Reformed confessions of faith

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Calvinist confessions of faith are the confessions of faith of various Calvinist churches. These documents express consensus on doctrine for the church adopting the confession. A few confessions are shared as subordinate standards (i.e. authorities subordinate to the Bible) by many denominations, which have made their choices from among the various creeds for primarily historical reasons. Some of the common Calvinist confessions are (with year of writing):

Continental Reformed

Presbyterian

Congregationalist

The Independents declined from Calvinist theology on issues of the role of the magistrate, and the powers of higher church courts, but retained the Calvinist system touching many other issues.

Other Reformed Confessions

Baptist

Some of the Baptist churches came alongside the Puritan movement in England, and in doing so sought to agree as far as conscience allowed, in the Calvinistic form of doctrine which prevailed among the Presbyterians and many Congregationalists. Except for their few exceptions concerning congregational church governance and adult baptism, these "Particular" Baptists adopted the Calvinist faith.

Anglican

The Anglican church is not a confessional church in the same way that the Lutheran Church is.[12][13] Anglican doctrine is most defined by Lex orandi, lex credendi ("the law of praying [is] the law of believing").[14][15]

Methodist

The 1823 Calvinistic Methodist Confession of Faith was adopted at the Associations of Aberystwyth and Bala in 1823.[19]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Cochrane, Arthur C. (2003). Reformed Confessions of the Sixteenth Century. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 978-0-664-22694-7.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rohls, Jan (1998) [1987]. Theologie reformierter Bekenntnisschriften [Reformed confessions: Theology from Zurich to Barmen] (in German). Translated by John Hoffmeyer. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 0-664-22078-9.
  3. ^ Scots Confession (1560). Confession of Faith Ratification Act (1560), (Acts of the Old Scottish Parliament). https://www.legislation.gov.uk/aosp/1560/1.
  4. ^ "Confession of Faith: The Orthodox Presbyterian Church". opc.org. Retrieved 2023-11-13.
  5. ^ Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (2004). "Book of Confessions, Confession of 1967" (PDF). Louisville, Kentucky: The Office of the General Assembly. pp. 252–262. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-08-11. Retrieved 2023-11-13.
  6. ^ Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (2004). "Book of Confessions" (PDF). Louisville, Kentucky: The Office of the General Assembly, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-08-11. Retrieved 2023-11-13.
  7. ^ Walker 1894, pp. 114, 221.
  8. ^ Bremer, Francis J.; Webster, Tom, Puritans and Puritanism in Europe and America: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia, Volume 1, ABC-CLIO, USA, 2006, p. 354.
  9. ^ Carson, D. A. (27 January 2015). Themelios, Volume 36, Issue 2. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 313. ISBN 978-1-62564-954-6.
  10. ^ Gribben, Crawford. The Puritan Millennium: Literature and Theology, 1550–1682 (Revised Edition), Wipf and Stock Publishers, USA, 2008, p. 252.
  11. ^ The 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith, Documents, Reformed.
  12. ^ Turnbull, Richard (15 July 2010). Anglican and Evangelical?. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 45–. ISBN 978-1-4411-1475-4.
  13. ^ Avis, Paul (2013). The Anglican Understanding of the Church: An introduction. SPCK. pp. 65–. ISBN 978-0-281-06815-9.
  14. ^ Earey, Mark (2013). Beyond Common Worship: Anglican Identity and Liturgical Diversity. SCM Press. pp. 100–. ISBN 978-0-334-04739-1.
  15. ^ Platten, Stephen; Woods, Christopher (2012). Comfortable Words: Polity, Piety and the Book of Common Prayer. Hymns Ancient and Modern. pp. 142–. ISBN 978-0-334-04670-7.
  16. ^ Muller, Richard A. (2004). "John Calvin and later Calvinism". In Bagchi, David; Steinmetz, David C. (eds.). The Cambridge Companion to Reformation Theology. New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 135. ISBN 978-0-52177-662-2.
  17. ^ Schaff, Philip (1877). The Creeds of Christendom: The history of creeds. Harper.
  18. ^ "Confessions of Faith, The Westminster Confession of Faith" (PDF). Louisville, Kentucky: Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). 2004 [1646]. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-08-11. Retrieved 2023-11-13.
  19. ^ Confession of Faith of the Calvinistic Methodists or the Presbyterians of Wales at the Wayback Machine (archived July 27, 2011)