First Presbyterian Church holds to the broad, historic creeds of the Christian Church such as: The Nicene Creed, Apostles’ Creed, Westminster Longer and Shorter Catechism, The Heidelberg Catechism, The Second Helvetic Confession A Brief Statement of Faith - Presbyterian Church (USA) and others. The First Helvetic Confession (also called the Second Confession of Basel) was composed in 1536 by Heinrich Bullinger and other Swiss delegates, assisted by Martin Bucer of Strasbourg. It was the first Reformed creed of national authority, although it was sometimes criticized as being too Lutheran. The First Helvetic Confession (also called the Second Confession of Basel) was composed in 1536 by Heinrich Bullinger and other Swiss delegates, assisted by Martin Bucer of Strasbourg. It was the first Reformed creed of national authority, although it was sometimes criticized as being too Lutheran.

(Redirected from Helvetic Confession)

Calvinism
Part of a series on
Confessions
Presbyterian

The Helvetic Confessions are two documents expressing the common belief of the Reformed churches of Switzerland.

History[edit]

The First Helvetic Confession (Latin: Confessio Helvetica prior), known also as the Second Confession of Basel, was drawn up in Basel in 1536 by Heinrich Bullinger and Leo Jud of Zürich, Kaspar Megander [de] of Bern, Oswald Myconius and Simon Grynaeus of Basel, Martin Bucer and Wolfgang Capito of Strasbourg, with other representatives from Schaffhausen, St Gall, Mühlhausen and Biel. The first draft was written in Latin and the Zürich delegates objected to its Lutheran phraseology. However, Leo Jud's German translation was accepted by all, and after Myconius and Grynaeus had modified the Latin form, both versions were agreed to and adopted on February 26, 1536.^[1]

The Second Helvetic Confession (Latin: Confessio Helvetica posterior) was written by Bullinger in 1562 and revised in 1564 as a private exercise. It came to the notice of Elector PalatineFrederick III, who had it translated into German and published.^[1] It was attractive to some Reformed leaders as a corrective to what they saw as the overly-Lutheran statements of the Strasbourg Consensus. An attempt was made in early 1566 to have all the churches of Switzerland sign the Second Helvetic Confession as a common statement of faith.^[2] It gained a favorable hold on the Swiss churches, who had found the First Confession too short and too Lutheran.^[1] However, 'the Basel clergy refused to sign the confession, stating that although they found no fault with it, they preferred to stand by their own Basel Confession of 1534'.^[3]

It was adopted by the Reformed Church not only throughout Switzerland but in Scotland (1566), Hungary (1567), France (1571), Poland (1578), and after the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Scots Confession and the Heidelberg Catechism is the most generally recognized confession of the Reformed Church.^[1] The Second Helvetic Confession was also included in the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.'s Book of Confessions, in 1967, and remains in the Book of Confessions adopted by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

References[edit]

^ ^a^b^c^d One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). 'Helvetic Confessions'. Encyclopædia Britannica. 13 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 253.
^Burnett, Amy Nelson. 1992. 'Simon Sulzer and the Consequences of the 1563 Strasbourg Consensus in Switzerland' in Archive for Reformation History 83: 154–179, p. 178
^Burnett, Amy Nelson. 1992. 'Simon Sulzer and the Consequences of the 1563 Strasbourg Consensus in Switzerland' in Archive for Reformation History 83: 154–179, p. 178

Literature[edit]

Louis Thomas, La Confession helvétique (Geneva, 1853);
Philip Schaff, Creeds of Christendom, i. 390-420, iii. 234-306;
Julius Müller, Die Bekenntnisschriften der reformierten Kirche (Leipzig, 1903).

External links[edit]

The Second Helvetic Confession in English Translation
Text of the creeds from Schaff's Creeds of Christendom (vol. 3) at the Christian Classics Ethereal Library:
- The First Helvetic Confession (in its original Latin and High German translation)
- The Second Helvetic Confession (in its original Latin)
History of the creeds from Schaff's Creeds of Christendom (vol. 1) at the Christian Classics Ethereal Library:

Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Helvetic_Confessions&oldid=899624028'

Christianity has through Church history produced a number of Christian creeds, confessions and statements of faith. The following lists are provided.

In many cases, individual churches will address further doctrinal questions in a set of bylaws. Smaller churches see this as a formality, while churches of a larger size build this to be a large document describing the practical functioning of the church.

6Denominational creeds
7Creeds of specific movements

Biblical creeds[edit]

Jesus is Lord (Romans 10:9; 1 Corinthians 12:3)
Pre-New Testament Creeds in the New Testament (1 Timothy 2:5, Phil 2:6-11, 1 Timothy 3:16)^[1]
Christ died, was raised, then list of eyewitnesses to the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:3-10)

Ecumenical and historic Christian creeds[edit]

Creed	Date	Accepted by	Original name	Notes	Link to text
Apostles' Creed	120-250	Western Church	Lat.: Symbolum Apostolorum or Symbolum Apostolicum	Product of the Roman Christians around A.D.180, who developed an early form of the Apostles' Creed, possibly to critique Marcion.	'Apostles' Creed'.
Creed of Nicaea	325	Ecumenical Church	Greek: Σύμβολον τῆς Νικαίας or, τῆς πίστεως, Latin: Symbolum Nicaenum	Product of the first ecumenical council in Nicaea which tried to solve the Arian controversy.^[2]	'Creed of Nicaea'.
Nicene Creed (Nicaea-Constantinopolitan Creed)	381	Ecumenical Church	Expansion and revision of the 325 Creed of Nicaea (includes new section on Holy Spirit). It is the most widely accepted Christian creed. It critiques apollinarism and a later addition, the Filioque clause, resulted in disagreement between Eastern Christianity and Western Christianity.	'Nicene Creed'.
Chalcedonian Creed	451	Council of Chalcedon	Latin: Concilium Chalcedonense	In response to Nestorian teachings, the Chalcedonian formulation defines that Christ is 'acknowledged in two natures', which 'come together into one person and one hypostasis'. Accepted by nearly all Christian denominations (except Oriental Orthodoxy, the Assyrian Church of the East, and much of Restorationism).
Athanasian Creed	500	Western Christian denominations	Lat.: Quicumque vult	The origin of this creed is uncertain, but it is widely used in various Christian denominations.	'Athanasian Creed'.

Creeds of the early church[edit]

The Didache (60-150)
The Creed of Aristides of Athens (100s)
The Old Roman Symbol or Old Roman Creed (c. 215)
The Creed of Cyprian of Carthage (250)
The Deir Balyzeh Papyrus (200-350)
The Creeds of Arius and Euzoius (

First Helvetic Confession Pdf