Confession of the Waldenses and Albigenses

1. We believe that there is but one God, who is a Spirit, and the Creator of all things, the Father of all, over and through or in all, in us all; who is to be worshiped in spirit and in truth; to whom alone we look, as the Giver of life, clothing and food, as well as of health and sickness, prosperity and adversity; we love Him as the author of all good, and fear Him as the discerner of our hearts.

2. We believe that Jesus Christ is the Son and the image of the Father, in whom dwells all the fullness of the Godhead; by whom we know the Father; who is our Mediator and Advocate; and there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we may be saved. In His name alone we worship the Father, and pour out no prayers before God except those contained in the holy Scriptures, or those that fully agree with their meaning.

3. We believe that we have the Comforter, the Holy Ghost, who proceeds from the Father and the Son; by whose inspiration we pray, and through whose effectual working we are regenerated. This Holy Ghost works in us all good works, and by Him we are led into all truth.

4. We believe in a holy church, the congregation of all the elect (believers) of God, from the foundation (or beginning) of the world to the end; the head of this church is our Lord Jesus Christ. This church is governed by the Word of God, and led by the Holy Ghost. All true Christians are bound to live in her; for she prays without ceasing for all, being acceptable to God, who is her refuge; and outside this church there is no salvation.

5. It is an established rule with us that the ministers of the church, namely, the bishops and the pastors, must be blameless in conduct and doctrine; and if not, that they must be removed, and others put in their place, who better fill their place and office. No one takes this honor to himself unless he is called by God, like Aaron; feeding the flock of God, not greedy of filthy lucre, nor lording it over his church; but, with a willing mind, setting a good example to the godly, in word, in dealings, in love, faith, and purity.

6. We believe that kings, princes, and magistrates are ordained by the Lord as His ministers, to whom obedience ought to be rendered; for they bear the sword, to protect the innocent and punish the evil; so we are bound in duty to show them all proper honor, and to pay tribute; and no one can evade this subjection if he wants to be called a Christian, according to the example of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, for He paid tribute, but exercised no temporal jurisdiction or dominion, drawing the sword of the heavenly word in the state of His humiliation.

The last clause is translated by J. M. V., in Hist. Wald., like this: Who Himself would pay tribute, but was not willing to accept worldly dominion. [n389-1]

7. We believe that the water in the sacrament of baptism is an external, visible sign, representing to us that which the power of God works within us, namely, the renewing of the Spirit, and the mortifying of our flesh in Christ Jesus, by whom we also become members of the holy church; in which church we show forth the confession of our faith, and the reformation of our life.

8. We believe that the holy sacrament of the communion, or of the Supper of our Lord Jesus Christ, is a holy memorial and a thanksgiving for the benefits bestowed upon us through the death of Christ; which we all ought to observe and celebrate in the congregation of the godly, in faith, love, and self-examination; and that in thus receiving the bread and the cup, we also become partakers of the body and blood of Christ, as we are taught in the holy Scriptures.

9. We confess that marriage is good, honorable and holy, indeed, instituted by God Himself, and that therefore no one ought to be forbidden to marry, unless the Word of God intervenes.

10. We believe that the godly and God-fearing ought to conduct themselves in a praiseworthy manner before God, keeping themselves engaged in good works, which God has ordained that they should walk in; these works are love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, piety, modesty, temperance, and other good works commanded in the Scriptures.

11. On the other hand, we confess that we must beware of false prophets, whose aim is to draw the people away from the religious worship which we owe to the Lord our God alone, and to make them cling to the creatures, and put their confidence in them; to neglect the good works commanded us in the holy Scriptures, and to follow the fables of men.

12. We hold the Old and the New Testament as the rule of our faith, and follow the Symbol or Creed of the Apostles. If anyone is found who says that we confess another doctrine, we shall show, if we are permitted to do it legally before the regular judges, that he is greatly in error and deceives others.

The above Confession of the Waldenses and Albigenses is taken from Carolus du Moulin's book of the Monarchy of the French, page 65. A. Mell., 2nd book, folio 446, columns 1, 2, 3, from Joh. Crespin. Acta Mart., book 3. Lancelot du Voisin Poplin. Poplinerii Hist. Franc., book 1, edition 1585, folio 26. [n389-2] Joach. Camer. Hist. Narrat., page 565. To be found in Car. Molin's book, De Monarchia Francorum, in the third volume of his works, Paris edition, in the year 1612, part 2, pages 578, 579, 616, 617. Also, Jean Paul Perrin, Hist. of the Wald., 1st part, 1st book, chapter 13, pages 49, 50. [n389-3]

Abraham Mellinus, having recorded this confession in his large work, says: "Thus far extends the confession of faith of the Waldenses and Albigenses, from whom those of Merindol and Cabriere have sprung; which confession we have placed at the close of the twelfth, and in the beginning of the thirteenth century, in order to anticipate and refute all the shameful doctrines which have been unjustly imputed, not only to the Waldenses, as has appeared above, but particularly also to the Albigenses, as though they had been Manicheans." Hist. Mart., 2nd book, folio 446, column 4. [n389-4]

But who cannot see from the above confession of faith that it does not differ in substance from the confession of the Baptists, notwithstanding that A. Mellinus tries to draw them to the Calvinists, or so-called Reformed? For, to speak of only a few points, just look at their confession in the article concerning God; what do the Waldenses say there? "We believe," they say, "that there is but one God, who is a Spirit, the Creator of all things, the Father of all, over and through or in all things, in us all, who is to be worshiped in spirit and in truth." Here certainly no mention is made of three self-existent, separate persons in the Divine Being. However, the confession of the Waldenses on this point does not exclude the truth that Father, Son, and Holy Ghost constitute the one God; neither do the Baptists exclude it in any way.

Besides the preceding, consider the article concerning the Son of God, or the incarnation of Christ. What is the confession of the Waldenses in this respect? "We believe," they say, "that Jesus Christ is the Son and image of the Father, in whom dwells all the fullness of the Godhead, by whom we know the Father." Certainly nothing is said here that the eternal Son of God took His whole humanity, consisting of body and soul, from the substance of the virgin Mary, and that this assumed humanity died for us, while the true, eternal Son of God remained alive, as the Calvinists say; but as the apostle says: "He (the man Christ) is the image of the invisible God," Colossians 1, verse 15; and again

"In him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." Colossians 2, verse 9, as is also declared in the confession of the Anabaptists.

Further, observe the article of the Waldenses respecting the office of authority. "We confess," they say, "that kings, princes, and magistrates are ordained by the Lord as His ministers, to whom obedience ought to be rendered." But what do they add by way of explanation, that a Christian may fill such an office, as the Calvinistic church says? Oh, no; but they say (that we must submit to it) according to the example of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; for He paid tribute, but exercised no temporal jurisdiction or dominion; drawing the sword of the heavenly word in the state of His humiliation; just as the Anabaptists also confess.

Continuing, notice their article respecting baptism. "We believe," they say, "that the water in the sacrament of baptism is an external, visible sign, representing to us that which the power of God works within us, namely, the renewing of the spirit and the mortifying of our flesh in Christ Jesus, by whom we also become members of the holy church, in which church we show forth the confession of our faith and the reformation of our life." Now notice: is there a single word said in this whole article about infant baptism, which is nevertheless so strenuously maintained at the present day by the Calvinistic church? Oh, no; but the contrary is sufficiently expressed, when it is said: "That the water in the sacrament of baptism is an external, visible sign, representing to us that which the power of God works within us, namely, the renewing." For who does not know that infants have no knowledge of this external, visible sign, much less that they should understand that this sign represents to them that which the power of God should work within them, namely, the renewing? And, to be brief, how can infants, who have never walked in the old life, be sealed by baptism to a new life? In this article it is also said, "That baptism signifies the mortifying of the flesh." But how can children be reminded by baptism that they must mortify the flesh, when, before baptism, they never lived after the flesh? So it follows that the Waldenses, in this article, did not once, it appears, think of infant baptism.

Then A. Mellinus presents certain doctrinal points which, for the most part unjustly, he says, were imputed by their adversaries to the Albigenses, and consequently also to the Waldenses, since they were one people; they consisted of twenty-eight articles, the first half, or first fourteen of which, he promptly rejects, saying, after presenting them: "These are the chief articles with which the Albigenses are charged by the papists; the first fourteen have been willfully fabricated, and falsely imputed to them, by their adversaries (which we will not dispute); the other fourteen they have, for the most part, in common with the Waldenses, as well as with us."

But, beloved reader, what are the contents of these last fourteen articles which A. Mellinus seems to admit so unequivocally? First of all, the first article (the fifteenth, if we count the preceding ones) attracts our attention. "They (the Waldenses) overthrow," says their accuser, "all the sacraments of the Roman Catholic church, and totally reject holy baptism (that is, the baptism of infants, for at that time nothing but infant baptism was known in the Roman church) as useless and unnecessary; and say that the external water of holy baptism differs in no respect from the water in the rivers."

Coming to the article concerning the swearing of oaths, which, reckoned with the preceding, is the twenty-sixth, it is expressly stated there: "They teach that it is utterly unlawful to swear." A. Mell., same book, folio 447, column 1.

Here it is to be observed, if these last articles, respecting baptism and the swearing of oaths, are justly imputed to the Waldenses (which has previously been proved to be true, and is also admitted here by A. Mellinus), whether those who made this confession can justly be reckoned with the Calvinistic church, which, as regards these articles, has quite a different confession; or whether they may be reckoned with the church of the Anabaptists, who, as far as these articles are concerned, agree with their confession; namely, that infant baptism is useless, and that we ought not to swear in any way.

As regards the knowledge of God and Jesus Christ, the office of authority, and other points, it has been said above that the Waldenses and Albigenses did not differ from the Anabaptistic Christians, but much rather agreed with them.