The Second Helvetic Confession Chapter 7
Of the Creation of All Things: Of Angels, the Devil, and
Man
God Created All Things. This
good and almighty God created all things, both visible and invisible, by his
coeternal Word, and preserves them by his co‑eternal Spirit, as David
testified when he said: By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all
their host by the breath of his mouth (Ps. 33:6). And, as Scripture says,
everything that God had made was very good, and was made for the profit and use
of man. Now we assert that all those things proceed from one beginning.
Manichaeans and Marcionites. Therefore, we condemn the Manichaeans and
Marcionites who impiously imagined two substances and natures, one good, the
other evil; also two beginnings and two gods contrary to each other, a good one
and an evil one.
<As with any continuing work Bullinger here starts a new
chapter with AThis
good and almighty God ...@
this points back to the previous six chapters where God has been introduced and
God’s relationship to man established. Thus
AThis God@
is not to be confused with there being more than one God as the heretics claimed
and which is immediately denied in the first paragraph for anything except the
lie of the devil. I do not care for
the term co-eternal as if the Word was another separate person in the Godhead. The intent here is that it is a divine Word and that Word is
eternal. John opens his Gospel with
the Word being Christ. This has
been dealt with in a previous chapter, but care is needed here because when we
accept the Reformed position that the Bible is the God breathed Word without
error and cannot fail, we must understand that the whole of the Godhead
(Trinity) is in sight here. John
assigns the Divine Logos (Word) to Christ, but also says the Word is God.
Word in this sense can be seen as indicative of the whole of the Godhead
much as the Trinity can, but Trinity is a clearer and the preferred term to
refer to the three in one God of creation.
At places like this one could wish they could get inside the mind of the
original author. It appears obvious Bullinger is addressing the heretics who
divide God and the attempt is to bring unity to the Word of creation and God.
It is not an attempt to confuse or add to the Godhead, but some might
wrongly understand it as such in the words chosen to present this truth.
In John we see Christ emphatically and clearly included in the creation.
God and Spirit are name in the opening words of Genesis, but Christ’s
presence could be overlooked or perhaps denied without the clear words of John
in addressing this. So Bullinger
here attempts to do the same and uses co-eternal, for only God is eternal.
Thus the Helvetic recognizes all three persons present in creation, and
without division nor addition to the Trinity of the Christian understanding of
God from the beginning. It is
noteworthy to see that care was taken to include all things, visible and
invisible and that creation was by the Word of God alone and not the
restructuring of previously existing matter. >
Of Angels and the Devil. Among
all creatures, angels and men are most excellent. Concerning angels, Holy
Scripture declares: Who makest the winds thy messengers, fire and flame thy
ministers (Psa. 104:4). Also it
says: Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to serve, for the sake of
those who are to obtain salvation? (Heb. 1:14). Concerning the devil, the Lord
Jesus himself testifies: He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing
to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies he speaks
according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies (John
8:44). Consequently we teach that some angels persisted in obedience and were
appointed for faithful service to God and men, but others fell of their own free
will and were cast into destruction, becoming enemies of all good and of the
faithful, etc.
<Later confessions state that some angels were elect as
men were, the elect being protected from falling utterly even as the elect among
men are. This is consistent and
explains how Christ could say that Satan was a murderer from the beginning.
It is to be noted that there is no provision for the salvation and
perseverance of the angels. None is needed since only the non-elect angels were included
in the fall and it was never in the purpose of God otherwise.
Not having a federal representative there could be no imputation of sin
to the Aholy
angels@ who
did not join the rebellion of Satan. By
assumption only, the holy angels not involved in that first rebellion have been
protected completely by God from sin against God. Thus it is not the holy angels that are the glory of God, but
man whereby God even in election which is eternal and without change by divine
decree, left the ability to sin and a freedom of will and action.
This is a mystery in that the election must stand, but man does have free
will. What we need to understand
here is that this free will does not include the ability to choose God apart
from the overt action of God in grace bringing regeneration and renewal through
the Holy Spirit. It is in this sense that the Bible says it is of God for man
both to will and to do. Pragmatically
speaking, God uses the evil of this world to Adrive@
the elect to Himself, whereby they call upon the Lord for salvation.
Whereas the same events and circumstance will drive the non-elect to
further rebellion and cursing of God lead the child of God safely home.
Without the work of the Holy Spirit, even the elect would not choose God.
>
Of Man. Now concerning man,
Scripture says that in the beginning he was made good according to the image and
likeness of God;[1] that God placed him in Paradise and made all things subject
to him (Gen., ch. 2). This is what David magnificently sets forth in Psalm 8.
Moreover, God gave him a wife and blessed them. We also affirm that man consists
of two different substances in one person: an immortal soul which, when
separated from the body, neither sleeps nor dies, and a mortal body which will
nevertheless be raised up from the dead at the last judgment in order that then
the whole man, either in life or in death, abide forever.
<The dichotomy of man here defined is important.
Much error can be wrought by making man more than these two, body and
soul. Some teach a threefold
existence of man, body, soul, and spirit. The
words used for soul and spirit in reference to man is interchangeable in the
Bible and to be understood as the same thing.
Being three in one is no part of being created in the image of God.
Not sure what Bullinger was trying to teach us in making the point that
the soul when separated from the body does not sleep nor die.
I assume he is answering an un-named critic or heresy of his day.
However, the soul does not die in or out of the body, and if we agree
with moderns that the soul is the real intellect of man, it also does not sleep. All this is a bit foolish however, and to understand that man
was created with an eternal soul is all that is of a necessity.>
The Sects. We condemn all
who ridicule or by subtle arguments cast doubt upon the immortality of souls, or
who say that the soul sleeps or is a part of God. In short, we condemn all
opinions of all men, however many, that depart from what has been delivered unto
us by the Holy Scriptures in the apostolic Church of Christ concerning creation,
angels, and demons, and man.
<And none can argue with God! We need to pay attention to the majority not being the rule
if contrary to the Scriptures. The Helvetic
as one of the earliest of Reformed confessions does not address several issues
like those raised here, because they seem to be contrary to the Scripture if
indeed they are not. It was not
until the so-called age of enlightenment and higher criticism we see many
debates enter the doctrines of the church.
For example we do not see the confessions and creeds of the church in
this period deal with the literal six day creation.
It should not be here now. God
spoke a word and that word had meaning to the original hearers.
Being a divine Word its meaning did not change, and will not change.
To argue then from the silence of the church fathers and these early
confessions that such is not a measure of orthodoxy is false.
I submit that every single church father would have held to a literal
six-day creation. Unfortunately,
this was a given in their day and did not need to be addressed, and we have no
way to prove what they would have said. Some
believe this is wiggle room and diverse doctrines such as the framework theory
can be taught alongside six-day creation. This
is not true, it challenges the Scriptures and stretches the imagination of men.
God said six days, and so it is. Likewise
the argument concerning the supra and infra-lapsarian positions ultimately is
foolishness since the Bible doesn’t empirically say either is the superior
view. This is not an issue spoken
to by the fathers and in these documents we find elements of both, even as we do
in the Bible. The Scripture says
God elected before the foundation of the earth.
So it is and supra is established. The
Synod of Dort is a markedly infra document because it uses the term
‘because of sin.” Some see the
Westminster standards as bearing the marks of both positions in places.
The answer really lies in the simplicity of the Scripture.
God did not create a secret codebook for man to try and figure out what
God desired of Him. A strict
literal word hermeneutic will lead into all sorts of difficulties if not
complete error. Nonetheless, unless it is obvious something else is in sight,
it is not to be ignored as the prime hermeneutic in interpreting Scripture by
Scripture. The controversy
over the days of creation however is important, whereas lapsarianism can rightly
be a matter of conscience. We need
to be able to search the Scriptures and properly identify the areas that attack
the very roots of Biblical Christianity and those that are mere fancy or to be
tolerated as of no necessity to the body of Christ. Not reading into the silence, but seeing where the fathers
found it important to take a stand in history will help us understand where the
Reformed church should choose our battle grounds today.
Day-age or framework theories are such an attack and introduce
hermeneutical devices where none are needed, nor should they be tolerated.
God said is valid for all ages, and the meaning of the words will not
change with the centuries as our Lord tarries in His return. >
