BELGIC CONFESSION

Latin Confessio Belgica, statement of the Reformed faith in 37 articles written by Guido de Brs, a Reformer in the southern Low Countries (now Belgium) and northern France. First printed in 1561 at Rouen, it was revised at a synod in Antwerp in 1566, was printed that same year in Geneva, and was subsequently translated into Dutch, German, and Latin. It was accepted by synods at Wesel (1568), Emden (1571), Dort (1574), and Middelburg (1581) and was further revised and given final acceptance at the Synod of Dort in 1619. Originally written in French, the Belgic Confession closely followed the French, or Gallican, Confession of 1559; it is somewhat less elaborate than that creed, however, especially in treating the doctrines of the Trinity, the Incarnation, the church, and the sacraments. It became the standard creed of the Reformed Church of the Netherlands and of Reformed churches of Dutch background in the United States, which adopted a translation of a Latin version prepared for the Synod of Dort. Compare Gallican Confession.