About this book
In response to the Lutheran Formula of Concord, representatives of Reformed churches commissioned Girolamo Zanchi to draft a confession of faith acceptable to all Reformed churches. Zanchi patterned his Confession of the Christian Religion after the Apostles’ Creed, giving it a broadly Trinitarian and redemptive-historical structure that emphasizes God’s saving work for His people in His incarnate Son. It is a synthesis of his exegetical, doctrinal, and pastoral interests and stands out among his numerous publications as a useful and accessible overview of the entire Reformed theological system of doctrine. Although the project never attained confessional status at the ecclesiastical level as was planned, Zanchi’s Confession proved influential in both the Reformed theological tradition generally and the development of Reformed dogmatics in particular.
Contents
Preface
Abbreviations
Introduction
The Confession of the Christian Religion
Dedicatory Letter
Letter to the Reader
1. Holy Scripture, the Foundation of the Whole Christian Religion
2. God and the Divine Persons and Properties
3. Divine Foreknowledge and Predestination
4. The Omnipotence and Will of God
5. The Creation of the World, the Angels, and the Condition of the First Man
6. The Providence and Governance of the World
7. The Fall of Man, and Concerning Original Sin and Its Fruits
8. Man’s Free Will after the Fall
9. The Promise of Redemption and Salvation by Christ
10. The Law
11. Christ the Redeemer
12. The Actual Distribution of Redemption, Salvation, and Life Deposited in the One Christ (and the Indispensable Union and Fellowship with Christ)
13. The Gospel and the Abrogation of the Law by Means of the Gospel
14. The Sacraments of the New Testament
15. Baptism
16. The Lord’s Supper
17. Faith, Hope, and Love
18. Repentance
19. Justification
20. The Regenerate Man’s Free Will and His Power to Do Good
21. Good Works
22. Prayer and Oaths
23. Christ’s Church in General
24. The Church Militant
25. The Governance of the Church Militant and Ecclesiastical Ministry
26. The Magistrate
27. The Ongoing Remission of Sins in Christ’s Church
28. The State of Souls after Death and the Resurrection of the Dead
29. The Glorious Advent of Our Lord Jesus to Judge the Living and the Dead
30. Eternal Life
Zanchi’s Own Observations on His Confession
An Appendix to Chapter Eleven
Certain Chief Articles of the Christian Faith Debated at Various Times at Heidelberg and Neustadt against Various Heresies
Bibliography
Index
