Belgic Confession

Definition and Meaning

The Belgic Confession is a confession of faith professed by the Reformed churches of the Low Countries in the sixteenth century. The word "Belgic" derives from the Latin Belgica, a term for the region that encompasses present-day Belgium and the Netherlands. The confession consists of thirty-seven articles. The Reformed churches of continental Europe receive it, together with the Heidelberg Catechism and the Canons of Dort, as the "Three Forms of Unity," that is, the three doctrinal standards that unite the church.

The confession opens with a profession of faith in the one God (Article 1). It then treats the two means by which God is known: creation and Scripture (Article 2). There follow, in order, the canon of Scripture, the Trinity, creation and providence, the fall, election, the work of Jesus Christ, justification and sanctification, the church, the sacraments, civil government, and the Last Judgment. Article 29 is especially well known for setting forth three marks of the true church:

• The pure preaching of the gospel
• The proper administration of the sacraments
• The exercise of church discipline

Biblical and Historical Background

The author, Guido de Brès, was a Reformed minister from the southern Netherlands. He wrote the confession in 1561, when Protestants were being persecuted under the rule of King Philip II of Spain. He is believed to have modeled it on the 1559 confession of the French Reformed churches (the Gallic Confession).

The confession was written for two purposes. The first was to show the authorities that Reformed believers were not rebels but people of faith who followed Scripture. The second was to distinguish them from the Anabaptists. De Brès was executed at Valenciennes in 1567. The confession was subsequently adopted by several synods of the Reformed churches in the Netherlands, and at the Synod of Dort (1618–1619) its text was reviewed and revised, and it became an official doctrinal standard.

Use in Korean Churches

The doctrinal standards of the major Korean Presbyterian denominations generally belong to the Westminster Confession of Faith tradition. The Belgic Confession is studied chiefly in courses on the creeds and confessions at theological seminaries. It is also used for doctrinal instruction in churches that emphasize the Reformed tradition, and Korean translations are included in collections of creeds.

Other denominations take different positions on certain articles:

• Methodist and Holiness churches: Standing in the tradition of Wesleyan theology, they understand election in relation to God's foreknowledge, in contrast to Article 16, which confesses election by grace.
• Baptists: They differ with Article 34, which upholds infant baptism and criticizes the Anabaptists. Baptists administer baptism by immersion to those who have professed faith.
• Article 36: This article contains language stating that the civil government should suppress false worship. Some Reformed churches today have amended this language or accept it with qualifications.