Published in 1581, the ''Harmonia confessionum fidei'' (Harmony of Confessions of Faith) was an early attempt at Protestant comparative dogmatics or symbolics.

Purpose

It grew out of a desire for one common Creed, which was modified into the idea of a selected harmony. In this shape it was proposed by the Protestants of Zurich and

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

. Jean-François Salvart, minister of the Church of

Castres Castres (; ''Castras'' in the Languedocian dialect, Languedocian dialect of Occitan language, Occitan) is the sole Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Tarn (department), Tarn Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administ ...

, is now recognized as the chief editor of the work with some assistance from

Theodore Beza Theodore Beza ( la, Theodorus Beza; french: Théodore de Bèze or ''de Besze''; June 24, 1519 – October 13, 1605) was a French Calvinist Protestant theologian, reformer and scholar who played an important role in the Protestant Reformatio ...

Lambert Daneau Lambert Daneau (c. 1530 – c. 1590) was a French jurist and Calvinist theologian. Life He was born at Beaugency-sur-Loire, and educated at Orléans. He studied Greek under Adrianus Turnebus, and then law in Orléans from 1553. He moved to Bourges ...

Antoine de la Roche Chandieu Antoine de la Roche Chandieu (1534 in Castle of Chabot (near Mâcon) – February 23, 1591 in Geneva) was a French Reformed theologian, poet, diplomat and nobleman. His trend toward the Reformed Protestantism was strengthened during his study o ...

, and

Simon Goulart Simon Goulart (20 October 1543 – 3 February 1628) was a French Reformed theologian, humanist and poet. Life He was born at Senlis in northern France. He first studied law, then adopted the Reformed faith and became one of the pastors at Geneva ...

. It was intended as a defense of Protestant, and particularly Reformed, doctrine against the attacks of

Roman Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and

Lutherans Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...

. It does not give the confessions in full, but extracts from them on the chief articles of faith, which are classified under nineteen sections. It anticipates

Georg Benedikt Winer Georg Benedikt Winer (13 April 1789, Leipzig – 12 May 1858, Leipzig), Germany, German Protestant theology, theologian, known for his linguistics, linguistic studies of the New Testament. Life He studied theology at Leipzig, where in 1819 he began ...

's method, but for harmonistic purposes.

Content

Besides the principal

Reformed Confessions 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. authorit ...

(i.e., the Tetrapolitan, Basel, Helvetic, French, Scots and

Belgic Belgic may refer to: * an adjective referring to the Belgae, an ancient confederation of tribes * a rarer adjective referring to the Low Countries or to Belgium * , several ships with the name * Belgic ware Aylesford-Swarling pottery is part of a ...

Confessions), three Lutheran Confessions are also used, viz., the

Augsburg Confession The Augsburg Confession, also known as the Augustan Confession or the Augustana from its Latin name, ''Confessio Augustana'', is the primary confession of faith of the Lutheran Church and one of the most important documents of the Protestant Re ...

, the

Saxon Confession The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

(''Confessio Saxonica''), and the Württemberg Confession, as well as the Confession of the Unity of the Brethren (1573) and Anglican Confession (1562). The work appeared almost simultaneously with the Lutheran

Formula of Concord Formula of Concord (1577) (German, ''Konkordienformel''; Latin, ''Formula concordiae''; also the "''Bergic Book''" or the "''Bergen Book''") is an authoritative Lutheran statement of faith (called a confession, creed, or "symbol") that, in its t ...

, and may be called a Reformed Formula of Concord, though differing from the former in being a mere compilation from previous symbols.

References

* This article incorporates text from th
Philip Schaff, ''The Creeds of Christendom''
a publication now in the public domain

External links

''The Harmony of Protestant confessions'' (by J.F. Salvart) (1842).

''Harmonia confessionum fidei'' (1581) Geneva.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harmonia confessionum fidei Reformed confessions of faith 16th-century Christian texts 16th-century Calvinism 1581 books

Purpose

Content

References

Further reading

External links