THE CONFESSION OF FAITH

OF THE

WALDENSIAN PASTORS, RESIDING IN PIEDMONT.

(TRANSLATION.)

I. We believe (with respect to numerical unity) that God is one: and by this word we understand a spiritual, eternal, boundless, infinitely wise, merciful, and just,-in one word, a most perfect Being; and that in that simple Essence there are three Persons, or Hypostases, namely, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

II. We believe that the same God has manifested himself to men by his works, both of creation and providence; and by his word; revealed in the beginning "in divers manners, written and contained in books, which are called the Holy Scripture.

III. We believe that the Holy Scripture should be received, (and we do receive it) as

divine and canonical; that is to say, as the rule of our faith and conduct; that it is contained in the books of the Old and New Testament; that in the Old Testament are contained only those books which God entrusted to the Jewish church, and which that church always approved and acknowledged as of divine authority, namely, five books of Moses, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, the first and second of Samuel, the first and second of Kings, the first and and second of Chronicles, the first of Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, the Psalms, the Proverbs of Solomon, Ecclesiastes, the Song of Solomon, four greater and twelve lesser Prophets and in the New Testament four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, the epistles of St. Paul, one to the Romans, two to the Corinthians, one to the Galatians, one to the Ephesians, one to the Philippians, one to the Colossians, two to the Thessalonians, the epistle to the Hebrews, one of St. James, two of Peter, three of John, one of Jude, and lastly the Revelation.

IV. We acknowledge the divine authority of these books, not merely on the testimony of the church; but more especially on account of the eternal and unquestionable truth of the doctrine contained in them; the excellence, sublimity, and divine majesty which shine throughout: and by the operation of the Holy Spirit.

V. We believe that God made all things out of nothing, of his own perfectly free will, and by the infinite power of his word.

VI. We believe that he undertakes the care of all things by his providence, and that he is neither the author nor the cause of the evil which men practise; "for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man."

VII. We believe that the angels were created pure and holy; that some of them have fallen into an irreparable state of corruption and perdition: but that others have persevered in holiness, through the divine goodness which confirmed them.

VIII. We believe that man, who was created pure and holy, deprived himself through his own fault of the happiness allied to purity and holiness, by listening to the tempter, that is, the devil:

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IX. That man by his transgression, lost the righteousness and holiness which he had received, and incurred, with the wrath of God, death, and captivity under the dominion of him who hath the power of death;" so that our free will is in a fallen condition, and we are become "the children of wrath," "dead in sins;" and are not able of ourselves, and without grace, to cherish a good thought;

X. That all the descendants of Adam are guilty of his disobedience, infected with corruption, and have fallen into the same calamity; whence that infection proceeds to which the fathers have given the name of original sin :

XI. That from that corruption and condemnation God delivers men whom he has chosen through his mercy in his son Jesus Christ.

XII. We believe that Jesus Christ was ordained by God, by an eternal decree, as the only Saviour and leader of his body, that is, of the church; that he redeemed it by his blood in the fulness of time; and presents to it all benefits by the gospel.

XIII. We believe that there are two natures in Christ, the divine and the human, truly in one sole person; neither confounded, nor divided, nor separated, nor changed; each nature preserving distinct properties; and that Jesus Christ is very God and very man :

XIV. That "God so loved the world" that he gave his Son to save us by his most perfect obedience, especially that which he displayed by enduring the death of the cross; and by the conquests he achieved over the devil, sin, and death:

XV. That Jesus Christ effected the complete expiation of our sins by his most perfect sacri

fice once made upon the cross; and that therefore a repetition of that sacrifice, neither can nor ought to be made:

XVI. That the Lord Jesus, when he had reconciled us to God by his blood, became our leader: and that we are not absolved and justified by our own works, but by his merit :

XVII. That we have fellowship with Christ, and participate in his benefits, by Faith, which strives to obtain the promises of life which are offered to us in the gospel:

XVIII. That this faith proceeds from the gratuitous operation of the Holy Spirit, who illuminates our souls, and induces them to place all their hopes in the divine mercy; that we may impute to ourselves the merits of Christ; and that we may most firmly believe, that without him we cannot be saved.

XIX. We believe that Jesus Christ is our mediator, not only for the purpose of redemption, but for that of intercession also; and that through his merits and mediation, we may have access to the Father, to call upon him with confidence that we shall be heard.

XX. We believe that since God promises us regeneration in Jesus Christ, we who are united to him by a lively faith, ought strenuously to perform good works.

XXI. We believe good works to be so ne