possibility of transgressing, being left to the liberty of their own will, which was subject to change."
},
{
"Section": "3",
"Content": "Besides the Law written in their hearts, they received a command not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil; which whilst they kept, they were happy in their Communion with God, and had dominion over the Creatures."
}
]
},
{
"Chapter": "5",
"Title": "Of Divine Providence",
"Sections": [
{
"Section": "1",
"Content": "God the good Creator of all things, in his infinite power, and wisdom, doth uphold, direct, dispose, and govern all Creatures, and things, from the greatest even to the least, by his most wise and holy providence, to the end for the which they were Created; according unto his infallible foreknowledge, and the free and immutable Councel of his own will; to the praise of the glory of his wisdom, power, justice, infinite goodness and mercy."
},
{
"Section": "2",
"Content": "Although in relation to the foreknowledge and Decree of God, the first cause, all things come to pass immutably and infallibly; so that there is not any thing, befalls any by chance, or without his Providence; yet by the same Providence he ordereth them to fall out, according to the nature of second causes, either necessarily, freely, or contingently."
},
{
"Section": "3",
"Content": "God in his ordinary Providence maketh use of means; yet is free to work, without, above, and against them at his pleasure."
},
{
"Section": "4",
"Content": "The Almighty power, unsearchable wisdom, and infinite goodness of God, so far manifest themselves in his Providence, that his determinate Councel extendeth it self even to the first fall, and all other sinful actions both of Angels, and Men; (and that not by a bare permission) which also he most wisely and powerfully boundeth, and otherwise ordereth, and governeth, in a manifold dispensation to his most holy ends: yet so, as the sinfulness of their acts proceedeth only from the Creatures, and not from God; who being most holy and righteous, neither is nor can be, the author or approver of sin."
},
{
"Section": "5",
"Content": "The most wise, righteous, and gracious God, doth oftentimes, leave for a season his own children to manifold temptations, and the corruptions of their own heart, to chastise them for their former sins, or to discover unto them the hidden strength of corruption, and deceitfulness of their hearts, that they may be humbled; and to raise them to a more close, and constant dependence for their support, upon himself; and to make them more watchful against all future occasions of sin, and for other just and holy ends."
},
{
"Section": "6",
"Content": "As for those wicked and ungodly men, whom God as a righteous judge, for former sin doth blind and harden; from them he not only withholdeth his Grace, whereby they might have been inlightned in their understanding, and wrought upon in their hearts: But sometimes also withdraweth the gifts which they had, and exposeth them to such objects as their corruptions makes occasion of sin; and withall gives them over to their own lusts, the temptations of the world, and the power of Satan, whereby it comes to pass, that they harden themselves, even under those means which God useth for the softning of others."
},
{
"Section": "7",
"Content": "As the Providence of God doth in general reach to all Creatures, so after a most special manner it taketh care of his Church, and disposeth of all things to the good thereof."
}
]
},
{
"Chapter": "6",
"Title": "Of the Fall of Man, of Sin, and of the Punishment thereof",
"Sections": [
{
"Section": "1",
"Content": "Although God created Man upright, and perfect, and gave him a righteous law, which had been unto life had he kept it, and threatned death upon the breach thereof; yet he did not long abide in this honour; Satan using the subtilty of the serpent to seduce Eve, then by her seducing Adam, who without any compulsion, did wilfully transgress the Law of their Creation, and the command given unto them, in eating the forbidden fruit; which God was pleased according to his wise and holy Councel to permit, having purposed to order it, to his own glory."
},
{
"Section": "2",
"Content": "Our first Parents by this Sin, fell from their original righteousness and communion with God, and we in them, whereby death came upon all; all becoming dead in Sin, and wholly defiled, in all the faculties, and parts, of soul, and body."
},
{
"Section": "3",
"Content": "They being the root, and by Gods appointment, standing in the room, and stead of all mankind; the guilt of the Sin was imputed, and corrupted nature conveyed, to all their posterity descending from them by ordinary generation, being now conceived in Sin, and by nature children of wrath, the servants of Sin, the subjects of death and all other miseries, spiritual, temporal and eternal, unless the Lord Jesus set them free."
},
{
"Section": "4",
"Content": "From this original corruption, whereby we are utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite to all good, and wholly inclined to all evil, do proceed all actual transgressions."
},
{
"Section": "5",
"Content": "The corruption of nature, during this Life, doth remain in those that are regenerated: and although it be through Christ pardoned, and mortified, yet both it self, and the first motions thereof, are truely and properly Sin."
}
]
},
{
"Chapter": "7",
"Title": "Of God's Covenant",
"Sections": [
{
"Section": "1",
"Content": "The distance between God and the Creature is so great, that although reasonable Creatures do owe obedience unto him as their Creator, yet they could never have attained the reward of Life, but by some voluntary condescension on Gods part, which he hath been pleased to express, by way of Covenant."
},
{
"Section": "2",
"Content": "Moreover Man having brought himself under the curse of the Law by his fall, it pleased the Lord to make a Covenant of Grace wherein he freely offereth unto Sinners, Life and Salvation by Jesus Christ, requiring of them Faith in him, that they may be saved; and promising to give unto all those that are ordained unto eternal Life, his holy Spirit, to make them willing, and able to believe."
},
{
"Section": "3",
"Content": "This Covenant is revealed in the Gospel; first of all to Adam in the promise of Salvation by the seed of the woman, and afterwards by farther steps, untill the full discovery thereof was compleated in the new Testament; and it is founded in that Eternal Covenant transaction, that was between the Father and the Son, about the Redemption of the Elect; and it is alone by the Grace of this Covenant, that all of the posterity of fallen Adam, that ever were saved, did obtain life and a blessed immortality; Man being now utterly uncapable of acceptance with God upon those terms, on which Adam stood in his state of innocency."
}
]
},
{
"Chapter": "8",
"Title": "Of Christ the Mediator",
"Sections": [
{
"Section": "1",
"Content": "It pleased God in his eternal purpose, to chuse and ordain the Lord Jesus his only begotten Son, according to the Covenant made between them both, to be the Mediator between God and Man; the Prophet, Priest and King; Head and Saviour of his Church, the heir of all things, and judge of the world: Unto whom he did from all Eternity give a people to be his seed, and to be by him in time redeemed, called, justified, sanctified, and glorified."
},
{
"Section": "2",
"Content": "The Son of God, the second Person in the Holy Trinity, being very and eternal God, the brightness of the Fathers glory, of one substance and equal with him: who made the World, who upholdeth and governeth all things he hath made: did when the fullness of time was come take unto him mans nature, with all the Essential properties, and common infirmities thereof, yet without sin: being conceived by the Holy Spirit in the Womb of the Virgin Mary, the Holy Spirit coming down upon her, and the power of the most High overshadowing her, and so was made of a Woman, of the Tribe of Judah, of the Seed of Abraham, and David according to the Scriptures: So that two whole, perfect, and distinct natures, were inseparably joined together in one Person: without conversion, composition, or confusion: which Person is very God, and very Man; yet one Christ, the only Mediator between God and Man."
},
{
"Section": "3",
"Content": "The Lord Jesus in his humane nature thus united to the divine, in the Person of the Son, was sanctified, and anointed with the Holy Spirit, above measure; having in him all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge; in whom it pleased the Father that all fullness should dwell: To the end that being holy, harmless, undefiled, and full of Grace, and Truth, he might be throughly furnished to execute the office of a Mediator, and Surety; which office he took not upon himself, but was thereunto called by his Father; who also put all power and judgement in his hand, and gave him Commandement to execute the same."
},
{
"Section": "4",
"Content": "This office the Lord Jesus did most willingly undertake, which that he might discharge he was made under the Law, and did perfectly fulfill it, and underwent the punishment due to us, which we should have born and suffered, being made Sin and a Curse for us: enduring most grievous sorrows in his Soul; and most painful sufferings in his body; was crucified, and died, and remained in the state of the dead; yet saw no corruption: on the third day he arose from the dead, with the same body in which he suffered; with which he also ascended into heaven: and there sitteth at the right hand of his Father, making intercession; and shall return to judge Men and Angels, at the end of the World."
},
{
"Section": "5",
"Content": "The Lord Jesus by his perfect obedience and sacrifice of himself, which he through the Eternal Spirit once offered up unto God, hath fully satisfied the Justice of God, procured reconciliation, and purchased an Everlasting inheritance in the Kingdom of Heaven, for all those whom the Father hath given unto him."
},
{
"Section": "6",
"Content": "Although the price of Redemption was not actually paid by Christ, till after his Incarnation, yet the vertue, efficacy, and benefit thereof were communicated to the Elect in all ages successively, from the beginning of the World, in and by those Promises, Types, and Sacrifices, wherein he was revealed, and signified to be the Seed of the Woman, which should bruise the Serpents head; and the Lamb slain from the foundation of the World: Being the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever."
},
{
"Section": "7",
"Content": "Christ in the work of Mediation acteth according to both natures, by each nature doing that which is proper to it self; yet by reason of the Unity of the Person, that which is proper to one nature, is sometimes in Scripture attributed to the Person denominated by the other nature."
},
{
"Section": "8",
"Content": "To all those for whom Christ hath obtained eternal redemption, he doth certainly, and effectually apply, and communicate the same; making intercession for them, uniting them to himself by his spirit, revealing unto them, in and by the word, the mystery of salvation; perswading them to believe, and obey; governing their hearts by his word and spirit, and overcoming all their enemies by his Almighty power, and wisdom; in such manner, and wayes as are most consonant to his wonderful, and unsearchable dispensation; and all of free, and absolute Grace, without any condition foreseen in them, to procure it."
},
{
"Section": "9",
"Content": "This office of Mediator between God and Man, is proper onely to Christ, who is the Prophet, Priest, and King of the Church of God; and may not be either in whole, or any part thereof transfer'd from him to any other."
},
{
"Section": "10",
"Content": "This number and order of Offices is necessary; for in respect of our ignorance, we stand in need of his prophetical Office; and in respect of our alienation from God, and imperfection of the best of our services, we need his Priestly office, to reconcile us, and present us acceptable unto God: and in respect our averseness, and utter inability to return to God, and for our rescue, and security from our spiritual adversaries, we need his Kingly office, to convince, subdue, draw, uphold, deliver, and preserve us to his Heavenly Kingdome."
}
]
},
{
"Chapter": "9",
"Title": "Of Free Will",
"Sections": [
{
"Section": "1",
"Content": "God hath indued the Will of Man, with that natural liberty, and power of acting upon choice; that it is neither forced, nor by any necessity of nature determined to do good or evil."
},
{
"Section": "2",
"Content": "Man in his state of innocency, had freedom, and power, to will, and to do that which was good, and well-pleasing to God; but yet was mutable, so that he might fall from it."
},
{
"Section": "3",
"Content": "Man by his fall into a state of sin hath wholly lost all ability of Will, to any spiritual good accompanying salvation; so as a natural man, being altogether averse from that good, and dead in Sin, is not able, by his own strength, to convert himself; or to prepare himself thereunto."
},
{
"Section": "4",
"Content": "When God converts a sinner, and translates him into the state of Grace he freeth him from his natural bondage under sin, and by his grace alone, enables him freely to will, and to do that which is spiritually good; yet so as that by reason of his remaining corruptions he doth not perfectly nor only will that which is good; but doth also will that which is evil."
},
{
"Section": "5",
"Content": "The Will of Man is made perfectly, and immutably free to good alone, in the state of Glory only."
}
]
},
{
"Chapter": "10",
"Title": "Of Effectual Calling",
"Sections": [
{
"Section": "1",
"Content": "Those whom God hath predestinated unto Life, he is pleased in his appointed, and accepted time, effectually to call by his word, and Spirit, out of that state of sin, and death, in which they are by nature, to grace and Salvation by Jesus Christ; inlightning their minds, spiritually, and savingly to understand the things of God; taking away their heart of stone, and giving unto them an heart of flesh; renewing their wills, and by his Almighty power determining them to that which is good, and effectually drawing them to Jesus Christ; yet so as they come most freely, being made willing by his Grace."
},
{
"Section": "2",
"Content": "This Effectual Call is of God's free, and special grace alone, not from any thing at all foreseen in man, nor from any power, or agency in the Creature, coworking with his special Grace, the Creature being wholly passive therein, being dead in sins and trespasses, until being quickned & renewed by the holy Spirit, he is thereby enabled to answer this call, and to embrace the Grace offered and conveyed in it; and that by no less power, then that which raised up Christ from the dead."
},
{
"Section": "3",
"Content": "Elect Infants dying in infancy, are regenerated and saved by Christ through the Spirit; who worketh when, and where, and how he pleaseth: so also are all other elect persons, who are uncapable of being outwardly called by the Ministry of the Word."
},
{
"Section": "4",
"Content": "Others not elected, although they may be called by the Ministry of the word, and may have some common operations of the Spirit, yet not being effectually drawn by the Father, they neither will, nor can truly come to Christ; and therefore cannot be saved: much less can men that receive not the Christian Religion be saved; be they never so diligent to frame their lives according to the light of nature, and the Law of that Religion they do profess."
}
]
},
{
"Chapter": "11",
"Title": "Of Justification",
"Sections": [
{
"Section": "1",
"Content": "Those whom God Effectually calleth, he also freely justifieth, not by infusing Righteousness into them, but by pardoning their sins, and by accounting, and accepting their Persons as Righteous; not for any thing wrought in them, or done by them, but for Christ's sake alone, not by imputing faith it self, the act of beleiving, or any other evangelical obedience to them, as their Righteousness; but by imputing Christs active obedience unto the whole Law, and passive obedience in his death, for their whole and sole Righteousnnss, they receiving, and resting on him, and his Righteousness, by Faith; which faith they have not of themselves, it is the gift of God."
},
{
"Section": "2",
"Content": "Faith thus receiving and resting on Christ, and his Righteousness, is the alone instrument of Justification: yet it is not alone in the person justified, but is ever accompanied with all other saving Graces, and is no dead faith, but worketh by love."
},
{
"Section": "3",
"Content": "Christ by his obedience, and death, did fully discharge the debt of all those that are justified; and did by the sacrifice of himself, in the blood of his cross, undergoing in their stead, the penalty due unto them: make a proper, real and full satisfaction to Gods justice in their behalf: yet in asmuch as he was given by the Father for them, and his Obedience and Satisfaction accepted in their stead, and both freely, not for any thing in them; their Justification is only of Free Grace, that both the exact justice and rich Grace of God, might be glorified in the Justification of sinners."
},
{
"Section": "4",
"Content": "God did from all eternity decreeto justifie all the Elect, and Christ did in the fulness of time die for their sins, and rise again for their Justification; Nevertheless they are not justified personally, untill the Holy Spirit, doth in due time actually apply Christ unto them."
},
{
"Section": "5",
"Content": "God doth continue to Forgive the sins of those that are justified, and although they can never fall from the state of justication; yet they may by their sins fall under Gods Fatherly displeasure; and in that condition, they have not usually the light of his Countenance restored unto them, untill they humble themselves, confess their sins, beg pardon, and renew their faith, and repentance."
},
{
"Section": "6",
"Content": "The Justification of Believers under the Old Testament was in all these respects, one and the same with the justification of Believers under the New Tement."
}
]
},
{
"Chapter": "12",
"Title": "Of Adoption",
"Sections": [
{
"Section": "1",
"Content": "All those that are justified, God vouchsafed, in, and for the sake of his only Son Jesus Christ, to make partakers of the Grace of Adoption; by which they are taken into the number, and enjoy the Liberties, and Priveledges of Children of God; have his name put upon them, receive the Spirit of Adoption, have access to the throne of Grace with boldness, are enabled to cry Abba, Father, are pitied, protected, provided for, and chastned by him, as by a Father; yet never cast off; but sealed to the day of Redemption, and inherit the promises, as heirs, of everlasting Salvation."
}
]
},
{
"Chapter": "13",
"Title": "Of Sanctification",
"Sections": [
{
"Section": "1",
"Content": "They who are united to Christ, Effectually called, and regenerated, having a new heart, and a new Spirit created in them, through the vertue of Christ's death, and Resurrection; are also farther sanctified, really, and personally, through the same vertue, by his word and Spirit dwelling in them; the dominion of the whole body of sin is destroyed, and the several lusts thereof, are more and more weakned, and mortified; and they more and more quickened, and strengthned in all saving graces, to the practice of all true holyness, without which no man shall see the Lord."
},
{
"Section": "2",
"Content": "This Sanctification is throughout, in the whole man, yet imperfect in this life; there abideth still some remnants of corruption in every part, whence ariseth a continual, and irreconcilable war; the Flesh lusting against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the Flesh."
},
{
"Section": "3",
"Content": "In which war, although the remaining corruption for a time may much prevail; yet through the continual supply of strength from the sanctifying Spirit of Christ the regenerate part doth overcome; and so the Saints grow in Grace, perfecting holiness in the fear of God, pressing after an heavenly life, in Evangelical Obedience to all the commands which Christ as Head and King, in his Word hath prescribed to them."
}
]
},
{
"Chapter": "14",
"Title": "Of Saving Faith",
"Sections": [
{
"Section": "1",
"Content": "The Grace of Faith, whereby the Elect are enabled to beleive to the saving of their souls, is the work of the Spirit of Christ in their hearts; and is ordinarily wrought by the Ministry of the Word; by which also, and by the administration of Baptisme, and the Lords Supper, Prayer and other Means appointed of God, it is increased, and strengthned."
},
{
"Section": "2",
"Content": "By this Faith, a Christian believeth to be true, whatsoever is revealed in the Word, for the Authority of God himself; and also apprehendeth an excellency therein, above all other Writings; and all things in the world: as it bears forth the Glory of God in his Attributes, the excellency of Christ in his Nature and Offices; and the Power and Fullness of the Holy Spirit in his Workings, and Operations; and so is enabled to cast his Soul upon the truth thus beleived; and also acteth differently, upon that which each particular, passage thereof containeth; yeilding obedience to the commands, trembling at the threatnings, and embracing the promises of God, for this life, and that which is to come: But the principal acts of Saving Faith, have immediate relation to Christ, accepting, receiving, and resting upon him alone, for Justification, Sanctification, and Eternal Life, by vertue of the Covenant of Grace."
},
{
"Section": "3",
"Content": "This Faith although it be different in degrees, and may be weak, or strong; yet it is in the least degree of it, different in the kind, or nature of it (as is all other saving Grace) from the Faith, and common grace of temporary beleivers; and therefore though it may be many times assailed, and weakned; yet it gets the victory; growing up in many, to the attainment of a full assurance through Christ, who is both the Author and finisher of our Faith."
}
]
},
{
"Chapter": "15",
"Title": "Of Repentance unto Life and Salvation",
"Sections": [
{
"Section": "1",
"Content": "Such of the Elect as are converted at riper years, having sometimes lived in the state of nature, and therein served divers lusts and pleasures, God in their Effectual Calling giveth them Repentance unto Life."
},
{
"Section": "2",
"Content": "Whereas there is none that doth good, and sinneth not; and the best of men may through the power, and deceitfulness of their corruption dwelling in them, with the prevalency of temptation, fall into great sins, and provocations; God hath in the Covenant of Grace, mercifully provided that Beleivers so sinning, and falling, be renewed through Repentance unto Salvation."
},
{
"Section": "3",
"Content": "This saving Repentance is an evangelical Grace, whereby a person being by the Holy Spirit made sensible of the manifold evils of his sin, doth, by Faith in Christ, humble himself for it, with godly sorrow, detestation of it, and self abhorrency; praying for pardon, and strength of grace, with a purpose and endeavour by supplies of the Spirit, to walk before God unto all well pleasing in all things."
},
{
"Section": "4",
"Content": "As Repentance is to be continued through the whole course of our lives, upon the account of the body of death, and the motions thereof; so it is every mans duty, to repent of his particular known sins, particularly."
},
{
"Section": "5",
"Content": "Such is the provision which God hath made through Christ in the Covenant of Grace, for the preservation of Believers unto Salvation, that although there is no sin so small, but it deserves damnation; yet there is no sin so great, that it shall bring damnation on them that repent; which makes the constant preaching of Repentance necessary."
}
]
},
{
"Chapter": "16",
"Title": "Of Good Works",
"Sections": [
{
"Section": "1",
"Content": "Good Works are only such as God hath commanded in his Holy word; and not such as without the warrant thereof, are devised by men, out of blind zeal, or upon any pretence of good intentions."
},
{
"Section": "2",
"Content": "These good works, done in obedience to Gods commandments, are the fruits, and evidences of a true, and lively faith; and by them Believers manifest their thankfullness, strengthen their assurance, edifie their brethren, adorn the profession of the Gospel, stop the mouths of the adversaries and glorifie God whose workmanship they are, created in Christ Jesus thereunto, that having their fruit unto holiness, they may have the end eternal life."
},
{
"Section": "3",
"Content": "Their ability to do good works, is not at all of themselves; but wholly from the Spirit of Christ; and that they may be enabled thereunto, besides the graces they have already received, there is necessary an actual influence of the same Holy Spirit, to work in them to will, and to do, of his good pleasure; yet are they not hereupon to grow negligent, as if they were not bound to perform any duty, unless upon a special motion of the Spirit; but they ought to be diligent in stirring up the Grace of God that is in them."
},
{
"Section": "4",
"Content": "They who in their obedience attain to the greatest height which is possible in this life, are so far from being able to superrogate, and to do more then God requires, as that they fall short of much which in duty they are bound to do."
},
{
"Section": "5",
"Content": "We cannot by our best works merit pardon of Sin or Eternal Life at the hand of God, by reason of the great disproportion that is between them and the glory to come; and the infinite distance that is between us and God, whom by them we can neither profit, nor satisfie for the debt of our former sins; but when we have done all we can, we have done but our duty, and are unprofitable servants; and because as they are good they proceed from his Spirit, and as they are wrought by us they are defiled and mixed with so much weakness and imperfection that they cannot endure the severity of Gods judgement."
},
{
"Section": "6",
"Content": "Yet notwithstanding the persons of Believers being accepted through Christ their good works also are accepted in him; not as though they were in this life wholly unblameable and unreprovable in Gods sight; but that he looking upon them in his Son is pleased to accept and reward that which is sincere although accompanied with many weaknesses and imperfections."
},
{
"Section": "7",
"Content": "Works done by unregenerate men although for the matter of them they may be things which God commands, and of good use, both to themselves and others; yet because they proceed not from a heart purified by faith, nor are done in a right manner according to the word, nor to a right end the glory of God; they are therefore sinful and cannot please God; nor make a man meet to receive grace from God; and yet their neglect of them is more sinful and displeasing to God."
}
]
},
{
"Chapter": "17",
"Title": "Of The Perseverance of the Saints",
"Sections": [
{
"Section": "1",
"Content": "Those whom God hath accepted in the beloved, effectually called and Sanctified by his Spirit, and given the precious faith of his Elect unto, can neither totally nor finally fall from the state of grace; but shall certainly persevere therein to the end and be eternally saved, seeing the gifts and callings of God are without Repentance, (whence he still begets and nourisheth in them Faith, Repentance, Love, Joy, Hope, and all the graces of the Spirit unto immortality) and though many storms and floods arise and beat against them, yet they shall never be able to take them off that foundation and rock which by faith they are fastned upon: notwithstanding through unbelief and the temptations of Satan the sensible sight of the light and love of God, may for a time be clouded, and obscured from them, yet he is still the same and they shall be sure to be kept by the power of God unto Salvation, where they shall enjoy their purchased possession, they being engraven upon the palm of his hands, and their names having been written in the book of life from all Eternity."
},
{
"Section": "2",
"Content": "This perseverance of the Saints depends not upon their own free will; but upon the immutability of the decree of Election flowing from the free and unchangeable love of God the Father; upon the efficacy of the merit and intercession of Jesus Christ and Union with him, the oath of God, the abiding of his Spirit & the seed of God within them, and the nature of the Covenant of Grace from all which ariseth also the certainty and infallibility thereof."
},
{
"Section": "3",
"Content": "And though they may through the temptation of Satan and of the world, the prevalency of corruption remaining in them, and the neglect of means of their preservation fall into grievous sins, and for a time continue therein; whereby they incur Gods displeasure, and grieve his holy Spirit, come to have their graces and comforts impaired have their hearts hardened, and their Consciences wounded, hurt, and scandalize others, and bring temporal judgements upon themselves: yet they shall renew their repentance and be preserved through faith in Christ Jesus to the end."
}
]
},
{
"Chapter": "18",
"Title": "Of the Assurance of Grace and Salvation",
"Sections": [
{
"Section": "1",
"Content": "Although temporary Believers, and other unregenerate men, may vainly deceive themselves with false hopes, and carnal presumptions, of being in the favour of God, and state of salvation, which hope of theirs shall perish; yet such as truely believe in the Lord Jesus, and love him in sincerity, endeavouring to walk in all good Conscience before him, may in this life be certainly assured that they are in the state of Grace; and may rejoyce in the hope of the glory of God which hope shall never make them ashamed."
},
{
"Section": "2",
"Content": "This certainty is not a bare conjectural, and probable perswasion, grounded upon a fallible hope; but an infallible assurance of faith founded on the Blood and Righteousness of Christ revealed in the Gospel; and also upon the inward evidence of those graces of the Spirit unto which promises are made, and on the testimony of the Spirit of adoption, witnessing with our Spirits that we are the children of God; and as a fruit thereof keeping the heart both humble and holy."
},
{
"Section": "3",
"Content": "This infallible assurance doth not so belong to the essence of faith, but that a true Believer, may wait long and conflict with many difficulties before he be partaker of it; yet being enabled by the Spirit to know the things which are freely given him of God, he may without extraordinary revelation in the right use of means attain thereunto: and therefore it is the duty of every one, to give all diligence to make their Calling and Election sure, that thereby his heart may be enlarged in peace and joy in the holy Spirit, in love and thankfulness to God, and in strength and chearfulness in the duties of obedience, the proper fruits of this Assurance; so far is it from inclining men to looseness."
},
{
"Section": "4",
"Content": "True Believers may have the assurance of their Salvation divers ways shaken, diminished, and intermitted; as by negligence in preserving of it, by falling into som special Sin, which woundeth the Conscience, and grieveth the Spirit, by some sudden or vehement temptation, by Gods withdrawing the light of his countenance and suffering even such as fear him to walk in darkness and to have no light; yet are they never destitute of the seed of God, and Life of Faith, that Love of Christ, and the brethren, that sincerity of Heart, and Conscience of duty, out of which by the operation of the Spirit, this Assurance may in due time be revived: and by the which in the mean time they are preserved from utter despair."
}
]
},
{
"Chapter": "19",
"Title": "Of the Law of God",
"Sections": [
{
"Section": "1",
"Content": "God gave to Adam a Law of universal obedience, written in his Heart, and a particular precept of not eating the Fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil; by which he bound him, and all his posterity to personal entire exact and perpetual obedience; promised life upon the fulfilling, and threatned death upon the breach of it; and indued him with power and ability to keep it."
},
{
"Section": "2",
"Content": "The same Law that was first written in the heart of man, continued to be a perfect rule of Righteousness after the fall; & was delivered by God upon Mount Sinai, in Ten Commandments and written in two Tables; the four first containing our duty towards God, and the other six our duty to man."
},
{
"Section": "3",
"Content": "Besides this Law commonly called moral, God was pleased to give to the people of Israel Ceremonial Laws, containing several typical ordinances, partly of worship, prefiguring Christ, his graces, actions, sufferings, and benefits; and partly holding forth divers instructions of moral duties, all which Ceremonial Laws being appointed only to the time of reformation, are by Jesus Christ the true Messiah and only Law-giver who was furnished with power from the Father, for that end, abrogated and taken away."
},
{
"Section": "4",
"Content": "To them also he gave sundry judicial Laws, which expired together with the state of that people, not obliging any now by vertue of that institution; their general equity onely, being of moral use."
},
{
"Section": "5",
"Content": "The moral Law doth for ever bind all, as well justified persons as others, to the obedience thereof, and that not only in regard of the matter contained in it, but also in respect of the authority of God the Creator; who gave it: Neither doth Christ in the Gospel any way dissolve, but much strengthen this obligation."
},
{
"Section": "6",
"Content": "Although true Believers be not under the Law, as a Covenant of Works, to be thereby Justified or condemned; yet it is of great use to them as well as to others: in that, as a Rule of Life, informing them of the Will of God, and their Duty, it directs and binds them, to walk accordingly; discovering also the sinfull pollutions of their Natures, Hearts and Lives; so as Examining themselves thereby, they may come to further Conviction of, Humiliation for, and Hatred against Sin; together with a clearer sight of the need they have of Christ and the perfection of his Obedience: It is likewise of use to the Regenerate to restrain their Corruptions, in that it forbids Sin; and the Threatnings of it serve to shew what even their Sins deserve; and what afflictions in this Life they may expect for them, although free'd from the Curse and unallayed Rigor thereof. The Promises of it likewise shew them Gods approbation of Obedience, and what blessings they may expect upon the performance thereof, though not as due to them by the Law as a Covenant of Works; so as mans doing Good and refraining from Evil, because the Law incourageth to the one and deterreth from the other, is no Evidence of his being under the Law and not under Grace."
},
{
"Section": "7",
"Content": "Neither are the forementioned uses of the Law contrary to the Grace of the Gospel; but do sweetly comply with it; the Spirit of Christ subduing and inabling the Will of man, to do that freely and chearfully, which the will of God revealed in the Law, requireth to be done."
}
]
},
{
"Chapter": "20",
"Title": "Of Christian Liberty and Liberty of Conscience",
"Sections": [
{
"Section": "1",
"Content": "The Covenant of Works being broken by Sin, and made unprofitable unto Life; God was pleased to give forth the promise of Christ, the Seed of the Woman, as the means of calling the Elect, and begetting in them Faith and Repentance; in this Promise, the Gospel, as to the substance of it, was revealed, and therein Effectual, for the Conversion and Salvation of Sinners."
},
{
"Section": "2",
"Content": "This Promise of Christ, and Salvation by him, is revealed only by the Word of God; neither do the Works of Creation, or Providence, with the light of Nature, make discovery of Christ, or of Grace by him; so much as in a general, or obscure way; much less that men destitute of the Revelation of him by the Promise, or Gospel; should be enabled thereby, to attain saving Faith, or Repentance."
},
{
"Section": "3",
"Content": "The Revelation of the Gospel unto Sinners, made in divers times, and by sundry parts; with the addition of Promises, and Precepts for the Obedience required therein, as to the Nations, and Persons, to whom it is granted, is meerly of the Soveraign Will and good Pleasure of God; not being annexed by vertue of any Promise, to the due improvement of mens natural abilities, by vertue of Common light received, without it; which none ever did make, or can so do: And therefore in all Ages the preaching of the Gospel hath been granted unto persons and Nations, as to the extent, or streightning of it, in great variety, according to the Councell of the Will of God."
},
{
"Section": "4",
"Content": "Although the Gospel be the only outward means, of revealing Christ, and saving Grace; and is, as such, abundantly sufficient thereunto; yet that men who are dead in Trespasses, may be born again, Quickned or Regenerated; there is moreover necessary, an effectual, insuperable work of the Holy Spirit, upon the whole Soul, for the producing in them a new spiritual Life; without which no other means will effect their Conversion unto God."
}
]
},
{
"Chapter": "21",
"Title": "Of Christian Liberty and Liberty of Consciencey",
"Sections": [
{
"Section": "1",
"Content": "The Liberty which Christ hath purchased for Believers under the Gospel, consists in their freedom from the guilt of Sin, the condemning wrath of God, the Rigour and Curse of the Law; and in their being delivered from this present evil World, Bondage to Satan, and Dominion of Sin; from the Evil of Afflictions; the Fear, and Sting of Death, the Victory of the Grave, and Everlasting Damnation; as also in their free access to God; and their yielding Obedience unto him not out of a slavish fear, but a Child-like love, and willing mind."
},
{
"Section": "2",
"Content": "God alone is Lord of the Conscience, and hath left it free from the Doctrines and Commandments of men, which are in any thing contrary to his Word, or not contained in it. So that to Believe such Doctrines, or obey such Commands out of Conscience, is to betray true liberty of Conscience; and the requiring of an implicit Faith, and absolute and blind Obedience, is to destroy Liberty of Conscience, and Reason also."
},
{
"Section": "3",
"Content": "They who upon pretence of Christian Liberty do practice any sin, or cherish any sinfull lust; as they do thereby pervert the main design of the Grace of the Gospel, to their own Destruction; so they wholy destroy the end of Christian Liberty, which is, that being delivered out of the hands of all our Enemies we might serve the Lord without fear in Holiness, and Righteousness before him, all the days of our Life."
}
]
},
{
"Chapter": "22",
"Title": "Of Religious Worship and the Sabbath Day",
"Sections": [
{
"Section": "1",
"Content": "The light of Nature shews that there is a God, who hath Lordship, and Soveraigntye over all; is just, good, and doth good unto all; and is therefore to be feared, loved, praised, called upon, trusted in, and served, with all the Heart, and all the Soul, and with all the Might. But the acceptable way of Worshipping the true God, is instituted by himself; and so limited by his own revealed will, that he may not be Worshipped according to the imaginations, and devices of Men, or the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representations, or any other way, not prescribed in the Holy Scriptures."
},
{
"Section": "2",
"Content": "Religious Worship is to be given to God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and to him alone; not to Angels, Saints, or any other Creatures; and since the fall, not without a Mediator, nor in the Mediation of any other but Christ alone."
},
{
"Section": "3",
"Content": "Prayer with thanksgiving, being one special part of natural worship, is by God required of all men. But that it may be accepted, it is to be made in the Name of the Son, by the help of the Spirit, according to his Will; with understanding, reverence, humility, fervency, faith, love, and perseverance; and when with others, in a known tongue."
},
{
"Section": "4",
"Content": "Prayer is to be made for things lawful, and for all sorts of men living, or that shall live hereafter; but not for the dead, nor for those of whom it may be known that they have sinned the sin unto death."
},
{
"Section": "5",
"Content": "The reading of the Scriptures, Preaching, and hearing the word of God, teaching and admonishing one another in Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual songs, singing with grace in our Hearts to the Lord; as also the Administration of Baptism, and the Lords Supper are all parts of Religious worship of God, to be performed in obedience to him, with understanding, faith, reverence, and godly fear; moreover solemn humiliation with fastings; and thanksgiving upon special occasions, ought to be used in an holy and religious manner."
},
{
"Section": "6",
"Content": "Neither Prayer, nor any other part of Religious worship, is now under the Gospel tied unto, or made more acceptable by, any place in which it is performed, or towards which it is directed; but God is to be worshipped every where in Spirit, and in truth; as in private families daily, and in secret each one by himself, so more solemnly in the publick Assemblies, which are not carelessely, nor wilfuly, to be neglected, or forsaken, when God by his word, or providence calleth thereunto."
},
{
"Section": "7",
"Content": "As it is of the Law of nature, that in general a proportion of time by Gods appointment, be set a part for the Worship of God; so by his Word in a positive-moral, and perpetual Commandement, binding all men, in all Ages, he hath particularly appointed one day in seven for a Sabbath to be kept holy unto him, which from the beginning of the World to the Resurrection of Christ, was the last day of the week; and from the resurrection of Christ, was changed into the first day of the week which is called the Lords day; and is to be continued to the end of the World, as the Christian Sabbath; the observation of the last day of the week being abolished."
},
{
"Section": "8",
"Content": "The Sabbath is then kept holy unto the Lord, when men after a due preparing of their hearts, and ordering their common affairs aforehand, do not only observe an holy rest all the day, from their own works, words, and thoughts, about their worldly employment, and recreations, but also are taken up the whole time in the publick and private exercises of his worship, and in the duties of necessity and mercy."
}
]
},
{
"Chapter": "23",
"Title": "Of Lawful Oaths and Vows",
"Sections": [
{
"Section": "1",
"Content": "A lawful Oath is a part of religious worship, wherein the person swearing in Truth, Righteousness, and Judgement, solemnly calleth God to witness what he sweareth; and to judge him according to the Truth or falseness thereof."
},
{
"Section": "2",
"Content": "The Name of God only is that by which men ought to swear; and therein it is to be used, with all Holy Fear and reverence, therefore to swear vainly or rashly by that glorious, and dreadful name; or to swear at all by any other thing, is sinful and to be abhorred; yet as in matter of weight and moment for confirmation of truth, and ending all strife, an Oath is warranted by the Word of God; so a lawful Oath being imposed, by lawful Authority, in such matters, ought to be taken."
},
{
"Section": "3",
"Content": "Whosoever taketh an Oath warranted by the Word of God, ought duely to consider the weightiness of so solemn an act; and therein to avouch nothing, but what he knoweth to be the truth; for that by rash, false, and vain Oaths the Lord is provoked, and for them this Land mournes."
},
{
"Section": "4",
"Content": "An Oath is to be taken in the plain, and common sense of the words; without equivocation, or mental reservation."
},
{
"Section": "5",
"Content": "A Vow which is not to be made to any Creature, but to God alone, is to be made and performed with all Religious care, and faithfulness: But Popish Monastical Vows, of perpetual single life, professed poverty, and regular obedience, are so far from being degrees of higher perfection, that they are superstitious, and sinful snares, in which no Christian may intangle himself."
}
]
},
{
"Chapter": "24",
"Title": "Of the Civil Magistrate",
"Sections": [
{
"Section": "1",
"Content": "God the supream Lord, and King of all the World, hath ordained Civil Magistrates to be under him, over the people for his own glory, and the publick good; and to this end hath armed them with the power of the Sword, for defence and encouragement of them that do good, and for the punishment of evil doers."
},
{
"Section": "2",
"Content": "It is lawful for Christians to Accept, and Execute the Office of a Magistrate when called thereunto; in the management whereof, as they ought especially to maintain Justice, and Peace, according to the wholsome Laws of each Kingdome, and Commonwealth: so for that end they may lawfully now under the New Testament wage war upon just and necessary occasions."
},
{
"Section": "3",
"Content": "Civil Magistrates being set up by God, for the ends aforesaid; subjection in all lawful things commanded by them, ought to be yeilded by us, in the Lord; not only for wrath but for Conscience sake; and we ought to make supplications and prayers for Kings, and all that are in Authority, that under them we may live a quiet and peaceable life, in all godliness and honesty."
}
]
},
{
"Chapter": "25",
"Title": "Of Marriage",
"Sections": [
{
"Section": "1",
"Content": "Marriage is to be between one Man and one Woman; neither is it lawful for any man to have more then one Wife, nor for any Woman to have more then one Husband at the same time."
},
{
"Section": "2",
"Content": "Marriage was ordained for the mutual help of Husband and Wife, for the increase of Man-kind, with a legitimate issue, and for preventing of uncleanness."
},
{
"Section": "3",
"Content": "It is lawful for all sorts of people to Marry, who are able with judgment to give their consent; yet it is the duty of Christians to marry in the Lord, and therefore such as profess the true Religion, should not Marry with Infidels, or Idolaters; neither should such as are godly be unequally yoked, by marrying with such as are wicked, in their life, or maintain damnable Heresie."
},
{
"Section": "4",
"Content": "Marriage ought not to be within the degrees of consanguinity, or Affinity forbidden in the word; nor can such incestuous Marriage ever be made lawful, by any law of Man or consent of parties, so as those persons may live together as Man and Wife."
}
]
},
{
"Chapter": "26",
"Title": "Of the Church",
"Sections": [
{
"Section": "1",
"Content": "The Catholick or universal Church, which (with respect to the internal work of the Spirit, and truth of grace) may be called invisible, consists of the whole number of the Elect, that have been, are, or shall be gathered into one, under Christ the head thereof; and is the spouse, the body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all."
},
{
"Section": "2",
"Content": "All persons throughout the world, professing the faith of the Gospel, and obedience unto God by Christ, according unto it; not destroying their own profession by any Errors everting the foundation, or unholyness of conversation, are and may be called visible Saints; and of such ought all particular Congregations to be constituted."
},
{
"Section": "3",
"Content": "The purest Churches under heaven are subject to mixture, and error; and som have so degenerated as to become no Churches of Christ, but Synagogues of Satan; nevertheless Christ always hath had, and ever shall have a Kingdome in this world, to the end thereof, of such as believe in him, and make profession of his Name."
},
{
"Section": "4",
"Content": "The Lord Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church, in whom by the appointment of the Father, all power for the calling, institution, order, or Government of the Church, is invested in a supream & soveraigne manner, neither can the Pope of Rome in any sense be head thereof, but is that Antichrist, that Man of sin, and Son of perdition, that exalteth himself in the Church against Christ, and all that is called God; whom the Lord shall destroy with the brightness of his coming."
},
{
"Section": "5",
"Content": "In the execution of this power wherewith he is so intrusted, the Lord Jesus calleth out of the World unto himself, through the Ministry of his word, by his Spirit, those that are given unto him by his Father; that they may walk before him in all the ways of obedience, which he prescribeth to them in his Word. Those thus called he commandeth to walk together in particular societies, or Churches, for their mutual edification; and the due performance of that publick worship, which he requireth of them in the World."
},
{
"Section": "6",
"Content": "The Members of these Churches are Saints by calling, visibly manifesting and evidencing (in and by their profession and walking) their obedience unto that call of Christ; and do willingly consent to walk together according to the appointment of Christ, giving up themselves, to the Lord & one to another by the will of God, in professed subjection to the Ordinances of the Gospel."
},
{
"Section": "7",
"Content": "To each of these Churches thus gathered, according to his mind, declared in his word, he hath given all that power and authority, which is any way needfull, for their carrying on that order in worship, and discipline, which he hath instituted for them to observe; with commands, and rules, for the due and right exerting, and executing of that power."
},
{
"Section": "8",
"Content": "A particular Church gathered, and compleatly Organized, according to the mind of Christ, consists of Officers, and Members; And the Officers appointed by Christ to be chosen and set apart by the Church (so called and gathered) for the peculiar Administration of Ordinances, and Execution of Power, or Duty, which he intrusts them with, or calls them to, to be continued to the end of the World are Bishops or Elders and Deacons."
},
{
"Section": "9",
"Content": "The way appointed by Christ for the Calling of any person, fitted, and gifted by the Holy Spirit, unto the Office of Bishop, or Elder, in a Church, is, that he be chosen thereunto by the common suffrage of the Church it self; and Solemnly set apart by Fasting and Prayer, with imposition of hands of the Eldership of the Church, if there be any before Constituted therein; And of a Deacon that he be chosen by the like suffrage, and set apart by Prayer, and the like Imposition of hands."
},
{
"Section": "10",
"Content": "The work of Pastors being constantly to attend the Service of Christ, in his Churches, in the Ministry of the Word, and Prayer, with watching for their Souls, as they that must give an account to him; it is incumbent on the Churches to whom they Minister, not only to give them all due respect, but also to communicate to them of all their good things according to their ability, so as they may have a comfortable supply, without being themselves entangled in Secular Affairs; and may also be capable of exercising Hospitality toward others; and this is required by the Law of Nature, and by the Express order of our Lord Jesus, who hath ordained that they that preach the Gospel, should live of the Gospel."
},
{
"Section": "11",
"Content": "Although it be incumbent on the Bishops or Pastors of the Churches to be instant in Preaching the Word, by way of Office; yet the work of Preaching the Word, is not so peculiarly confined to them; but that others also gifted, and fitted by the Holy Spirit for it, and approved, and called by the Church, may and ought to perform it."
},
{
"Section": "12",
"Content": "As all Believers are bound to joyn themselves to particular Churches, when and where they have opportunity so to do; So all that are admitted unto the priviledges of a Church, are also under the Censures and Government thereof, according to the Rule of Christ."
},
{
"Section": "13",
"Content": "No Church-members upon any offence taken by them, having performed their Duty required of them towards the person they are offended at, ought to disturb any Church order, or absent themselves from the Assemblies of the Church, or Administration of any Ordinances, upon the account of such offence at any of their fellow-members; but to wait upon Christ, in the further proceeding of the Church."
},
{
"Section": "14",
"Content": "As each Church, and all the Members of it are bound to pray continually, for the good and prosperity of all the Churches of Christ, in all places; and upon all occasions to further it (every one within the bounds of their places, and callings, in the Exercise of their Gifts and Graces) so the Churches (when planted by the providence of God so as they may injoy opportunity and advantage for it) ought to hold communion amongst themselves for their peace, increase of love, and mutual edification."
},
{
"Section": "15",
"Content": "In cases of difficulties or differences, either in point of Doctrine, or Administration; wherein either the Churches in general are concerned, or any one Church in their peace, union, and edification; or any member, or members, of any Church are injured, in or by any proceedings in censures not agreeable to truth, and order: it is according to the mind of Christ, that many Churches holding communion together, do by their messengers meet to consider, and give their advice, in or about that matter in difference, to be reported to all the Churches concerned; howbeit these messengers assembled are not entrusted with any Church-power properly so called; or with any jurisdiction over the Churches themselves, to exercise any censures either over any Churches, or Persons: or to impose their determination on the Churches, or Officers."
}
]
},
{
"Chapter": "27",
"Title": "Of the Communion of the Saints",
"Sections": [
{
"Section": "1",
"Content": "All Saints that are united to Jesus Christ their Head, by his Spirit, and Faith; although they are not made thereby one person with him, have fellowship in his Graces, sufferings, death, resurrection, and glory; and being united to one another in love, they have communion in each others gifts, and graces; and are obliged to the performance of such duties, publick and private, in an orderly way, as do conduce to their mutual good, both in the inward and outward man."
},
{
"Section": "2",
"Content": "Saints by profession are bound to maintain an holy fellowship and communion in the worship of God, and in performing such other spiritual services, as tend to their mutual edification; as also in relieving each other in outward things according to their several abilities, and necessities; which communion according to the rule of the Gospel, though especially to be exercised by them, in the relations wherein they stand, whether in families, or Churches; yet as God offereth opportunity is to be extended to all the houshold of faith, even all those who in every place call upon the name of the Lord Jesus; nevertheless their communion one with another as Saints, doth not take away or infringe, the title or propriety, which each man hath in his goods and possessions."
}
]
},
{
"Chapter": "28",
"Title": "Of Baptism and the Lord's Supper",
"Sections": [
{
"Section": "1",
"Content": "Baptism and the Lords Supper are ordinances of positive, and soveraign institution; appointed by the Lord Jesus the only Law-giver, to be continued in his Church to the end of the world."
},
{
"Section": "2",
"Content": "These holy appointments are to be administred by those only, who are qualified and thereunto called according to the commission of Christ."
}
]
},
{
"Chapter": "29",
"Title": "Of Baptism",
"Sections": [
{
"Section": "1",
"Content": "Baptism is an Ordinance of the New Testament, ordained by Jesus Christ, to be unto the party Baptized, a sign of his fellowship with him, in his death, and resurrection; of his being engrafted into him; of remission of sins; and of his giving up unto God through Jesus Christ to live and walk in newness of Life."
},
{
"Section": "2",
"Content": "Those who do actually professe repentance towards God, faith in, and obedience, to our Lord Jesus, are the only proper subjects of this ordinance."
},
{
"Section": "3",
"Content": "The outward element to be used in this ordinance is water, wherein the party is to be baptized, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."
},
{
"Section": "4",
"Content": "Immersion, or dipping of the person in water, is necessary to the due administration of this ordinance."
}
]
},
{
"Chapter": "30",
"Title": "Of the Lord's Supper",
"Sections": [
{
"Section": "1",
"Content": "The Supper of the Lord Jesus, was instituted by him, the same night wherein he was betrayed, to be observed in his Churches unto the end of the world, for the perpetual remembrance, and shewing forth the sacrifice of himself in his death confirmation of the faith of believers in all the benefits thereof, their spiritual nourishment, and growth in him, their further ingagement in, and to, all duties which they owe unto him; and to be a bond and pledge of their communion with him, and with each other."
},
{
"Section": "2",
"Content": "In this ordinance Christ is not offered up to his Father, nor any real sacrifice made at all, for remission of sin of the quick or dead; but only a memorial of that one offering up of himself, by himself, upon the crosse, once for all; and a spiritual oblation of all possible praise unto God for the same; so that the Popish sacrifice of the Mass (as they call it) is most abominable, injurious to Christs own only sacrifice, the alone propitiation for all the sins of the Elect."
},
{
"Section": "3",
"Content": "The Lord Jesus hath in this Ordinance, appointed his Ministers to Pray, and bless the Elements of Bread and Wine, and thereby to set them apart from a common to an holy use, and to take and break the Bread; to take the Cup, and (they communicating also themselves) to give both to the Communicants."
},
{
"Section": "4",
"Content": "The denyal of the Cup to the people, worshiping the Elements, the lifting them up, or carrying them about for adoration, and reserving them for any pretended religious use, are all contrary to the nature of this Ordinance, and to the institution of Christ."
},
{
"Section": "5",
"Content": "The outward Elements in this Ordinance, duely set apart to the uses ordained by Christ, have such relation to him crucified, as that truely, although in terms used figuratively, they are sometimes called by the name of the things they represent, to wit the body and Blood of Christ; albeit in substance, and nature, they still remain truly, and only Bread, and Wine, as they were before."
},
{
"Section": "6",
"Content": "That doctrine which maintains a change of the substance of Bread and Wine, into the substance of Christs body and blood (commonly called Transubstantiation) by consecration of a Priest, or by any other way, is repugnant not to Scripture alone, but even to common sense and reason; overthroweth the nature of the ordinance, and hath been and is the cause of manifold superstitions, yea, of gross Idolatries."
},
{
"Section": "7",
"Content": "Worthy receivers, outwardly partaking of the visible Elements in this Ordinance, do then also inwardly by faith, really and indeed, yet not carnally, and corporally, but spiritually receive, and feed upon Christ crucified & all the benefits of his death: the Body and Blood of Christ, being then not corporally, or carnally, but spiritually present to the faith of Believers, in that Ordinance, as the Elements themselves are to their outward senses."
},
{
"Section": "8",
"Content": "All ignorant and ungodly persons, as they are unfit to enjoy communion with Christ; so are they unworthy of the Lords Table; and cannot without great sin against him, while they remain such, partake of these holy mysteries, or be admitted thereunto: yea whosoever shall receive unworthily are guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord, eating and drinking judgement to themselves."
}
]
},
{
"Chapter": "31",
"Title": "Of the State of Man after Death and of the Resurrection of the Dead",
"Sections": [
{
"Section": "1",
"Content": "The Bodies of Men after Death return to dust, and see corruption; but their Souls (which neither die nor sleep) having an immortal subsistence, immediately return to God who gave them: the Souls of the Righteous being then made perfect in holyness, are received into paradise where they are with Christ, and behold the face of God, in light and glory; waiting for the full Redemption of their Bodies; and the souls of the wicked, are cast into hell; where they remain in torment and utter darkness, reserved to the judgement of the great day; besides these two places for Souls separated from their bodies, the Scripture acknowledgeth none."
},
{
"Section": "2",
"Content": "At the last day such of the Saints as are found alive shall not sleep but be changed; and all the dead shall be raised up with the self same bodies, and none other; although with different qualities, which shall be united again to their Souls for ever."
},
{
"Section": "3",
"Content": "The bodies of the unjust shall by the power of Christ, be raised to dishonour; the bodies of the just by his spirit unto honour, and be made conformable to his own glorious Body."
}
]
},
{
"Chapter": "32",
"Title": "Of the Last Judgment",
"Sections": [
{
"Section": "1",
"Content": "God hath appointed a Day wherein he will judge the world in Righteousness, by Jesus Christ; to whom all power and judgement is given of the Father; in which Day not only the Apostate Angels shall be judged; but likewise all persons that have lived upon the Earth, shall appear before the Tribunal of Christ; to give an account of their Thoughts, Words, and Deeds, and to receive according to what they have done in the body, whether good or evil."
},
{
"Section": "2",
"Content": "The end of Gods appointing this Day, is for the manifestation of the glory of his Mercy, in the Eternal Salvation of the Elect; and of his Justice in the Eternal damnation of the Reprobate, who are wicked and disobedient; for then shall the Righteous go into Everlasting Life, and receive that fulness of Joy, and Glory, with everlasting reward, in the presence of the Lord: but the wicked who know not God, and obey not the Gospel of Jesus Christ, shall be cast into Eternal torments, and punished with everlasting destruction, from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power."
},
{
"Section": "3",
"Content": "As Christ would have us to be certainly perswaded that there shall be a Day of judgement, both to deter all men from sin, and for the greater consolation of the godly, in their adversity; so will he have that day unknown to Men, that they may shake off all carnal security, and be always watchful, because they know not at what hour, the Lord will come; and may ever be prepared to say, Come Lord Jesus, Come quickly, Amen."
}
]
}
]
}
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{
"Metadata": {
"Title": "Nicene Creed",
"AlternativeTitles": [
"Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed"
],
"Year": "381",
"Authors": [
"First Council of Constantsnople",
"First Council of Nicaea"
],
"Location": "Constantinople",
"OriginalLanguage": "Greek",
"OriginStory": "",
"SourceUrl": "http://www.onthewing.org/user/Creed_Nicene.pdf",
"SourceAttribution": "Public Domain",
"CreedFormat": "Creed"
},
"Data": {
"Content": "We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.\n\nAnd in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.\n\nWho, for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.\n\nAnd we believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets.\n\nAnd we believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and we look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen."
}
}
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{
"Data": [
{
"Chapter": "1",
"Sections": [
{
"Content": "Although the light of nature, and the works of creation and providence, do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave men inexcusable; yet are they not sufficient to give that knowledge of God, and of his will, which is necessary unto salvation; therefore it pleased the Lord, at sundry times, and in divers manners, to reveal himself, and to declare that his will unto his Church; and afterwards, for the better preserving and propagating of the truth, and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the Church against the corruption of the flesh, and the malice of Satan and of the world, to commit the same wholly unto writing; which maketh the holy Scripture to be most necessary; those former ways of God's revealing his will unto his people being now ceased.",
"Section": "1"
},
{
"Content": "Under the name of holy Scripture, or the Word of God written, are now contained all the books of the Old and New Testaments, which are these: Of the Old Testament: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, The Song of Songs, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi; Of the New Testament: The Gospels according to Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. The Acts of the Apostles, Paul's Epistles to the Romans, 1 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, The Epistle to the Hebrews, The Epistle of James, The First and Second Epistles of Peter, The First, Second, and Third Epistles of John, The Epistle of Jude, The Revelation. All which are given by inspiration of God, to be the rule of faith and life.",
"Section": "2"
},
{
"Content": "The books commonly called Apocrypha, not being of divine inspiration, are no part of the Canon of the Scripture; and therefore are of no authority in the Church of God, nor to be any otherwise approved, or made use of, than other human writings.",
"Section": "3"
},
{
"Content": "The authority of the holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed and obeyed, dependeth not upon the testimony of any man or church, but wholly upon God (who is truth itself), the Author thereof; and therefore it is to be received, because it is the Word of God.",
"Section": "4"
},
{
"Content": "We may be moved and induced by the testimony of the Church to an high and reverent esteem of the holy Scripture; and the heavenliness of the matter, the efficacy of the doctrine, the majesty of the style, the consent of all the parts, the scope of the whole (which is to give all glory to God), the full discovery it makes of the only way of man's salvation, the many other incomparable excellencies, and the entire perfection thereof, are arguments whereby it doth abundantly evidence itself to be the Word of God; yet, notwithstanding, our full persuasion and assurance of the infallible truth, and divine authority thereof, is from the inward work of the Holy Spirit, bearing witness by and with the Word in our hearts.",
"Section": "5"
},
{
"Content": "The whole counsel of God, concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man's salvation, faith, and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture: unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit, or traditions of men. Nevertheless we acknowledge the inward illumination of the Spirit of God to be necessary for the saving understanding of such things as are revealed in the Word; and that there are some circumstances concerning the worship of God, and government of the Church, common to human actions and societies, which are to be ordered by the light of nature and Christian prudence, according to the general rules of the Word, which are always to be observed.",
"Section": "6"
},
{
"Content": "All things in Scripture are not alike plain in themselves, nor alike clear unto all; yet those things which are necessary to be known, believed, and observed, for salvation, are so clearly propounded and opened in some place of Scripture or other, that not only the learned, but the unlearned, in a due use of the ordinary means, may attain unto a sufficient understanding of them.",
"Section": "7"
},
{
"Content": "The Old Testament in Hebrew (which was the native language of the people of God of old), and the New Testament in Greek (which at the time of the writing of it was most generally known to the nations), being immediately inspired by God, and by his singular care and providence kept pure in all ages, are therefore authentical; so as in all controversies of religion the Church is finally to appeal unto them. But because these original tongues are not known to all the people of God who have right unto, and interest in the Scriptures, and are commanded, in the fear of God, to read and search them, therefore they are to be translated into the vulgar language of every nation unto which they come, that the Word of God dwelling plentifully in all, they may worship him in an acceptable manner, and, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, may have hope.",
"Section": "8"
},
{
"Content": "The infallible rule of interpretation of Scripture is the Scripture itself; and therefore, when there is a question about the true and full sense of any scripture (which is not manifold, but one), it must be searched and known by other places that speak more clearly.",
"Section": "9"
},
{
"Content": "The Supreme Judge, by which all controversies of religion are to be determined, and all decrees of councils, opinions of ancient writers, doctrines of men, and private spirits, are to be examined, and in whose sentence we are to rest, can be no other but the holy Scripture delivered by the Spirit; into which Scripture so delivered, our faith is finally resolved.",
"Section": "10"
}
],
"Title": "Of the Holy Scripture"
},
{
"Chapter": "2",
"Sections": [
{
"Content": "There is but one only living and true God, who is infinite in being and perfection, a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions, immutable, immense, eternal, incomprehensible, almighty, most wise, most holy, most free, most absolute, working all things according to the counsel of his own immutable and most righteous will, for his own glory; most loving, gracious, merciful, long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin; the rewarder of them that diligently seek him; and withal most just and terrible in his judgments; hating all sin, and who will by no means clear the guilty.",
"Section": "1"
},
{
"Content": "God hath all life, glory, goodness, blessedness, in and of himself; and is alone in and unto himself all-sufficient, not standing in need of any creatures which he hath made, nor deriving any glory from them, but only manifesting his own glory in, by, unto, and upon them: he is the alone fountain of all being, of whom, through whom, and to whom are all things; and hath most sovereign dominion over them, to do by them, for them, or upon them whatsoever himself pleaseth. In his sight all things are open and manifest; his knowledge is infinite, infallible, and independent upon the creature; so as nothing is to him contingent or uncertain. He is most holy in all his counsels, in all his works, and in all his commands. To him is due from angels and men, and every other creature, whatsoever worship, service, or obedience, as creatures, they owe unto the Creator, and whatever he is further pleased to require of them.",
"Section": "2"
},
{
"Content": "In the unity of the Godhead there be three persons, of one substance, power, and eternity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. The Father is of none, neither begotten nor proceeding; the Son is eternally begotten of the Father; the Holy Ghost eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son. Which doctrine of the Trinity is the foundation of all our communion with God, and comfortable dependence upon him.",
"Section": "3"
}
],
"Title": "Of God, and of the Holy Trinity"
},
{
"Chapter": "3",
"Sections": [
{
"Content": "God from all eternity did, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass; yet so as thereby neither is God the author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures, nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established.",
"Section": "1"
},
{
"Content": "Although God knows whatsoever may or can come to pass upon all supposed conditions, yet hath he not decreed anything because he foresaw it as future, or as that which would come to pass upon such conditions.",
"Section": "2"
},
{
"Content": "By the decree of God, for the manifestation of his glory, some men and angels are predestinated unto everlasting life, and others fore-ordained to everlasting death.",
"Section": "3"
},
{
"Content": "These angels and men, thus predestinated and fore-ordained, are particularly and unchangeably designed; and their number is so certain and definite that it can not be either increased or diminished.",
"Section": "4"
},
{
"Content": "Those of mankind that are predestinated unto life, God, before the foundation of the world was laid, according to his eternal and immutable purpose, and the secret counsel and good pleasure of his will, hath chosen in Christ, unto everlasting glory, out of his mere free grace and love, without any foresight of faith or good works, or perseverance in either of them, or any other thing in the creature, as conditions, or causes moving him thereunto; and all to the praise of his glorious grace.",
"Section": "5"
},
{
"Content": "As God hath appointed the elect unto glory, so hath he, by the eternal and most free purpose of his will, fore-ordained all the means thereunto. Wherefore they who are elected, being fallen in Adam, are redeemed by Christ, are effectually called unto faith in Christ by his Spirit working in due season; are justified, adopted, sanctified, and kept by his power through faith unto salvation. Neither are any other redeemed by Christ, effectually called, justified, adopted, sanctified, and saved, but the elect only.",
"Section": "6"
},
{
"Content": "The rest of mankind God was pleased, according to the unsearchable counsel of his own will, whereby he extendeth or withholdeth mercy as he pleaseth, for the glory of his sovereign power over his creatures, to pass by, and to ordain them to dishonor and wrath for their sin, to the praise of his glorious justice.",
"Section": "7"
},
{
"Content": "The doctrine of this high mystery of predestination is to be handled with special prudence and care, that men attending the will of God revealed in his Word, and yielding obedience thereunto, may, from the certainty of their effectual vocation, be assured of their eternal election. So shall this doctrine afford matter of praise, reverence, and admiration of God; and of humility, diligence, and abundant consolation to all that sincerely obey the gospel.",
"Section": "8"
}
],
"Title": "Of God's Eternal Decree"
},
{
"Chapter": "4",
"Sections": [
{
"Content": "It pleased God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, for the manifestation of the glory of his eternal power, wisdom, and goodness, in the beginning, to create or make out of nothing the world, and all things therein, whether visible or invisible, in the space of six days, and all very good.",
"Section": "1"
},
{
"Content": "After God had made all other creatures, he created man, male and female, with reasonable and immortal souls, endued with knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness, after his own image, having the law of God written in their hearts, and power to fulfil it; and yet under a possibility of transgressing, being left to the liberty of their own will, which was subject unto change. Beside this law written in their hearts, they received a command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; which while they kept they were happy in their communion with God, and had dominion over the creatures.",
"Section": "2"
}
],
"Title": "Of Creation"
},
{
"Chapter": "5",
"Sections": [
{
"Content": "God, the great Creator of all things, doth uphold, direct, dispose, and govern all creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest even to the least, by his most wise and holy providence, according to his infallible fore-knowledge and the free and immutable counsel of his own will, to the praise of the glory of his wisdom, power, justice, goodness, and mercy.",
"Section": "1"
},
{
"Content": "Although in relation to the foreknowledge and decree of God, the first cause, all things come to pass immutably and infallibly, yet by the same providence he ordereth them to fall out, according to the nature of second causes, either necessarily, freely, or contingently.",
"Section": "2"
},
{
"Content": "God, in his ordinary providence, maketh use of means, yet is free to work without, above, and against them, at his pleasure.",
"Section": "3"
},
{
"Content": "The almighty power, unsearchable wisdom, and infinite goodness of God so far manifest themselves in his providence, in that his determinate counsel extendeth itself even to the first fall, and all other sins of angels and men, and that not by a bare permission, which also he most wisely and powerfully boundeth, and otherwise ordereth and governeth in a manifold dispensation, to his own holy ends; yet so as the sinfulness thereof proceedeth only from the creature, and not from God; who, being most holy and righteous, neither is nor can be the author or approver of sin.",
"Section": "4"
},
{
"Content": "The most wise, righteous, and gracious God doth oftentimes leave for a season his own children to manifold temptations and the corruption of their own hearts, to chastise them for their former sins, or to discover unto them the hidden strength of corruption and deceitfulness of their hearts, that they be humbled; and to raise them to a more close and constant dependence for their support unto himself, and to make them more watchful against all future occasions of sin, and for sundry other just and holy ends.",
"Section": "5"
},
{
"Content": "As for those wicked and ungodly men whom God, as a righteous judge, for former sins, doth blind and harden, from them he not only withholdeth his grace, whereby they might have been enlightened in their understandings and wrought upon in their hearts, but sometimes also withdraweth the gifts which they had, and exposeth them to such objects as their corruption makes occasion of sin; and withal, gives them over to their own lusts, the temptations of the world, and the power of Satan; whereby it comes to pass that they harden themselves, even under those means which God useth for the softening of others.",
"Section": "6"
},
{
"Content": "As the providence of God doth, in general, reach to all creatures, so, after a most special manner, it taketh care of his Church, and disposeth all things to the good thereof.",
"Section": "7"
}
],
"Title": "Of Providence"
},
{
"Chapter": "6",
"Sections": [
{
"Content": "God having made a covenant of works and life, thereupon, with our first parents and all their posterity in them, they being seduced by the subtlety and temptation of Satan did wilfully transgress the law of their creation, and break the covenant in eating the forbidden fruit.",
"Section": "1"
},
{
"Content": "By this sin they, and we in them, fell from their original righteousness and communion with God, and so became dead in sin, and wholly defiled in all the faculties and parts of soul and body.",
"Section": "2"
},
{
"Content": "They being the root, and by God's appointment standing in the room and stead of all mankind, the guilt of this sin was imputed, and the same death in sin and corrupted nature conveyed to all their posterity descending from them by ordinary generation.",
"Section": "3"
},
{
"Content": "From this original corruption, whereby we are utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite to all good, and wholly inclined to all evil, do proceed all actual transgressions.",
"Section": "4"
},
{
"Content": "This corruption of nature, during this life, doth remain in those that are regenerated; and although it be through Christ pardoned and mortified, yet both itself and all the motions thereof are truly and properly sin.",
"Section": "5"
},
{
"Content": "Every sin, both original and actual, being a transgression of the righteous law of God, and contrary thereunto, doth, in its own nature, bring guilt upon the sinner, whereby he is bound over to the wrath of God and curse of the law, and so made subject to death, with all miseries spiritual, temporal, and eternal.",
"Section": "6"
}
],
"Title": "Of the Fall of Man, of Sin, and of the Punishment Thereof"
},
{
"Chapter": "7",
"Sections": [
{
"Content": "The distance between God and the creature is so great that although reasonable creatures do owe obedience unto him as their Creator, yet they could never have attained the reward of life but by some voluntary condescension on God's part, which he hath been pleased to express by way of covenant.",
"Section": "1"
},
{
"Content": "The first covenant made with man was a covenant of works, wherein life was promised to Adam, and in him to his posterity, upon condition of perfect and personal obedience.",
"Section": "2"
},
{
"Content": "Man by his fall having made himself incapable of life by that covenant, the Lord was pleased to make a second, commonly called the covenant of grace: wherein he freely offered unto sinners life and salvation by Jesus Christ, requiring of them faith in him that they may be saved, and promising to give unto all those that are ordained unto life his Holy Spirit, to make them willing and able to believe.",
"Section": "3"
},
{
"Content": "This covenant of grace is frequently set forth in the Scripture by the name of a testament, in reference to the death of Jesus Christ the testator, and to the everlasting inheritance, with all things belonging to it, therein bequeathed.",
"Section": "4"
},
{
"Content": "Although this covenant hath been differently and variously administered in respect of ordinances and institutions in the time of the law, and since the coming of Christ in the flesh; yet for the substance and efficacy of it, to all its spiritual and saving ends, it is one and the same; upon the account of which various dispensations, it is called the Old and New Testament.",
"Section": "5"
}
],
"Title": "Of God's Covenant with Man"
},
{
"Chapter": "8",
"Sections": [
{
"Content": "It pleased God, in his eternal purpose, to choose and ordain the Lord Jesus, his only-begotten Son, according to a covenant made between them both, to be the Mediator between God and man, the Prophet, Priest, and King; the Head and Saviour of his Church, the Heir of all things, and Judge of the world; unto whom he did, from all eternity, give a people to be his seed, and to be by him in time redeemed, called, justified, sanctified, and glorified.",
"Section": "1"
},
{
"Content": "The Son of God, the second person in the Trinity, being very and eternal God, of one substance, and equal with the Father, did, when the fulness of time was come, take upon him man's nature, with all the essential properties and common infirmities thereof, yet without sin: being conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost in the womb of the Virgin Mary, of her substance. So that two whole, perfect, and distinct natures, the Godhead and the manhood, were inseparably joined together in one person, without conversion, composition, or confusion. Which person is very God and very man, yet one Christ, the only mediator between God and man.",
"Section": "2"
},
{
"Content": "The Lord Jesus, in his human nature thus united to the divine in the Person of the Son, was sanctified and anointed with the Holy Spirit above measure; having in him all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, in whom it pleased the Father that all fulness should dwell; to the end that, being holy, harmless, undefiled, and full of grace and truth, he might be thoroughly furnished to execute the office of a mediator and surety. Which office he took not unto himself, but was thereunto called by his Father, who put all power and judgment into his hand, and gave him commandment to execute the same.",
"Section": "3"
},
{
"Content": "This office the Lord Jesus did most willingly undertake, which, that he might discharge, he was made under the law, and did perfectly fulfill it; and underwent the punishment due to us, which we should have borne and suffered, being made sin and a curse for us enduring most grievous torments immediately from God in his soul, and most painful sufferings in his body; was crucified, and died; was buried, and remained under the power of death, yet saw no corruption. On the third day he arose from the dead, with the same body in which he suffered; with which also he ascended into heaven, and there sitteth at the right hand of his Father, making intercession; and shall return to judge men and angels at the end of the world.",
"Section": "4"
},
{
"Content": "The Lord Jesus, by his perfect obedience and sacrifice of himself, which he through the eternal Spirit once offered up unto God, hath fully satisfied the justice of God, and purchased not only reconciliation, but an everlasting inheritance in the kingdom of heaven, for all those whom the Father hath given unto him.",
"Section": "5"
},
{
"Content": "Although the work of redemption was not actually wrought by Christ till after his incarnation, yet the virtue, efficacy, and benefits thereof were communicated to the elect, in all ages successively from the beginning of the world, in and by those promises, types, and sacrifices, wherein he was revealed, and signified to be the seed of the woman which should bruise the serpent's head, and the Lamb slain from the beginning of the world, being yesterday and today the same, and forever.",
"Section": "6"
},
{
"Content": "Christ, in the work of mediation, acteth according to both natures; by each nature doing that which is proper to itself; yet, by reason of the unity of the person, that which is proper to one nature is sometimes, in Scripture, attributed to the person denominated by the other nature.",
"Section": "7"
},
{
"Content": "To all those for whom Christ hath purchased redemption he doth certainly and effectually apply and communicate the same; making intercession for them, and revealing unto them, in and by the Word, the mysteries of salvation; effectually persuading them by his Spirit to believe and obey; and governing their hearts by his Word and Spirit; overcoming all their enemies by his almighty power and wisdom, in such manner and ways as are most consonant to his most wonderful and unsearchable dispensation.",
"Section": "8"
}
],
"Title": "Of Christ the Mediator"
},
{
"Chapter": "9",
"Sections": [
{
"Content": "God hath endued the will of man with that natural liberty and power of acting upon choice, that is neither forced nor by any absolute necessity of nature determined to good or evil.",
"Section": "1"
},
{
"Content": "Man, in his state of innocency, had freedom and power to will and to do that which is good and well-pleasing to God, but yet mutably, so that he might fall from it.",
"Section": "2"
},
{
"Content": "Man, by his fall into a state of sin, hath wholly lost all ability of will to any spiritual good accompanying salvation; so as a natural man, being altogether averse from that good, and dead in sin, is not able, by his own strength, to convert himself, or to prepare himself thereunto.",
"Section": "3"
},
{
"Content": "When God converts a sinner, and translates him into the state of grace, he freeth him from his natural bondage under sin, and by his grace alone enables him freely to will and to do that which is spiritually good; yet so as that, by reason of his remaining corruption, he doth not perfectly, nor only, will that which is good, but doth also will that which is evil.",
"Section": "4"
},
{
"Content": "The will of man is made perfectly and immutably free to good alone, in the state of glory only.",
"Section": "5"
}
],
"Title": "Of Free Will"
},
{
"Chapter": "10",
"Sections": [
{
"Content": "All those whom God hath predestinated unto life, and those only, he is pleased, in his appointed and accepted time, effectually to call, by his Word and Spirit, out of that state of sin and death, in which they are by nature, to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ; enlightening their minds, spiritually and savingly, to understand the things of God; taking away their heart of stone, and giving unto them an heart of flesh; renewing their wills, and by his almighty power determining them to that which is good, and effectually drawing them to Jesus Christ; yet so as they come most freely, being made willing by his grace.",
"Section": "1"
},
{
"Content": "This effectual call is of God's free and special grace alone, not from anything at all foreseen in man; who is altogether passive therein, until, being quickened and renewed by the Holy Spirit, he is thereby enabled to answer this call, and to embrace the grace offered and conveyed in it.",
"Section": "2"
},
{
"Content": "Elect infants, dying in infancy, are regenerated and saved by Christ through the Spirit, who worketh when, and where, and how he pleaseth. So also are all other elect persons who are incapable of being outwardly called by the ministry of the Word.",
"Section": "3"
},
{
"Content": "Others, not elected, although they may be called by the ministry of the Word, and may have some common operations of the Spirit, yet not being effectually drawn by the Father, they neither do nor can come unto Christ, and therefore cannot be saved: much less can men, not professing the Christian religion, be saved in any other way whatsoever, be they never so diligent to frame their lives according to the light of nature and the law of that religion they do profess; and to assert and maintain that they may is very pernicious, and to be detested.",
"Section": "4"
}
],
"Title": "Of Effectual Calling"
},
{
"Chapter": "11",
"Sections": [
{
"Content": "Those whom God effectually calleth he also freely justifieth; not by infusing righteousness into them, but by pardoning their sins, and by accounting and accepting their persons as righteous: not for anything wrought in them, or done by them, but for Christ's sake alone; nor by imputing faith itself, the act of believing, or any other evangelical obedience to them, as their righteousness; but by imputing Christ's active obedience to the whole law, and passive obedience in his death for their whole and sole righteousness, they receiving and resting on him and his righteousness by faith; which faith they have not of themselves, it is the gift of God.",
"Section": "1"
},
{
"Content": "Faith, thus receiving and resting on Christ and his righteousness, is the alone instrument of justification; yet is it not alone in the person justified, but is ever accompanied with all other saving graces, and is no dead faith, but worketh by love.",
"Section": "2"
},
{
"Content": "Christ, by his obedience and death, did fully discharge the debt of all those that are thus justified, and did by the sacrifice of himself, in the blood of his cross, undergoing in their stead the penalty due unto them make a proper, real, and full satisfaction to God's justice in their behalf. Yet inasmuch as he was given by the Father for them, and his obedience and satisfaction accepted in their stead, and both freely, not for anything in them, their justification is only of free grace; that both the exact justice and rich grace of God might be glorified in the justification of sinners.",
"Section": "3"
},
{
"Content": "God did, from all eternity, decree to justify all the elect, and Christ did, in the fulness of time, die for their sins, and rise again for their justification: nevertheless, they are not justified personally until the Holy Spirit doth, in due time, actually apply Christ unto them.",
"Section": "4"
},
{
"Content": "God doth continue to forgive the sins of those that are justified; and although they can never fall from the state of justification, yet they may by their sins fall under God's fatherly displeasure, and not have the light of his countenance restored unto them, until they humble themselves, confess their sins, beg pardon, and renew their faith and repentance.",
"Section": "5"
},
{
"Content": "The justification of believers under the Old Testament was, in all these respects, one and the same with the justification of believers under the New Testament.",
"Section": "6"
}
],
"Title": "Of Justification"
},
{
"Chapter": "12",
"Sections": [
{
"Content": "All those that are justified God vouchsafeth, in and for his only Son Jesus Christ, to make partakers of the grace of adoption; by which they are taken into the number, and enjoy the liberties and privileges of the children of God; have his name put upon them; receive the Spirit of adoption; have access to the throne of grace with boldness; are enabled to cry, Abba, Father; are pitied, protected, provided for, and chastened by him as by a father; yet never cast off, but sealed to the day of redemption, and inherit the promises, as heirs of everlasting salvation.",
"Section": "1"
}
],
"Title": "Of Adoption"
},
{
"Chapter": "13",
"Sections": [
{
"Content": "They that are united to Christ, effectually called and regenerated, having a new heart and a new spirit created in them, through the virtue of Christ's death and resurrection, are also further sanctified really and personally through the same virtue, by his Word and Spirit dwelling in them; the dominion of the whole body of sin is destroyed, and the several lusts thereof are more and more weakened and mortified, and they more and more quickened and strengthened, in all saving graces, to the practice of true holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.",
"Section": "1"
},
{
"Content": "This sanctification is throughout in the whole man, yet imperfect in this life; there abideth still some remnants of corruption in every part, whence ariseth a continual and irreconcilable war, the flesh lusting against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh.",
"Section": "2"
},
{
"Content": "In which war, although the remaining corruption for a time may much prevail, yet, through the continual supply of strength from the sanctifying Spirit of Christ, the regenerate part doth overcome; and so the saints grow in grace, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.",
"Section": "3"
}
],
"Title": "Of Sanctification"
},
{
"Chapter": "14",
"Sections": [
{
"Content": "The grace of faith, whereby the elect are enabled to believe to the saving of their souls, is the work of the Spirit of Christ in their hearts, and is ordinarily wrought by the ministry of the Word; by which also, and by the administration of the seals, prayer, and other means it is increased and strengthened.",
"Section": "1"
},
{
"Content": "By this faith a Christian believeth to be true whatsoever is revealed in the Word, for the authority of God himself speaking therein; and acteth differently upon that which each particular passage thereof containeth; yielding obedience to the commands, trembling at the threatenings, and embracing the promises of God for this life and that which is to come. But the principal acts of saving faith are accepting, receiving, and resting upon Christ alone for justification, sanctification, and eternal life, by virtue of the covenant of grace.",
"Section": "2"
},
{
"Content": "This faith, althought it be different in degrees, and may be weak or strong; yet it is in the least degree of it different in the kind or nature of it (as is all other saving grace) from the faith and common grace of temporary believers; and therefore, though it may be many times assailed and weakened, yet it gets the victory; growing up in many to the attainment of a full assurance through Christ, who is both the author and finisher of our faith.",
"Section": "3"
}
],
"Title": "Of Saving Faith"
},
{
"Chapter": "15",
"Sections": [
{
"Content": "Such of the elect as are converted at riper years, having sometime lived in the state of nature, and therein served divers lusts and pleasures, God in their effectual calling giveth them repentance unto life.",
"Section": "1"
},
{
"Content": "Whereas there is none that doth good and sinneth not, and the best of men may, through the power and deceitfulness of their corruption dwelling in them, with the prevalency of temptation, fall into great sins and provocations; God hath, in the covenant of grace, mercifully provided that believers so sinning and falling be renewed through repentance unto salvation.",
"Section": "2"
},
{
"Content": "This saving repentance is an evangelical grace, whereby a person, being by the Holy Spirit made sensible of the manifold evils of his sin, doth, by faith in Christ, humble himself for it with godly sorrow, detestation of it, and self-abhorrency, praying for pardon and strength of grace, with a purpose and endeavour, by supplies of the Spirit, to walk before God unto all well-pleasing in all things.",
"Section": "3"
},
{
"Content": "As repentance is to be continued through the whole course of our lives, upon the account of the body of death, and the motions thereof, so it is every man's duty to repent of his particular known sins particularly.",
"Section": "4"
},
{
"Content": "Such is the provision which God hath made through Christ in the covenant of grace for the preservation of believers unto salvation; that although there is no sin so small but it deserves damnation; yet there is no sin so great that it shall bring damnation on them that repent; which makes the constant preaching of repentance necessary.",
"Section": "5"
}
],
"Title": "Of Repentance unto Life and Salvation"
},
{
"Chapter": "16",
"Sections": [
{
"Content": "Good works are only such as God hath commanded in his holy Word, and not such as, without the warrant thereof, are devised by men out of blind zeal, or upon any pretense of good intention.",
"Section": "1"
},
{
"Content": "These good works, done in obedience to God's commandments, are the fruits and evidences of a true and lively faith; and by them believers manifest their thankfulness, strengthen their assurance, edify their brethren, adorn the profession of the gospel, stop the mouths of the adversaries, and glorify God, whose workmanship they are, created in Christ Jesus thereunto, that, having their fruit unto holiness, they may have the end, eternal life.",
"Section": "2"
},
{
"Content": "Their ability to do good works is not at all of themselves, but wholly from the Spirit of Christ. And that they may be enabled thereunto, besides the graces they have already received, there is required an actual influence of the same Holy Spirit to work in them to will and to do of his good pleasure; yet are they not hereupon to grow negligent, as if they were not bound to perform any duty unless upon a special motion of the Spirit; but they ought to be diligent in stirring up the grace of God that is in them.",
"Section": "3"
},
{
"Content": "They who in their obedience attain to the greatest height which is possible in this life, are so far from being able to supererogate and to do more than God requires, as that they fall short of much which in duty they are bound to do.",
"Section": "4"
},
{
"Content": "We cannot, by our best works, merit pardon of sin, or eternal life at the hand of God, by reason of the great disproportion that is between them and the glory to come, and the infinite distance that is between us and God, whom by them we can neither profit nor satisfy for the debt of our former sins; but when we have done all we can, we have done but our duty, and are unprofitable servants; and because, as they are good, they proceed from his Spirit; and as they are wrought by us, they are defiled and mixed with so much weakness and imperfection that they cannot endure the severity of God's judgment.",
"Section": "5"
},
{
"Content": "Yet notwithstanding, the persons of believers being accepted through Christ, their good works also are accepted in him, not as though they were in this life wholly unblamable and unreprovable in God's sight; but that he, looking upon them in his Son, is pleased to accept and reward that which is sincere, although accompanied with many weaknesses and imperfections.",
"Section": "6"
},
{
"Content": "Works done by unregenerate men, although for the matter of them they may be things which God commands, and of good use both to themselves and others; yet because they proceed not from a heart purified by faith, nor are done in a right manner, according to the Word, nor to a right end, the glory of God; they are therefore sinful, and cannot please God, or make a man meet to receive grace from God. And yet their neglect of them is more sinful and displeasing unto God.",
"Section": "7"
}
],
"Title": "Of Good Works"
},
{
"Chapter": "17",
"Sections": [
{
"Content": "They whom God hath accepted in his Beloved, effectually called and sanctified by his Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace; but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved.",
"Section": "1"
},
{
"Content": "This perseverance of the saints depends, not upon their own free will, but upon the immutability of the decree of election, flowing from the free and unchangeable love of God the Father; upon the efficacy of the merit and intercession of Jesus Christ, and union with him; the oath of God; the abiding of the Spirit and of the seed of God within them; and the nature of the covenant of grace: from all which ariseth also the certainty and infallibility thereof.",
"Section": "2"
},
{
"Content": "And though they may, through the temptations of Satan and of the world, the prevalency of corruption remaining in them, and the neglect of the means of their preservation, fall into grievous sins; and for a time continue therein: whereby they incur God's displeasure, and grieve his Holy Spirit; come to have their graces and comforts impaired; have their hearts hardened, and their consciences wounded; hurt and scandalize others, and bring temporal judgments upon themselves; yet they are and shall be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.",
"Section": "3"
}
],
"Title": "Of the Perseverance of the Saints"
},
{
"Chapter": "18",
"Sections": [
{
"Content": "Although temporary believers and other unregenerate men may vainly deceive themselves with false hopes and carnal presumptions of being in the favour of God and estate of salvation, which hope of theirs shall perish: yet such as truly believe in the Lord Jesus, and love him in sincerity, endeavoring to walk in all good conscience before him, may in this life be certainly assured that they are in a state of grace, and may rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, which hope shall never make them ashamed.",
"Section": "1"
},
{
"Content": "This certainty is not a bare conjectural and probable persuasion, grounded upon a fallible hope; but an infallible assurance of faith, founded upon the divine truth of the promises of salvation, the inward evidence of those graces unto which these promises are made, the testimony of the Spirit of adoption witnessing with our spirits that we are the children of God: which Spirit is the earnest of our inheritance, whereby we are sealed to the day of redemption.",
"Section": "2"
},
{
"Content": "This infallible assurance doth not so belong to the essence of faith, but that a true believer may wait long, and conflict with many difficulties before he be partaker of it: yet, being enabled by the Spirit to know the things which are freely given him of God, he may, without extraordinary revelation, in the right use of ordinary means, attain thereunto. And therefore it is the duty of everyone to give all diligence to make his calling and election sure; that thereby his heart may be enlarged in peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, in love and thankfulness to God, and in strength and cheerfulness in the duties of obedience, the proper fruits of this assurance: so far is it from inclining men to looseness.",
"Section": "3"
},
{
"Content": "True believers may have the assurance of their salvation divers ways shaken, diminished, and intermitted; as, by negligence in preserving of it; by falling into some special sin, which woundeth the conscience, and grieveth the Spirit; by some sudden or vehement temptation; by God's withdrawing the light of his countenance, and suffering even such as fear him to walk in darkness and to have no light: yet are they neither utterly destitute of that seed of God, and life of faith, that love of Christ and the brethren, that sincerity of heart and conscience of duty, out of which, by the operation of the Spirit, this assurance may in due time be revived, and by the which, in the meantime, they are supported from utter despair.",
"Section": "4"
}
],
"Title": "Of the Assurance of Grace and Salvation"
},
{
"Chapter": "19",
"Sections": [
{
"Content": "God gave to Adam a law of universal obedience written in his heart, and a particular precept of not eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, as a covenant of works, by which he bound him and all his posterity to personal, entire, exact, and perpetual obedience; promised life upon the fulfilling, and threatened death upon the breach of it; and endued him with power and ability to keep it.",
"Section": "1"
},
{
"Content": "This law, so written in the heart, continued to be a perfect rule of righteousness after the fall of man; and, was delivered by God upon mount Sinai in ten commandments, and written in two tables; the four first commandments containing our duty towards God, and the other six our duty to man.",
"Section": "2"
},
{
"Content": "Beside this law, commonly called moral, God was pleased to give to the people of Israel ceremonial laws, containing several typical ordinances, partly of worship, prefiguring Christ, his graces, actions, sufferings, and benefits; and partly holding forth divers instructions of moral duties. All which ceremonial laws being appointed only to the time of reformation, are by Jesus Christ the true Messiah and only lawgiver, who was furnished with power from the Father for that end, abrogated and taken away.",
"Section": "3"
},
{
"Content": "To them also he gave sundry judicial laws, which expired together with the State of that people, not obliging any other, now by virtue of that institution, their general equity only being still of moral use.",
"Section": "4"
},
{
"Content": "The moral law doth forever bind all, as well justified persons as others, to the obedience thereof; and that not only in regard of the matter contained in it, but also in respect of the authority of God the Creator who gave it. Neither doth Christ in the gospel any way dissolve, but much strengthen, this obligation.",
"Section": "5"
},
{
"Content": "Although true believers be not under the law as a covenant of works, to be thereby justified or condemned; yet is it of great use to them, as well as to others; in that, as a rule of life, informing them of the will of God and their duty, it directs and binds them to walk accordingly; discovering also the sinful pollutions of their nature, hearts, and lives; so as, examining themselves thereby, they may come to further conviction of, humiliation for, and hatred against sin; together with a clearer sight of the need they have of Christ, and the perfection of his obedience. It is likewise of use to the regenerate, to restrain their corruptions, in that it forbids sin; and the threatenings of it serve to show what even their sins deserve, and what afflictions in this life they may expect for them, although freed from the curse thereof threatened in the law. The promises of it, in like manner, show them God's approbation of obedience, and what blessings they may expect upon the performance thereof; although not as due to them by the law as a covenant of works: so as a man's doing good, and refraining from evil, because the law encourageth to the one, and deterreth from the other, is no evidence of his being under the law, and not under grace.",
"Section": "6"
},
{
"Content": "Neither are the forementioned uses of the law contrary to the grace of the gospel, but do sweetly comply with it: the Spirit of Christ subduing and enabling the will of man to do that freely and cheerfully which the will of God, revealed in the law, required to be done.",
"Section": "7"
}
],
"Title": "Of the Law of God"
},
{
"Chapter": "20",
"Sections": [
{
"Content": "The covenant of works being broken by sin, and made unprofitable unto life, God was pleased to give unto the elect the promise of Christ, the seed of the woman, as the means of calling them, and begetting in them faith and repentance: in this promise the gospel, as to the substance of it, was revealed, and was therein effectual for the conversion and salvation of sinners.",
"Section": "1"
},
{
"Content": "This promise of Christ, and salvation by him, is revealed only in and by the Word of God; neither do the works of creation or providence, with the light of nature, make discovery of Christ, or of grace by him, so much as in a general or obscure way; much less that men destitute of the revelation of him by the promise or gospel, should be enabled thereby to attain saving faith or repentance.",
"Section": "2"
},
{
"Content": "The revelation of the gospel unto sinners, made in divers times, and by sundry parts, with the addition of promises and precepts for the obedience required therein, as to the nations and persons to whom it is granted, is merely of the sovereign will and good pleasure of God, not being annexed by virtue of any promise to the due improvement of men's natural abilities, by virtue of common light received without it, which none ever did make or can so do. And therefore in all ages the preaching of the gospel hath been granted unto persons and nations, as to the extent or straitening of it, in great variety, according to the counsel of the will of God.",
"Section": "3"
},
{
"Content": "Although the gospel be the only outward means of revealing Christ and saving grace, and is as such abundantly sufficient thereunto; yet that men who are dead in trespasses, may be born again, quickened or regenerated, there is moreover necessary an effectual, irresistible work of the Holy Ghost upon the whole soul, for the producing in them a new spiritual life, without which no other means are sufficient for their conversion unto God.",
"Section": "4"
}
],
"Title": "Of the Gospel and the Extent of Grace Thereof"
},
{
"Chapter": "21",
"Sections": [
{
"Content": "The liberty which Christ hath purchased for believers under the gospel consists in their freedom from the guilt of sin, the condemning wrath of God, the rigor and the curse of the law; and in their being delivered from this present evil world, bondage to Satan, and dominion of sin, from the evil of afflictions, the fear and sting of death, the victory of the grave, and everlasting damnation; as also in their free access to God, and their yielding obedience unto him, not out of slavish fear, but a child-like love and willing mind. All which were common also to believers under the law for the substance of them; but under the New Testament the liberty of Christians is further enlarged in their freedom from the yoke of the ceremonial law, the whole legal administration of the covenant of grace, to which the Jewish Church was subjected; and in greater boldness of access to the throne of grace, and in fuller communications of the free Spirit of God, than believers under the law did ordinarily partake of.",
"Section": "1"
},
{
"Content": "God alone is Lord of the conscience, and hath left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men which are in anything contrary to his Word, not contained in it; so that to believe such doctrines, or to obey such commands out of conscience, is to betray true liberty of conscience; and the requiring of an implicit faith, and an absolute and blind obedience, is to destroy liberty of conscience, and reason also.",
"Section": "2"
},
{
"Content": "They who, upon pretense of Christian liberty, do practice any sin, or cherish any lust, as they do thereby pervert the main design of the grace of the gospel to their own destruction; so they wholly destroy the end of Christian liberty; which is, that, being delivered out of the hands of our enemies, we might serve the Lord without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.",
"Section": "3"
}
],
"Title": "Of Christian Liberty, and Liberty of Conscience"
},
{
"Chapter": "22",
"Sections": [
{
"Content": "The light of nature showeth that there is a God, who hath lordship and sovereignty over all; is just, good, and doth good unto all; and is therefore to be feared, loved, praised, called upon, trusted in, and served with all the heart, and with all the soul, and with all the might. But the acceptable way of worshipping the true God is instituted by himself, and so limited to his own revealed will, that he may not be worshipped according to the imaginations and devices of men, or the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representations or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scripture.",
"Section": "1"
},
{
"Content": "Religious worship is to be given to God, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; and to him alone: not to angels, saints, or any other creature: and since the fall, not without a Mediator; nor in the mediation of any other but of Christ alone.",
"Section": "2"
},
{
"Content": "Prayer with thanksgiving, being one special part of natural worship, is by God required of all men; but that it may be accepted, it is to be made in the name of the Son, by the help of his Spirit, according to his will, with understanding, reverence, humility, fervency, faith, love, and perseverance; and, when with others, in a known tongue.",
"Section": "3"
},
{
"Content": "Prayer is to be made for things lawful, and for all sorts of men living, or that shall live hereafter; but not for the dead, nor for those of whom it may be known that they have sinned the sin unto death.",
"Section": "4"
},
{
"Content": "The reading of the Scriptures, preaching, and hearing the Word of God, singing of psalms; as also the administration of baptism and the Lord's Supper, are all parts of religious worship of God, to be performed in obedience unto God with understanding, faith, reverence, and godly fear. Solemn humiliations, with fastings and thanksgivings upon special occasions, are in their several times and seasons to be used in a holy and religious manner.",
"Section": "5"
},
{
"Content": "Neither prayer, nor any other part of religious worship, is now, under the gospel, either tied unto, or made more acceptable by any place in which it is performed, or towards which it is directed: but God is to be worshipped everywhere in spirit and truth; as in private families daily, and in secret each one by himself, so more solemnly in the public assemblies, which are not carelessly or willfully to be neglected or forsaken, when God, by his Word or providence, calleth thereunto.",
"Section": "6"
},
{
"Content": "As it is of the law of nature that, in general, a due proportion of time by God's appointment be set apart for the worship of God; so, by his Word, in a positive, moral, and perpetual commandment, binding all men in all ages, he hath particularly appointed one day in seven for a Sabbath, to be kept holy unto him: which, from the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ, was the last day of the week; and, from the resurrection of Christ, was changed into the first day of the week, which in Scripture is called the Lord's day, and is to be continued to the end of the world, as the Christian Sabbath, the observation of the last day of the week being abolished.",
"Section": "7"
},
{
"Content": "This Sabbath is then kept holy unto the Lord, when men, after a due preparing of their hearts, and ordering of their common affairs beforehand, do not only observe an holy rest all the day from their own works, words, and thoughts, about their worldly employments and recreations; but also are taken up the whole time in the public and private exercises of his worship, and in the duties of necessity and mercy.",
"Section": "8"
}
],
"Title": "Of Religious Worship and the Sabbath Day"
},
{
"Chapter": "23",
"Sections": [
{
"Content": "A lawful oath is a part of religious worship, wherein the person swearing in truth, righteousness and judgment, solemnly calleth God to witness what he asserteth or promiseth; and to judge him according to the truth or falsehood of what he sweareth.",
"Section": "1"
},
{
"Content": "The name of God only is that by which men ought to swear, and therein it is to be used with all holy fear and reverence; therefore to swear vainly or rashly by that glorious and dreadful name, or to swear at all by any other thing, is sinful, and to be abhorred. Yet as, in matters of weight and moment, an oath is warranted by the Word of God, under the New Testament, as well as under the Old, so a lawful oath, being imposed by lawful authority, in such matters ought to be taken.",
"Section": "2"
},
{
"Content": "Whosoever taketh an oath, warranted by the Word of God, ought duly to consider the weightiness of so solemn an act, and therein to avouch nothing but what he is fully persuaded is the truth. Neither may any man bind himself by oath to anything but what is good and just, and what he believeth so to be, and what he is able and resolved to perform. Yet it is a sin to refuse an oath touching anything that is good and just, being imposed by lawful authority.",
"Section": "3"
},
{
"Content": "An oath is to be taken in the plain and common sense of the words, without equivocation or mental reservation. It cannot oblige to sin; but in anything not sinful, being taken, it binds to performance, although to a man's own hurt: nor is it to be violated, although made to heretics or infidels.",
"Section": "4"
},
{
"Content": "A vow which is of the like nature with a promissory oath, and ought to be made with the like religious care, and to be performed with the like faithfulness.",
"Section": "5"
},
{
"Content": "Popish monastical vows of perpetual single life, professed poverty, and regular obedience, are so far from being degrees of higher perfection, that they are superstitious and sinful snares, in which no Christian may entangle himself.",
"Section": "6"
}
],
"Title": "Of Lawful Oaths and Vows"
},
{
"Chapter": "24",
"Sections": [
{
"Content": "God, the Supreme Lord and King of all the world, hath ordained civil magistrates to be under him, over the people, for his own glory and the public good, and to this end hath armed them with the power of the sword, for the defense and encouragement of them that do good, and for the punishment of evil-doers.",
"Section": "1"
},
{
"Content": "It is lawful for Christians to accept and execute the office of a magistrate when called thereunto; in the management whereof, as they ought especially to maintain piety, justice, and peace, according to the wholesome laws of each commonwealth, so, for that end, they may lawfully, now under the New Testament, wage war upon just and necessary occasion.",
"Section": "2"
},
{
"Content": "Although the magistrate is bound to encourage, promote, and protect the professors and profession of the gospel, and to manage and order civil administrations in a due subserviency to the interest of Christ in the world, and to that end to take care that men of corrupt minds and conversations do not licentiously publish and divulge blasphemy and errors, in their own nature subverting the faith and inevitably destroying the souls of them that receive them: yet in such differences about the doctrines of the gospel, or ways of the worship of God, as may befall men exercising a good conscience, manifesting it in their conversation, and holding the foundation, not disturbing others in their ways or worship that differ from them; there is no warrant for the magistrate under the gospel to abridge them of their liberty.",
"Section": "3"
},
{
"Content": "It is the duty of people to pray for magistrates, to honor their persons, to pay them tribute and other dues, to obey their lawful commands, and to be subject to their authority, for conscience' sake. Infidelity or difference in religion doth not make void the magistrate's just and legal authority, nor free the people from their due obedience to him: from which ecclesiastical persons are not exempted; much less hath the Pope any power or jurisdiction over them in their dominions, or over any of their people; and least of all to deprive them of their dominions or lives, if he shall judge them to be heretics, or upon any other pretense whatsoever.",
"Section": "4"
}
],
"Title": "Of the Civil Magistrate"
},
{
"Chapter": "25",
"Sections": [
{
"Content": "Marriage is to be between one man and one woman: neither is it lawful for any man to have more than one wife, nor for any woman to have more than one husband at the same time.",
"Section": "1"
},
{
"Content": "Marriage was ordained for the mutual help of husband and wife; for the increase of mankind with a legitimate issue, and of the Church with an holy seed; and for preventing of uncleanness.",
"Section": "2"
},
{
"Content": "It is lawful for all sorts of people to marry who are able with judgment to give their consent. Yet it is the duty of Christians to marry only in the Lord. And therefore, such as profess the true reformed religion should not marry with infidels, Papists, or other idolaters: neither should such as are godly be unequally yoked, by marrying with such as are notoriously wicked in their life, or maintain damnable heresies.",
"Section": "3"
},
{
"Content": "Marriage ought not to be within the degrees of consanguinity or affinity forbidden in the Word; nor can such incestuous marriages ever be made lawful by any law of man, or consent of parties, so as those persons may live together as man and wife. The man may not marry any of his wife's kindred nearer in blood than he may of his own, nor the woman of her husband's kindred nearer in blood than of her own.",
"Section": "4"
}
],
"Title": "Of Marriage"
},
{
"Chapter": "26",
"Sections": [
{
"Content": "The catholic or universal Church, which is invisible, consists of the whole number of the elect, that have been, are, or shall be gathered into one, under Christ the head thereof; and is the spouse, the body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.",
"Section": "1"
},
{
"Content": "The whole body of men throughout the world, professing the faith of the gospel and obedience unto God by Christ according to it, not destroying their own profession by any errors everting the foundation, or unholiness of conversation, are, and may be called the visible catholic church of Christ; although as such it is not entrusted with the administration of any ordinances, or have any officers to rule or govern in, or over the whole body.",
"Section": "2"
},
{
"Content": "The purest churches under heaven are subject both to mixture and error, and some have so degenerated as to become no churches of Christ, but synagogues of Satan: nevertheless Christ always hath had, and ever shall have, a visible kingdom in this world, to the end thereof, of such as believe in him, and make profession of his name.",
"Section": "3"
},
{
"Content": "There is no other Head of the Church but the Lord Jesus Christ; nor can the Pope of Rome in any sense be head thereof; but is that antichrist, that man of sin, and son of perdition, that exalteth himself in the Church against Christ, and all that is called God, whom the Lord shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.",
"Section": "4"
},
{
"Content": "As the Lord in his care and love towards his Church, hath in his infinite wise providence exercised it with great variety in all ages, for the good of them that love him, and his own glory; so according to his promise, we expect that in the latter days, antichrist being destroyed, the Jews called, and the adversaries of the kingdom of his dear Son broken, the churches of Christ being enlarged, and edified through a free and plentiful communication of light and grace, shall enjoy in this world a more quiet, peaceable and glorious condition than they have enjoyed.",
"Section": "5"
}
],
"Title": "Of the Church"
},
{
"Chapter": "27",
"Sections": [
{
"Content": "All saints that are united to Jesus Christ their head, by his Spirit and by faith, although they are not made thereby one person with him have fellowship with him in his graces, sufferings, death, resurrection, and glory: and being united to one another in love, they have communion in each other's gifts and graces, and are obliged to the performance of such duties, public and private, as do conduce to their mutual good, both in the inward and outward man.",
"Section": "1"
},
{
"Content": "All saints, by profession, are bound to maintain an holy fellowship and communion in the worship of God, and in performing such other spiritual services as tend to their mutual edification; as also in relieving each other in outward things, according to their several abilities and necessities. Which communion, though especially to be exercised by them in the relations wherein they stand, whether in families or churches, yet as God offereth opportunity, is to be extended unto all those who, in every place, call upon the name of the Lord Jesus.",
"Section": "2"
}
],
"Title": "Of the Communion of Saints"
},
{
"Chapter": "28",
"Sections": [
{
"Content": "Sacraments are holy signs and seals of the covenant of grace, immediately instituted by Christ, to represent him and his benefits, and to confirm our interest in him: and solemnly to engage us to the service of God in Christ, according to his Word.",
"Section": "1"
},
{
"Content": "There is in every sacrament a spiritual relation or sacramental union, between the sign and the thing signified; whence it comes to pass that the names and the effects of the one are attributed to the other.",
"Section": "2"
},
{
"Content": "The grace which is exhibited in or by the sacraments, rightly used, is not conferred by any power in them; neither doth the efficacy of a sacrament depend upon the piety or intention of him that doth administer it, but upon the work of the Spirit, and the word of institution, which contains, together with a precept authorizing the use thereof, a promise of benefit to worthy receivers.",
"Section": "3"
},
{
"Content": "There be only two sacraments ordained by Christ our Lord in the Gospel, that is to say, Baptism and the Lord's Supper: neither of which may be dispensed by any but by a minister of the Word lawfully called.",
"Section": "4"
},
{
"Content": "The sacraments of the Old Testament, in regard of the spiritual things thereby signified and exhibited, were, for substance, the same with those of the New.",
"Section": "5"
}
],
"Title": "Of the Sacraments"
},
{
"Chapter": "29",
"Sections": [
{
"Content": "Baptism is a sacrament of the New Testament, ordained by Jesus Christ, to be unto the party baptised a sign and seal of the covenant of grace, of his ingrafting into Christ, of regeneration, of remission of sins, and of his giving up unto God, through Jesus Christ, to walk in newness of life: which ordinance is, by Christ's own appointment, to be continued in his Church until the end of the world.",
"Section": "1"
},
{
"Content": "The outward element to be used in this ordinance is water, wherewith the party is to be baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, by a minister of the gospel lawfully called thereunto.",
"Section": "2"
},
{
"Content": "Dipping of the person into the water is not necessary; but baptism is rightly administered by pouring or sprinkling water upon the person.",
"Section": "3"
},
{
"Content": "Not only those that do actually profess faith in and obedience unto Christ, but also the infants of one or both believing parents are to be baptized, and those only.",
"Section": "4"
},
{
"Content": "Although it be a great sin to contemn or neglect this ordinance, yet grace and salvation are not so inseparably annexed unto it, as that no person can be regenerated or saved without it, or that all that are baptized are undoubtedly regenerated.",
"Section": "5"
},
{
"Content": "The efficacy of baptism is not tied to that moment of time wherein it is administered; yet, notwithstanding, by the right use of this ordinance the grace promised is not only offered, but really exhibited and conferred by the Holy Ghost, to such (whether of age or infants) as that grace belongeth unto, according to the counsel of God's own will, in his appointed time.",
"Section": "6"
},
{
"Content": "The sacrament of baptism is but once to be administered to any person.",
"Section": "7"
}
],
"Title": "Of Baptism"
},
{
"Chapter": "30",
"Sections": [
{
"Content": "Our Lord Jesus, in the night wherein he was betrayed, instituted the sacrament of his body and blood, called the Lord's Supper, to be observed in his churches, to the end of the world; for the perpetual remembrance and showing forth of the sacrifice of himself in his death, the sealing of all benefits thereof unto true believers, their spiritual nourishment and growth in him, their further engagement in and to all duties which they owe unto him; and to be a bond and pledge of their communion with him, and with each other, as members of his mystical body.",
"Section": "1"
},
{
"Content": "In this sacrament Christ is not offered up to his Father, nor any real sacrifice made at all for remission of sins of the quick or dead, but only a memorial of that one offering up of himself, by himself, upon the cross, once for all, and a spiritual oblation of all possible praise unto God for the same; so that the Popish sacrifice of the mass, as they call it, is most abominable, injurious to Christ's own only sacrifice, the alone propitiation for all the sins of the elect.",
"Section": "2"
},
{
"Content": "The Lord Jesus hath, in this ordinance, appointed his ministers to declare his word of institution to the people, to pray, and bless the elements of bread and wine, and thereby to set them apart from a common to an holy use; and to take and break the bread, to take the cup, and (they communicating also themselves) to give both to the communicants; but to none who are not then present in the congregation.",
"Section": "3"
},
{
"Content": "Private masses, or receiving this sacrament by a priest, or any other, alone; as likewise the denial of the cup to the people; worshipping the elements, the lifting them up, or carrying them about for adoration, and the reserving them for any pretended religious use, are all contrary to the nature of this sacrament, and to the institution of Christ.",
"Section": "4"
},
{
"Content": "The outward elements in this sacrament, duly set apart to the uses ordained by Christ, have such relation to him crucified, as that truly, yet sacramentally only, they are sometimes called by the name of the things they represent, to wit, the body and blood of Christ; albeit, in substance and nature, they still remain truly, and only, bread and wine, as they were before.",
"Section": "5"
},
{
"Content": "That doctrine which maintains a change of the substance of bread and wine, into the substance of Christ's body and blood (commonly called transubstantiation) by consecration of a priest, or by any other way, is repugnant, not to Scripture alone, but even to common sense and reason; overthroweth the nature of the sacrament; and hath been, and is the cause of manifold superstitions, yea, of gross idolatries.",
"Section": "6"
},
{
"Content": "Worthy receivers, outwardly partaking of the visible elements in this sacrament, do then also inwardly by faith, really and indeed, yet not carnally and corporally, but spiritually, receive and feed upon Christ crucified, and all benefits of his death: the body and blood of Christ being then not corporally or carnally in, with, or under the bread and wine; yet as really, but spiritually, present to the faith of believers in that ordinance, as the elements themselves are, to their outward senses.",
"Section": "7"
},
{
"Content": "All ignorant and ungodly persons, as they are unfit to enjoy communion with Christ, so are they unworthy of the Lord's table, and cannot without great sin against him, while they remain such, partake of these holy mysteries, or be admitted thereunto; yea, whosoever shall receive unworthily, are guilty of the body and blood of the Lord, eating and drinking judgment to themselves.",
"Section": "8"
}
],
"Title": "Of the Lord's Supper"
},
{
"Chapter": "31",
"Sections": [
{
"Content": "The bodies of men, after death, return to dust, and see corruption; but their souls (which neither die nor sleep), having an immortal subsistence, immediately return to God who gave them. The souls of the righteous, being then made perfect in holiness, are received into the highest heavens, where they behold the face of God in light and glory, waiting for the full redemption of their bodies: and the souls of the wicked are cast into hell, where they remain in torment and utter darkness, reserved to the judgment of the great day. Besides these two places for souls separated from their bodies, the Scripture acknowledgeth none.",
"Section": "1"
},
{
"Content": "At the last day, such as are found alive shall not die, but be changed; and all the dead shall be raised up with the self-same bodies, and none other, although with different qualities, which shall be united again to their souls forever.",
"Section": "2"
},
{
"Content": "The bodies of the unjust shall, by the power of Christ, be raised to dishonor; the bodies of the just, by his Spirit, unto honor, and be made conformable to his own glorious body.",
"Section": "3"
}
],
"Title": "Of the State of Men after Death, and of the Resurrection of the Dead"
},
{
"Chapter": "32",
"Sections": [
{
"Content": "God hath appointed a day wherein he will judge the world in righteousness by Jesus Christ, to whom all power and judgment is given of the Father. In which day, not only the apostate angels shall be judged, but likewise all persons, that have lived upon earth, shall appear before the tribunal of Christ, to give an account of their thoughts, words, and deeds; and to receive according to what they have done in the body, whether good or evil.",
"Section": "1"
},
{
"Content": "The end of God's appointing this day, is for the manifestation of the glory of his mercy in the eternal salvation of the elect; and of his justice in the damnation of the reprobate, who are wicked and disobedient. For then shall the righteous go into everlasting life, and receive that fulness of joy glory, with everlasting reward in the presence of the Lord: but the wicked, who know not God, and obey not the gospel of Jesus Christ, shall be cast into eternal torments, and be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.",
"Section": "2"
},
{
"Content": "As Christ would have us to be certainly persuaded that there shall be a day of judgment, both to deter all men from sin, and for the greater consolation of the godly in their adversity: so will he have that day unknown to men, that they may shake off all carnal security, and be always watchful, because they know not at what hour the Lord will come; and may be ever prepared to say, Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly. Amen.",
"Section": "3"
}
],
"Title": "Of the Last Judgment"
}
],
"Metadata": {
"AlternativeTitles": [
"A Declaration of the Faith and Order owned and practised in the Congregational Churches in England"
],
"Authors": [],
"CreedFormat": "Confession",
"Location": "London, England",
"OriginStory": null,
"OriginalLanguage": "English",
"SourceAttribution": "Copyright - Reformed Standards",
"SourceUrl": "https://github.com/reformed-standards/compendium/blob/master/data/british/savoy.yaml",
"Title": "Savoy Declaration of Faith",
"Year": "1658"
}
}
+149
View File
@@ -0,0 +1,149 @@
{
"Metadata": {
"Title": "Scots Confession",
"AlternativeTitles": [
"Scots Confession of 1560"
],
"Year": "1560",
"Authors": [
"John Winram",
"John Spottiswoode",
"John Willock",
"John Douglas",
"John Row"
],
"Location": "Edinburgh, Scotland",
"OriginalLanguage": "English",
"OriginStory": "",
"SourceUrl": "http://apostles-creed.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Scots_Confession_1560.pdf",
"SourceAttribution": "Public Domain",
"CreedFormat": "Canon"
},
"Data": [
{
"Article": "1",
"Title": "Of God",
"Content": "We confess and acknowledge one only God, to whom only we must cleave, whom only we must serve, whom only we must worship, and in whom only we must put our trust: who is eternal, infinite, immeasurable, incomprehensible, omnipotent, invisible; one in substance, and yet distinct in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; by whom we confess and believe all things in heaven and in earth, as well visible as invisible, to have been created, to be retained in their being, and to be ruled and guided by his inscrutable Providence, to such end as his eternal wisdom, goodness, and justice has appointed them, to the manifestation of his own glory."
},
{
"Article": "2",
"Title": "Of the Creation of Man",
"Content": "We confess and acknowledge this our God to have created man (to wit, our first father Adam) to his own image and similitude, to whom he gave wisdom, lordship, justice, free will, and clear knowledge of himself; so that in the whole nature of man there could be noted no imperfection: from which honour and perfection man and woman did both fall; the woman being deceived by the serpent, and man obeying the voice of the woman: both conspiring against the Sovereign Majesty of God, who in expressed words had before threatened death, if they presumed to eat of the forbidden tree."
},
{
"Article": "3",
"Title": "Of Original Sin",
"Content": "By which transgression, commonly called Original Sin, was the image of God utterly defaced in man; and he and his posterity of nature became enemies to God, slaves to Satan, and servants to sin; insomuch that death everlasting has had, and shall have, power and dominion over all that have not been, are not, or shall not be regenerated from above: which regeneration is wrought by the power of the Holy Ghost, working in the hearts of the elect of God an assured faith in the promise of God, revealed to us in his word; by which faith we apprehend Christ Jesus, with the graces and benefits promised in him."
},
{
"Article": "4",
"Title": "Of the Revelation of the Promise",
"Content": "For this we constantly believe: that God, after the fearful and horrible defection of man from his obedience, did seek Adam again, call upon him, rebuke his sin, convict him of the same, and in the end made unto him a most joyful promise: to wit, that the seed of the woman should break down the serpent's head that is, he should destroy the works of the Devil. Which promise, as it was repeated and made more clear from time to time, so was it embraced with joy, and most constantly received of all the faithful, from Adam to Noah, from Noah to Abraham, from Abraham to David, and so forth to the incarnation of Christ Jesus: all (we mean the faithful fathers) under the law did see the joyful days of Christ Jesus, and did rejoice."
},
{
"Article": "5",
"Title": "The Continuance, Increase, and Preservation of the Kirk",
"Content": "We most constantly believe that God preserved, instructed, multiplied, honoured, decored, and from death called to life his kirk in all ages, from Adam, till the coming of Christ Jesus in the flesh. For Abraham he called from his father's country; him he instructed; his seed he multiplied; the same he marvelously preserved, and more marvelously delivered from the bondage and tyranny of Pharaoh; to them he gave his laws, constitutions, and ceremonies; them he possessed in the land of Canaan; to them, after Judges and after Saul, he gave David to be king, to whom he made promise, that of the fruit of his loins should one sit for ever upon his regal seat. To this same people, from time to time, he sent prophets to reduce them to the right way of their God, from the which often times they declined by idolatry. And albeit for their stubborn contempt of justice, he was compelled to give them in the hands of their enemies, as before was threatened by the mouth of Moses, insomuch that the holy city was destroyed, the temple burnt with fire, and the whole land left desolate the space of seventy years; yet of mercy did he reduce them again to Jerusalem, where the city and temple were reedified, and they, against all temptations and assaults of Satan, did abide till the Messiah came, according to the promise."
},
{
"Article": "6",
"Title": "Of the Incarnation of Christ Jesus",
"Content": "When the fulness of time came, God sent his Son his Eternal Wisdom, the substance of his own glory, in this world who took the nature of manhood of the substance of woman: to wit, of a virgin, and that by operation of the Holy Ghost. And so was born the just seed of David, the angel of the great counsel of God; the very Messiah promised, whom we confess and acknowledge Immanuel; very God and very man, two perfect natures united and joined in one person. By which our confession we damn the damnable and pestilent heresies of Arius, Marcion, Eutyches, Nestorius, and such others as either deny the eternity of his Godhead, or the verity of his human nature, either confound them, either yet divide them."
},
{
"Article": "7",
"Title": "Why It Behoved the Mediator to be Very God and Very Man",
"Content": "We acknowledge and confess that this most wondrous conjunction betwixt the Godhead and the manhood in Christ Jesus did proceed from the eternal and immutable decree of God, whence also our salvation springs and depends."
},
{
"Article": "8",
"Title": "Election",
"Content": "For that same Eternal God and Father, who of mere grace elected us in Christ Jesus his Son, before the foundation of the world was laid, appointed him to be our Head, our Brother, our Pastor, and great Bishop of our souls. But because that the enmity betwixt the justice of God and our sins was such that no flesh by itself could or might have attained unto God, it behoved that the Son of God should descend unto us, and take himself a body of our body, flesh of our flesh, and bone of our bones, and so become the perfect Mediator betwixt God and man; giving power to so many as believe in him to be the sons of God, as himself does witness: I pass up to my Father and unto your Father, to my God, and unto your God. By which most holy fraternity, whatsoever we have lost in Adam is restored to us again. And for this cause are we not afraid to call God our Father, not so much that [because] he has created us (which we have common with the reprobate), as for that he has given to us his only Son to be our brother, and given unto us grace to acknowledge and embrace him for our only Mediator, as before is said.\n\nIt behoved further the Messiah and Redeemer to be very God and very Man, because he was to underlie the punishment due for our transgressions, and to present himself in the presence of his Father's judgments, as in our person, to suffer for our transgression and disobedience, by death, to overcome him that was author of death. But because the only Godhead could not suffer death, neither yet could the only manhead overcome the same, he joined both together in one person, that the imbecility [weakness] of the one should suffer, and be subject to death (which we had deserved), and the infinite and invincible power of the other (to wit, of the Godhead) should triumph and purchase to us life, liberty, and perpetual victory. And so we confess, and most undoubtedly believe."
},
{
"Article": "9",
"Title": "Christ's Death, Passion, Burial, etc.",
"Content": "[We confess] That our Lord Jesus Christ offered himself a voluntary sacrifice unto his Father for us; that he suffered contradiction of sinners; that he was wounded and plagued for our transgressions; that he, being the clean and innocent Lamb of God, was damned in the presence of an earthly judge, that we should be absolved before the tribunal seat of our God; that he suffered not only the cruel death of the cross (which was accursed by the sentence of God), but also that he suffered for a season the wrath of his Father, which sinners had deserved. But yet we avow, that he remained the only and well-beloved and blessed Son of his Father, even in the midst of his anguish and torment, which he suffered in body and soul, to make the full satisfaction for the sins of the people. After the which, we confess and avow, that there remains no other sacrifice for sin: which if any affirm, we nothing doubt to avow that they are blasphemers against Christ's death, and the everlasting purgation and satisfaction purchased to us by the same."
},
{
"Article": "10",
"Title": "Resurrection",
"Content": "We undoubtedly believe that, insomuch as it was impossible that the dolours of death should retain in bondage the Author of life; that our Lord Jesus Christ crucified, dead, and buried, who descended into hell, did rise again for our justification, and destroying him who was the author of death, brought life again to us that were subject to death and to the bondage of the same. We know that his resurrection was confirmed by the testimony of his very enemies; by the resurrection of the dead, whose sepulchres did open, and they did arise and appear to many within the city of Jerusalem. It was also confirmed by the testimony of angels, and by the senses and judgments of his apostles, and of others, who had conversation, and did eat and drink with him after his resurrection."
},
{
"Article": "11",
"Title": "Ascension",
"Content": "We nothing doubt but that the selfsame body, which was born of the virgin, was crucified, dead, and buried, and which did rise again, did ascend into the heavens, for the accomplishment of all things; where, in our names, and for our comfort he has received all power in heaven and in earth, where he sits at the right hand of the Father inaugurated in his kingdom, Advocate and only Mediator for us: which glory, honour, and prerogative he alone amongst the brethren shall possess, till that all his enemies be made his footstool, as that we undoubtedly believe they shall be in the final judgment; to the execution whereof we certainly believe that the same our Lord Jesus shall visibly return, as that he was seen to ascend. And then we firmly believe, that the time of refreshing and restitution of all things shall come, insomuch that those that from the beginning have suffered violence, injury, and wrong for righteousness' sake, shall inherit that blessed immortality promised from the beginning.\n\nBut contrariwise, the stubborn, disobedient, cruel oppressors, filthy persons, idolaters, and all sorts of unfaithful shall be cast in the dungeon of utter darkness, where their worm shall not die, neither yet their fire shall be extinguished. The remembrance of which day, and of the judgment to be executed in the same, is not only to us a bridle, whereby our carnal lusts are refrained; but also such inestimable comfort, that neither may the threatening of worldly princes, neither yet the fear of temporal death and present danger, move us to renounce and forsake that blessed society, which we, the members, have with our Head and only Mediator Christ Jesus: whom we confess and avow to be the Messiah promised, the only Head of his kirk, our just Lawgiver, our only High Priest, Advocate, and Mediator. In which honours and offices, if man or angel presume to intrude themselves, we utterly detest and abhor them, as blasphemous to our Sovereign and Supreme Governor, Christ Jesus."
},
{
"Article": "12",
"Title": "Faith in the Holy Ghost",
"Content": "This our faith, and the assurance of the same, proceeds not from flesh and blood, that is to say, from no natural powers within us, but is the inspiration of the Holy Ghost: whom we confess God, equal with the Father and with the Son; who sanctifies us, and brings us in all verity by his own operation; without whom we should remain for ever enemies to God, and ignorant of his Son, Christ Jesus. For of nature we are so dead, so blind and so perverse, that neither can we feel when we are pricked, see the light when it shines, nor assent to the will of God when it is revealed, unless the Spirit of the Lord Jesus quicken that which is dead, remove the darkness from our minds, and bow our stubborn hearts to the obedience of his blessed will. And so, as we confess that God the Father created us when we were not; as his Son, our Lord Jesus redeemed us when we were enemies to him; so also do we confess that the Holy Ghost does sanctify and regenerate us, without all respect of any merit proceeding from us, be it before or be it after our regeneration. To speak this one thing yet in more plain words: as we willingly spoil ourselves of all honour and glory of our own creation and redemption, so do we also of our regeneration and sanctification; for of ourselves we are not sufficient to think one good thought; but he who has begun the good work in us, is only he that continues us in the same, to the praise and glory of his undeserved grace."
},
{
"Article": "13",
"Title": "The Cause of Good Works",
"Content": "So that the cause of good works we confess to be, not our free will, but the Spirit of the Lord Jesus who, dwelling in our hearts by true faith, brings forth such good works as God has prepared for us to walk into. For this we most boldly affirm, that blasphemy it is to say that Christ Jesus abides in the hearts of such as in whom there is no spirit of sanctification. And therefore we fear not to affirm that murderers, oppressors, cruel persecutors, adulterers, whoremongers, filthy persons, idolaters, drunkards, thieves, and all workers of iniquity, have neither true faith, neither any portion of the spirit of sanctification, which proceeds from the Lord Jesus, so long as obstinately they continue in their wickedness.\n\nFor how soon that ever the Spirit of the Lord Jesus (which God's elect children receive by true faith) takes possession in the heart of any man, so soon does he regenerate and renew the same man; so that he begins to hate that which before he loved, and begins to love that which before he hated. And from thence comes that continual battle which is betwixt the flesh and the spirit in God's children; while the flesh and natural man (according to their own corruption) lust for things pleasing and delectable unto the self, grudge in adversity, are lifted up in prosperity, and at every moment are prone and ready to offend the Majesty of God. But the Spirit of God, which gives witnessing to our spirit, that we are the sons of God, makes us to resist filthy pleasures, and to groan in God's presence for deliverance from this bondage of corruption; and finally, to triumph over sin that it reign not in our mortal bodies.\n\nThis battle have not the carnal men, being destitute of God's Spirit; but [they] do follow and obey sin with greediness, and without repentance, even as the devil and their corrupt lusts do prick them. But the sons of God (as before is said) do fight against sin, do sob and mourn, when they perceive themselves tempted to iniquity; and if they fall, they rise again with earnest and unfeigned repentance. And these things they do not by their own power, but the power of the Lord Jesus, without whom they were able to do nothing."
},
{
"Article": "14",
"Title": "What Works are Reputed Good before God",
"Content": "We confess and acknowledge that God has given to man his holy law, in which not only are forbidden all such works as displease and offend his godly Majesty, but also are commanded all such as please him, and as he has promised to reward. And these works are of two sorts: the one are done to the honour of God, the other to the profit of our neighbours; and both have the revealed will of God for their assurance\n\nTo have one God; to worship and honour him; to call upon him in all our troubles; to reverence his holy name; to hear his word; to believe the same; to communicate with his holy sacraments, are the works of the first table. To honour father, mother, princes, rulers, and superior powers; to love them, to support them, yea, to obey their charges (not repugning to the commandment of God); to save the lives of innocents; to repress tyranny; to defend the oppressed; to keep our bodies clean and holy; to live in sobriety and temperance; to deal justly with all men, both in word and in deed; and, finally, to repress all appetite of our neighbour's hurt, are the good works of the second table, which are most pleasing and acceptable unto God, as those works that are commanded by himself.\n\nThe contrary whereof is sin most odious, which always displeases him, and provokes him to anger: as, not to call upon him alone, when we have need; not to hear his word with reverence; to contemn and despise it; to have or to worship idols; to maintain and defend idolatry; lightly to esteem the reverent name of God; to profane, abuse, or contemn the sacraments of Christ Jesus; to disobey or resist any that God has placed in authority (while they pass not over the bounds of their office); to murder, or to consent thereto; to bear hatred, or to suffer innocent blood to be shed if we may gainstand it; and, finally, the transgressing of any other commandment in the first or second table, we confess and affirm to be sin, by the which God's anger and displeasure are kindled against the proud and unthankful world. So that good works we affirm to be these only that are done in faith, at God's commandment, who in his law has expressed what be the things that please him. And evil works, we affirm not only those that expressedly are done against God's commandment, but those also that, in matters of religion and worshipping of God, have no other assurance but the invention and opinion of man: which God from the beginning has ever rejected, as by the prophet Isaiah, and by our master Christ Jesus, we are taught in these words: In vain do they worship me, teaching the doctrines and precepts of men."
},
{
"Article": "15",
"Title": "The Perfection of the Law and Imperfection of Man",
"Content": "The law of God we confess and acknowledge most just, most equal, most holy, and most perfect: commanding those things which, being wrought in perfection, were able to give life, and able to bring man to eternal felicity. But our nature is so corrupt, so weak, and so imperfect, that we are never able to fulfill the works of the law in perfection. Yea, If we say we have no sin (even after we are regenerate), we deceive ourselves, and the verity of God is not into us. And therefore it behoved us to apprehend Christ Jesus, with his justice and satisfaction, who is the end and accomplishment of the law, by whom we are set at this liberty, that the curse and malediction of the law fall not upon us, albeit we fulfill not the same in all points. For God the Father, beholding us in the body of his Son Christ Jesus, accepts our imperfect obedience, as it were perfect, and covers our works, which are defiled with many spots, with the justice of his Son.\n\nWe do not mean that we are set so at liberty, that we owe no obedience to the law (for that before we have plainly confessed). But this we affirm, that no man in earth (Christ Jesus only excepted) has given, gives, or shall give in work, that obedience to the law which the law requires. But when we have done all things, we must fall down and unfeignedly confess, that we are unprofitable servants. And therefore whosoever boast themselves of the merits of their own works, or put their trust in the works of supererogation, boast themselves of that which is not, and put their trust in damnable idolatry."
},
{
"Article": "16",
"Title": "Of the Kirk",
"Content": "As we believe in one God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; so do we most constantly believe that from the beginning there has been, now is, and to the end of the world shall be, a kirk: that is to say, a company and multitude of men chosen of God, who rightly worship and embrace him, by true faith in Christ Jesus, who is the only Head of the same kirk, which also is the body and spouse of Christ Jesus; which kirk is Catholic that is, universal because it contains the elect of all ages, all realms, nations, and tongues, be they of the Jews, or be they of the Gentiles; who have communion and society with God the Father, and with his Son Christ Jesus, through the sanctification of his Holy Spirit; and therefore it is called the communion, not of profane persons, but of saints, who, as citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem, have the fruition of the most inestimable benefits: to wit, of one God, one Lord Jesus, one faith, and of one baptism; out of the which kirk there is neither life, nor eternal felicity. And therefore we utterly abhor the blasphemy of them that affirm that men which live according to equity and justice shall be saved, what religion that ever they have professed. For as without Christ Jesus there is neither life nor salvation, so shall there none be participant thereof, but such as the Father has given unto his Son Christ Jesus, and those [that] in time come unto him, avow his doctrine, and believe into him (we comprehend the children with the faithful parents). This kirk is invisible, known only to God, who alone knows whom he has chosen, and comprehends as well (as said is) the elect that are departed (commonly called the kirk triumphant), as those that yet live and fight against sin and Satan as shall live hereafter."
},
{
"Article": "17",
"Title": "The Immortality of the Souls",
"Content": "The elect departed are in peace and rest from their labours: not that they sleep and come to a certain oblivion (as some fantastics do affirm), but that they are delivered from all fear, all torment, and all temptation, to which we and all God's elect are subject in this life, and therefore do bear the name of the kirk militant: as contrariwise, the reprobate and unfaithful departed, have anguish, torment, and pain, that cannot be expressed. So that neither are the one nor the other in such sleep that they feel not joy or torment, as the parable of Christ Jesus in the sixteenth [chapter] of Luke, his words to the thief, and these words of the souls crying under the altar, O Lord, thou that art righteous and just, how long shalt thou not revenge our blood upon them that dwell upon the earth! doth plainly testify."
},
{
"Article": "18",
"Title": "Of the Notes by Which the True Kirk is Discerned from the False and Who Shall be Judge of the Doctrine",
"Content": "Because that Satan from the beginning has laboured to deck his pestilent synagogue with the title of the kirk of God, and has inflamed the hearts of cruel murderers to persecute, trouble, and molest the true kirk and members thereof as Cain did Abel; Ishmael, Isaac; Esau, Jacob; and the whole priesthood of the Jews, Christ Jesus himself, and his apostles after him; it is a thing most requisite that the true kirk be discerned from the filthy synagogue, by clear and perfect notes, lest we, being deceived, receive and embrace to our own condemnation the one for the other. The notes, signs, and assured tokens whereby the immaculate spouse of Christ Jesus is known from that horrible harlot, the kirk malignant; we affirm are neither antiquity, title usurped, lineal descent, place appointed, nor multitude of men approving an error for Cain in age and title was preferred to Abel and Seth; Jerusalem had prerogative above all places of the earth, where also were the priests lineally descended from Aaron; and greater multitude followed the scribes, Pharisees, and priests, than unfeignedly believed and approved Christ Jesus and his doctrine; and yet, as we suppose, no man (of whole judgment) will grant that any of the forenamed were the kirk of God.\n\nThe notes, therefore, of the true kirk of God we believe, confess, and avow to be: first, the true preaching of the word of God, into the which God has revealed himself to us, as the writings of the prophets and apostles do declare; secondly, the right administration of the sacraments of Christ Jesus, which must be annexed unto the word and promise of God, to seal and confirm the same in our hearts; last, ecclesiastical discipline uprightly ministered, as God's word prescribes, whereby vice is repressed, and virtue nourished. Wheresoever then these former notes are seen, and of any time continue (be the number [of persons] never so few, about two or three) there, without all doubt, is the true kirk of Christ: who, according to his promise is in the midst of them: not that universal [kirk] (of which we have before spoken) but particular; such as were in Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, and other places in which the ministry was planted by Paul, and were of himself named the kirks of God.\n\nAnd such kirks we, the inhabitants of the realm of Scotland, professors of Christ Jesus, confess ourselves to have in our cities, towns, and places reformed; for the doctrine taught in our kirks is contained in the written word of God: to wit, in the books of the New and Old Testaments: in those books, we mean, which of the ancient have been reputed canonical, in the which we affirm that all things necessary to be believed for the salvation of mankind are sufficiently expressed. The interpretation whereof, we confess, neither appertains to private nor public person, neither yet to any kirk for any preeminence or prerogative, personal or local, which one has above another; but appertains to the Spirit of God, by the which also the scripture was written.\n\nWhen controversy then happens, for the right understanding of any place or sentence of scripture, or for the reformation of any abuse within the kirk of God, we ought not so much to look what men before us have said or done, as unto that which the Holy Ghost uniformly speaks within the body of the scriptures, and unto that which Christ Jesus himself did, and commanded to be done. For this is a thing universally granted, that the Spirit of God (which is the Spirit of unity) is in nothing contrary unto himself. If then the interpretation, determination, or sentence of any doctor, kirk, or council, repugn to the plain word of God written in any other place of scripture, it is a thing most certain, that there is not the true understanding and meaning of the Holy Ghost, supposing that councils, realms, and nations have approved and received the same. For we dare not receive and admit any interpretation which directly repugns to any principal point of our faith, or to any other plain text of scripture, or yet unto the rule of charity."
},
{
"Article": "19",
"Title": "The Authority of the Scriptures",
"Content": "As we believe and confess the scriptures of God sufficient to instruct and make the man of God perfect, so do we affirm and avow the authority of the same to be of God, and neither to depend on men nor angels. We affirm, therefore, that such as allege the scripture to have no authority, but that which is received from the kirk, to be blasphemous against God, and injurious to the true kirk, which always hears and obeys the voice of her own Spouse and Pastor, but takes not upon her to be mistress over the same."
},
{
"Article": "20",
"Title": "Of General Councils, of Their Power, Authority, and Causes of Their Convention",
"Content": "As we do not rashly damn that which godly men, assembled together in general councils, lawfully gathered, have proponed unto us; so without just examination dare we not receive whatsoever is obtruded unto men under the name of general councils. For plain it is, as they were men, so have some of them manifestly erred, and that in matters of great weight and importance. So far then as the council proves the determination and commandment that it gives by the plain word of God, so far do we reverence and embrace the same. But if men, under the name of a council, pretend to forge unto us new articles of our faith, or to make constitutions repugning to the word of God, then utterly we must refuse the same as the doctrine of devils, which draws our souls from the voice of our only God to follow the doctrines and constitutions of men.\n\nThe cause, then, why general councils convened, was neither to make any perpetual law (which God before had not made), nor yet to forge new articles of our belief, neither to give the word of God authority much less to make that to be his word, or yet the true interpretation of the same, which was not before by his holy will expressed in his word. But the cause of councils (we mean of such as merit the name of councils), was partly for confutation of heresies, and for giving public confession of their faith to the posterity following: which both they did by the authority of God's written word, and not by any opinion or prerogative that they could not err, by reason of their general assembly. And this we judge to have been the chief cause of general councils. The other was for good policy and order to be constituted and observed in the kirk, in which (as in the house of God) it becomes all things to be done decently and into order.Not that we think that any policy, and one order in ceremonies can be appointed for all ages, times, and places: for as ceremonies (such as men have devised) are but temporal, so may and ought they to be changed, when they rather foster superstition than that they edify the kirk using the same."
},
{
"Article": "21",
"Title": "Of the Sacraments",
"Content": "As the fathers under the law (besides the verity of the sacrifices) had two chief sacraments to wit, circumcision and the Passover, the despisers and contemners whereof were not reputed for God's people so do we acknowledge and confess that we now, in the time of the evangel, have two sacraments only, instituted by the Lord Jesus, and commanded to be used of all those that will be reputed members of his body: to wit, baptism and the supper, or table of the Lord Jesus, called the communion of his body and blood. And these sacraments (as well of the Old as of the New Testament) were instituted of God, not only to make a visible difference betwixt his people, and those that were without his league; but also to exercise the faith of his children and, by participation of the same sacraments, to seal in their hearts the assurance of his promise, and of that most blessed conjunction, union, and society, which the elect have with their head, Christ Jesus.\n\nAnd thus we utterly damn the vanity of those that affirm sacraments to be nothing else but naked and bare signs. No, we assuredly believe that by baptism we are engrafted in Christ Jesus, to be made partakers of his justice, by the which our sins are covered and remitted; and also, that in the supper, rightly used, Christ Jesus is so joined with us, that he becomes the very nourishment and food of our souls. Not that we imagine any transubstantiation of bread into Christ's natural body, and of wine in his natural blood (as the Papists have perniciously taught and damnably believed); but this union and conjunction which we have with the body and blood of Christ Jesus, in the right use of the sacraments, is wrought by operation of the Holy Ghost, who by true faith carries us above all things that are visible, carnal, and earthly, and makes us to feed upon the body and blood of Christ Jesus, which was once broken and shed for us, which now is in heaven, and appears in the presence of his Father for us. And yet, notwithstanding the far distance of place which is betwixt his body now glorified in the heaven, and us now mortal in this earth, yet we most assuredly believe that the bread that we break is the communion of Christ's body, and the cup which we bless is the communion of his blood. So that we confess, and undoubtedly believe, that the faithful, in the right use of the Lord's table, do so eat the body and drink the blood of the Lord Jesus, that he remains in them and they in him: yea, that they are so made flesh of his flesh, and bone of his bones, that as the Eternal Godhead has given to the flesh of Christ Jesus (which of its own condition and nature was mortal and corruptible) life and immortality, so does Christ Jesus' flesh and blood eaten and drunken by us, give to us the same prerogatives. Which, albeit we confess are neither given unto us at that only time, neither yet by the proper power and virtue of the sacrament only; yet we affirm that the faithful, in the right use of the Lord's table, have such conjunction with Christ Jesus, as the natural man cannot apprehend.\n\nYea, and further we affirm, that albeit the faithful, oppressed by negligence, and manly infirmity, do not profit so much as they would in the very instant action of the supper, yet shall it after bring fruit forth, as lively seed sown in good ground. For the Holy Spirit (which can never be divided from the right institution of the Lord Jesus) will not frustrate the faithful of the fruit of that mystical action; but all this, we say, comes by true faith, which apprehends Christ Jesus, who only makes this sacrament effectual unto us. And, therefore, whosoever slanders us, as that we affirm or believe sacraments to be only naked and bare signs, do injury unto us, and speak against the manifest truth.\n\nBut this liberally and frankly we must confess, that we make a distinction betwixt Christ Jesus, in his natural substance, and betwixt the elements in the sacramental signs; so that we will neither worship the signs in place of that which is signified by them; neither yet do we despise and interpret them as unprofitable and vain; but do use them with all reverence, examining ourselves diligently before that so we do, because we are assured by the mouth of the apostle, That such as eat of that bread, and drink of that cup, unworthily, are guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord Jesus."
},
{
"Article": "22",
"Title": "Of the Right Administration of the Sacraments",
"Content": "That sacraments be rightly ministered, we judge two things requisite: the one, that they be ministered by lawful ministers, whom we affirm to be only they that are appointed to the preaching of the word, or into whose mouths God has put some sermon of exhortation, they being men lawfully chosen thereto by some kirk. The other, that they be ministered in such elements, and in such sort, as God has appointed; else, we affirm that they cease to be right sacraments of Christ Jesus.\n\nAnd therefore it is that we flee the society of the Papistical kirk, in participation of their sacraments: first, because their ministers are no ministers of Christ Jesus; yea (which is more horrible) they suffer women, whom the Holy Ghost will not suffer to teach in the congregation, to baptize. And, secondly, because they have so adulterated both the one sacrament and the other with their own inventions, that no part of Christ's action abides in the original purity: for oil, salt, spittle, and suchlike in baptism, are but men's inventions. Adoration, veneration, bearing through streets and towns, and keeping of bread in boxes or buists [chests], are profanation of Christ's sacraments, and no use of the same. For Christ Jesus said, Take, eat, etc. Do ye this in remembrance of me. By which words and charge he sanctified bread and wine, to be the sacrament of his body and blood, to the end that the one should be eaten, and that all should drink of the other; and not that they should be kept to be worshipped, and honoured as God, as the blind Papists have done heretofore, who also committed sacrilege, stealing from the people the one part of the sacrament: to wit, the blessed cup.\n\nMoreover, that the sacraments be rightly used, it is required that the end and cause why the sacraments were instituted be understood and observed, as well of the minister, as the receivers. For if the opinion be changed in the receiver, the right use ceases: which is most evident by the rejection of the sacrifices; as also if the teacher plainly teaches false doctrine, which were odious and abominable before God (albeit they were his own ordinances), because that wicked men use them to another end than God has ordained. The same affirm we of the sacraments in the Papistical kirk, in which we affirm the whole action of the Lord Jesus to be adulterated, as well in the external form, as in the end and opinion. What Christ Jesus did, and commanded to be done, is evident by the evangelists, and by Saint Paul. What the priest does at his altar we need not rehearse. The end and cause of Christ's institution, and why the selfsame should be used, is expressed in these words: Do this in remembrance of me. As oft as ye shall eat of this bread and drink of this cup, ye shall show forth, that is, extol, preach, magnify, and praise, the Lord's death till he come. But to what end, and in what opinion, the priests say their Mass, let the words of the same, their own doctors and writings witness: to wit, that they, as mediators betwixt Christ and his kirk, do offer unto God the Father a sacrifice propitiatory for the sins of the quick and the dead. Which doctrine, as blasphemous to Christ Jesus, and making derogation to the sufficiency of his only sacrifice, once offered for purgation of all those that shall be sanctified, we utterly abhor, detest, and renounce."
},
{
"Article": "23",
"Title": "To Whom the Sacraments Appertain",
"Content": "in We confess and acknowledge that baptism appertains as well to the infants of the faithful, as unto those that be of age and discretion. And so we damn the error of the Anabaptists, who deny baptism to appertain to children before that they have faith and understanding. But the supper of the Lord we confess to appertain to such only as be of the household of faith, and can try and examine themselves, as well in their faith, as in their duty towards their neighbors. Such as eat and drink at that holy table without faith, or being at dissension and division with their brethren, do eat unworthily: and therefore it is, that in our kirks our ministers take public and particular examination of the knowledge and conversation of such as are to be admitted to the table of the Lord Jesus."
},
{
"Article": "24",
"Title": "Of the Civil Magistrate",
"Content": "We confess and acknowledge empires, kingdoms, dominions, and cities to be distinguished and ordained by God: the powers and authorities in the same (be it of emperors in their empires, of kings in their realms, dukes and princes in their dominions, or of other magistrates in free cities) to be God's holy ordinance, ordained for manifestation of his own glory, and for the singular profit and commodity of mankind. So that whosoever goes about to take away or to confound the whole state of civil policies, now long established; we affirm the same men not only to be enemies to mankind, but also wickedly to fight against God's expressed will.\n\nWe further confess and acknowledge, that such persons as are placed in authority are to be loved, honoured, feared, and held in most reverent estimation because they are the lieutenants of God, in whose sessions God himself does sit and judge (yea even the judges and princes themselves), to whom by God is given the sword, to the praise and defense of good men, and to revenge and punish all open malefactors. Moreover, to kings, princes, rulers, and magistrates, we affirm that chiefly and most principally the conservation and purgation of the religion appertains; so that not only they are appointed for civil policy, but also for maintenance of the true religion, and for suppressing of idolatry and superstition whatsoever: as in David, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, Josiah, and others, highly commended for their zeal in that case, may be espied.\n\nAnd therefore we confess and avow, that such as resist the supreme power (doing that thing which appertains to his charge), do resist God's ordinance, and therefore cannot be guiltless. And further, we affirm that whosoever denies unto them their aid, counsel and comfort, while the princes and rulers vigilantly travail in the execution of their office, that the same men deny their help, support and counsel to God, who, by the presence of his lieutenant, craves it of them."
},
{
"Article": "25",
"Title": "The Gifts Freely Given to the Kirk",
"Content": "Albeit that the word of God truly preached, and the sacraments rightly ministered, and discipline executed according to the word of God, be the certain and infallible signs of the true kirk; yet do we not so mean that every particular person joined with such a company be an elect member of Christ Jesus. For we acknowledge and confess, that darnel, cockle, and chaff may be sown, grow, and in great abundance lie in the midst of the wheat: that is, the reprobate may be joined in the society of the elect, and may externally use with them the benefits of the word and sacraments; but such being but temporal professors in mouth, but not in heart, do fall back and continue not to the end; and therefore have they no fruit of Christ's death, resurrection, nor ascension.\n\nBut such as with heart unfeignedly believe, and with mouth boldly confess the Lord Jesus (as before we have said) shall most assuredly receive these gifts: first, in this life, remission of sins, and that by only faith in Christ's blood, insomuch that, albeit sin remains and continually abides in these our mortal bodies, yet is it not imputed unto us, but is remitted and covered with Christ's justice. Secondly, in the general judgment there shall be given to every man and woman resurrection of the flesh; for the sea shall give her dead, the earth those that therein be enclosed; yea, the Eternal, our God, shall stretch out his hand upon the dust, and the dead shall arise incorruptible, and that in the substance of the selfsame flesh that every man now bears, to receive according to their works, glory or punishment. For such as now delight in vanity, cruelty, filthiness, superstition, or idolatry, shall be adjudged to the fire unquenchable, in which they shall be tormented for ever, as well in their own bodies, as in their souls, which now they give to serve the devil in all abomination. But such as continue in well doing to the end, boldly professing the Lord Jesus, we constantly believe that they shall receive glory, honour, and immortality, to reign for ever in life everlasting with Christ Jesus, to whose glorified body all his elect shall be made like, when he shall appear again to judgment, and shall render up the kingdom to God his Father, who then shall be, and ever shall remain all in all things, God blessed for ever: to whom, with the Son, and with the Holy Ghost, be all honour and glory, now and ever. Amen.\n\nArise, O Lord, and let thy enemies be confounded: Let them flee from thy presence that hate thy godly name: Give thy servants strength to speak thy word in boldness; and let all nations cleave to thy true knowledge.\n\nSo be it."
}
]
}
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{
"Metadata": {
"Title": "Shema Yisrael",
"AlternativeTitles": [
"Shema Israel",
"Sh'ma Yisrael",
"Shema"
],
"Year": "-1500",
"Authors": [
"Moses"
],
"Location": "",
"OriginalLanguage": "Hebrew",
"OriginStory": "",
"SourceUrl": "https://esv.literalword.com/?q=deut+6%3A4-5",
"SourceAttribution": "Copyright - Crossway",
"CreedFormat": "Creed"
},
"Data": {
"Content": "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.",
"ContentWithProofs": "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.[1]",
"Proofs": [
{
"Id": 1,
"References": ["Deut.6.4-Deut.6.5"]
}
]
}
}
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{
"Metadata": {
"Title": "Ten Theses of Berne",
"AlternativeTitles": [
"Ten Conclusions of Berne"
],
"Year": "1528",
"Authors": [
"Berthold Haller",
"Ulrich Zwingli"
],
"Location": "Berne, Switzerland",
"OriginalLanguage": "Latin",
"OriginStory": "The disputation at Berne lasted nineteen days (from Jan. 6 to 26). It was the Protestant counterpart of the disputation at Baden in composition, arrangements and result. It had the same effect for Berne as the disputations of 1523 had for Zurich.",
"SourceUrl": "https://ccel.org/ccel/schaff/hcc8/hcc8.iv.iv.ii.html",
"SourceAttribution": "Public Domain",
"CreedFormat": "Canon"
},
"Data": [
{
"Article": "1",
"Title": "Thesis 1",
"Content": "The holy Christian Church, whose only Head is Christ, is born of the Word of God, and abides in the same, and listens not to the voice of a stranger."
},
{
"Article": "2",
"Title": "Thesis 2",
"Content": "The Church of Christ makes no laws and commandments without the Word of God. Hence human traditions are no more binding on us than they are founded in the Word of God."
},
{
"Article": "3",
"Title": "Thesis 3",
"Content": "Christ is the only wisdom, righteousness, redemption, and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world. Hence it is a denial of Christ when we confess another ground of salvation and satisfaction."
},
{
"Article": "4",
"Title": "Thesis 4",
"Content": "The essential and corporeal presence of the body and blood of Christ can not be demonstrated from the Holy Scripture."
},
{
"Article": "5",
"Title": "Thesis 5",
"Content": "The mass as now in use, in which Christ is offered to God the Father for the sins of the living and the dead, is contrary to Scripture, a blasphemy against the most holy sacrifice, passion, and death of Christ, and on account of its abuses an abomination before God."
},
{
"Article": "6",
"Title": "Thesis 6",
"Content": "As Christ alone died for us, so he is also to be adored as the only Mediator and Advocate between God the Father and the believers. Therefore it is contrary to the Word of God to propose and invoke other mediators."
},
{
"Article": "7",
"Title": "Thesis 7",
"Content": "Scripture knows nothing of a purgatory after this life. Hence all masses and other offices for the dead are useless."
},
{
"Article": "8",
"Title": "Thesis 8",
"Content": "The worship of images is contrary to the Scripture. Therefore images should be abolished when they are set up as objects of adoration."
},
{
"Article": "9",
"Title": "Thesis 9",
"Content": "Matrimony is not forbidden in the Scripture to any class of men, but permitted to all."
},
{
"Article": "10",
"Title": "Thesis 10",
"Content": "Since, according to Scripture, and open fornicator must be excommunicated, it follows that unchastity and impure celibacy are more pernicious to the clergy than to any other class."
}
]
}
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{
"Metadata": {
"Title": "Tertullian's Rule of Faith",
"AlternativeTitles": [],
"Year": "c. 200",
"Authors": [
"Tertullian"
],
"Location": "Carthage, Roman Empire",
"OriginalLanguage": "Latin",
"OriginStory": "Tertullian gives the essence of Christian faith as a litmus test for heresy",
"SourceUrl": "https://ccel.org/ccel/tertullian/heretics/anf03.v.iii.xiii.html",
"SourceAttribution": "Public Domain",
"CreedFormat": "Creed"
},
"Data": {
"Content": "There is one only God, and that He is none other than the Creator of the world, who produced all things out of nothing through His own Word, first of all sent forth; that this Word is called His Son, and, under the name of God, was seen \"in diverse manners\" by the patriarchs, heard at all times in the prophets, at last brought down by the Spirit and Power of the Father into the Virgin Mary, was made flesh in her womb, and, being born of her, went forth as Jesus Christ; thenceforth He preached the new law and the new promise of the kingdom of heaven, worked miracles; having been crucified, He rose again the third day; (then) having ascended into the heavens, He sat at the right hand of the Father; sent instead of Himself the Power of the Holy Ghost to lead such as believe; will come with glory to take the saints to the enjoyment of everlasting life and of the heavenly promises, and to condemn the wicked to everlasting fire, after the resurrection of both these classes shall have happened, together with the restoration of their flesh."
}
}
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{
"Metadata": {
"Title": "Waldensian Confession",
"AlternativeTitles": [
"Waldensian Confession of 1120"
],
"Year": "1120",
"Authors": [],
"Location": "Lyon, France",
"OriginalLanguage": null,
"OriginStory": null,
"SourceUrl": "http://apostles-creed.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/waldensian_confession_1120.pdf",
"SourceAttribution": "Public Domain",
"CreedFormat": "Canon"
},
"Data": [
{
"Article": "1",
"Title": "Article 1",
"Content": "We believe and firmly hold all that which is contained in the twelve Articles of the Symbol, which is called the Apostles' Creed, accounting for Heresie whatsoever is disagreeing, and not consonant to the said 12 Articles."
},
{
"Article": "2",
"Title": "Article 2",
"Content": "We do believe that there is one God, Father, Son, & Holy Ghost."
},
{
"Article": "3",
"Title": "Article 3",
"Content": "We acknowledg for the holy Canonical Scriptures, the Books of the holy Bible. The Books of Moses called Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1st Samuel, 2nd of Samuel, 1st of Kings, 2nd of Kings, 1st Chronicles, 2nd Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Psalms. The Proverbs of Solomon, Ecclesiastes, or the Preacher, The Song of Solomon, The Prophesies of Isaiah, and Jeremiah. The Lamentations of Jeremiah. Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonas, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi.\n\n Here follow the Books Apocryphal, which are not received of the Hebrews. But we reade them (as saith St. Hierome in his Prologue to the Proverbs) for the instruction of the People, not to confirm the Authority of the Doctrine of the Church: 2nd Esdras, 3d Esdras, Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, with the Epistle of Jeremiah, Esther from the tenth Chapter to the end, The Song of the three Children in the Fornace, The History of Susanna, The History of the Dragon, 1 Maccabes, 2 Maccabes, 3 Maccabes.\n\n Here follow the Books of the New Testament: The Gospels according to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, The Acts of the Apostles, The Epistle of Paul to the Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, The Epistle to the Hebrews, The Epistle of James, The first Epistle of Peter, The second Epistle of Peter, The first Epistle of John, The second Epistle of John, The third Epistle of John, The Epistle of Jude, The Revelation of John."
},
{
"Article": "4",
"Title": "Article 4",
"Content": "The Books above-said teach this, That there is one God, Almighty, all wise, and all good, who has made all things by his goodness, For he formed Adam in his own image and likeness, but that by the envy of the Devil, and the disobedience of the said Adam, sin has entred into the World, and that we are Sinners in Adam and by Adam."
},
{
"Article": "5",
"Title": "Article 5",
"Content": "That Christ was promised to our Fathers who received the Law, that so knowing by the Law their sin, unrighteousness and insufficiency, they might desire the coming of Christ, to satisfie for their sins, and accomplish the Law by himself."
},
{
"Article": "6",
"Title": "Article 6",
"Content": "That Christ was born in the time appointed by God the Father. That is to say, in the time when all iniquity abounded, and not for the cause of good works, for all were Sinners; but that he might shew us grace and mercy, as being faithfull."
},
{
"Article": "7",
"Title": "Article 7",
"Content": "That Christ is our life, truth, peace, and righteousness, as also our Pastour, Advocate, Sacrifice, and Priest, who died for the salvation of all those that believe, and is risen for our justification."
},
{
"Article": "8",
"Title": "Article 8",
"Content": "In like manner, we firmly hold, that there is no other Mediatour and Advocate with God the Father, save onely Jesus Christ. And as for the Virgin Mary, that she was holy, humble, and full of grace; and in like manner do we believe concerning all the other Saints, that being in Heaven they wait for the Resurrection of their Bodies at the Day of Judgment."
},
{
"Article": "9",
"Title": "Article 9",
"Content": "We believe that after this life, there are onely two places, the one for the saved, and the other for the damned, the which two places we call Paradise and Hell, absolutely denying that Purgatory invented by Antichrist and forged contrary to the truth."
},
{
"Article": "10",
"Title": "Article 10",
"Content": "We have always accounted as an unspeakable abomination before God, all those Inventions of men, namely, the Feasts and the Vigils of Saints, the Water which they call holy. As likewise to abstain from flesh upon certain Days, and the like; but especially their Masses."
},
{
"Article": "11",
"Title": "Article 11",
"Content": "We esteem for an abomination and as Anti-Christian, all those humane Inventions which are a trouble or prejudice to the Liberty of the Spirit."
},
{
"Article": "12",
"Title": "Article 12",
"Content": "We do believe that the Sacraments are signs of the holy thing, or visible forms of the invisible grace, accounting it good that the faithfull sometimes use the said signs or visible forms, if it may be done. However, we believe and hold, that the above-said faithfull may be saved without receiving the signs aforesaid, in case they have no place nor any means to use them."
},
{
"Article": "13",
"Title": "Article 13",
"Content": "We acknowledg no other Sacrament but Baptism and the Lords Supper."
},
{
"Article": "14",
"Title": "Article 14",
"Content": "We ought to honour the secular powers, by subjection, ready obedience, and paying of Tributes."
}
]
}
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{
"Metadata": {
"Title": "Westminster Shorter Catechism",
"AlternativeTitles": [
"The humble Advise of the Assembly of Divines setting at Westminster, Concerning A shorter Catechisme"
],
"Year": "1647",
"Authors": [
"Westminster Assembly"
],
"Location": "London, England",
"OriginalLanguage": "English",
"OriginStory": null,
"SourceUrl": "https://archive.org/details/bim_early-english-books-1641-1700_the-humble-advice-of-the_westminster-assembly-of-_1647_0",
"SourceAttribution": "Public Domain",
"CreedFormat": "Catechism"
},
"Data": [
{
"Number": 1,
"Question": "What is the chief end of man?",
"Answer": "Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever."
},
{
"Number": 2,
"Question": "What rule hath God given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him?",
"Answer": "The Word of God, which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him."
},
{
"Number": 3,
"Question": "What do the Scriptures principally teach?",
"Answer": "The Scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man."
},
{
"Number": 4,
"Question": "What is God?",
"Answer": "God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth."
},
{
"Number": 5,
"Question": "Are there more Gods than one?",
"Answer": "There is but one only, the living and true God."
},
{
"Number": 6,
"Question": "How many persons are there in the Godhead?",
"Answer": "There are three persons in the Godhead; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory."
},
{
"Number": 7,
"Question": "What are the decrees of God?",
"Answer": "The decrees of God are, his eternal purpose, according to the counsel of his will, whereby, for his own glory, he hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass."
},
{
"Number": 8,
"Question": "How doth God execute his decrees?",
"Answer": "God executeth his decrees in the works of creation and providence."
},
{
"Number": 9,
"Question": "What is the work of creation?",
"Answer": "The work of creation is, God's making all things of nothing, by the word of his power, in the space of six days, and all very good."
},
{
"Number": 10,
"Question": "How did God create man?",
"Answer": "God created man male and female, after his own image, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, with dominion over the creatures."
},
{
"Number": 11,
"Question": "What are God's works of providence?",
"Answer": "God's works of providence are, his most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures, and all their actions."
},
{
"Number": 12,
"Question": "What special act of providence did God exercise toward man in the estate wherein he was created?",
"Answer": "When God had created man, he entered into a covenant of life with him, upon condition of perfect obedience; forbidding him to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, upon pain of death."
},
{
"Number": 13,
"Question": "Did our first parents continue in the estate wherein they were created?",
"Answer": "Our first parents, being left to the freedom of their own will, fell from the estate wherein they were created, by sinning against God."
},
{
"Number": 14,
"Question": "What is sin?",
"Answer": "Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God."
},
{
"Number": 15,
"Question": "What was the sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were created?",
"Answer": "The sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were created, was their eating the forbidden fruit."
},
{
"Number": 16,
"Question": "Did all mankind fall in Adam's first transgression?",
"Answer": "The covenant being made with Adam, not only for himself, but for his posterity; all mankind, descending from him by ordinary generation, sinned in him, and fell with him, in his first transgression."
},
{
"Number": 17,
"Question": "Into what estate did the fall bring mankind?",
"Answer": "The fall brought mankind into an estate of sin and misery."
},
{
"Number": 18,
"Question": "Wherein consists the sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell?",
"Answer": "The sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell, consists in the guilt of Adam's first sin, the want of original righteousness, and the corruption of his whole nature, which is commonly called original sin; together with all actual transgressions which proceed from it."
},
{
"Number": 19,
"Question": "What is the misery of that estate whereinto man fell?",
"Answer": "All mankind by their fall lost communion with God, are under his wrath and curse, and so made liable to all miseries in this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell for ever."
},
{
"Number": 20,
"Question": "Did God leave all mankind to perish in the estate of sin and misery?",
"Answer": "God having, out of his mere good pleasure, from all eternity, elected some to everlasting life did enter into a covenant of grace, to deliver them out of the estate of sin and misery, and to bring them into an estate of salvation by a Redeemer."
},
{
"Number": 21,
"Question": "Who is the Redeemer of God's elect?",
"Answer": "The only Redeemer of God's elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, being the eternal Son of God, became man and so was, and continueth to be, God and man in two distinct natures, and one person, forever."
},
{
"Number": 22,
"Question": "How did Christ, being the Son of God, become man?",
"Answer": "Christ, the Son of God, became man, by taking to himself a true body, and a reasonable soul, being conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost, in the womb of the virgin Mary, and born of her yet without sin."
},
{
"Number": 23,
"Question": "What offices doth Christ execute as our Redeemer?",
"Answer": "Christ, as our Redeemer, executeth the offices of a prophet, of a priest, and of a king, both in his estate of humiliation and exaltation."
},
{
"Number": 24,
"Question": "How doth Christ execute the office of a prophet?",
"Answer": "Christ executeth the office of a prophet, in revealing to us, by his Word and Spirit the will of God for our salvation."
},
{
"Number": 25,
"Question": "How doth Christ execute the office of a priest?",
"Answer": "Christ executeth the office of a priest, in his once offering up of himself a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice, and reconcile us to God; and in making continual intercession for us."
},
{
"Number": 26,
"Question": "How doth Christ execute the office of a king?",
"Answer": "Christ executeth the office of a king, in subduing us to himself, in ruling and defending us, and in restraining and conquering all his and our enemies."
},
{
"Number": 27,
"Question": "Wherein did Christ's humiliation consist?",
"Answer": "Christ's humiliation consisted in his being born, and that in a low condition, made under the law, undergoing the miseries of this life, the wrath of God, and the cursed death of the cross; in being buried, and continuing under the power of death for a time."
},
{
"Number": 28,
"Question": "Wherein consisteth Christ's exaltation?",
"Answer": "Christ's exaltation consisteth in his rising again from the dead on the third day, in ascending up into heaven, in sitting at the right hand of God the Father, and in coming to judge the world at the last day."
},
{
"Number": 29,
"Question": "How are we made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ?",
"Answer": "We are made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ, by the effectual application of it to us by his Holy Spirit."
},
{
"Number": 30,
"Question": "How doth the Spirit apply to us the redemption purchased by Christ?",
"Answer": "The Spirit applieth to us the redemption purchased by Christ, by working faith in us, and thereby uniting us to Christ in our effectual calling."
},
{
"Number": 31,
"Question": "What is effectual calling?",
"Answer": "Effectual calling is the work of God's Spirit, whereby, convincing us of our sin and misery, enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ, and renewing our wills, he doth persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ, freely offered to us in the gospel."
},
{
"Number": 32,
"Question": "What benefits do they that are effectually called partake of in this life?",
"Answer": "They that are effectually called do in this life partake of justification, adoption, and sanctification, and the several benefits which in this life do either accompany or flow from them."
},
{
"Number": 33,
"Question": "What is justification?",
"Answer": "Justification is an act of God's free grace, wherein he pardoneth all our sins, and accepteth us as righteous in his sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and received by faith alone."
},
{
"Number": 34,
"Question": "What is adoption?",
"Answer": "Adoption is an act of God's free grace, whereby we are received into the number, and have a right to all the privileges, of the sons of God."
},
{
"Number": 35,
"Question": "What is sanctification?",
"Answer": "Sanctification is the work of God's free grace, whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God, and are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness."
},
{
"Number": 36,
"Question": "What are the benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from justification, adoption, and sanctification?",
"Answer": "The benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from justification, adoption, and sanctification, are, assurance of God's love, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Ghost, increase of grace, and perseverance therein to the end."
},
{
"Number": 37,
"Question": "What benefits do believers receive from Christ at death?",
"Answer": "The souls of believers are at their death made perfect in holiness, and do immediately pass into glory; and their bodies, being still united to Christ, do rest in their graves till the resurrection."
},
{
"Number": 38,
"Question": "What benefits do believers receive from Christ at the resurrection?",
"Answer": "At the resurrection, believers being raised up in glory, shall be openly acknowledged and acquitted in the day of judgment, and made perfectly blessed in the full enjoying of God to all eternity."
},
{
"Number": 39,
"Question": "What is the duty which God requireth of man?",
"Answer": "The duty which God requireth of man, is obedience to his revealed will."
},
{
"Number": 40,
"Question": "What did God at first reveal to man for the rule of his obedience?",
"Answer": "The rule which God at first revealed to man for his obedience, was the moral law."
},
{
"Number": 41,
"Question": "Wherein is the moral law summarily comprehended?",
"Answer": "The moral law is summarily comprehended in the ten commandments."
},
{
"Number": 42,
"Question": "What is the sum of the ten commandments?",
"Answer": "The sum of the ten commandments is, To love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our strength, and with all our mind; and our neighbour as ourselves."
},
{
"Number": 43,
"Question": "What is the preface to the ten commandments?",
"Answer": "The preface to the ten commandments is in these words, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. "
},
{
"Number": 44,
"Question": "What doth the preface to the ten commandments teach us?",
"Answer": "The preface to the ten commandments teacheth us, That because God is the Lord, and our God, and Redeemer, therefore we are bound to keep all his commandments."
},
{
"Number": 45,
"Question": "Which is the first commandment?",
"Answer": "The first commandment is, Thou shalt have no other gods before me."
},
{
"Number": 46,
"Question": "What is required in the first commandment?",
"Answer": "The first commandment requireth us to know and acknowledge God to be the only true God, and our God; and to worship and glorify him accordingly."
},
{
"Number": 47,
"Question": "What is forbidden in the first commandment?",
"Answer": "The first commandment forbiddeth the denying, or not worshipping and glorifying the true God as God, and our God; and the giving of that worship and glory to any other, which is due to him alone."
},
{
"Number": 48,
"Question": "What are we specially taught by these words, 'before me', in the first commandment?",
"Answer": "These words, before me, in the first commandment teach us, that God, who seeth all things, taketh notice of, and is much displeased with, the sin of having any other God."
},
{
"Number": 49,
"Question": "Which is the second commandment?",
"Answer": "The second commandment is, Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thy self to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments."
},
{
"Number": 50,
"Question": "What is required in the second commandment?",
"Answer": "The second commandment requireth the receiving, observing, and keeping pure and entire, all such religious worship and ordinances as God hath appointed in his Word."
},
{
"Number": 51,
"Question": "What is forbidden in the second commandment?",
"Answer": "The second commandment forbiddeth the worshipping of God by images, or any other way not appointed in his Word."
},
{
"Number": 52,
"Question": "What are the reasons annexed to the second commandment?",
"Answer": "The reasons annexed to the second commandment are, God's sovereignty over us, his propriety in us, and the zeal he hath to his own worship."
},
{
"Number": 53,
"Question": "Which is the third commandment?",
"Answer": "The third commandment is, Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. "
},
{
"Number": 54,
"Question": "What is required in the third commandment?",
"Answer": "The third commandment requireth the holy and reverend use of God's names, titles, attributes, ordinances, Word, and works."
},
{
"Number": 55,
"Question": "What is forbidden in the third commandment?",
"Answer": "The third commandment forbiddeth all profaning or abusing of anything whereby God maketh himself known."
},
{
"Number": 56,
"Question": "What is the reason annexed to the third commandment?",
"Answer": "The reason annexed to the third commandment is, that however the breakers of this commandment may escape punishment from men, yet the Lord our God will not suffer them to escape his righteous judgment."
},
{
"Number": 57,
"Question": "Which is the fourth commandment?",
"Answer": "The fourth commandment is, Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it."
},
{
"Number": 58,
"Question": "What is required in the fourth commandment?",
"Answer": "The fourth commandment requireth the keeping holy to God such set times as he hath appointed in his Word; expressly one whole day in seven, to be a holy sabbath to himself."
},
{
"Number": 59,
"Question": "Which day of the seven hath God appointed to be the weekly sabbath?",
"Answer": "From the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ, God appointed the seventh day of the week to be the weekly sabbath; and the first day of the week ever since, to continue to the end of the world, which is the Christian sabbath."
},
{
"Number": 60,
"Question": "How is the sabbath to be sanctified?",
"Answer": "The sabbath is to be sanctified by a holy resting all that day, even from such worldly employments and recreations as are lawful on other days; and spending the whole time in the public and private exercises of God's worship, except so much as is to be taken up in the works of necessity and mercy."
},
{
"Number": 61,
"Question": "What is forbidden in the fourth commandment?",
"Answer": "The fourth commandment forbiddeth the omission or careless performance of the duties required, and the profaning the day by idleness, or doing that which is in itself sinful, or by unnecessary thoughts, words, or works, about our worldly employments or recreations."
},
{
"Number": 62,
"Question": "What are the reasons annexed to the fourth commandment?",
"Answer": "The reasons annexed to the fourth commandment are, God's allowing us six days of the week for our own employments, his challenging a special propriety in the seventh, his own example, and his blessing the sabbath day."
},
{
"Number": 63,
"Question": "Which is the fifth commandment?",
"Answer": "The fifth commandment is, Honour thy father and thy mother; that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee."
},
{
"Number": 64,
"Question": "What is required in the fifth commandment?",
"Answer": "The fifth commandment requireth the preserving the honor, and performing the duties, belonging to everyone in their several places and relations, as superiors, inferiors, or equals."
},
{
"Number": 65,
"Question": "What is forbidden in the fifth commandment?",
"Answer": "The fifth commandment forbiddeth the neglecting of, or doing anything against, the honor and duty which belongeth to everyone in their several places and relations."
},
{
"Number": 66,
"Question": "What is the reason annexed to the fifth commandment?",
"Answer": "The reason annexed to the fifth commandment is, a promise of long life and prosperity (as far as it shall serve for God's glory and their own good) to all such as keep this commandment."
},
{
"Number": 67,
"Question": "Which is the sixth commandment?",
"Answer": "The sixth commandment is, Thou shalt not kill."
},
{
"Number": 68,
"Question": "What is required in the sixth commandment?",
"Answer": "The sixth commandment requireth all lawful endeavors to preserve our own life, and the life of others."
},
{
"Number": 69,
"Question": "What is forbidden in the sixth commandment?",
"Answer": "The sixth commandment forbiddeth the taking away of our own life, or the life of our neighbour, unjustly, or whatsoever tendeth thereunto."
},
{
"Number": 70,
"Question": "Which is the seventh commandment?",
"Answer": "The seventh commandment is, Thou shalt not commit adultery."
},
{
"Number": 71,
"Question": "What is required in the seventh commandment?",
"Answer": "The seventh commandment requireth the preservation of our own and our neighbour's chastity, in heart, speech, and behavior."
},
{
"Number": 72,
"Question": "What is forbidden in the seventh commandment?",
"Answer": "The seventh commandment forbiddeth all unchaste thoughts, words, and actions."
},
{
"Number": 73,
"Question": "Which is the eighth commandment?",
"Answer": "The eighth commandment is, Thou shalt not steal."
},
{
"Number": 74,
"Question": "What is required in the eighth commandment?",
"Answer": "The eighth commandment requireth the lawful procuring and furthering the wealth and outward estate of ourselves and others."
},
{
"Number": 75,
"Question": "What is forbidden in the eighth commandment?",
"Answer": "The eighth commandment forbiddeth whatsoever doth, or may, unjustly hinder our own, or our neighbour's, wealth or outward estate."
},
{
"Number": 76,
"Question": "Which is the ninth commandment?",
"Answer": "The ninth commandment is, Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. "
},
{
"Number": 77,
"Question": "What is required in the ninth commandment?",
"Answer": "The ninth commandment requireth the maintaining and promoting of truth between man and man, and of our own and our neighbour's good name, especially in witness bearing."
},
{
"Number": 78,
"Question": "What is forbidden in the ninth commandment?",
"Answer": "The ninth commandment forbiddeth whatsoever is prejudicial to truth, or injurious to our own, or our neighbour's, good name."
},
{
"Number": 79,
"Question": "Which is the tenth commandment?",
"Answer": "The tenth commandment is, Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbour's."
},
{
"Number": 80,
"Question": "What is required in the tenth commandment?",
"Answer": "The tenth commandment requireth full contentment with our own condition, with a right and charitable frame of spirit toward our neighbour, and all that is his."
},
{
"Number": 81,
"Question": "What is forbidden in the tenth commandment?",
"Answer": "The tenth commandment forbiddeth all discontentment with our own estate, envying or grieving at the good of our neighbour, and all inordinate motions and affections to anything that is his."
},
{
"Number": 82,
"Question": "Is any man able perfectly to keep the commandments of God?",
"Answer": "No mere man, since the fall, is able in this life perfectly to keep the commandments of God, but doth daily break them in thought, word, and deed."
},
{
"Number": 83,
"Question": "Are all transgressions of the law equally heinous?",
"Answer": "Some sins in themselves, and by reason of several aggravations, are more heinous in the sight of God than others."
},
{
"Number": 84,
"Question": "What doth every sin deserve?",
"Answer": "Every sin deserveth God's wrath and curse, both in this life, and that which is to come."
},
{
"Number": 85,
"Question": "What doth God require of us, that we may escape his wrath and curse, due to us for sin?",
"Answer": "To escape the wrath and curse of God, due to us for sin, God requireth of us faith in Jesus Christ, repentance unto life, with the diligent use of all the outward means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption."
},
{
"Number": 86,
"Question": "What is faith in Jesus Christ?",
"Answer": "Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace, whereby we receive and rest upon him alone for salvation, as he is offered to us in the gospel."
},
{
"Number": 87,
"Question": "What is repentance unto life?",
"Answer": "Repentance unto life is a saving grace, whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin, and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, doth, with grief and hatred of his sin, turn from it unto God, with full purpose of, and endeavour after, new obedience."
},
{
"Number": 88,
"Question": "What are the outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption?",
"Answer": "The outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption are, his ordinances, especially the Word, sacraments, and prayer; all which are made effectual to the elect for salvation."
},
{
"Number": 89,
"Question": "How is the Word made effectual to salvation?",
"Answer": "The Spirit of God maketh the reading, but especially the preaching of the Word, an effectual means of convincing and converting sinners, and of building them up in holiness and comfort, through faith, unto salvation."
},
{
"Number": 90,
"Question": "How is the Word to be read and heard, that it may become effectual to salvation?",
"Answer": "That the Word may become effectual to salvation, we must attend thereunto with diligence, preparation, and prayer; receive it with faith and love, lay it up in our hearts, and practice it in our lives."
},
{
"Number": 91,
"Question": "How do the sacraments become effectual means of salvation?",
"Answer": "The sacraments become effectual means of salvation, not from any virtue in them, or in him that doth administer them; but only by the blessing of Christ, and the working of his Spirit in them that by faith receive them."
},
{
"Number": 92,
"Question": "What is a sacrament?",
"Answer": "A sacrament is an holy ordinance instituted by Christ; wherein, by sensible signs, Christ, and the benefits of the new covenant, are represented, sealed, and applied to believers."
},
{
"Number": 93,
"Question": "Which are the sacraments of the New Testament?",
"Answer": "The sacraments of the New Testament are, Baptism, and the Lord's Supper."
},
{
"Number": 94,
"Question": "What is Baptism?",
"Answer": "Baptism is a sacrament, wherein the washing with water in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, doth signify and seal our ingrafting into Christ, and partaking of the benefits of the covenant of grace, and our engagement to be the Lord's."
},
{
"Number": 95,
"Question": "To whom is Baptism to be administered?",
"Answer": "Baptism is not to be administered to any that are out of the visible church, till they profess their faith in Christ, and obedience to him; but the infants of such as are members of the visible church are to be baptized."
},
{
"Number": 96,
"Question": "What is the Lord's Supper?",
"Answer": "The Lord's Supper is a sacrament, wherein, by giving and receiving bread and wine, according to Christ's appointment, his death is showed forth; and the worthy receivers are, not after a corporal and carnal manner, but by faith, made partakers of his body and blood, with all his benefits, to their spiritual nourishment, and growth in grace."
},
{
"Number": 97,
"Question": "What is required for the worthy receiving of the Lord's Supper?",
"Answer": "It is required of them that would worthily partake of the Lord's Supper, that they examine themselves of their knowledge to discern the Lord's body, of their faith to feed upon him, of their repentance, love, and new obedience; lest, coming unworthily, they eat and drink judgment to themselves."
},
{
"Number": 98,
"Question": "What is prayer?",
"Answer": "Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God, for things agreeable to his will, in the name of Christ, with confession of our sins, and thankful acknowledgement of his mercies."
},
{
"Number": 99,
"Question": "What rule hath God given for our direction in prayer?",
"Answer": "The whole Word of God is of use to direct us in prayer; but the special rule of direction is that form of prayer which Christ taught his disciples, commonly called The Lord's Prayer."
},
{
"Number": 100,
"Question": "What doth the preface of the Lord's Prayer teach us?",
"Answer": "The preface of the Lord's Prayer, which is, Our Father which art in heaven, teacheth us to draw near to God with all holy reverence and confidence, as children to a father, able and ready to help us; and that we should pray with and for others."
},
{
"Number": 101,
"Question": "What do we pray for in the first petition?",
"Answer": "In the first petition, which is, Hallowed be thy name, we pray, that God would enable us, and others, to glorify him in all that whereby he maketh himself known; and that he would dispose all things to his own glory."
},
{
"Number": 102,
"Question": "What do we pray for in the second petition?",
"Answer": "In the second petition, which is, Thy kingdom come, we pray, that Satan's kingdom may be destroyed; and that the kingdom of grace may be advanced, ourselves and others brought into it, and kept in it; and that the kingdom of glory may be hastened."
},
{
"Number": 103,
"Question": "What do we pray for in the third petition?",
"Answer": "In the third petition, which is, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven, we pray, that God, by his grace, would make us able and willing to know, obey, and submit to his will in all things, as the angels do in heaven."
},
{
"Number": 104,
"Question": "What do we pray for in the fourth petition?",
"Answer": "In the fourth petition, which is, Give us this day our daily bread, we pray that of God's free gift we may receive a competent portion of the good things of this life, and enjoy his blessing with them."
},
{
"Number": 105,
"Question": "What do we pray for in the fifth petition?",
"Answer": "In the fifth petition, which is, And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors, we pray that God, for Christ's sake, would freely pardon all our sins; which we are the rather encouraged to ask, because by his grace we are enabled from the heart to forgive others."
},
{
"Number": 106,
"Question": "What do we pray for in the sixth petition?",
"Answer": "In the sixth petition, which is, And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, we pray, that God would either keep us from being tempted to sin, or support and deliver us when we are tempted."
},
{
"Number": 107,
"Question": "What doth the conclusion of the Lord's Prayer teach us?",
"Answer": "The conclusion of the Lord's Prayer, which is, For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever, Amen. teacheth us to take our encouragement in prayer from God only, and in our prayers to praise him, ascribing kingdom, power, and glory to him; and, in testimony of our desire, and assurance to be heard, we say, Amen."
}
]
}
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{
"Metadata": {
"Title": "Zwingli's 67 Articles",
"AlternativeTitles": [],
"Year": "1523",
"Authors": [
"Ulrich Zwingli"
],
"Location": "Zurich, Switzerland",
"OriginalLanguage": "Latin",
"OriginStory": null,
"SourceUrl": "https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/study/module/zwinglis-sixty-seven-articles/",
"SourceAttribution": "Public Domain",
"CreedFormat": "Canon"
},
"Data": [
{
"Article": "I",
"Title": "Introduction",
"Content": "The articles and opinions below, I, Ulrich Zwingli, confess to have preached in the worthy city of Zurich as based upon the Scriptures which are called inspired by God, and I offer to protect and conquer with the said articles, and where I have not now correctly understood said Scriptures I shall allow myself to be taught better, but only from said Scriptures."
},
{
"Article": "1",
"Title": "Article I",
"Content": "All who say that the Gospel is invalid without the confirmation of the Church err and slander God."
},
{
"Article": "2",
"Title": "Article II",
"Content": "The sum and substance of the Gospel is that our Lord Jesus Christ, the true Son of God, has made known to us the will of his heavenly Father, and has with his innocence released us from death and reconciled God."
},
{
"Article": "3",
"Title": "Article III",
"Content": "Hence Christ is the only way to salvation for all who ever were, are and shall be."
},
{
"Article": "4",
"Title": "Article IV",
"Content": "Who seeks or points out another door errs, yes, he is a murderer of souls and a thief."
},
{
"Article": "5",
"Title": "Article V",
"Content": "Therefore all who consider other teachings equal to or higher than the Gospel err, and do not know what the Gospel is."
},
{
"Article": "6",
"Title": "Article VI",
"Content": "For Jesus Christ is the guide and leader, promised by God to all human beings, which promise was fulfilled."
},
{
"Article": "7",
"Title": "Article VII",
"Content": "That he is an eternal salvation and head of all believers, who are his body, but which is dead and can do nothing without him."
},
{
"Article": "8",
"Title": "Article VIII",
"Content": "From this follows first that all who dwell in the head are members and children of God, and that it is the church or communion of the saints, the bride of Christ, Ecclesia catholica."
},
{
"Article": "9",
"Title": "Article IX",
"Content": "Furthermore, that as the members of the body can do nothing without the control of the head, so no one in the body of Christ can do the least without his head, Christ."
},
{
"Article": "10",
"Title": "Article X",
"Content": "As that man is mad whose limbs (try to) do something without his head, tearing, wounding, injuring himself; thus when the members of Christ undertake something without their head, Christ, they are mad, and injure and burden themselves with unwise ordinances."
},
{
"Article": "11",
"Title": "Article XI",
"Content": "Hence we see in the clerical (so-called) ordinances, concerning their splendor, riches, classes, titles, laws, a cause of all foolishness, for they do not also agree with the head."
},
{
"Article": "12",
"Title": "Article XII",
"Content": "Thus they still rage, not on account of the head (for that one is eager to bring forth in these times from the grace of God,) but because one will not let them rage, but tries to compel them to listen to the head."
},
{
"Article": "13",
"Title": "Article XIII",
"Content": "Where this (the head) is hearkened to one learns clearly and plainly the will of God, and man is attracted by his spirit to him and changed into him."
},
{
"Article": "14",
"Title": "Article XIV",
"Content": "Therefore all Christian people shall use their best diligence that the Gospel of Christ be preached alike everywhere."
},
{
"Article": "15",
"Title": "Article XV",
"Content": "For in the faith rests our salvation, and in unbelief our damnation; for all truth is clear in him."
},
{
"Article": "16",
"Title": "Article XVI",
"Content": "In the Gospel one learns that human doctrines and decrees do not aid in salvation."
},
{
"Article": "17",
"Title": "Article XVII: ABOUT THE POPE",
"Content": "That Christ is the only eternal high priest, from which it follows that those who have called themselves high priests have opposed the honor and power of Christ, yes, cast it out."
},
{
"Article": "18",
"Title": "Article XVIII: ABOUT THE MASS",
"Content": "That Christ, having sacrificed himself once, is to eternity a certain and valid sacrifice for the sins of all faithful, from which it follows that the mass is not a sacrifice, but is a remembrance of the sacrifice and assurance of the salvation which Christ has given us."
},
{
"Article": "19",
"Title": "Article XIX: ABOUT THE MASS",
"Content": "That Christ is the only mediator between God and us."
},
{
"Article": "20",
"Title": "Article XX: ABOUT THE INTERCESSION OF THE SAINTS",
"Content": "That God desires to give us all things in his name, whence it follows that outside of this life we need no mediator except himself."
},
{
"Article": "21",
"Title": "Article XXI: ABOUT THE INTERCESSION OF THE SAINTS",
"Content": "That when we pray for each other on earth, we do so in such manner that we believe that all things are given to us through Christ alone."
},
{
"Article": "22",
"Title": "Article XXII: ABOUT GOOD WORKS",
"Content": "That Christ is our justice, from which follows that our works in so far as they are good, so far they are of Christ, but in so far as they are ours, they are neither right nor good."
},
{
"Article": "23",
"Title": "Article XXIII: CONCERNING CLERICAL PROPERTY",
"Content": "That Christ scorns the property and pomp of this world, whence from it follows that those who attract wealth to themselves in his name slander him terribly when they make him a pretext for their avarice and willfulness."
},
{
"Article": "24",
"Title": "Article XXIV: CONCERNING THE FORBIDDING OF FOOD",
"Content": "That no Christian is bound to do those things which God has not decreed, therefore one may eat at all times all food, from which one learns that the decree about cheese and butter is a Roman swindle."
},
{
"Article": "25",
"Title": "Article XXV: ABOUT HOLIDAY AND PILGRIMAGE",
"Content": "That time and place is under the jurisdiction of Christian people, and man with them, from which is learned that those who fix time and place deprive the Christians of their liberty."
},
{
"Article": "26",
"Title": "Article XXVI: ABOUT HOODS, DRESS, INSIGNIA",
"Content": "That God is displeased with nothing so much as with hypocrisy; from which is learned that all is gross hypocrisy and profligacy which is mere show before men. Under this condemnation fall hoods, insignia, plates, etc."
},
{
"Article": "27",
"Title": "Article XXVII: ABOUT ORDER AND SECTS",
"Content": "That all Christian men are brethren of Christ and brethren of one another, and shall create no father (for themselves) on earth. Under this condemnation fall orders, sects, brotherhoods, etc."
},
{
"Article": "28",
"Title": "Article XXVIII: ABOUT THE MARRIAGE OF ECCLESIASTS",
"Content": "That all which God has allowed or not forbidden is righteous, hence marriage is permitted to all human beings."
},
{
"Article": "29",
"Title": "Article XXIX: ABOUT THE MARRIAGE OF ECCLESIASTS",
"Content": "That all who are known as clergy sin when they do not protect themselves by marriage after they have become conscious that God has not enabled them to remain chaste."
},
{
"Article": "30",
"Title": "Article XXX: ABOUT THE VOW OF CHASTITY",
"Content": "That those who promise chastity [outside of matrimony] take foolishly or childishly too much upon themselves, from which is learned that those who make such vows do wrong to the pious being."
},
{
"Article": "31",
"Title": "Article XXXI: ABOUT THE BAN",
"Content": "That no special person can impose the ban [excommunication] upon any one, except the Church, that is the [full] congregation of those among whom the one to be banned dwells, together with their watchman, i.e., the pastor."
},
{
"Article": "32",
"Title": "Article XXXII: ABOUT THE BAN",
"Content": "That one may ban only him who gives public offence."
},
{
"Article": "33",
"Title": "Article XXXIII: ABOUT ILLEGAL PROPERTY",
"Content": "That property unrighteously acquired shall not be given to temples, monasteries, cathedrals, clergy or nuns, but to the needy, if it cannot be returned to the legal owner."
},
{
"Article": "34",
"Title": "Article XXXIV: ABOUT MAGISTRY",
"Content": "The spiritual (so-called) power has no justification for its pomp in the teaching of Christ."
},
{
"Article": "35",
"Title": "Article XXXV: ABOUT MAGISTRY",
"Content": "But the laity has power and confirmation from the deed and doctrine of Christ."
},
{
"Article": "36",
"Title": "Article XXXVI: ABOUT MAGISTRY",
"Content": "All that the spiritual so-called state claims to have of power and protection belongs to the laity, if they wish to be Christians."
},
{
"Article": "37",
"Title": "Article XXXVII: ABOUT MAGISTRY",
"Content": "To them, furthermore, all Christians owe obedience without exception."
},
{
"Article": "38",
"Title": "Article XXXVIII: ABOUT MAGISTRY",
"Content": "In so far as they do not command that which is contrary to God."
},
{
"Article": "39",
"Title": "Article XXXIX: ABOUT MAGISTRY",
"Content": "Therefore all their laws shall be in harmony with the divine will, so that they protect the oppressed, even if he does not complain."
},
{
"Article": "40",
"Title": "Article XL: ABOUT MAGISTRY",
"Content": "They alone may put to death justly, also, only those who give public offence (if God is not offended let another thing be commanded)."
},
{
"Article": "41",
"Title": "Article XLI: ABOUT MAGISTRY",
"Content": "If they give good advice and help to those for whom they must account to God, then these owe to them bodily assistance."
},
{
"Article": "42",
"Title": "Article XLII: ABOUT MAGISTRY",
"Content": "But if they are unfaithful and transgress the laws of Christ they may be deposed in the name of God."
},
{
"Article": "43",
"Title": "Article XLIII: ABOUT MAGISTRY",
"Content": "In short, the realm of him is best and most stable who rules in the name of God alone, and his is worst and most unstable who rules in accordance with his own will."
},
{
"Article": "44",
"Title": "Article XLIV: ABOUT PRAYER",
"Content": "Real petitioners call to God in spirit and truly, without great ado before men."
},
{
"Article": "45",
"Title": "Article XLV: ABOUT PRAYER",
"Content": "Hypocrites do their work so that they may be seen by men, also receive their reward in this life."
},
{
"Article": "46",
"Title": "Article XLVI: ABOUT PRAYER",
"Content": "Hence it must always follow that church-song and outcry without devoutness, and only for reward, is seeking either fame before the men or gain."
},
{
"Article": "47",
"Title": "Article XLVII: ABOUT OFFENCE",
"Content": "Bodily death a man should suffer before he offend or scandalize a Christian."
},
{
"Article": "48",
"Title": "Article XLVIII: ABOUT OFFENCE",
"Content": "Whoever through stupidness or ignorance is offended without cause, he should not be left sick or weak, but he should be made strong, that he may not consider as a sin that which is not a sin."
},
{
"Article": "49",
"Title": "Article XLIX: ABOUT OFFENCE",
"Content": "Greater offence I know not than that one does not allow priests to have wives, but permits them to hire prostitutes. Out upon the shame!"
},
{
"Article": "50",
"Title": "Article L: ABOUT REMITTANCE OF SIN",
"Content": "God alone remits sin through Jesus Christ, his Son, and alone our Lord."
},
{
"Article": "51",
"Title": "Article LI: ABOUT REMITTANCE OF SIN",
"Content": "Who assigns this to created beings detracts from the honor of God and gives it to him who is not God; this is real idolatry."
},
{
"Article": "52",
"Title": "Article LII: ABOUT REMITTANCE OF SIN",
"Content": "Hence the confession which is made to the priest or neighbor shall not be declared to be a remittance of sin, but only a seeking for advice."
},
{
"Article": "53",
"Title": "Article LIII: ABOUT REMITTANCE OF SIN",
"Content": "Works of penance coming from the counsel of human beings (except excommunication) do not cancel sin; they are imposed as a menace to others."
},
{
"Article": "54",
"Title": "Article LIV: ABOUT REMITTANCE OF SIN",
"Content": "Christ has borne all our pains and labor. Therefore whoever assigns to works of penance what belongs to Christ errs and slanders God."
},
{
"Article": "55",
"Title": "Article LV: ABOUT REMITTANCE OF SIN",
"Content": "Whoever pretends to remit to a penitent being any sin would not be a vicar of God or St. Peter, but of the devil."
},
{
"Article": "56",
"Title": "Article LVI: ABOUT REMITTANCE OF SIN",
"Content": "Whoever remits any sin only for the sake of money is the companion of Simon and Balaam, and the real messenger of the devil personified."
},
{
"Article": "57",
"Title": "Article LVII: ABOUT PURGATORY",
"Content": "The true divine Scriptures know nothing about purgatory after this life."
},
{
"Article": "58",
"Title": "Article LVIII: ABOUT PURGATORY",
"Content": "The sentence of the dead is known to God only."
},
{
"Article": "59",
"Title": "Article LIX: ABOUT PURGATORY",
"Content": "And the less God has let us know concerning it, the less we should undertake to know about it."
},
{
"Article": "60",
"Title": "Article LX: ABOUT PURGATORY",
"Content": "That mankind earnestly calls to God to show mercy to the dead I do not condemn, but to determine a period of time therefore (seven years for a mortal sin), and to lie for the sake of gain, is not human, but devilish."
},
{
"Article": "61",
"Title": "Article LXI: ABOUT THE PRIESTHOOD",
"Content": "About the form of consecration which the priests have received recent times the Scriptures know nothing."
},
{
"Article": "62",
"Title": "Article LXII: ABOUT THE PRIESTHOOD",
"Content": "Furthermore, they [the Scriptures] recognize no priests except those who proclaim the word of God."
},
{
"Article": "63",
"Title": "Article LXIII: ABOUT THE PRIESTHOOD",
"Content": "They command honor should be shown, i.e. e., to furnish them with food for the body."
},
{
"Article": "64",
"Title": "Article LXIV: ABOUT THE CESSATION OF MISUSAGES",
"Content": "All those who recognize their errors shall not be allowed to suffer, but to die in peace, and thereafter arrange in a Christian manner their bequests to the Church."
},
{
"Article": "65",
"Title": "Article LXV: ABOUT THE CESSATION OF MISUSAGES",
"Content": "Those who do not wish to confess, God will probably take care of. Hence no force shall be used against their body, unless it be that they behave so criminally that one cannot do without that."
},
{
"Article": "66",
"Title": "Article LXVI: ABOUT THE CESSATION OF MISUSAGES",
"Content": "All the clerical superiors shall at once settle down, and with unanimity set up the cross of Christ, not the money-chests, or they will perish, for I tell you the ax is raised against the tree."
},
{
"Article": "67",
"Title": "Article LXVII: ABOUT THE CESSATION OF MISUSAGES",
"Content": "If any one wishes conversation with me concerning interest, tithes, unbaptized children or confirmation, I am willing to answer."
},
{
"Article": "C",
"Title": "Conclusion",
"Content": "Let no one undertake here to argue with sophistry or human foolishness, but come to the Scriptures to accept them as the judge (for the Scriptures breathe the Spirit of God), so that the truth either may be found, or if found, as I hope, retained. Amen.\n\nThus may God rule."
}
]
}
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#include <QApplication>
#include <QQmlApplicationEngine>
#include <QtQml>
#include <QUrl>
#include <QQuickStyle>
#include <KLocalizedContext>
#include <KLocalizedString>
#include <KIconTheme>
#include "confessionmodel.h"
#include "appsettings.h"
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
KIconTheme::initTheme();
QApplication app(argc, argv);
KLocalizedString::setApplicationDomain("Konfessio");
QApplication::setOrganizationName(QStringLiteral("reformedwitness"));
QApplication::setOrganizationDomain(QStringLiteral("reformedwitness.net"));
QApplication::setApplicationName(QStringLiteral("Konfessio"));
QApplication::setDesktopFileName(QStringLiteral("net.reformedwitness.konfessio"));
QApplication::setStyle(QStringLiteral("breeze"));
if (qEnvironmentVariableIsEmpty("QT_QUICK_CONTROLS_STYLE")) {
QQuickStyle::setStyle(QStringLiteral("org.kde.desktop"));
}
// Register our model types
qmlRegisterType<ConfessionModel>("net.reformedwitness.konfessio", 1, 0, "ConfessionModel");
qmlRegisterSingletonType<AppSettings>("net.reformedwitness.konfessio", 1, 0, "AppSettings",
[](QQmlEngine *engine, QJSEngine *scriptEngine) -> QObject * {
Q_UNUSED(engine)
Q_UNUSED(scriptEngine)
return new AppSettings();
});
QQmlApplicationEngine engine;
engine.rootContext()->setContextObject(new KLocalizedContext(&engine));
engine.loadFromModule("net.reformedwitness.konfessio", "Main");
if (engine.rootObjects().isEmpty()) {
return -1;
}
return app.exec();
}
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import QtQuick
import QtQuick.Controls as Controls
import QtQuick.Layouts
import org.kde.kirigami as Kirigami
import net.reformedwitness.konfessio
Kirigami.ScrollablePage {
id: root
required property var confessionModel
required property int chapterIndex
required property string chapterNum
required property string chapterTitle
required property var sections
signal navigateToPrevious()
signal navigateToNext()
title: chapterNum + ": " + chapterTitle
actions: [
Kirigami.Action {
icon.name: "go-previous"
text: "Previous"
enabled: chapterIndex > 0
onTriggered: root.navigateToPrevious()
displayHint: Kirigami.DisplayHint.IconOnly
},
Kirigami.Action {
icon.name: "go-next"
text: "Next"
enabled: confessionModel ? (chapterIndex < confessionModel.count - 1) : false
onTriggered: root.navigateToNext()
displayHint: Kirigami.DisplayHint.IconOnly
}
]
ColumnLayout {
spacing: 0
width: parent.width
// Chapter header
ColumnLayout {
Layout.fillWidth: true
Layout.maximumWidth: applicationWindow().contentMaxWidthWide
Layout.alignment: Qt.AlignHCenter
Layout.topMargin: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing * 3
Layout.bottomMargin: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing * 2
Layout.leftMargin: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing * 2
Layout.rightMargin: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing * 2
spacing: Kirigami.Units.smallSpacing
Controls.Label {
text: "Chapter " + chapterNum
font.pointSize: 11
font.bold: true
opacity: 0.6
color: Kirigami.Theme.textColor
}
Kirigami.Heading {
text: chapterTitle
level: 1
wrapMode: Text.WordWrap
Layout.fillWidth: true
}
}
// Sections
Repeater {
model: root.sections
ColumnLayout {
Layout.fillWidth: true
Layout.maximumWidth: applicationWindow().contentMaxWidthWide
Layout.alignment: Qt.AlignHCenter
spacing: 0
// Section header
Kirigami.Heading {
visible: root.sections.length > 1 && AppSettings.showSectionHeaders
text: modelData && modelData.section ? ("Section " + modelData.section) : ""
level: 3
Layout.topMargin: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing * 2
Layout.bottomMargin: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing
Layout.leftMargin: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing * 2
Layout.rightMargin: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing * 2
}
// Section content
Controls.Label {
text: modelData && modelData.content ? modelData.content : ""
wrapMode: Text.WordWrap
Layout.fillWidth: true
Layout.leftMargin: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing * 2
Layout.rightMargin: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing * 2
Layout.topMargin: (root.sections.length > 1 && AppSettings.showSectionHeaders) ? 0 : Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing * 2
Layout.bottomMargin: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing * 2
font.pointSize: AppSettings.fontSize
lineHeight: 1.8
textFormat: Text.PlainText
color: Kirigami.Theme.textColor
}
}
}
// Navigation footer
RowLayout {
Layout.fillWidth: true
Layout.maximumWidth: applicationWindow().contentMaxWidthWide
Layout.alignment: Qt.AlignHCenter
Layout.topMargin: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing * 2
Layout.bottomMargin: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing * 3
Layout.leftMargin: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing * 2
Layout.rightMargin: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing * 2
spacing: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing
Controls.Button {
icon.name: "go-previous"
text: "Previous Chapter"
enabled: chapterIndex > 0
onClicked: root.navigateToPrevious()
Layout.fillWidth: true
}
Controls.Button {
icon.name: "go-next"
text: "Next Chapter"
enabled: confessionModel ? (chapterIndex < confessionModel.count - 1) : false
onClicked: root.navigateToNext()
Layout.fillWidth: true
}
}
}
}
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import QtQuick
import QtQuick.Controls as Controls
import QtQuick.Layouts
import org.kde.kirigami as Kirigami
import net.reformedwitness.konfessio
Kirigami.ScrollablePage {
id: root
required property var confessionModel
title: root.confessionModel && root.confessionModel.metadata ? (root.confessionModel.metadata.title || "Konfessio") : "Konfessio"
ColumnLayout {
width: parent.width
spacing: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing * 2
// Hero section
Item {
Layout.fillWidth: true
Layout.preferredHeight: 280
Rectangle {
anchors.fill: parent
gradient: Gradient {
GradientStop { position: 0.0; color: Kirigami.Theme.highlightColor }
GradientStop { position: 1.0; color: Qt.darker(Kirigami.Theme.highlightColor, 1.5) }
}
opacity: 0.15
}
// Decorative background circles
Repeater {
model: 3
Rectangle {
x: parent.width * (0.2 + index * 0.3) - width/2
y: parent.height * 0.5 - height/2
width: 120 + index * 40
height: width
radius: width / 2
color: Kirigami.Theme.highlightColor
opacity: 0.04
}
}
ColumnLayout {
anchors.centerIn: parent
width: Math.min(parent.width - Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing * 2, applicationWindow().contentMaxWidthNarrow)
spacing: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing
Kirigami.Icon {
source: "bookshelf"
Layout.preferredWidth: Kirigami.Units.iconSizes.enormous
Layout.preferredHeight: Kirigami.Units.iconSizes.enormous
Layout.alignment: Qt.AlignHCenter
color: Kirigami.Theme.highlightColor
opacity: 0.9
}
Kirigami.Heading {
text: root.confessionModel && root.confessionModel.metadata ? (root.confessionModel.metadata.title || "Historic Creeds & Confessions") : "Historic Creeds & Confessions"
level: 1
wrapMode: Text.WordWrap
horizontalAlignment: Text.AlignHCenter
Layout.fillWidth: true
font.weight: Font.Bold
}
Controls.Label {
text: root.confessionModel && root.confessionModel.metadata && root.confessionModel.metadata.year ?
("Published " + root.confessionModel.metadata.year) : ""
visible: text !== ""
font.pointSize: 12
opacity: 0.85
horizontalAlignment: Text.AlignHCenter
Layout.fillWidth: true
}
}
}
// Metadata cards in a grid
GridLayout {
Layout.fillWidth: true
Layout.alignment: Qt.AlignHCenter
Layout.maximumWidth: applicationWindow().contentMaxWidthWide
Layout.leftMargin: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing
Layout.rightMargin: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing
columns: 2
rowSpacing: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing
columnSpacing: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing
StatCard {
iconName: "format-list-ordered"
title: "Chapters"
value: root.confessionModel ? (root.confessionModel.count + " chapters") : "0 chapters"
}
StatCard {
iconName: "document-properties"
title: "Type"
value: root.confessionModel && root.confessionModel.metadata ? (root.confessionModel.metadata.creedFormat || "Confession") : "Confession"
}
}
// Timeline and Location section
GridLayout {
Layout.fillWidth: true
Layout.alignment: Qt.AlignHCenter
Layout.maximumWidth: applicationWindow().contentMaxWidthWide
Layout.leftMargin: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing
Layout.rightMargin: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing
columns: 2
rowSpacing: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing
columnSpacing: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing
// Timeline Card
Kirigami.Card {
Layout.fillWidth: true
Layout.preferredHeight: 200
header: Item {
implicitHeight: headerLayout.implicitHeight + Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing * 2
implicitWidth: headerLayout.implicitWidth
RowLayout {
id: headerLayout
anchors.fill: parent
anchors.margins: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing
spacing: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing
Kirigami.Icon {
source: "view-calendar-timeline"
Layout.preferredWidth: Kirigami.Units.iconSizes.medium
Layout.preferredHeight: Kirigami.Units.iconSizes.medium
color: Kirigami.Theme.highlightColor
}
Kirigami.Heading {
text: "Timeline"
level: 2
}
}
}
contentItem: Item {
ColumnLayout {
anchors.centerIn: parent
width: parent.width - Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing * 4
spacing: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing
// Timeline visualization
Rectangle {
id: timelineBar
Layout.fillWidth: true
Layout.preferredHeight: 4
color: Kirigami.Theme.highlightColor
opacity: 0.3
radius: 2
property int year: root.confessionModel && root.confessionModel.metadata ? (root.confessionModel.metadata.year || 1600) : 1600
property int minYear: Math.floor(year / 500) * 500
property int maxYear: Math.ceil(year / 500) * 500
Rectangle {
width: 16
height: 16
radius: 8
color: Kirigami.Theme.highlightColor
anchors.verticalCenter: parent.verticalCenter
x: {
var range = parent.maxYear - parent.minYear
if (range === 0) return parent.width / 2 - width / 2
var position = (parent.year - parent.minYear) / range
return parent.width * position - width / 2
}
Rectangle {
width: 8
height: 8
radius: 4
color: Kirigami.Theme.backgroundColor
anchors.centerIn: parent
}
}
}
RowLayout {
Layout.fillWidth: true
spacing: 0
Controls.Label {
text: timelineBar.minYear.toString()
font.pointSize: 9
opacity: 0.6
}
Item { Layout.fillWidth: true }
ColumnLayout {
spacing: Kirigami.Units.smallSpacing
Controls.Label {
text: root.confessionModel && root.confessionModel.metadata ? (root.confessionModel.metadata.year || "") : ""
font.pointSize: 20
font.bold: true
color: Kirigami.Theme.highlightColor
Layout.alignment: Qt.AlignHCenter
}
Controls.Label {
text: "Published"
font.pointSize: 9
opacity: 0.6
Layout.alignment: Qt.AlignHCenter
}
}
Item { Layout.fillWidth: true }
Controls.Label {
text: timelineBar.maxYear.toString()
font.pointSize: 9
opacity: 0.6
}
}
}
}
}
// Map/Location Card
Kirigami.Card {
Layout.fillWidth: true
Layout.preferredHeight: 200
header: Item {
implicitHeight: locationHeaderLayout.implicitHeight + Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing * 2
implicitWidth: locationHeaderLayout.implicitWidth
RowLayout {
id: locationHeaderLayout
anchors.fill: parent
anchors.margins: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing
spacing: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing
Kirigami.Icon {
source: "find-location"
Layout.preferredWidth: Kirigami.Units.iconSizes.medium
Layout.preferredHeight: Kirigami.Units.iconSizes.medium
color: Kirigami.Theme.highlightColor
}
Kirigami.Heading {
text: "Location"
level: 2
}
}
}
contentItem: Item {
// Simple map visualization
Rectangle {
anchors.fill: parent
anchors.margins: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing * 2
color: Kirigami.Theme.alternateBackgroundColor
radius: 4
// Stylized map background
Column {
anchors.centerIn: parent
spacing: Kirigami.Units.smallSpacing / 2
Repeater {
model: 6
Rectangle {
width: 80
height: 1
color: Kirigami.Theme.textColor
opacity: 0.1
}
}
}
// Location marker
ColumnLayout {
anchors.centerIn: parent
spacing: Kirigami.Units.smallSpacing
Kirigami.Icon {
source: "map-marker"
Layout.preferredWidth: Kirigami.Units.iconSizes.large
Layout.preferredHeight: Kirigami.Units.iconSizes.large
Layout.alignment: Qt.AlignHCenter
color: Kirigami.Theme.negativeTextColor
}
Controls.Label {
text: root.confessionModel && root.confessionModel.metadata ? (root.confessionModel.metadata.location || "") : ""
font.pointSize: 11
font.bold: true
Layout.alignment: Qt.AlignHCenter
}
}
}
}
}
}
// Authors section
Kirigami.Card {
Layout.fillWidth: true
Layout.alignment: Qt.AlignHCenter
Layout.maximumWidth: applicationWindow().contentMaxWidthWide
Layout.leftMargin: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing
Layout.rightMargin: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing
visible: (root.confessionModel && root.confessionModel.metadata && root.confessionModel.metadata.authors) ? (root.confessionModel.metadata.authors.length > 0) : false
header: Item {
implicitHeight: authorsHeaderLayout.implicitHeight + Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing * 2
implicitWidth: authorsHeaderLayout.implicitWidth
RowLayout {
id: authorsHeaderLayout
anchors.fill: parent
anchors.margins: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing
spacing: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing
Kirigami.Icon {
source: "user-group-properties"
Layout.preferredWidth: Kirigami.Units.iconSizes.medium
Layout.preferredHeight: Kirigami.Units.iconSizes.medium
color: Kirigami.Theme.highlightColor
}
Kirigami.Heading {
text: "Authors & Contributors"
level: 2
}
}
}
contentItem: Flow {
spacing: Kirigami.Units.smallSpacing
padding: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing
Repeater {
model: root.confessionModel && root.confessionModel.metadata ? (root.confessionModel.metadata.authors || []) : []
Kirigami.Chip {
text: modelData
closable: false
}
}
}
}
// Call to action
Item {
Layout.fillWidth: true
Layout.preferredHeight: 150
Layout.bottomMargin: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing
ColumnLayout {
anchors.centerIn: parent
spacing: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing
Kirigami.Icon {
source: "arrow-left"
Layout.preferredWidth: Kirigami.Units.iconSizes.large
Layout.preferredHeight: Kirigami.Units.iconSizes.large
Layout.alignment: Qt.AlignHCenter
color: Kirigami.Theme.highlightColor
opacity: 0.6
}
Controls.Label {
text: "Select a chapter from the sidebar to begin reading"
font.pointSize: 12
font.italic: true
horizontalAlignment: Text.AlignHCenter
opacity: 0.7
}
}
}
}
}
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import QtQuick
import QtQuick.Controls as Controls
import QtQuick.Layouts
import org.kde.kirigami as Kirigami
import org.kde.kirigami.delegates as KirigamiDelegates
import net.reformedwitness.konfessio
Kirigami.ScrollablePage {
id: root
title: "Settings"
property int fontSize: 12
property bool showSectionHeaders: true
signal settingsChanged()
// Back action
actions: [
Kirigami.Action {
icon.name: "go-previous"
text: "Back"
onTriggered: {
applicationWindow().pageStack.pop()
}
}
]
ColumnLayout {
width: parent.width
spacing: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing
Kirigami.FormLayout {
id: settingsForm
Layout.fillWidth: true
Layout.maximumWidth: Kirigami.Units.gridUnit * 50
Layout.alignment: Qt.AlignHCenter
Layout.leftMargin: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing
Layout.rightMargin: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing
Layout.topMargin: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing
// Reading Section Header
Kirigami.Separator {
Kirigami.FormData.isSection: true
Kirigami.FormData.label: "Reading"
}
// Font Size
RowLayout {
Kirigami.FormData.label: "Font size:"
spacing: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing
Controls.Slider {
id: fontSizeSlider
Layout.fillWidth: true
from: 8
to: 20
value: root.fontSize
stepSize: 1
snapMode: Controls.Slider.SnapAlways
onValueChanged: {
root.fontSize = Math.round(value)
root.settingsChanged()
}
}
Controls.Label {
text: Math.round(fontSizeSlider.value) + " pt"
Layout.preferredWidth: Kirigami.Units.gridUnit * 3
font.bold: true
}
}
// Font Size Preview
Rectangle {
Kirigami.FormData.label: "Preview:"
Layout.fillWidth: true
Layout.preferredHeight: previewLabel.implicitHeight + Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing * 2
color: Kirigami.Theme.alternateBackgroundColor
radius: Kirigami.Units.smallSpacing
Controls.Label {
id: previewLabel
anchors.centerIn: parent
width: parent.width - Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing * 2
text: "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog"
font.pointSize: root.fontSize
wrapMode: Text.WordWrap
horizontalAlignment: Text.AlignHCenter
}
}
// Section Headers
Controls.CheckBox {
Kirigami.FormData.label: "Show section headers:"
text: "Display headers when reading multi-section chapters"
checked: root.showSectionHeaders
onToggled: {
root.showSectionHeaders = checked
root.settingsChanged()
}
}
// Appearance Section Header
Kirigami.Separator {
Kirigami.FormData.isSection: true
Kirigami.FormData.label: "Appearance"
}
// Theme info
Controls.Label {
Kirigami.FormData.label: "Theme:"
text: "Follows system settings"
opacity: 0.7
}
// About Section Header
Kirigami.Separator {
Kirigami.FormData.isSection: true
Kirigami.FormData.label: "About"
}
// App name and version
ColumnLayout {
Layout.fillWidth: true
spacing: Kirigami.Units.smallSpacing
RowLayout {
Layout.fillWidth: true
spacing: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing
Kirigami.Icon {
source: "bookshelf"
Layout.preferredWidth: Kirigami.Units.iconSizes.large
Layout.preferredHeight: Kirigami.Units.iconSizes.large
color: Kirigami.Theme.highlightColor
}
ColumnLayout {
spacing: Kirigami.Units.smallSpacing / 2
Kirigami.Heading {
text: "Konfessio"
level: 3
}
Controls.Label {
text: "Version 1.0.0"
font.pointSize: 9
opacity: 0.7
}
}
}
Controls.Label {
text: "A reader for historic Christian creeds, confessions, and catechisms"
wrapMode: Text.WordWrap
Layout.fillWidth: true
Layout.topMargin: Kirigami.Units.smallSpacing
}
Controls.Label {
text: "© 2025 Reformed Witness"
font.pointSize: 9
opacity: 0.6
Layout.topMargin: Kirigami.Units.smallSpacing
}
}
// Reset Section
Kirigami.Separator {
Kirigami.FormData.isSection: true
}
Kirigami.InlineMessage {
id: resetSuccessMessage
Layout.fillWidth: true
type: Kirigami.MessageType.Positive
text: "Settings have been reset to defaults"
visible: false
Timer {
id: resetSuccessTimer
interval: 3000
onTriggered: resetSuccessMessage.visible = false
}
}
Controls.Button {
text: "Reset to Defaults"
icon.name: "edit-reset"
Layout.alignment: Qt.AlignHCenter
onClicked: {
resetConfirmDialog.open()
}
}
// Bottom spacing
Item {
Layout.fillWidth: true
Layout.preferredHeight: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing
}
}
}
Kirigami.PromptDialog {
id: resetConfirmDialog
title: "Reset Settings"
subtitle: "Are you sure you want to reset all settings to their default values?"
standardButtons: Controls.DialogButtonBox.Ok | Controls.DialogButtonBox.Cancel
onAccepted: {
AppSettings.reset()
root.fontSize = AppSettings.fontSize
root.showSectionHeaders = AppSettings.showSectionHeaders
resetSuccessMessage.visible = true
resetSuccessTimer.restart()
}
}
}
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import QtQuick
import QtQuick.Controls as Controls
import QtQuick.Layouts
import org.kde.kirigami as Kirigami
import net.reformedwitness.konfessio
Kirigami.Card {
id: root
required property string iconName
required property string title
required property string value
Layout.fillWidth: true
Layout.preferredHeight: 120
property bool cardHovered: false
HoverHandler {
id: hoverHandler
onHoveredChanged: root.cardHovered = hovered
}
z: cardHovered ? 2 : 1
Rectangle {
anchors.fill: parent
color: "transparent"
border.color: Kirigami.Theme.highlightColor
border.width: cardHovered ? 1 : 0
radius: Kirigami.Units.smallSpacing
opacity: 0.3
}
contentItem: ColumnLayout {
spacing: Kirigami.Units.smallSpacing
RowLayout {
spacing: Kirigami.Units.largeSpacing
Kirigami.Icon {
source: root.iconName
Layout.preferredWidth: Kirigami.Units.iconSizes.medium
Layout.preferredHeight: Kirigami.Units.iconSizes.medium
color: Kirigami.Theme.highlightColor
scale: root.cardHovered ? 1.1 : 1.0
}
Kirigami.Heading {
text: root.title
level: 3
}
}
Controls.Label {
text: root.value
font.pointSize: 16
font.bold: true
}
}
}