| The word "Reformed"
is taken from the Protestant "Reformers" of the
16th and 17th centuries. The Lord used these men and women
to challenge the corrupted, "de-formed" Roman
Catholic Church of that day with the basic teachings of
God's Word.
We think it is important to distinguish ourselves as "Reformed,"
not because the Reformers themselves should be glorified,
but because their teachings faithfully summarized the Bible.
We are saddened that many groups today have departed from
these teachings, which used to be a firm basis for love
and unity in the body of Christ.
It's as much true today as it has been throughout
church history that the best way to promote unity
among Christians is to stand on the truth of
God's Word together. In their time, the Reformers
summarized the basic teachings of the Bible in
their statements of belief, or "confessions." They
used those confessions to stand together against
false teaching and man-made traditions. Our
church uses these confessions today for the same
reasons. |
In fact, we use
three of the confessions written by the Reformers
as statements of our beliefs today:
The
Heidelberg
Catechism
was
first
published
in
1563.
Its
simple,
warm,
personal
style
helps
even
our
children
learn
to
love
God's
Word
and
Christ
their Savior.
The
Belgic
Confession
was
first
put
together
in
1561
by
Guido
de
Bres,
who
died
a
martyr
to
the
faith
in
1567.
He
and
his
followers
told
King
Philip
II
that
they
would
"offer
their
backs
to
stripes, their tongues to knives, their mouths to gags,
and their whole bodies to fire," rather than deny the
Bible's truths expressed in this confession.
The
Canons
of
the
Synod
of
Dort
were
published
in
1619
by
an
international
meeting
of
Christian
church
leaders.
This
document
explains
in
more
detail
how
God
the
Father,
God
the
Son,
and
God
the
Holy
Spirit
saved
us
from
our
sins.
The
teachings
found
here
are
commonly
known
as
"the
five
points
of
Calvinism"
or
"the
doctrines
of
grace." |
