For All You Heidelbergers Out There
Saturday, November 10, 2007 at 11:35AM 
For those of you who are interested in the Three Forms of Unity, there's a very helpful new book out dealing the history and sources of the Belgic Confession.
Nicolaas Gootjes' The Belgic Confession: Its History and Sources covers a number of important topics, including whether or not Guido (Guy) de Bres is the primary author of the confession -- Gootjes argues that he was. There are important chapters dealing with the sources of the Belgic Confession (primarily the French Confession) as well as a previously overlooked source, Beza's Catechism.
There is a helpful discussion of the confession's authority in the Dutch Reformed Church. As the Remonstrants gathered steam in Holland, they began to challenge the authority of the confession, especially because it was used by the orthodox to challenge Arminian doctrine. Gootjes convincingly shows that the confession was accepted by the churches (and was therefore binding) shortly after it was written, well before the Synod of Dort.
The appendix is also helpful and contains the texts of critical correspondence establishing the confession's authorship and authority.
This is an important book, and Dr. Gootjes (a professor at the Canadian Reformed Seminary in Hamilton, Ontario) has given us non-Dutch speakers an important window into the origins of our confession which is a wonderful summary of the biblical faith.
For more information, Click here: Amazon.com: The Belgic Confession: Its History and Sources (Texts and Studies in Reformation and Post-Reformation
Reader Comments (4)
Somethings never change. It appears that some of the folks associated with the 'Federal Vision' are taking a similar tack with the Westminster Standards that the Remonstrants did with the Belgic confession. Which is to be expected I guess since The WS can no more be harmonized with the FV than the BC can be made to conform with Arminianism.
Please read Cal Beisner's intro to Guy Waters book on the Federal Vision. I am not the only one to note the striking similarities between the posture taken by the Remonstrants and that of FV advocates like J. Meyers and J. Jordon in their dismissive attitude towards the Westminster Standards bi-covenantal structure. That coupled with the whole FV concept of the Non-elect covenant memeber possessing (NECM) a 'conditional ' and comtempoary justification, election, forgiveness of sins, etc. differs very little from what the Arminians advocated.