The Formula consists of a preface and twenty-six canons or articles, which clearly state the points of difference between strict Calvinism and Salmurianism. They teach the following points: 1. The literal inspiration of the Scriptures and the integrity of the traditional Hebrew text of the Old Testament, including the vowels as well as consonants; so that we need not resort to manuscripts, translations, and conjectures.' Art. 1-3. Against Cappel. This attempt to canonize the Hebrew vowels gave great offense to Claude, Daillé, and other French Calvinists; and Heidegger explained to Turretin that the object of the Formula was only to guard the authority and integrity of the original text, and not to decide grammatical and critical questions. But in its natural effect such a mechanical theory of inspiration, which, to be of any practical use, requires a perpetual literary miracle in the preservation of the text, would supersede all textual criticism, and make the Targums, the Septuagint, the Vulgate, and other ancient versions, worse than useless. 2. God decreed from eternity, first, to create man innocent; second, to permit (permittere) the fall; third, to elect some to salvation, and thus to reveal in them his mercy, but to leave the rest in the corrupt mass (alios vero in corrupta massa relinquere), and to devote them to eternal perdition. (This is clearly the Augustinian infralapsarianism.) In the gracious decree of election Christ himself is included, as etc. The original draft of the Formula was even milder and much shorter. Schweizer has, in a purely historical interest, vindicated the memory of Heidegger and the comparatively moderate character of the Consensus Formula. See his extracts from the MS. of Heidegger's Report, in Niedner's Zeitschrift, above quoted, and his art. Heidegger, in Herzog's RealEncykl. In specie autem Hebraicus Veteris Testamenti Codex, quem ex traditione Ecclesiæ Judaicæ, cui olim Oracula Dei commissa sunt, accepimus hodieque retinemus, tum quoad consoNAS, tum quoad VOCALIA, sive puncta ipsa, sive punctorum saltem potestatem, et tum QUOAD RES, tum QUOAD VERBA GEÓTVEVOTOç, ut fidei et vitæ nostræ, una cum Codice Novi Testamenti sit CANON unicus et illibatus, ad cuius normam, ceu Lydium lapidem, universæ, quæ extant, Versiones, sive orientales, sive occidentales exigendæ, et sicubi deflectunt, revocandæ sunt.' The same theory of plenary inspiration of words and thoughts, which dates from Rabbinical orthodoxy, but was not held by the Reformers, prevailed in the Lutheran Church since John Gerhard, and is even now extensively held, especially in England and America, by those whose faith in the Word of God is not affected by modern criticism. It was most ably defended by the venerable Dr. Louis Gaussen (1790-1863), Professor in the Free Church Theological School of Geneva, in his works on Theopneusty (1840; second edition, 1842), and on the Canon (1862, two vols.). Dissent from him led to the resignation of his colleague, Scherer. Gaussen admitted, however, the individualities of the sacred writers, and compares them to the keys of an immense organ, on which the Holy Spirit played. VOL. I.--I I the Mediator and our first-born Brother. The doctrine of an antecedent hypothetical will or intention of God' to save all men on condition of faith is rejected as unscriptural and as involving God in imperfection and contradiction. Art. 4-6. Against Amyraut. 3. The covenant of works made by God with Adam before the fall, promising to him eternal life (symbolized by the tree of life in Paradise), on condition of perfect obedience. Art. 7-9. Against Amyrant. 4. Immediate imputation of Adam's sin to all his posterity who fell in him, their representative head (in ipso ut capite et stirpe), and forfeited the promised blessing of the covenant of works. Man is thus doubly condemned, for his participation in the sin of Adam and for his hereditary depravity; to deny the former makes the latter doubtful. Art. 10-12. Against La Place, not because he asserted mediate or consequent imputation (which the Formula likewise teaches), but because he excluded the other. 5. Limited atonement. Christ died only for the elect, and not indiscriminately for all men.3 The infinite value and inherent sufficiency of Christ's satisfaction is not denied, but the divine intention and the practical efficiency are limited, and adjusted to the particularism of the decree of election. Art. 13-16. Against Amyraut. 6. The actual vocation to salvation never was absolutely general (numquam absolute universalis), but was confined to Israel in the old dispensation and to Christians in the new (Matt. xi. 25; Eph. i. 9). God's revelation in nature and providence (Rom. i. 19, 20) is insufficient for purposes of salvation, though it leaves the heathen without excuse for rejecting even this remnant of the knowledge of God. The 1 Called voluntas conditionata, velleitas, misericordia prima, desiderium inefficax. Art. X. 'Censemus igitur peccatum Adami omnibus ejus posteris judicio Dei arcano et justo imputari' (Rom. v. 12, 19; 1 Cor. xv. 21, 22). Art. XI. 'Duplici igitur nomine post peccatum homo natura, indeque ab ortu suo, antequam ullum actuale peccatum in se admittat, iræ ac maledictioni divinæ obnoxius est; primum quidem ob zapáñтwμa et inobedientiam, quam in Adami lumbis commisit; deinde ab consequentem in ipso conceptu hereditarium corruptionem insitam, qua tota ejus natura depravata et spiritualiter mortua est, adeo quidem, ut recte peccatum originale statuatur duplex. . . imputatum videlicet, et hereditarium inhærens.' 'Art. XIII. 'Pro solis electis ex decretorio Patris consilio propriaque intentione diram mortem oppetiit [Christus], solos illos in sinum paternæ gratiæ restituit, solos Deo Patri offenso reconciliavit et a maledictione legis liberavit.' Art. XVI. 'Haud probare possumus oppositam doctrinam illorum qui statuunt, Christum propria intentione et consilio tum suo tum Patris ipsum mittentis, mortuum esse pro omnibus et singulis, addita conditione impossibili, si videlicet credant.' The ablest modern advocate of this limited atonement theory is Dr. Hodge, Syst. Theol. Vol. II. pp. 544 sqq. external call of God through his Word is always serious, and so far effective that it works salvation in the elect, and makes the unbelief of the reprobate inexcusable.' Art. 17-20. Against Amyraut, who extended the vocation beyond the limits of the visible Church and the ordinary means of grace. 7. The natural as well as moral inability of man to believe the gospel of himself. This twofold inability has its ground in the depravity of our nature, from which only the omnipotent power of the Holy Spirit can deliver us (1 Cor. ii. 14; 2 Cor. iv. 6). Art. 21, 22. Against Amyraut. 8. A twofold covenant of God with man-the covenant of works made with Adam and through him with all men, but set aside by the fall, and the covenant of grace made only with the elect in Christ, which is forever valid, and exists under two economies, the Jewish and the Christian. The saints of the Old Testament were saved by the same faith in the Lamb of God as we are (Apoc. xiii. 8; Heb. xiii. 8; John xiv. 1); for out of Christ there is no salvation. The doctrine of the Holy Trinity is revealed in the Old Testament in words, figures, and types, sufficiently for salvation, though not as clearly as in the New. For no one can believe in Christ without the Holy Spirit, the third person in the Trinity. Amyrant's doctrine of three essentially different covenants-natural, legal, and evangelical, with different degrees of knowledge and piety--is disapproved. Art. 23–25. The concluding article (the 26th) prohibits the teaching of new or doubtful and unauthorized doctrines which are contrary to the Word of God, the Second Helvetic Confession, the Canons of the Synod of Dort, and other Reformed symbols. 1 Art. XIX. 'Vocatio externa quæ per præconium Evangelicum fit, etiam vocantis Dei respectu, seria et sincera est. . . . Neque voluntas illa respectu eorum, qui vocationi non parent, inefficax est, quia semper Deus id, quod volens intendit, assequitur,' etc. 2 Art. XXI. 'MORALIS ea impotentia dici possit, quatenus scilicet circa subjectum et objectum morale versatur: NATURALIS tamen esse simul et dici debet, quatenus homo púσɛi, natura, adeoque nascendi lege, inde ab ortu est filtus iræ' (Eph. ii. 2). Dr. Hodge likewise defends this doctrine against the New School Calvinists, who, with Amyraut, claim for man the natural ability, but admit his moral inability. II. THE REFORMED CONFESSIONS OF FRANCE AND THE NETHERLANDS. 8 62. THE GALLICAN CONFESSION. A.D. 1559. Literature. I. EDITIONS OF THE GALLICAN CONFESSION. The original French text in Turon, De Beza: Histoire ecclésiastique des églises réformées au royaums de France, Antw. 1580, Tom. II. pp. 173-190; in NIEMEYER'S Collectio Conf. in eccles. reformatis public. pp. 311-326; and in the Zeitschrift für die histor. Theologie for 1875, pp. 506–544, with an introduction by Dr. HEPPE. The shorter recension in the new edition of Calvin's Opera, Vol. IX. pp. 739 sqq. The text, as revised by the Synod of Rochelle (1571), was often printed in French Bibles, and separately. Comp. the Toulouse edition of 1864, entitled Confession de Foi et Discipline ccclésiastique des églises réformées de France (Société des livres religieux, pp. 9-35). The Latin translation: Gallicarum ecclesiarum Confessio Christianissimo Carolo IX. regi anno MDLXI. exhibita. Nunc vero in Latinum conversa, ut omnino cons et eas ab omnibus hæresibus sive sectis esse prorsus aliena. Anno Domini 1566–and often reprinted; also in Corpus et Syntagma Conf. 1654, pp. 77– 88, and in NIEMEYER'S Collectio, pp. 327-339. A German translation appeared first at Heidelberg, 1562 (see Niemeyer, Præfat. p. 1.); also in BÖCKEL'S Bekenntniss-Schriften der evang. reform. Kirche, pp. 461–474. An English translation in Jons QUIOK's Synodicon in Gallia Reformata, Lond. 1692, Vol. I. pp. vi.-xvi. II. HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION AND THE Reformed CHURCH IN FRANCE. See partly the Literature on Calvin, quoted p. 421. THEOD. BEZA: Histoire ecclés, des églises réformées au royaume de France (1521-63), Antw. 1580, 3 vols. JEAN CRESPIN (d. 1572): Livre des martyrs (Acta Martyrum), depuis Jean Hus jusqu'en 1554. Geneva, 1560; enlarged edition, Genève, 1617, and Amsterd. 1684. SERRANUS (JEAN DE SERRES, historiographer of France, 1540-98): Commentarius de statu religionis et reipublicæ in regno Galliæ, 1571-73 (five parts). THECD. AGRIPPa d'Aubigné (ALBINEUS, a Huguenot in the service of Henry IV.; d. at Geneva, 1630): Histoire universelle de mon temps, 1616-20, 3 vols. DU PLESSIS MORNAY: Mémoires et correspondance. Paris, 1824-25. JOHN QUICK (a learned Non-conformist, d. 1706): Synodicon in Gallia Reformata; or, the Acts, Decisions, Decrees, and Canons of the National Councils of the Reformed Churches in France. London, 1692, 2 vols. fol. (with a history of the Church till 1685). Much more accurate than Aymon. AYMON: Tous les synodes nationaux des églises réformées de France. La Haye, 1710, 2 vols. 4to. E. A. LAVAL: Compendious History of the Reformation in France... to the Repealing of the Edict of Nantes. London, 1737-41, 7 vols. SMEDLEY: History of the Reformed Religion in France. London, 1832, 3 vols. G. DE FÉLICE: Histoire des Protestants en France. Toulouse, 1851; Engl. translation, by Lobdel, 1851. By the same: Histoire des synodes nationaux des églises réformées de France. Paris. W. G. SOLDAN: Geschichte des Protestantismus in Frankreich bis zum Tode Karl's IX. Leipzig, 1855, 2 vols. G. VON POLENZ: Geschichte des französischen Calvinismus bis zur Nationalversammlung i. J. 1789, zum Theil aus handschriftl. Quellen. Gotha, 1857-64, 4 vols. E. STÄHELIN: Der Uebertritt Heinrich's IV. Basle, 1856. ATH. COQUEREL: Histoire des églises du désert. Faris, 1857, 2 vols. W. HAAG: La France protestante. Paris, 1858 (biographies). WEISS: Histoire des réfugiés protestants de France depuis la révocation de l'édit de Nantes jusqu'à nos jours. Paris, 1853; English translation, London, 1854, 2 vols. Much valuable information on the early history of Calvinism and French Protestantism generally is contained in HERMINJARD'S Correspondance des réformateurs dans les pays de langue français, Genève and Paris, 1866 sqq. (so far 4 vols.), and in the Bulletin de la Société de l'histoire du Protestantisme français. Documents historiques inédits et originaux XVI‹, XVII«, et XVIIIe siècles. Paris (3, rue Lafitte), 185473; so far 22 vols. III. GENERAL HISTORIES OF FRANCE TOUCHING UPON THE REFORMATION PERIOD. THUANUS (JACQUES AUGUSTE DE THOU-born, 1553; died, 1617): Historiarum sui temporis libri 138, from 1546-1607 (several editions in five, seven, and sixteen volumes). The author was a moderate Catholic. witnessed the massacre of St. Bartholomew, and helped to prepare the Edict of Nantes. His history was put in the Index Expurg. 1609. LAURETELLE: Histoire de France pendant les guerres de la religion. Paris, 1822, 4 vols. JULES MICHELET (born, 1798): Histoire de France, 1833-62, 14 vols. (vols. 8 and 9). SIR JAMES STEPHEN: Lectures on the History of France, 1857, third edition, 2 vols. LEOP. RANKE: Französische Geschichte namentlich im 16. und 17. Jahrh. 1852-6S, 6 vols. (English trans lation in part, London, 1852, 2 vols.) HENRI MARTIN: Histoire de France depuis les temps les plus reculés jusqu'en 1789, fourth edition, Paris, 1855-60, 16 Tom. (Vols. VII. to X.). FRENCH PROTESTANTISM. In France the Reformation seemed to be better prepared than even in Germany, if we look only at the surface of the situation. The French Church had always maintained a certain independence of Rome, under the name of Gallican rights or liberties. Paris was, it is true, the chief seat of orthodox scholasticism, and the Sorbonne took an early opportunity to condemn Luther and his writings (1521); but it nursed also the spirit of mysticism and disciplinary reform, which led to the Councils of Pisa, Constance, and Basle. In the South a remnant of the Waldenses had survived the bloody persecutions. The humanistic studies flourished greatly at Paris, Orleans, Bourges, and found favor at the court of Francis I. (1494-1547), who invited classical scholars from Italy, thought of calling Erasmus and even Melanchthon to his capital, and aided, for political reasons, the Protestants in Germany, while yet he inflicted imprisonment and death upon them in France. For half a century, and amid bloody civil wars, three conflicting tendencies, represented by Calvin, Rabelais, and Loyola-who happened to be in Paris at about the same period-struggled for the mastery: Calvinism, with its high intelligence and uncompromising virtue; the Renaissance, with its elegant culture and frivolous skepticism; and Jesuitism, with its reactionary and unscrupulous fanaticism. Francis I. wavered between the Renaissance, which suited his natural taste, and Romanism, which was the religion of the masses of Frenchmen; his gifted sister, Queen Margaret, of Navarre (grandmother of Henry IV.), protected the Reformation and the Renaissance, and harbored at one time Calvin, and at another the Libertines. Romanism triumphed first over Protestantism, and afterwards over semi-evangelical Jansenism, and France reaped infidelity and the Revolution. Calvinism, always in the minority, and too stern and exacting for the national character, after a period of heroic martyrdom, gained for a time a limited legal existence under Henry IV. in the Edict of Nantes (1598), but was expelled under Louis XIV. to fertilize other |