#ProtestantPoliticalTheory
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Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)
—by—
Peter Mélius Juhász (1536–1572) & Gregory Szegedi (1511–1569), &co.
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A slow drip🧵 (0/IDK)
This thread will draw from a Hungarian confession that has been known by three names: Debrecen, Catholica, Agrovalliensis.
It was written by Peter Mélius Juhász (1536–1572) and Gregory Szegedi (1511–1569) at the request of the church in Debrecen in 1561 likely along with György Ceglédi.
The adoption of this confession led to a formal split between the Lutheran Hungarians and the Reformed Hungarians.
"Concerning the principal articles of religion, which the King’s Holy Majesty’s forces of horse and foot in Egervölgy, together with the nobility and commoners, who have bound themselves by oath to the defense of the divine covenant…”
"... and will fight to the end for the faith and religion founded on Christ and Holy Scripture, present to Ferdinand, Holy and Catholic Roman Emperor, and to his Imperial Majesty’s son Maximilian, our Lord King, in the year 1562."
"To his Sacred and Catholic Majesty Ferdinand, King of Hungary, Bohemia, Dalmatia, Croatia, etc., Archduke of Austria, Duke of Burgundy, etc., and his Majesty’s son, his Highness and Lord Maximilian, by the grace of God, King of Bohemia, Archduke of Austria, Duke of Burgundy…”
"... as their natural and most gracious masters, their subjects most humbly commend their obedience, subjection and loyal homage; and they beg and entreat from God the Father through Christ a fortunate and blessed outcome to all their plans and works."
From the letters and commands of your Sacred Majesties and your commissioners, as also from the reports of our own emissaries, we have learned that your Sacred Majesties have been roused to anger and irritation towards us because of the unworthy and false accusation of wicked men
"... according to which, we have formed that alliance, in which we have bound ourselves to one another by faith and oath, out of conspiracy and treason against your Royal and Sacred Majesties"
"And in order to clear ourselves of the unmerited accusation of our ill-wishers, according to which we are heretics, it has seemed to us all a divine suggestion that we should commend and present it to your Sacred Royal Majesties in order that you may see clearly our innocence."
"We know God in two ways: in His essence, His Trinity, and His will. Generally, we know Him from the things created, but this knowledge will not save us."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"Especially and inwardly, we know Him by faith unto salvation, from the revealed Word, the sacraments, in Christ the Son, through the operation and revelation of the Holy Spirit."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"The Law teaches that God is one in His essence, three in persons."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"The will of God, however, teaches according to righteousness; i.e., God gives eternal life to the just, the holy, the perfect, those conformed to God, those who perform perfectly the commands of God."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"But to the unjust, those not conformed to God, [He gives] death on account of sin from His righteous judgment. As it is written, 'He that does it will live; he that does not, his soul will be destroyed.'”
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"The Law, as the mirror of God, teaches us concerning man also; i.e., that all men have sinned, have forsaken the image of God, are inclined only to evil, are prisoners in bondage, locked in the prison of sin."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"All men together are lost, if they do not have recourse to the Mediator. Nor is there any righteousness in man, but in Christ alone; and this is testified by the righteousness of faith."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"The gospel teaches that according to the mercy of God, He wishes to save gratuitously by faith all the elect, those converted, believing in His Son, to the glory of the grace of God."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"As they know the ugliness of the face from a mirror, so from the Law and the knowledge of God men know themselves how much they are made ugly through sin."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"Creation is that work of the Trinity by which God, through the Logos, formed everything very good: the heaven and the earth, things animate and inanimate, angels and men."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"God created all matter and the deep at the same time. The form of created things, however, He made on different days and arranged everything in order."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"He created all things to the end that they should become mirrors of His wisdom, goodness, power, and divine majesty; that everything should proclaim the glory of God and in a certain manner represent God."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"The purpose of man is truly to recognize God in His essence and will; then to delight in God, to worship God, to call on Him for aid, and to engage in the Lord’s work as prescribed according to the Word of God; to be the mirror of the divine virtues."
Debrecen Profess (1562)🇭🇺
"Scripture does not indicate the material from which the angels and rational spirits were created; it is, therefore, futile to speculate on it. Some write that they were formed of light."
Debrecen Profession (1562)🇭🇺
"Creation is of two kinds: universal and particular."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"Universal creation means the creation and formation of all things according to their substance and species."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"Particular creation means salvation, regeneration, justification, by which God makes new creatures in His Son through the Holy Spirit, creating new hearts and new spirits, and raising man from the death of the soul."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"This belongs only to the elect and can be performed by divine power and not by the power of any single creature (as is said in John 5 and 2 Cor. 5; see Cyril, Augustine, on John; and other fathers on these loci)."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"The Word of God is of two kinds, in conformity with God’s righteousness and mercy."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"The Law is the emissary or herald of God’s righteousness, declaring God’s will in accordance with the equality of His righteousness."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"It [the law] declares justly that with the sole exception of Christ, all men, who sprang from Adam, are the objects of wrath, condemned to eternal death on account of sin—as we have all lost the image of God."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"Like a schoolmaster, [the Law] leads the slaves and not yet liberated children of sin."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"It is said that God will save us through the Law as occasion arises, insofar as through our sins, He will show, put to shame, guide to a physician, but not save through the Law as an instrument of His power for saving believers."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"For the Law kills, terrifies, promises nothing gratis, nor does it give except conditionally. It is, therefore, not possible for men to be saved through the Law and their own works."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"For He saves us in Himself, apart from ourselves and our strength, by grace through His mercy in the gift of Christ. The Law, however, cannot redeem us apart from our strength."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"The benefit of the Law in those that have not been reborn, in the vessels of wrath, is only damnation, accusation, affliction, terror, concluded under sin, under Satan handed over to the power of sin."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"The benefit of the Law in the saints is to teach those that have been reborn; to show the seed of righteousness, good works, the norm, to be a lamp unto good works (Augustine, Jerome, Ambrose, Chrysostom)."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"Before regeneration, it [the law] is a pedagogue of the pious unto Christ, testifies of the righteousness of God, stimulates our bodies to good works, admonishing by the nature and office of regeneration, freedom for good works."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"It is the function of the Law to promise to the just and the good a reward for their good deeds; not to justify us by faith, gratuitously, as a gift, but to show forth the life of the justified through their works."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"Further, it [the law] accuses and condemns those that do not conform to the righteousness of God, to terrify and conclude them under sin."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"The gospel is the power of God unto salvation of all believers."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"Through the gospel as through an instrument, God saves the elect to life, from His grace and mercy, on account of the merit of Christ, by faith engendered by the work of the Holy Spirit."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"Just as the Law cannot save or justify sinners through their evil actions, neither can the Law save them even if they have good works."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"For it is not the duty of the judge or the Law to absolve accused sinners, to justify them and pronounce them righteous even if they promise to do good; but if they are righteous, these are able to show forth life."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"It is not written that the Law justifies by works, but that the Law shows forth the life of the righteous possessing good works.... so teach the councils of Orange, Mileve, and the fathers on the epistles of Paul)."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"The promises of God are of two kinds: in accordance with the covenant of God; others are legal, and promise life to all universally on condition of performing the Law perfectly and consummately."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"These are righteous and efficacious on God’s part. In man, they are not efficacious without the Holy Spirit and the grace of Christ because the truth and fullness of the promises of the Law are set forth under an impossible condition."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"They are weak through the flesh because there is no equitable proportion between the promise of the Law and man, deprived as he is of the image of God."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"The righteousness of God is the particular cause promising under the condition of doing."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"The Law is the handmaid and instrument of the righteousness of God in promising. It is the reason why works have value."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"The formal cause is seen in the manner of promising. The end is for God to be true and every man a liar; for God to excuse Himself and render men inexcusable."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"All the promises of the Law and the gospel are yes and amen alike in Christ alone; are fulfilled in Christ because Christ is the fulfillment of the Law."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"There is harmony only through Christ acting perfectly and the righteousness of God commanding through the Law."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"The promises of the gospel according to the new covenant are declarations of the mercy of God."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"The primary cause is the grace of God, on account of which Christ is declared in the gospel as the formal cause: “He who believes in the Son” (John 3:36). The final cause is that believers may live."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"The promises of grace are bonds and confirmations of covenants and pacts, having relation to God and men. For promises are binding relationships between one himself who promises and the one to whom the promise is made."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"All the promises of grace are universal and efficacious on God’s part. They are offered and promised on God’s part sufficiently to all."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"As for their application and fulfillment in men—just as not all have faith, so the promises are fulfilled only in the elect (see the fathers on Paul and the prophets)."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"The gospel is 'the power of God unto salvation to all who believe' (Rom. 1:16; 3). Through this salvation, the Lord makes the elect alive through faith freely for the sake of Christ."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"Works performed before faith, He excludes like dung from the causes of justification (Eph. 2)."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"Works performed after faith, He likewise excludes as merit for justification: because He places the cause of justification in the grace of God alone; in the redemption of Christ, a gift."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"And He teaches that it is impossible that those to be justified freely may be justified on account of their works, whether bad or very good."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"The worthiness of the grace of God and the merit of the man Christ would be reduced and all the promises of grace, faith and gratuitous justification destroyed, if righteousness were the inheritance of the saints derived from their works."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"Further, since the gospel is the word of mercy and the grace of God, it always consoles us, lessens and destroys sins with regard to grace."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"It places all the causes for election and justification in God alone, and attributes to God all the means of justification."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"It teaches that faith, hope, love, the Word, good works in the saints, their obedience and willingness, and assent to the calling of God are God’s alone (Rom. 3; Eph. 2)."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"The gospel is the life-giving Spirit in the grace of God and the merit of Christ with the Holy Spirit because the one who performs righteousness and life in the elect mandates the Law itself and all things."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"It is not the function of the Law to justify and give life to sinners, as the apostle says in Galatians 3. However, as the Law is the expression of God’s righteousness, it promises life to the righteous, those that are conformed unto God."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"Then it [the Law] places the causes for those rewards, which it promises in the strength of men. It places righteousness in men’s works; it pronounces someone righteous by his works, if that were possible."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"Further, it is the minister of death, terrifies and accuses constantly, reproving our sins, because it is the minister of God’s righteousness. It puts our strength to shame, condemns it, concludes it under sin."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"Third, it [the Law] requires of us impossible things, condemns our insufficiency and strength, and commends the grace of God: it leads us to Christ."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"They are anathema, therefore, who from impossible commands establish free will."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"For just as Christ and the grace of God are the end and fullness of the sacraments, so Christ is the end and fullness of all laws and precepts with regard to righteousness."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"Therefore, accursed is he that, with regard to righteousness, refers the fulfillment of the Law to his own strength and works."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"For since of necessity, all things tend toward their own proper end by virtue of their nature ordained by God, it must be that the Law too tends toward its own fulfillment, to Christ alone, to His righteousness."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"Therefore, since it [the Law] demands of men fulfillment, it merely accuses them, shames them, and by commanding tends to its own end—to Christ (as the fathers say, Origen, Ambrose, Augustine, Jerome; Rom. 3, 10)."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
"The old covenant or testament was established in accordance with the righteousness of God through the Law, so that the righteousness of God might be vindicated from the false accusations of men; so that men would be inexcusable."
Debrecen Profession of Faith (1562)🇭🇺
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