The Belgic Confession: Its History and Sources (Texts and Studies in Reformation and Post-Reformation Thought) by Nicolaas H. Gootjes

by Nicolaas H. Gootjes

The Belgic Confession is one of the most important and oldest doctrinal statements of the Reformed churches. Written in 1561, it became a confession of Protestant believers in the Netherlands in the face of persecution from the Roman Catholic government. Despite its importance, there has been no comprehensive study on the history and background of this confession in English, until now. This newest volume in the Texts and Studies in Reformation and Post-Reformation Thought series examines the confessions early history, author, revisions, authority, and its relationship to Calvin and Beza. It is a valuable contribution to the field of Reformation studies.

Genres: Theology

Paperback

First published November 1, 2007

Reviews

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a page-turner. I had a knot in my stomach through the whole chapter on translations worrying whether everything would turn out okay by the end.

No, seriously - a very solid scholarly work, not terribly fascinating but comprehensive.

[Reese · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gives new insights to the history and theology of the Belgic Confessions. Provides a strong argument that John Calvin reviewed an early draft of the Confession.

[Austin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cool reading about the history of a historic confession.

[Paul Wichert · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very interesting historical background to the Belgic confession, which originated in the southern Netherlands (now Belgium) in 1561 and is still a treasured confession of faith used today by Reformed Christians. The book covers the early versions, the author and martyr Guido de Brès, relationship to prior confessions (Gallican and Beza's), the authority of the confession as confirmed through councils and synods, various revisions and translations, and its role at the Synod of Dort. The author does a great job of making this quite interesting, though it is very detailed and uses primary sources (most of the footnotes and the Appendix are in either Dutch, French, or Latin). The section on the Synod of Dort is excellent and includes many details of the Remonstrant questions and their pertinence to the confession. It would have been nice to have one of the English translations included in the book, but otherwise an interesting read.