Magyar Egyház, 1966 (45. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1966-08-01 / 8-9. szám
10 MAGYAR EGYHÁZ MAGYAR CHURCH Imre Bertalan: THE II. HELVETIC CONFESSION: 1566—1966 Members of the Reformed family all over the world should rejoice at the theological discussions and festive commemorations occasioned by the 400th Anniversary of one of the most cherished 16th century confession of faith: the II. Helvetic Confession. These discussions may serve as occasions for both the recovery and reform of our confessional tradition. THE REFORMED TRADITION For Reformed tradition is, and has been through the centuries, a confessional tradition. Why was it not enough for the Reformers to use the three historic creeds — the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed of the first Christian centuries? Why did they add documents of their own? For two reasons. First — the Church of the Middle Ages against which they were making their protest also held these three creeds. Though there was nothing in them to which the Reformers objected, there was a great deal in the teachings of the Roman Church to which they were opposed. It was necessary, therefore, for the Reformers to show exactly where they differed from the faith of the Roman Church. Second — as the Reformation progressed, it became more apparent that despite the mediating efforts of men like Buliinger, the author of the II Helvetic Confession, the Reformation would permanently split into two camps, Lutheran and Reformed. It was an unhappy fact and meant that each of the two parties felt the necessity of carefully stating why it could not follow the other. Taken with the three historic creeds our doctrinal standards make a threefold confession: 1— First they confess that none of the Reformers believed for a moment that they were founding a new faith. All of them sincerely believed that the faith which they professed was the historic faith of Christendom delivered to the saints and held through the ages. 2— Secondly, they confess the way in which the Reformed Church understands and interprets the Revelation of God given us in the Holy Scripture. The Word of God being the only authority, creeds and doctrinal statements are our interpretations of that Word. 3— Third, they confess their identity. Identity is inseparable from historicity. It is the church firmly grounded in the past that can speak confidently to any present situation. Recovery of confessional identity, however, cannot mean an enforced subscription to a Confession. Therefore, the Reformed confessing church is neither a liberal church without a creed, nor an orthodox church with a dead creed. CREED - CONFESSION - CATECHISM Before we enter the historic scene upon which the II. Helvetic Confession appeared, let us spend a moment acquainting ourselves with three terms which we are using. We have already used the word Creed. It is derived from the Latin word credo — I believe — and means a statement of faith. A very similar word is confession, derived from the Latin confiteor — I acknowledge — used also to describe a statement of faith. The difference between the two statements is that the Creed seeks to express the confession of the Church in a simple direct way. They are set up in the language of the New Testament and ascribed to the apostles as an authentic summary of the Scriptures. The Confession, on the other hand, seeks to unfold and safeguard the true and right understanding of the Creed in the face of new situations, problems, errors. The Reformed Confessions do not seek to replace the Creeds. On the contrary, they wish to say what is old, but to say it in a new way. They, too, want to say simply — Jesus Christ is Lord! Still a third term is Catechism, the word used to describe a Confession which is put in a simple question and answer form. Now, let us turn to the historical scene in which the II. Helvetic Confession came to its own significance. FREDERICK III. OF THE PALATINATE In the 16th century there was, properly speaking, no country called Germany. Instead, there were some 300 independent little states, loosely federated. Heidelberg was the capital city of one of them, Palatinate, in German: Pfalz. Located in the southern part of what is now Germany, it was more open to the influence of French and Swiss thought than some of its northern neighbors, with the result that there were many people favorable to the Reformed point of view. But the Palatinate was also the home of Philip Melanchton, Luther’s great friend and successor who had become increasingly alarmed over the growing split between the Lutheran and Reformed parties. When Luther’s death in 1546 advanced Melanchton to the position of leadership in German Protestantism, he determind to spend the rest of his life in an effort to reconcile these two great parties. All of this meant that the religious atmosphere in Heidelberg was mild and conciliatory. The Elector of the country, the ruling prince, Frederick III., was very proud to have it that way. For the great truths of the Gospel he was more than willing to lay down his life. But he was not willing to spend time and energy persecuting those who differed from him at some points. But there were many who did not share his point of view. The extreme Lutheran party in the town was determined to wipe out every trace of the “Reformed heresy” in Heidelberg. In their pulpits and lecture halls, the Lutherans thundered against their Reformed opponents with the result that the Reformed soon began to hurl thunderbolts of their own. Elector Frederick tolerated this statte of affairs as long as he could. Then, his patience exhausted, he removed the principal offenders on both sides from their posts. Two young men who had taken no part in the
