Content of the Confession A look through the Confession reveals some of the fear just mentioned, It is clearest, perhaps, in controversial Article XXXVI: Wherefore we detest the Anabaptists and other seditious people, and in general all those who reject the higher powers and magistrates and would subvert justice, introduce commun: ity of goods, and confound that decency and good order which God has established among men, In the tense religious and political situation of the Netherlands, it was always the ‘seditious’ peo- ple from whom de Bres took pains to disentangle himself. In a cover letter to Philip Il, de Bres insists that he and his kind are not seditious, not revolutionaries. He assures Philip that. prayers are offered for him, Taxes are paid. The Nether- lands Reformed people are responsible. Yet, de Bres insists, they must witness to the Christ of the Scriptures and finally obey God rather than man, Anabaptist positions are elsewhere in view as well. For instance, Menno Simons (the Neth- erlandish Anabaptist after whom modern Men- nonites are named) held a Docetic view of Christ: He thought Christ only appeared to be human, bbut really was not. In Article XVIII the Confes: sion rejects Menno's Docetism. Other instances in which Anabaptist views are in mind will be mentioned'in Jater lessons. But the Confession is not merely polemical, and surely not merely polemical against Anabaptists. The majority of the thirty-seven articles offer a straight, reproduction of Calvinist orthodoxy, rauch of it apparently written with one eye on Calvin's Genevan Confession of 1559. The ar- ticles, like Calvin's, are traditionally shaped into a rough trinitarian pattern: God and how we know Him (1-9), Christ and how He justified us (10-23), the Holy Spirit and the sanctified life (24-37), Four final comments could be made about the Confession’s content, It will be helpful to make them by way of a comparison with the Heidelberg Catechism. First, the Confession differs from the Catechism in dealing s0 prominently with the Scriptures. ‘The Catechism strikingly omits all reference to what the Bible is, In its early and Prominent statements about the Word of God and the canon of Seripture, the Belgic Confession both follows Calvin and anticipates similar statements by the standard Reformed orthodoxy of the seventeonth century. Such statements (the Westminster Confession is a good example) first define God and then say how He is known, Secondly, in another anticipation of seven- teenth century confessional orthodoxy, the Con- fession deals with election and reprobation (Art. XVI). We recall that the Catechism, except for the phrase “a community chosen for eternal life" in Answer 54, says nothing about election and reprobation ‘Thirdly, except for the doctrine of the sacraments, the Confession lavishes much more attention on the church than does the Catechism. ‘The Catechism has only the splendid Q & A 54 which seems a bit slim by comparison with the Confession, Finally, the Confession shows much more of a interest in the relation of church and state~a big social-ethical question—than does the Catechisin. AS we have seen, this may largely be owed to the ‘Anabaptist background in de Bres’ Netherlands, and the special circumstances of persecution there. On this difficult issue, Calvin had profound things to say, and since his time Reformed thinkers have always attempted to distinguish their position from those of Catholics, Lutherans, and Anabaptist Conctusion The Belgic Confession is a highly Calvinistic document which breathes the spirit of courage in persecution. It must be understood in its context of persecution in the Netherlands. Perhaps it is this context, and what we know of Guido de Bres’ personal bravery, which together make the article ‘on providence speak to us so acutely even today. De Bres never thought of providence merely as the bringer of good picnic weather or the finder of lost wallets. He risked, and finally gave, his life under the firm convietfon that nothing could ever tear him out of the grasp of his heavenly Father: This doctrine affords us unspeakable consola- tion, since we are taught thereby that nothing can befall us by chance, but by the direction of our most gracious and heavenly Father; who watches over us with a paternal care, keeping all creatures so under His power that not a hair of our head (for they are all numbered), nor a sparrow can foll to the ground without the will of our Father, in whom we do entirely trust; being persuaded that He so restrains the devil and all our enemies that without His will and permission they cannot hurtus, (Art. XIII) ‘THE BELGIC CONFESSION 39