ECO #PPLPG $POGFTTJPOT ECO 1 Table of Contents Introduction to the Confessions ................................... 4 The Nicene Creed ........................................................ 7 The Apostles Creed ..................................................... 11 The Scots Confessions of 1560 ................................... 14 The Heidelberg Catechism .......................................... 32 The Second Helvetic Confession ................................. 78 The Westminster Standards ......................................... 147 The Theological Declaration of Barmen ..................... 275 The Confession of 1967 .............................................. 282 A Brief Statement of Faith (PCUSA) .......................... 296 2 ECO: A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians would like to express our gratitude to the Christian Reformed Church for allowing us to reproduce the Heidelberg Catechism for our ECO Book of Confessions. In addition, we would also like to extend our appreciation to the Presbyterian Church (USA) for allowing us to include the Confession of 1967 and the Brief Statement of Faith. . . 3 *OUSPEVDUJPO UPUIF $POGFTTJPOT ECO#PPLPG$POGFTTJPOT 4 . . . . . . . . . . . Members of ECO's National Theological Task Force have prepared new introductions for each of the confessions in this ECO Book of Confessions. The introductions themselves, while broadly applicable, are nevertheless the authorship of particular individuals and should not be understood as an official position of our denomination. The introductions are intended to be helpful and stimulating documents that will not only introduce the confession to the reader but will also assist us in our project of discerning the content and understanding of any possible ECO Book of Confessions going forward. The individual introductions are listed below along with their author or authors. ECO Book of Confessions Introduction: Rev. Justin Amsler Preface to Historic Documents: Rev. Dr. Gregory Wagenfuhr The Nicene Creed and the Apostles' Creed: Rev. Dr. Tim McConnell and Rev. Dr. Mark Patterson The Scots Confession of 1560: Rev. Dr. Richard Gibbons The Heidelberg Catechism: Mickie O'Donnell and Rev. Barry Gray The Second Helvetic Confession: Rev. Dr. M. J. Romano and Rev. Troy Onsager The Westminster Standards: Rev. Dr. Gregory Wagenfuhr The Theological Declaration of Barmen: Rev. Dr. Gregory Wagenfuhr and Rev. Claire Ripley The Confession of 1967: Rev. Dr. Mark Patterson The Brief Statement of Faith PC(USA): Rev. Dr. Gregory Wagenfuhr 5 Preface To Historic Documents The Book of Confessions is a collection of historical documents. It has a "secondary authority... as a faithful expression of the Word of God" (Essential Tenets, I). Its oldest documents are about 1,700 years old, and its most recent over 30 years old. Each of these is tied to its historical context in particular ways. Many of these historical contexts are very different to our own, and hold to very different social and political values than we do in our own time. These values colored the expression of faith of the various authors. Within the following documents the reader will find statements that offend modern sensibilities and values. There is antisemitic language, deep wrath against the Roman Catholic church, name calling of other Christians, prohibitions against women holding ordained roles in the church, and explications of specific church and state relationships no longer held today. The reader will have to refrain from judging the entire theology of a document by issues that express contextually bound values. All of the documents contained within this book were authored by sinful people, often blind to the systematic sins of their world. Nevertheless, all who read the documents within this book are themselves sinners, and are often blind to the systematic sins of our own contexts. This is the great benefit of holding to a faith that extends through a large space and time—as the documents within have both resonance and discord with ourselves, they become fruitful teachers who may even help elucidate our own contemporary idolatries. In ECO: A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians, all of our officers are bound to "receive, adopt, and be bound by the Essential Tenets" (Polity 2.0103c). Our Essential Tenets "witness to the confessions' common core." This means our Essential Tenets are helpful summaries of the theological core found throughout the documents within this book. Our officers are bound to "affirm that men and women alike are called to the ministries of the Church, and that every member is called to share in all of Christ's offices within the world beyond the church (Essential Tents, III.D). This means officers must actively deny sections of the Scots Confession and the Second Helvetic Confession. This is true beyond articles footnoted by an asterisk in the text below (*). Any affirmation, prohibition, or instruction within the following documents that contradict Scripture or ECO's Essential Tenets must be denied by ordained officers. As such, the documents found within this book do not concur in all their details, as may be expected of any such historical compilation. 6 5IF/JDFOF $SFFE ECO#PPLPG$POGFTTJPOT 7 The Patristic Period The essential doctrines of the Christian faith were given form in the period running from the close of the New Testament writings (ca. 100) to the Council of Chalcedon in 451—the Patristic Period. The first half of this period was occupied with defining what it meant to be the church, staying faithful to its mission and doctrine in the midst of a hostile culture. With the conversion of the Emperor Constantine (between 312 and 337) and the end of large scale persecution, the church began to turn its attention to theological issues that had been percolating through the years. The next two hundred years brought about some of the most brilliant, creative, and discerning theological work in the history of the church defining the essential doctrines of the Christian faith. Through deliberation and debate, councils and creeds, heretics and heroes, the church came to define what it believed to be essential for the whole church to hold true. It was during the Patristic period that the church defined the triune nature of God, the two natures of Jesus Christ, the doctrine of salvation by grace, and the nature of the church not only as essential doctrines but also as foundational standards of faith and practice. The Patristic Period produced many important creedal statements. In addition to a number of Ecumenical Councils—each producing a statement of faith in the form of a creed—numerous individuals wrote creeds expressing the faith and doctrine of the church. The current Book of Confessions contains two creeds from this period: The Nicene Creed and The Apostles’ Creed. While both are succinct documents, they are the result of protracted struggles and profound discernment, and thus provide the church with ingenious expressions of deep theological mysteries. . . . . . . . . 8 . . . . . . . and the Son and Spirit following along behind—lesser divinities, but still divine. His bishop, Alexander, a deacon named Athanasius, and many others felt that this posture diminished the Son and Spirit. While attempting to be rational, Arius’ teaching abandoned the full confession that Jesus is the Son of the eternal God, no less than the Father. There was no time nor ontological category in which the Father’s existence preceded the Son’s. The primary work of the Nicene Creed in its first form (325) was to explain the equal divinity of the Father and the Son, one in divine essence and being. The close of the Council of Nicaea was only the opening of the debate, which raged on through the fourth century. By the time a council was gathered in Constantinople in 381, the church was ready, not only to defend the equality of the divine being of the Son, but of the Spirit as well. The creed we now share is the product of these two councils, and represents the core Christian belief in the doctrine of the Trinity, revealed and beyond human rationality. This creed represents the core doctrine of God for all Christians. God is revealed as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, one God in three Persons, equally divine and of the same substance. They are equally revered, worshiped and adored. The century of heated debate created a united statement on the nature of God and the meaning of the incarnation, uniting the church in faith and understanding. This creed unites Christians from Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and many Protestant traditions, though not without disagreement on the filioque clause (that the Spirit proceeds from the Son as well as the Father). 9 1.1–.3 THE NICENE CREED 1.1 We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and