The Reformed confessions and the Puritans (c. 1560-1700)

What you'll learn

Describe the origin, authors and purpose of the Belgic Confession, Heidelberg Catechism, Canons of Dort, Westminster Standards and 1689 Baptist Confession.
Explain the Arminian controversy and the Synod of Dort's answer fairly and accurately.
Assess the Puritans and the persecuted Reformed churches as models of doctrine, devotion and courage for an apologist today.

Why confessions?

By 1560 the Reformation had moved from protest to building. Churches needed to say clearly, in public, what they believed, both to teach their own people and to answer the charge that they were rebels or heretics. So the second and third generations of Reformed Christians wrote confessions (statements of faith) and catechisms (question-and-answer teaching tools).

Confessions are not above Scripture. The Reformed call Scripture the norma normans (the rule that rules) and confessions the norma normata (a rule that is ruled by Scripture). But confessions matter enormously. They show that Reformed believers did not each invent their own faith; they confessed together, carefully, in continuity with the ancient creeds. When someone says 'Protestants just make it up as they go', the great confessions of this period are your answer: public, precise, Scripture-proofed documents that churches on several continents still use today.

This lesson covers the documents you will meet most often in Reformed churches: the Three Forms of Unity (Belgic Confession, Heidelberg Catechism, Canons of Dort) used by Continental Reformed churches; the Westminster Standards used by Presbyterians; and the Second London Baptist Confession used by Reformed Baptists. It also introduces the Puritans and the persecuted Reformed churches of France, the Netherlands and Piedmont.

What is the difference between the norma normans and the norma normata, and how do the confessions answer the charge that 'Protestants just make it up as they go'?Show answer

Scripture is the norma normans, the rule that rules, while confessions are the norma normata, a rule that is itself ruled by Scripture, so confessions are never above the Bible. But they matter, because they show Reformed believers did not each invent their own faith; they confessed together, carefully, in continuity with the ancient creeds. The great confessions are public, precise, Scripture-proofed documents still used by churches on several continents.

Scripture rules; confessions are ruled
not above Scripture
confessed together, not invented
continuity with ancient creeds

The Belgic Confession (1561): a confession under the cross

In the Low Countries, then ruled by Spain under Philip II, Protestants faced the Inquisition. Guido de Brès (born 1522 in Mons) compiled the Belgic Confession in 1561. Its purpose was apologetic: to show the authorities that the Reformed were not violent radicals but loyal subjects who held the faith of the Bible and the ancient creeds. The original booklet included a dedicatory letter to King Philip II pleading for a fair hearing. According to the traditional account, on the night of 1 November 1561 a copy was thrown over the wall of the castle at Tournai to bring it to the authorities' notice.

De Brès paid with his life. He was tried and hanged at Valenciennes on 31 May 1567. The confession he wrote, in 37 articles, became a standard of the Dutch Reformed churches and was reviewed and adopted at the Synod of Dort. Article 7, on the sufficiency of Scripture, is quoted in this lesson's creed section. Notice how the Belgic Confession begins, as the Nicene Creed does, with the one true God (Article 1), and soon confesses the Trinity (Articles 8-11): the Reformed saw themselves as heirs of the catholic (universal) church, not founders of a new one.

Why can the Belgic Confession be called 'a confession under the cross', and what was its purpose?Show answer

Guido de Brès compiled it in 1561, when Protestants in the Spanish-ruled Low Countries faced the Inquisition, and he was hanged for his faith in 1567. Its purpose was apologetic: to show the authorities, including King Philip II, that the Reformed were not violent radicals but loyal subjects holding the faith of the Bible and the ancient creeds. Beginning with the one true God and confessing the Trinity, it shows the Reformed saw themselves as heirs of the catholic church, not founders of a new one.

written under persecution
de Brès martyred 1567
apologetic purpose to authorities
heirs of the catholic church

The Heidelberg Catechism (1563): the comfort of the gospel

Frederick III, Elector of the Palatinate in Germany (ruled 1559-1576), wanted one clear catechism for his churches and schools. The Heidelberg Catechism was published and approved by a synod in Heidelberg in 1563. Zacharias Ursinus (1534-1583) is regarded as its principal author; Caspar Olevianus was long named as co-author, but most scholars now see the catechism as a team effort under Frederick's close oversight.

It has 129 questions divided into 52 Lord's Days, so a church can preach through it in a year. Its structure follows the logic of Romans: our sin and misery (Q3-11), our deliverance in Christ (Q12-85, including the Apostles' Creed and the sacraments), and our gratitude (Q86-129, including the Ten Commandments and the Lord's Prayer). Its first question is one of the best-loved sentences in Protestant history: our only comfort in life and death is that we belong, body and soul, to our faithful Saviour Jesus Christ.

A note of fairness: Question 80, which calls the Roman Mass an “accursed idolatry,” was added in the catechism's second and third editions. Some Reformed denominations have since bracketed or removed it, while others retain it as a judgement on the Mass as Trent defined it. You can discuss that disagreement with a Catholic friend calmly, focusing on the doctrine of the once-for-all sacrifice of Christ (Heb 10:10-14).

Describe the structure of the Heidelberg Catechism and its first question in your own words.Show answer

It has 129 questions divided into 52 Lord's Days, so a church can preach through it in a year. It follows the logic of Romans: our sin and misery, our deliverance in Christ (including the Creed and sacraments), and our gratitude (including the Ten Commandments and the Lord's Prayer). Its first question says our only comfort in life and death is that we belong, body and soul, to our faithful Saviour Jesus Christ.

129 questions, 52 Lord's Days
misery, deliverance, gratitude
follows Romans
only comfort: we belong to Christ

How could you discuss Question 80 of the Heidelberg Catechism calmly with a Catholic friend?Show answer

Question 80 calls the Roman Mass an 'accursed idolatry' and was added in the second and third editions. Some Reformed denominations have bracketed or removed it, while others keep it as a judgement on the Mass as Trent defined it. A calm discussion would focus on the doctrine at stake, the once-for-all sacrifice of Christ (Heb 10:10-14).

added in later editions
some bracket or remove it
others keep it re: Trent's Mass
focus on once-for-all sacrifice

Arminius, the Remonstrants and the Synod of Dort (1618-19)

The Dutch Reformed church soon faced an internal debate. Jacobus Arminius (c. 1559-1609), a professor at Leiden, questioned the Reformed teaching on predestination. After his death his followers presented the Remonstrance of 1610, a petition to the civil government setting out five points. In fair summary, the Remonstrants taught: election conditioned on God's foreknowledge of faith; an atonement made for all people, though only believers benefit; that fallen people need grace to believe; that this grace can be resisted; and that whether believers could fall away required further study (later Remonstrants affirmed that they could). The Counter-Remonstrants replied in 1611.

The controversy became political, tangled with the struggle between the statesman Johan van Oldenbarnevelt and Prince Maurice. A national Synod of Dort (Dordrecht) met from 13 November 1618 to May 1619, with voting delegates not only from the Netherlands but from Reformed churches in Britain (including the Church of England), Switzerland and Germany. The Remonstrants, led by Simon Episcopius, refused to accept the synod's procedure and were dismissed. The synod produced the Canons of Dort, five 'heads of doctrine', each with positive articles and a 'rejection of errors'.

The Canons affirm: (1) unconditional election; (2) that Christ's death, of infinite worth and sufficient for the whole world, was intended by God to redeem effectually all the elect, and them only; (3-4) that humanity is totally corrupted and that God's grace in regeneration is effectual; and (5) that God preserves his saints. The acronym TULIP was devised much later in the English-speaking world; it is a handy summary but not the synod's own language. The aftermath was harsh: Oldenbarnevelt was beheaded on 13 May 1619, Hugo Grotius was imprisoned (and escaped), and Remonstrant ministers were barred from ministry. Reformed Christians should defend Dort's theology without defending the persecution.

Treat Arminian believers as brothers. Arminius himself taught that free will cannot begin or complete any true spiritual good without grace, and evangelical Arminians, from Wesley (Lesson 7) to many Methodists, Pentecostals and Baptists today, preach salvation by grace through faith in Christ alone. Many non-Calvinist evangelicals, including some pastors you may admire, hold the gospel of grace as firmly as any Calvinist. The disagreement is real and important, because it concerns how God's grace and the human response relate, and whether God's choice is the final reason one person believes and another does not. But it is a disagreement within the household of faith. This course holds the doctrines of grace as its conviction (Know Your Faith, Lesson 7) and expects you to argue for them as a brother, never by caricature.

Summarise fairly what the Remonstrants taught in 1610.Show answer

They taught election conditioned on God's foreknowledge of faith, an atonement made for all people though only believers benefit, that fallen people need grace to believe, and that this grace can be resisted. Whether believers could fall away required further study, though later Remonstrants affirmed that they could. A fair summary notes that they did affirm the need for grace.

election based on foreseen faith
atonement for all
grace needed but resistible
falling away left open

What did the Canons of Dort affirm, and how should Reformed Christians treat Dort's aftermath and Arminian believers?Show answer

The Canons affirm unconditional election, a death of Christ sufficient for the whole world yet intended to redeem effectually the elect, total corruption with effectual grace, and God's preservation of his saints; TULIP is a much later summary. The aftermath was harsh, with Oldenbarnevelt beheaded and Remonstrant ministers barred, so we should defend Dort's theology without defending the persecution. Arminians who love Christ should be treated as brothers, because the disagreement, though real and important, is within the household of faith.

five heads of doctrine
TULIP is later
defend theology, not persecution
Arminians are brothers

The Westminster Assembly (1643-1653) and its Standards

In England, the Puritans (a nickname from the 1560s, originally an insult for those who wanted the Church of England 'purified' further) pressed for fuller reform of worship, preaching and church government. In the turmoil of the 1640s civil war, the Long Parliament called an assembly of divines by ordinance of 12 June 1643. The Westminster Assembly first met on 1 July 1643 in Westminster Abbey. Parliament named up to 121 ministers, plus thirty lay members of Parliament as observers. After the Solemn League and Covenant (1643) with Scotland, Scottish commissioners joined, including Samuel Rutherford, George Gillespie and Alexander Henderson.

The Assembly included Presbyterians (the majority), a small group of Congregationalists or 'dissenting brethren' such as Thomas Goodwin, and a couple of Erastians who wanted the state to control church discipline. It produced the Directory for Public Worship (1644), a Form of Church Government, the Westminster Confession of Faith (sent to Parliament in December 1646), and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms (1647). The Church of Scotland adopted the Confession in 1647 and the catechisms in 1648. Most members stopped attending in 1649, and the Assembly faded away before Cromwell dissolved the Rump Parliament in April 1653.

The Westminster Standards became the doctrinal standard of Presbyterian churches worldwide. The Shorter Catechism's first question and answer (quoted in the creed section) has shaped generations: the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him. Note the order of the Confession: it begins with Scripture (chapter 1) before God (chapter 2), because everything we know of God savingly we know from his word. Know Your Faith, Lesson 1, explores chapter 1 in detail.

Who made up the Westminster Assembly, and what documents did it produce?Show answer

Called by the Long Parliament in 1643, it included up to 121 ministers plus lay observers, with Scottish commissioners such as Rutherford and Gillespie joining after the Solemn League and Covenant. Most members were Presbyterians, with a few Congregationalists and a couple of Erastians. It produced the Directory for Public Worship, a Form of Church Government, the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms.

called by Parliament, 1643
Scottish commissioners
mostly Presbyterians
Confession and two Catechisms

Why does the Westminster Confession begin with Scripture before God, and what is the Shorter Catechism's famous first answer?Show answer

Chapter 1 is on Scripture and chapter 2 on God because everything we know of God savingly we know from his word. The Shorter Catechism's first answer is that the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him. The Westminster Standards became the doctrinal standard of Presbyterian churches worldwide.

Scripture first
saving knowledge from God's word
glorify God and enjoy him
Presbyterian standard worldwide

Congregationalists and Baptists: Savoy (1658) and 1689

Not every Puritan was a Presbyterian. Congregationalists (Independents) believed each local church should govern itself. In 1658 a conference of Independents, in which John Owen took a leading part, issued the Savoy Declaration, a lightly revised Westminster Confession with a congregational church order.

Particular Baptists, so called because they held to particular (definite) redemption, agreed with the Westminster divines on almost everything except baptism and church government. In 1677 they published a confession that closely followed Westminster and Savoy, deliberately showing their agreement with other Protestants. After the Act of Toleration of 1689 gave Dissenters freedom to worship, representatives of over a hundred Baptist churches met in London from 3 to 12 September 1689 and endorsed it. It is known as the Second London Baptist Confession or 1689 Confession. It confesses believer's baptism and a distinct covenant theology while sharing the Reformed doctrine of God, Scripture and salvation. In America the Philadelphia Baptist Association adopted a revised form in 1742.

So both Presbyterians and Reformed Baptists can claim this heritage honestly. Their disagreement on baptism is a family disagreement within the Reformed confessional tradition (see Know Your Faith, Lesson 8).

How would you explain to a friend why both Presbyterians and Reformed Baptists can claim the Westminster heritage?Show answer

The Particular Baptists' confession of 1677, endorsed in 1689, closely followed the Westminster Confession and the Savoy Declaration, deliberately showing agreement with other Protestants. It shares the Reformed doctrine of God, Scripture and salvation, while confessing believer's baptism and a distinct covenant theology. So the disagreement over baptism is a family disagreement within the Reformed confessional tradition.

1689 closely follows Westminster and Savoy
shared doctrine of God, Scripture, salvation
differs on baptism and church order
a family disagreement

The Puritans: doctrine set on fire

The Puritans are worth knowing not only for their theology but for their devotion. They preached for conversion, practised family worship, kept the Lord's Day, wrote searching books on the Christian life, and suffered for conscience.

John Owen (1616-1683) was Dean of Christ Church (1651-1660) and Vice-Chancellor of Oxford (1652-1657), a chaplain to Cromwell, and the greatest Puritan theologian. His The Death of Death in the Death of Christ (1647) defends definite atonement, Of the Mortification of Sin in Believers (1656) teaches believers to fight sin by the Spirit (Rom 8:13), with the famous line “be killing sin or it will be killing you,” and Communion with God (1657) shows how believers enjoy fellowship with Father, Son and Spirit.

Richard Baxter (1615-1691), pastor at Kidderminster for about nineteen years, wrote The Saints' Everlasting Rest (1650), The Reformed Pastor, A Call to the Unconverted (1658) and A Christian Directory (1673). His pastoral zeal is a model, but be aware that his views on justification (often called neonomian) and on the extent of the atonement departed from mainstream Reformed teaching and were controversial in his own day. Read him with discernment.

John Bunyan (1628-1688), a tinker from Elstow, became a nonconformist preacher in Bedford. Arrested in late 1660 for preaching without a licence, he spent about twelve years in Bedford gaol, where he wrote Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners (1666). The Pilgrim's Progress (Part I, 1678) became one of the most-read books in the English language.

Persecution came from fellow Protestants too. The Act of Uniformity required every minister to conform to the 1662 Prayer Book by 24 August 1662 (St Bartholomew's Day); some two thousand or more ministers, Baxter among them, were ejected from their livings in the Great Ejection. Freedom of worship for Dissenters came only with the Act of Toleration in 1689.

What did John Owen and John Bunyan contribute, according to the section?Show answer

Owen, the greatest Puritan theologian, defended definite atonement in The Death of Death, taught believers to fight sin by the Spirit in Of the Mortification of Sin ('be killing sin or it will be killing you'), and wrote Communion with God. Bunyan, a tinker turned preacher, spent about twelve years in Bedford gaol for preaching without a licence, wrote Grace Abounding there, and later The Pilgrim's Progress, one of the most-read books in English.

Owen: definite atonement
Owen: mortification by the Spirit
Bunyan imprisoned about twelve years
The Pilgrim's Progress

Why does the lesson say to read Richard Baxter 'with discernment', and what was the Great Ejection?Show answer

Baxter's pastoral zeal is a model, but his views on justification (often called neonomian) and on the extent of the atonement departed from mainstream Reformed teaching. The Great Ejection came when the Act of Uniformity required ministers to conform to the 1662 Prayer Book by 24 August 1662, and some two thousand or more, Baxter among them, were ejected. Persecution came from fellow Protestants, and Dissenters gained freedom of worship only in 1689.

Baxter's pastoral zeal a model
his views on justification controversial
1662 Act of Uniformity
about two thousand ministers ejected

Huguenots, Covenanters and the Waldensians: the church under the cross

In France the Reformed believers, called Huguenots, suffered terribly. On the night of 23-24 August 1572, days after the Protestant Henry of Navarre married the king's sister, the St Bartholomew's Day Massacre began in Paris with the murder of Admiral Gaspard de Coligny. Modern estimates of the dead run from about 2,000 to 3,000 in Paris and 5,000 to 30,000 across France. The Edict of Nantes (13 April 1598), issued by Henry IV, granted Huguenots substantial rights, but Louis XIV revoked it by the Edict of Fontainebleau in October 1685, after years of forced conversions by billeted soldiers (the dragonnades). Estimates of the Huguenots who fled range widely, from about 200,000 (the most common figure) to much higher numbers; they settled in the Netherlands, Switzerland, Prussia, England, North America and the Dutch Cape Colony in southern Africa.

In Scotland, the National Covenant was signed at Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh on 28 February 1638 to resist Charles I's imposed Prayer Book, and later Covenanters suffered imprisonment and death for refusing royal control of the church. In April 1655 troops of the Duke of Savoy massacred Waldensians in Piedmont, an atrocity that moved John Milton to write his sonnet beginning “Avenge, O Lord, thy slaughtered saints.”

Two lessons follow for the apologist. First, the claim that the Reformed faith spread mainly by state power ignores the many places where it spread against state power, at the cost of blood. Second, the confessions of this period were often written by people who expected to die for them. That is why they are worth knowing by heart.

Briefly describe what happened to the French Huguenots between 1572 and 1685.Show answer

The St Bartholomew's Day Massacre began in Paris on the night of 23-24 August 1572 and killed thousands across France. The Edict of Nantes (1598) granted Huguenots substantial rights, but Louis XIV revoked it in 1685 after years of forced conversions by billeted soldiers. Many fled to the Netherlands, Switzerland, Prussia, England, North America and the Cape Colony.

St Bartholomew's Day Massacre 1572
Edict of Nantes 1598
revoked 1685 after dragonnades
Huguenots fled abroad

What two lessons does the section draw for the apologist from the persecuted Reformed churches?Show answer

First, the claim that the Reformed faith spread mainly by state power ignores the many places where it spread against state power, at the cost of blood, as with the Huguenots, Covenanters and Waldensians. Second, many confessions of this period were written by people who expected to die for them, which is why they are worth knowing by heart.

spread against state power
cost of blood
confessions written expecting death
worth knowing by heart

Key texts

2 Timothy 1:13-14: Paul tells Timothy to follow 'the pattern of the sound words' and guard the good deposit: the biblical basis for summarising and guarding doctrine in confessions.
Romans 10:9-10: Faith is confessed with the mouth. The church has always put its faith into public words.
Ephesians 1:3-6: God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, in love, according to the purpose of his will: central to the Canons of Dort on election.
John 10:11, 14-15, 27-29: The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep and no one will snatch them from his hand: used in the debates over definite atonement and perseverance.
John 6:37-44: All the Father gives will come, and no one can come unless the Father draws him: key for effectual grace and preservation.
Romans 8:13: By the Spirit put to death the deeds of the body: the text behind Owen's Mortification of Sin.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20: You are not your own; you were bought with a price. Echoed in Heidelberg Q1's 'I am not my own'.
1 Peter 4:12-16: Do not be surprised at the fiery trial; suffering as a Christian glorifies God. The experience of de Brès, the Huguenots and the Covenanters.

Objections and answers

Try answering each one yourself before you open the response.

“Creeds and confessions are man-made traditions. Real Bible Christians say 'no creed but the Bible'.”Show a response

Ask: 'What do you believe the Bible teaches about God, Christ and salvation?' As soon as the person answers, they have a creed; the only question is whether it is written down and open to testing. Scripture itself contains confessional summaries (Deut 6:4; 1 Cor 15:3-5; 1 Tim 3:16) and commands us to hold 'the pattern of the sound words' (2 Tim 1:13). Reformed confessions explicitly place themselves under Scripture: the Westminster Confession says the supreme judge of all controversies is the Holy Spirit speaking in Scripture (WCF 1.10). Confessions protect believers from being at the mercy of whatever a single pastor or a group's leader says. The groups in this course that reject historic creeds (for example the Watchtower and the Latter-day Saints) did not escape tradition; they replaced it with a newer one.

“The Synod of Dort was a political show trial. The Arminians never got a fair hearing.”Show a response

There is truth to note. The synod met after Prince Maurice's victory over Oldenbarnevelt, the Remonstrants came as defendants rather than delegates, and the aftermath (Oldenbarnevelt's execution, Grotius's imprisonment, ministers barred from ministry) was harsh. Say so. But the synod was not a purely local party meeting: voting delegates came from Britain, Switzerland and Germany, and the Canons are careful, pastoral and moderate in tone, even rejecting caricatures of Reformed teaching. The Remonstrants withdrew because they insisted on attacking Reformed doctrine first rather than defending their own from Scripture first. Above all, the question is not whether the procedure was perfect but whether the Canons faithfully teach what Scripture says about grace (John 6:37-44; Eph 1:4-5; Rom 9:16). That is where the argument must be settled.

“The Puritans were joyless, repressive killjoys. Why would anyone admire them?”Show a response

That picture owes more to later caricature than to the sources. The name 'Puritan' began as an insult. The Puritans themselves wrote about delight in God, married love, music, and the enjoyment of creation as gifts to be received with thanksgiving. The Shorter Catechism says man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him for ever. Owen wrote a whole book on communion with God; Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress is a story of hope and arrival at the Celestial City. They took sin seriously because they took joy in God seriously. They had real failings, including intolerance when they held power. But some two thousand ministers gave up their livings in 1662 rather than violate conscience, and Bunyan endured twelve years in prison. That is the opposite of a joyless religion of convenience.

“Catechisms are just rote learning. Kids parrot answers they don't understand. Real faith is personal, not memorised from a script.”Show a response

Memorising without understanding would be empty, and good teachers have always warned against it. But catechisms were written to produce understanding, not replace it. Look at what they actually say. The Heidelberg Catechism's first answer is that my only comfort in life and death is that I belong, body and soul, to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ; the Shorter Catechism's is that the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him. Those are deeply personal truths. Scripture tells parents to teach God's words diligently to their children (Deut 6:6-7) and urges Timothy to hold to 'the pattern of sound words' (2 Tim 1:13). The Puritans, who loved catechisms, were also known for warm, searching devotion. For many believers, learning those words is how they first found words for their own faith.

“Calvinists and Arminians have been arguing for four hundred years. If the Bible were really clear, Christians wouldn't still disagree.”Show a response

The disagreement is real, and the Synod of Dort shows how seriously both sides took it. But notice two things. First, the debate exists because both sides take Scripture seriously and argue from it; nobody at Dort thought the Bible unimportant. Second, look at how much they share. Calvinists and Arminians alike confess the Trinity, the deity of Christ, the authority of Scripture and the need for grace; even the Remonstrants said fallen people need grace to believe. The Westminster Confession puts it well: not everything in Scripture is equally plain, but what must be known for salvation is clearly set out (WCF 1.7). A family can disagree about important things and still be a family. That is how this lesson asks us to treat Arminian believers: firmly, but as brothers.

Written task

Choose one of the Reformed confessional documents from this lesson (Belgic Confession, Heidelberg Catechism, Canons of Dort, Westminster Confession or Shorter Catechism, or 1689 Baptist Confession). In 250-400 words, explain who wrote it, when and why, summarise one key article or question in your own words with at least two supporting Scripture passages, and explain how knowing this document would help you answer someone who says 'Protestants have no shared beliefs.'

Hand this in to Mr Scott. He will look for:

Gives accurate historical context (authors, date, occasion)
Summarises a specific article or question faithfully in the student's own words
Supports the summary with at least two relevant, correctly used Scripture passages
Explains the relationship between Scripture and confessions correctly (subordinate standards)
Applies the material clearly to the apologetic objection