is a brief "Sententia on the Lord's Supper drawn up by Melius (Iuhasz), Davidis, and seven colleagues met in synod; it was followed in the same year by a Defensio or vindication by Davidis, both maintaining the Calvinist and rejecting the Lutheran doctrine. The Confession of Vasarhely, A.D. 1559, in Hungarian, reproduces its teaching.

The Confession of Debreczen (A.D. 1560-2) is the first general Calvinist Confession of the Church dealing with election and other topics, doctrinal and ecclesiastical. It is based on the Fathers and on the Genevan teachers, was prepared by Melius, and was ratified by Synod. It is also known as Confessio Agrivallensis, or Confessio Hungarorum or Confessio Catholica. Melius at the same time introduced into school and general use a Catechism, modelled upon and inspired throughout by Calvin's Catechism.

The Confession of Tarczal and Torda, adopted by the successive synods of those places in 1562 and 1563, is a shortened form of Beza's Compendium of Reformed Doctrine, the Confessio Christiana Fidei of 1560. It incorporates the Ecumenical Creeds, and treats in six parts of the Holy Trinity, of God the Father, of Jesus Christ, of the Holy Spirit, of the Church, of final Judgment.

The Confession of Czenger (A.D. 1570), or Confessio Hungarica, is the last and most important of a series of Synodic Declarations against the Unitarian movement in Hungary, earlier examples being the Brief Confession of Pastors at Debreczen (A.D. 1567), the Confession of Kassa (A.D. 1568), and the Confession of Várad (A.D. 1569). The Confession of the Synod of Czenger, at which Melius was the guiding mind, but from which the pastors who sympathized with Socinus and Servetus absented themselves, contains eleven chapters dealing with the One and Only God, -the only-begotten Son of God from eternity,—the Holy Spirit, as true and only God and Lord, having life in Himself, the Words and Expressions employed by the Holy Spirit concerning God through the Prophets and Apostles,— the Rules for the interpretation of expressions concerning God, the Law and the Gospel in the Church,—the Rites

and Sacraments of the Church, Infant Baptism and the Lord's Supper,-Christian liberty in food, drink, clothing, and ecclesiastical places of meeting-Divine freedom from respect of persons in saving some and hardening others,— the Cause of Sin, and the Mediator the Son of God,-the removal of obnoxious heretics and antichrists. The Confession is less pleasing in tone than its predecessors, being marred and burdened by polemic and controversy.

V. IN BOHEMIA.

In Bohemia, apart from the native Utraquism, whose standards have been discussed (p. 134), there was also, as in Hungary, a division of Protestant sympathies between Lutheranism and Calvinism. Reference has already 1 been made to Calvinistic influence in the unionist Confession of 1575. But the outstanding Calvinist Bohemian Confession is the little known Confession of 1609,2 containing twenty chapters, almost catechetic in form, which had been presented to King Ferdinand, to the Emperor Maximilian II., and to King Sigismund Augustus II. of Poland-a revision and expansion of older documents of 1535 and 1564, retaining not a little of the native pre-Reformation type of teaching. The Reformed Church of Bohemia and Moravia recognizes the Heidelberg Catechism and the Second Helvetic Confession.

VI. IN POLAND..

In Poland, apart from the Declaration of Thorn, already mentioned as a Confession recognized in Brandenburg, there needs only to be made a reference to the Consensus of Sendomir (A.D. 1570). The death of John à Lasco and of Prince Radziwill, the leaders of the Polish Reformation, and the pressure of Roman propaganda, led to the meeting 1 Pp. 134, 135.

* Müller, pp. xxxix-xl; text in Latin, pp. 453–500.

3 See p. 237.

Schaff, Hist. pp. 581-588; art. Sendomir," in Hauck-Herzog, Realencycl., 3rd ed.; Niemeyer, Collectio Confessionum, Leipzig, 1840, p. 551 ff. (Lat. text); Beck, Die symbolischen Bücher, 2nd ed., 1845, vol. ii. p. 87 ff. (Germ. text).

and Confederation of Lutherans, Calvinists, and Bohemian Brethren at Sendomir in 1570, and to the issue of a jointConfession setting forth their agreement on the fundamental Articles of Protestant faith embodied in their standards, and their compromise on the Lord's Supper, in Melanchthonian or Calvinist terms, affirming the substantial presence of Christ (not of His body and blood), denying that the elements are mere symbols, avoiding technical Lutheran language, and omitting all reference to the doctrine of Predestination. The Confession contains a lengthy passage on the Sacraments from Melanchthon's "Repetition" of the Augsburg Confession, drawn up in 1551 for the Council of Trent, and in Melanchthon's spirit it acknowledges the Christian soundness of all three parties, and enjoins the cultivation of good relations between them. In 1570, at Posen, a series of twenty short supplementary articles were adopted in confirmation of the Consensus. The Consensus was repeatedly ratified by Polish Synods.

VII. IN CONSTANTINOPLE

In Constantinople Calvinism found an exponent in so exalted a personage as the Patriarch, Cyril Lucar, who was a lifelong correspondent with the Genevan Reformers.1 His Confession of Faith (A.D. 1631) went further than that of his successor at Alexandria, Metrophanes (A.D. 1625), who, while not openly espousing Protestant views, refrained from polemic against them, though opposing Roman Catholic tenets. It was supplemented by various Catechisms. The earliest form, of 1629, was in Latin. The edition of 1631 contained four added questions and answers, and was in Greek. The edition of 1633, at Geneva, was in both languages. Of the eighteen chapters, 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 16 are Catholic and uncontroversial-on the doctrines of the Trinity, Creation and Providence, the Fall, the Incarnation and Glory of Christ, Faith, and Baptismal Regeneration, the Procession of the Spirit being expressed in terms

1 Schaff, Hist. pp. 54-57; art. "Lukaris," in Hauck-Herzog, Realencycl. 3rd ed. See above, p. 92.

of the phrasing of the mediating Council of Florence, “proceeding from the Father through the Son." In the other ten chapters, the teaching is unmistakably Reformed and Calvinist. The authority of Scripture is supreme as the infallible Word of God, and the Apocrypha are excluded from canonical authority (ch. 2 and appendix). The Church may err and sin, needs the grace of the Holy Spirit and His teaching rather than that of any mortal man (ch. 12). On Predestination, Cyril agrees with Dort against the Arminians (ch. 3). He sets forth Justification in ch. 13 in these terms : "We believe that man is justified by faith, not by works. But when we say "by faith," we understand its correlative the righteousness of Christ, which faith, performing the office of the hand, apprehends and applies to us for salvation. And this... in no wise to the prejudice of works ... they are by no means to be neglected, they are necessary means and evidences of our faith and a confirmation of our calling. They are of themselves by no means sufficient to save man. The righteousness of Christ, applied to the penitent, alone justifies and saves the believer." There are but two Sacraments instituted by Christ; both require faith for their efficacy (ch. 15). Transubstantiation and oral manducation are alike erroneous doctrines, and are to be replaced by Calvin's teaching on the real but spiritual presence and reception of the body and blood of Christ (ch. 17). Purgatory and post-mortem repentance are denied (ch. 18). The Confession, of course, never became authoritative, but it is a significant evidence of the influence of the Genevan School.

VIII. IN ITALY.

In Piedmont there was drawn up, as mentioned above, the Calvinistic Waldensian Confession of 1655, in thirty-three propositions with an appendix repudiating fourteen Romanist accusations-based upon the French Confession of Calvin.1

1 French text in Müller, pp. 500-505; French and English in Schaff, Evang. Prot. Creeds, pp. 757-770. See above, p. 224.

The Confession of the Evangelical Church of Italy (A.D. 1870) is a very short statement in eight Articles, adopted at Milan by a group of Free Churches met in Assembly, simply as the outward bond of unity in the faith and the banner of the Church."1 The articles refer to (1) Scripture; (2) Man's original state, the Fall, and its result; (3) God's desire to save; (4) Salvation, its source, means, vehicle, and results; (5) the life of the Redeemed, and the source of its strength; (6) the Church; (7) Ministries in the Church; (8) the Second Advent of Christ, and Judgment.

IX. IN SPAIN.

In Spain three Calvinistic Confessions have been recognized.2

The Confession of 1559 of Spanish refugees from the Inquisition, in London, is believed to have been very moderately Calvinistic in type, and contained twenty-one articles.

The Confession of Seville (A.D. 1869), on the basis of an earlier draft prepared at Gibraltar, was accepted by the Churches of Seville, Cordova, Granada, Malaga, Cadiz, and Huelva. It contains twenty-five chapters with proof-texts. It is largely a reproduction of the Westminster Confession, in parts a translation of it.

The Confession of Madrid (A.D. 1872), was prepared and authorized by the Assembly of the Reformed Church of Spain, the "Spanish Christian Church." It contains twentyfive chapters, and is similar in character to that of 1869, the occasion for its preparation being the union of the Andalusian Churches forming the Spanish Reformed Church, which had recognised the earlier standard of doctrine, with a number of other congregations, some of which had been fostered by missions from Protestant countries.

1 Schaff, Evang. Prot. Creeds, pp. 787-788.

Report of Second General Council of Presbyterian Alliance, Philadelphia, 1880, pp. 1121-1123.