CONFESSIONI DI FEDE PROTESTANTI. — Formulas or summaries in which the various Protestant churches officially set forth their principal religious doctrines.
SUMMARY:
I. Lutheran C
II. Lutheran-Calvinist C
III. Reformed C. and their many groups. —IV. Anglican-Episcopalian C
V. Other C. of F. — VI. C. of Protestant societies. — VII. General overview of the present state of the Protestant C.I. LUTHERAN CONFESSIONS
The Augsburg Confession, drafted by Melanchthon, approved by Luther, subscribed by various German princes, and presented to the Emperor Charles V (1530) at the Diet of Augsburg, was composed in a conciliatory spirit, so as not to offend the Catholics too greatly; precisely for this reason, certain characteristic Lutheran doctrines, such as consubstantiality and the ubiquity of the Body of Christ, are not found in II. It consists of two parts: the first, comprising 22 articles, includes orthodox articles and some heterodox ones, such as the 7th: De Ecclesia, the 20th: De bonis operibus, and the 21st: De cultu Sanctorum; the second part, comprising 7 articles, is rather a catalogue of what they call abuses of the Catholic Church, namely, the celibacy of priests, the private Mass, integrity in auricular confession, tradition, vows, and ecclesiastical authority; and in these one can already discern the errors that were to become common among many other Protestants. The errors of this Confession were refuted by expert Catholic theologians, to whom Melanchthon replied in the same year, 1530, with the Apologia confessionis Augustanae, in which Lutheran doctrines stand out much more clearly. On the occasion of the convocation of the Council of Trent, and in order to present an exposition of the new doctrine, the Articles of Smalcald were compiled in 1537; in them Luther, already abandoning every hope of concord with the Catholics, sets forth his doctrines without circumlocution and clearly manifests his hatred of the Pope. After Luther’s death (1546), the direction of the Lutherans passed to Philip Melanchthon (1497–1560), a much milder and more accommodating character, who departed at certain points from his master’s doctrine, for example, concerning the presence of Christ in the Eucharist, inclining toward the Calvinist position. This gave rise to the polemic between the strict Lutherans and the crypto-Calvinists (v.), to which were added the Flacian, or Flacius Illyricus, controversy on original sin; the synergistic controversy, opposed to Luther’s doctrine of the bondage of the will; the Osiandrian controversy on the nature of justification; the Majoristic and Antinomian controversies on good works; the ubiquitarian and Adiaphoristic controversies, and so forth. All these polemics and controversies introduced confusion into the Lutheran camp, which was calmed neither by the Swabian or Saxon Formula of 1574 nor by the Formula of Maulbronn of 1575. Finally, the Elector of Saxony, Augustus (1553–1586), summoned some of the leading theologians, and in 1577 the Formula of Concord was drawn up. It consists of 12 articles, all except the last being divided into three parts: the subject to be treated, what is to be admitted (pars positiva), and what is to be rejected (pars negativa). The final article condemns the Anabaptists, the Schwenkfeldians, the antitrinitarians, and others. This formula did not put an end to all the controversies, but in general it was well received throughout Lutheran Germany, and it is the last of the Lutheran symbolic books. No mention has been made of the Confessio Savonica (1551) or the Confessio Wurtembergica (1551), prepared for presentation to the Council of Trent, which did not take place because the Council was suspended in the following year, 1552. In Hungary, both the 12 Articles of Erdöd (1545) and the Confession of the Five Cities (1548) are based on the Augsburg Confession. A strong reaction against the crypto-Calvinists took place in the Visitation Articles(1592), in which Calvin’s doctrine of predestination is condemned as false and erroneous. The Lutherans of the United States generally accept all nine symbolic books.
II. LUTHERAN-CALVINIST CONFESSIONS
Under this name are included certain confessions of faith attributed to both Protestant branches. These include the Repertilio anhaltina (1581), rather Lutheran in character; the Confession of Nassau (1578), likewise Lutheran in character, but opposed to ubiquity. The Consensus Sendomirensis (1570), from Poland, emerged from a mixed synod of Lutherans and Calvinists; and it was confirmed in the Acta et conclusiones seu canonet Cracoviensis Synodi generalis (1573), and at the Synod of Thorn (1595). Of the three “confessiones Marchicae,” which Niemeyer numbered among the Reformed or Calvinist confessions, only the first, namely the Confessio fidei Ioannis Sigismundi electoris Brandeburgensis (1614), is clearly Calvinist; the second, Colloquium Lipitense (1641), was composed by Lutherans and Calvinists; and the third, Declaratio Thorunensis, was produced in Poland, also with the participation of Lutherans and Calvinists. Setting aside other confessions, mention should also be made of the Articles of the Palatine Union (1818), by which the king of Prussia, Frederick William III (1797-1840), sought not properly to unite, but to draw closer together, the Lutherans and Calvinists of his states within the “United Evangelical Church,” while each retained its own symbolic books. Of the 34 confessions of faith of the Bohemian Brethren (v. FRATELLI), that of 1535, recommended by Luther himself, was Lutheran in tendency and is called the First Bohemian Confession; in 1575 the Second Bohemian Confession was compiled, replacing the earlier ones, and although the Augsburg Confession generally predominated in it, it nevertheless contains Calvinist and Hussite doctrines. In the reorganization instituted by Count Zinzendorf, the Bohemian Brethren changed their name to “Moravian Brethren.” Their doctrines can be derived from the Easter Litanies (1749) and from the nine articles of the Synodical Result of 1869.III. REFORMED CONFESSIONS AND THEIR MANY GROUPS
These confessions (Zwinglian and Calvinist), which arose in Switzerland, spread to many countries of Europe, and each of these wished to formulate one or more confessions of faith. About thirty of them are counted. None, however, has the importance enjoyed among the Lutherans by the Augsburg Confession. The most authoritative are the Second Helvetic Confession, the Heidelberg Catechism, the Canons of Dort, and the Confession together with the Westminster Catechism. The characteristic doctrines of the Reformed confessions are the virtual or dynamic presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, eternal predestination, the equality of all ministers, and ecclesiastical government by the “elders” (lay and ecclesiastical). The name Presbyterians is given to the Anglo-Saxon and Scottish Calvinists and to those descended from them, while the name Reformed has been retained for the Calvinists of other countries, such as France, Switzerland, Germany, and Holland.For greater clarity, these confessions will be divided into various groups, namely: 1) the Helvetic group; 2) the Germanic group; 3) the Franco-Belgian-Dutch group; 4) the Anglo-Scottish group. The Anglican confessions, although permeated with Calvinist doctrines and regarded by many as Reformed, must nevertheless be considered separately because of their characteristic doctrine of episcopacy, so contrary to Calvinism.
1) Helvetic Group. This group had two principal leaders, Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531) and John Calvin (1509-64). In his 67 Articles (1523) and in the 10 Theses of Bern (1528), Zwingli set forth his doctrines, which he developed extensively in his Ad Carolinum romanum imperatorem fidei Huldryci Zuinglii ratio (1530) and in the Ad Franciscum, Francorum regem, fidei Huldryci Zuinglii ratio et confessio (1531). Zwinglian doctrines spread into the neighboring countries, and four cities of the Empire—Strasbourg, Constance, Memmingen, and Lindau—presented at the Diet of Augsburg in 1530 the so-called Confessio tetrapolitana, Zwinglian in character but with certain concessions to Lutheran doctrines concerning the Eucharist. Oecolampadius (1482-1531) summarized the master’s doctrines in the 12 articles of the Confessio Basileensis prior, which was published in 1534. To compose in some way the ever-deepening division between Zwinglian and Lutheran doctrines, the initiative having come from the Protestants of Strasbourg, especially Bucer and Capito, the Confessio fidei Helvetica prior, or Basileensis secunda, was published at Basel in 1536; it received Luther’s approval. It consists of 27 articles; the doctrine is still Zwinglian, but with greater concessions to the Lutherans. Meanwhile Calvin was beginning to emerge in French-speaking Switzerland. During his first residence in Geneva in 1536, he had begun his Catechism, a summary of his celebrated Christianiae religionis institutio. The catechism was published in 1541 after his return to Geneva. Desirous of unifying the Churches of Switzerland, he went to Zurich in 1549, and there, together with Bullinger (1504-75), the leader of the Zwinglians, he produced the celebrated Consensus Tigurinus, consisting of 26 articles, in which a certain degree of harmony was achieved. This Consensus was accepted in almost all the Protestant Churches of Switzerland. In 1552, when opposition to the Calvinist decree on predestination was at its height, the pastors of Geneva composed the Consensus Genevensis, which, however, had little success outside the city. Bullinger had composed a confession for himself, and this, becoming known to his friends, was published by them in 1566; it is the Confessio Helvetica posterior. It consists of 30 articles, in which almost all the Protestant errors of that time are reflected, and the doctrine set forth there on the Lord’s Supper and predestination seems to have satisfied both the Zwinglians and the Calvinists; it was one of the most popular and widespread confessions in Switzerland. The last of the Swiss confessions, the Formula consensus ecclesiarum Helveticorum of 1675, was merely a reaction by the strict Swiss Calvinists against the school of Saumur, which had adopted certain Arminian doctrines. The confession of the Waldensians may be connected with the Helvetic group; at the Synod of Chanforan (v.) in 1532 they embraced the doctrines of Farel and his companions, Calvin’s precursors in Geneva, and only in 1655 adopted the Confessio Gallicana. This remained in force among them until 1894, when they modified five articles, rejecting, among other things, Calvinist predestination. Likewise, the Hungarian confessions of Kolosvar (1559), that of Debreczen (1560-62), and especially that of Czenger (1570), called the Confessio Hungarica, derive from the Helvetic group; the latter also contains certain canons against the Socinians (v. ANTITRINITARI).
2) Germanic Group. Although most of Germany had embraced Lutheran doctrines, nevertheless, as has been said, Zwinglian doctrines had infiltrated the countries bordering on Switzerland, and were later followed by those of Calvin. More precisely, at the new University of Heidelberg in the Palatinate, fierce disputes and controversies arose among the partisans of the three doctrines; and, in order to put an end to such scandal, the Calvinist Elector Palatine Frederick III (1515-76) had Calvinist theologians compose the Heidelberg Catechism, or Palatine Catechism (1563). Calvinist doctrines are set forth there in three parts divided into 129 articles; Calvin’s decree appears somewhat milder, but there is evident a hateful animosity against the Catholic Church, as in art. 80, where the Mass is called “exercanda idololatria.” The other German Reformed confessions are of little importance and were almost all limited to the countries whose prince had become a Calvinist. We may mention the Confession of Nassau (1578), the Bremen consensus (1595), the Confession and Catechism of Hesse (1607), the Confession of Bentheim (1613), and the previously mentioned confession of Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg, of 1614. From the Germanic group derives the Reformed Church in the United States, formed by descendants of German Reformed immigrants and having the Heidelberg Catechism as its symbolic book.
3) Franco-Belgian-Dutch Group. The only important Reformed confession of faith among the French was the Confessio fidei Gallicana, composed in 1559, approved by Calvin and Beza, and ratified at the National Synod of La Rochelle in 1571. In Flanders, Guido de Brés, assisted by Hadrian of Saravia and several others, wrote the Confessio Belgica in 1561; it is still in use today among the Reformed of the Netherlands. The doctrine of predestination was challenged by Arminius (v.), whose disciples presented five articles condemning it to the Synod of Dort (1618-19); the synod responded with the Articles of Dort (v. ARMINIANESIMO), defending the stricter Calvinist doctrine. It must also be noted, however, that the Arminian doctrine concerning the universality of Redemption, and not merely the Redemption of the elect, left a profound mark and is professed by many Reformed and Presbyterian Churches. The Reformed Church in America may be connected with this group; it regards the Belgian confession and the Canons of Dort as its symbolic books.
4) Anglo-Scottish group. Calvinism was established in Scotland by Giovanni Knox (1505–72), who wrote the Confessio Scoticana prima, approved by Parliament in 1560, consisting of 25 Calvinist and anti-Catholic articles. In 1581, the Confessio Scoticana secunda or Generalis confessio verae et christiana fidei et religionis was proclaimed. It was very brief but highly insulting to the Catholic Church and especially to the pope, « Romanum illum Antichristum », to the Sacraments, « spuria sacramenta », to the Mass, « missam diabolicam », to the priesthood, « sacerdotium blasphemum », and to the Council of Trent, « sanguinolenta ipsius Concilii Tridentini decreta », etc.; these insults made the Church of Scotland one of the most fanatical of all the Protestant sects. From this C. of 1581 derived the famous pact, or « Covenant », of 1643, whose adherents, or « Covenanters », played so significant a part in the civil and religious wars of England. During the second half of the sixteenth century there were also many in England who disagreed with the official Anglican Church, because they claimed that too many Catholic elements, such as the episcopate, had remained within it; among these dissenters, or nonconformists, the Puritans of Calvinist tendency stood out. How great their influence was within the Anglican Church itself may be inferred from the Lambeth Articles (1595), approved by the archbishop of Canterbury, the bishop of London « et alia theologia », and introduced as an appendix to the 39 Articles of Religion. There are 9 of them, all in favor of Calvinist predestination. They were not, however, sanctioned by Queen Elizabeth. The « Irish Articles of Religion » (1615) were based upon them; these were approved by the Anglican archbishop of Dublin, Giacomo Ussher, by the bishops, and by the « Convocation » of the Irish Episcopal Church. A powerful reaction arose under King James I (1603–25), who much preferred the submission of the Anglican Church to the independence of the Puritans. Since they had been able to obtain almost nothing at the Hampton Court Conference (1604), aware of their power, they did not abandon their purpose of purifying the official Church; and in 1643 they joined the Scottish « Covenanters » against King Charles I (1625–49). Eight delegates came from Scotland to the Westminster Assembly. Of the various elements composing it—Anglicans, Independents, Erastians, etc.—circumstances gradually brought it about that almost only Puritans and Presbyterians remained; and the Confessio fidei Westmanasteriensis (1647) proved a triumph of Calvinism over Anglicanism. It consists of 23 chapters, each with several articles; it is modeled on the Irish articles of faith of Archbishop Ussher (v. LAMBETH), and contains all the Calvinist doctrines. Along with the c., the assembly also composed and presented to Parliament in the same year, 1647, two catechisms, the Larger and the Shorter. The latter is still in use and is ranked alongside those of Luther and Heidelberg. The numerous Presbyterian sects of the United States of America originated from the Anglo-Scottish Presbyterian group; they have preserved the C. of Westminster as their symbolic book, although with certain modifications concerning the Calvinist decree. In its « New c. » of 1885, the Cumberland Presbyterian Church embraced Arminianism.
IV. ANGLICAN-EPISCOPALIAN CONFESSIONS
Properly speaking, among Anglicans and Episcopalians there is no confession of faith, but only the 39 Articles of Religion published, after various vicissitudes, in 1563. The Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States, in its “Resolutions” of 1801, did indeed suppress some articles, replace them with others, and alter the 37th, refusing to recognize the ecclesiastical supremacy of the King of England; but it preserved the entire Anglican character. The 39 Articles are therefore recognized by the whole Anglo-Episcopalian communion, which extends not only to England and the United States and their colonies, but also to other countries where Anglican or Episcopalian bishoprics have been established, such as Japan, China, Latin America, etc. This phenomenon of an apparent religious unity within a Protestant Church is explained: a) by the ambiguity of the articles, which are susceptible to various doctrinal interpretations (v. ARTICOLI DI RELIGIONE ANGLICANI); b) by the divergent doctrinal currents of the High, Low, and Broad Churches, permitted within the Church of England; c) by the theory of “comprehensibility” (v.) which makes possible the profession of any doctrine, with the sole condition, it seems, of not rejecting the episcopate. To this is also attributable the separation, in 1875, of the Reformed Episcopal Church of the United States, because in its “Declaration of Principles” it did not recognize the necessity of the episcopate and admitted the validity of Ordinations without the intervention of a bishop. The third Lambeth Conference (1888), in which many bishops of the Anglican-Episcopalian communion took part, proclaimed the four articles called the “Lambeth Quadrilateral” (v. LAMBETH), and regarded them as the basis for the union of all Protestants, and therefore also as a minimum of beliefs to be held by Anglo-Episcopalians themselves, namely: a) Holy Scripture, the sole rule of faith; b) the two “Creeds,” those of the Apostles and of Nicaea; c) the two Sacraments, Baptism and the Lord’s Supper; d) the historic episcopate necessary for ordaining the ministers of the united Church. The 39 Articles are practically reduced to these four points.V. ALTRE C. DI F. — Thus far, those confessions deriving from Lutheran, Calvinist, and Anglican doctrines have been treated; included in this group are those that do not acknowledge such an origin. Earlier than the pseudo-Reformation of the sixteenth century are the 12 Theses of Wyclif (1581), the Hussite Catechism (1410), the confession of the Taborites (1431), the Waldensian Catechism (1439), and all the Bohemian confessions preceding that of 1532. Almost contemporary with the pseudo-Reformation were: 1) the Mennonites, so called from their founder Simon Menno (1505–64), whose symbolic book is the confession of Waterland (1590), in which they collected the doctrines of Menno and the Anabaptists, and whose characteristic feature is the Baptism of adults, considering that of children invalid. 2) The Unitarians, who go back to the sixteenth century under the name of Socinians, and to the first centuries of Christianity under that of Antitrinitarians, and who deny the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity. Their symbolic books are the Catechism and the confession of Cracow (1574), the Short and the Long Racovian Catechism, both of 1605. 3) Congregationalists (v.), besides the Statutes of the Congregationalist princes, compiled by Robert Browne (v.) in 1582, presented to James I in 1603 the Points of Difference between Congregationalism and the Church of England, and in 1658 explained their doctrines anew in the Savoy Declaration. The fundamental principle of this sect is that each local Church is absolutely independent and may formulate its confession of faith; and if at times some confession is found among the various sects that have adopted the Congregationalist polity, this does not mean that the whole sect professes or admits that confession, but only that some local Churches have voluntarily accepted II. It is therefore useless to speak of confessions of faith proper to the Congregationalists or to the sects that follow their polity, such as the Baptists, the Assemblies of God (Pentecostals), the Christadelphians, the Disciples, etc., and they are consequently omitted.
The principal sects that arose in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries are: 1) the Quakers or Friends, founded by George Fox (1624–91) in England, whose characteristic doctrine is the “inner light,” both for interpreting Sacred Scripture and for all works to be performed. The 15 Theses contained in the Apology of Robert Barclay (1648–90) may be regarded as their confessions of faith. 2) The Methodists, whose founder was John
Wesley (1703–91), do not properly have a confession of faith; but, at his death, Wesley left them as the basis of their doctrine the New Testament and the four volumes of his sermons, from which the three principal Methodist doctrines can be derived, namely: saving Grace offered to all, the present assurance of being saved, and the possibility of attaining Christian perfection. 3) The Church of the New Jerusalem, or Swedenborgians, founded by Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772). Swedenborg did not wish to found a new sect, but left many writings, among them the Arcana coelestia. In 1787 some of his English admirers formulated the 12 Articles of Faith. The principal doctrines are anti-Trinitarianism, the twofold meaning of Sacred Scripture, namely the literal and the spiritual, the latter revealed to Swedenborg, and the various judgments of the world, already having taken place, preceding the final one, from which the Church of the New Jerusalem arose (1757).
The confessions of faith of the various sects in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries differ greatly from those of the sixteenth century; they are much shorter, less theological, and tend to simplify and reduce to the minimum possible the beliefs and dogmas to be held; indeed, they introduce new elements (the Mormons or Christian Science) or adopt positions (the Salvation Army) never before seen among the earlier sects. Among the principal ones are: 1) the Catholic Apostolic Church, or Irvingites, named after E. Irving (1792–1834), its founder, which recognizes as its symbolic books the Manual, the Catechism, and the Three Witnesses, the latter being addressed respectively to the King of England William IV (1830–37), to the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the last, the Great Testimony, to the emperors, kings, sovereigns, and leaders of the baptized nations. Among its doctrines, Irving demands the government of the Church by 12 Apostles, teaches the millennial reign of Christ, etc. 2) The Mormons or Latter-day Saints, founded by Joseph Smith, to whom the Book of Mormon was revealed in 1827. Among their symbolic books are the Book of Doctrine and Covenants and the 13 Articles, where, in the 8th, the Book of Mormon is placed on an equal footing with the Bible. Under the title “Celestial Marriage,” polygamy was regarded as revealed doctrine, and direct revelation from God to their supreme leader was admitted. 3) The Seventh-day Adventists or Sabbatarians, founded in 1833 by William Miller in the United States, do not properly possess any symbolic book, but their beliefs are drawn from various of their pamphlets, for example, from Baker’s What Seventh-day Adventists Believe. Their principal doctrines are characterized by their twofold name: they teach that Saturday, and not Sunday, is the Lord’s day, and that the coming of Our Lord to judge the world is near, when the eternal punishment of the wicked will consist in their annihilation. 4) The Salvation Army, or Salvationists, reflects the Methodism of its founder William Booth (1829–1912). Rather than a true confession of faith, it has a series of “Directives” or “Regulations” for the religious and philanthropic instruction of its members. In the Doctrine of the Salvation Army there is not a single word about the Sacraments, and Calvinist doctrine is openly attacked. 5) Christian Science, or the Scientists, founded by Mrs. Mary Baker Glover Eddy, named from the names of her three husbands (v. BAKER, MARY EDDY), recognizes as its symbolic books the Church Manual, the Seven Articles (tenets), and the book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, which is almost placed on an equal footing with the Bible. According to the Scientists, neither sin nor physical evil exists except in the mortal mind (with a lowercase “m”), and they disappear as soon as the spiritual Mind (with an uppercase “M”) takes its place. 6) The Holiness Churches share with the Pentecostals the doctrine of “speaking in tongues” as a sign of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit; among their symbolic books, it is enough to mention the Discipline of the Holiness Church. Also to be added are the Plymouth Brethren, who want no confession of faith apart from the New Testament; the Nazarenes, with their 15 Articles of Faith (1932); the Old Catholics, with the 14 Theses of the Union or Theses of the Bonn Conference (1874); while other sects of little importance and the many subdivisions of the Lutherans, Baptists, Presbyterians, Reformed, Methodists, Mennonites, etc., are omitted, since at times they differ from one another only in matters of discipline or ecclesiastical polity.
VI. C. OF PROTESTANT SOCIETIES. — In addition to the Protestant sects or Churches, many interdenominational Protestant societies have been formed, accepting as members individuals from any sect, provided that they accept certain religious truths as a condition of belonging to the society. 1) The Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) requires subscription to the Paris Basis (1855), namely: that the members, regarding Jesus Christ as their God and Savior, wish to be his disciples in doctrine and life, and to unite their efforts for the extension of his Kingdom among young people. This principle has misled many Catholic young people who are ignorant of the meaning Protestants give to the words «Kingdom of Christ». 2) The Evangelical Alliance or Christian Evangelical Alliance (v. ALLEANZA) presents its candidates with the 9 Articles of 1867, not as a Creed, but as an indication of the class of persons it accepts as members. Among the 9 Articles, particular note should be taken of the 2nd, concerning the free interpretation of Holy Scripture, and the 6th, concerning justification by faith alone, by which Catholics are excluded. There are interdenominational Protestant missionary societies that either propose no confession of faith and admit individuals regardless of the sect from which they come; or, if they wish to exclude certain groups, for example Unitarians, include among the articles to be subscribed one concerning the Most Holy Trinity; and if they do not wish to admit Adventists, establish that Sunday is the day consecrated to the Lord, etc.
VII. GENERAL OVERVIEW OF THE PRESENT STATE OF THE PROTESTANT CONFESSIONS
If the principle of the free interpretation of the Bible was the cause of so many divisions and subdivisions within Protestantism, and of so many and such diverse confessions of faith, that same principle, applied—and with greater reason—to the doctrines contained in those very confessions, has been the cause of their discredit. Although there are still Protestants who remain faithful to the doctrines of the confessions, there are many who no longer believe in them, or pay no attention to them, and incline toward a religion without a Credo (Cresdese Religion), or at least wish to reduce it to a minimum of beliefs. This is apparent in the Lambeth Quadrilateral for the Churches of the Anglican-Episcopal communion; likewise in the confession adopted at the Congress of Paris in 1907 for all the Reformed churches of France, and in the Confession of Geneva of 1908 for some of the Swiss Reformed churches. In German Protestantism, everyone is aware of the devastation wrought by rationalism and subjectivism, for which there are no dogmas of faith, or else these are immanent elaborations arising from the depths of religious consciousness. In Germany, France, and England, the controversy became famous over the assent that new ministers were required to give to the Creed when they were ordained, and the tendency was to leave its interpretation free. It is also certain that everywhere a strong reaction has been observed, sometimes inclining toward imitation of the Catholic Church, as in Anglo-Catholicism in England and the United States, and the Hochkirche in Germany; and sometimes toward convening pan-Protestant congresses and giving great impetus to missions, in the hope that the enthusiasm for spreading the «message» or establishing the «Kingdom» might reinvigorate the waning ancient faith. But so far these remedies have not proved sufficiently effective to revive the primitive adherence to the ancient confessions of faith.