A Brief Confession of Faith, and Part of the Disputation which I, Lauwerens van der Leyen, Had on the Fourth of July, 1559, with the Lords of the Law, at Antwerp, and the Dean of Ronse

(To relate it all would require too much time)

A confession of faith, and a confession of the eternal God, who is from everlasting, and who will remain forever, without beginning and without end, who is and was; this same only One is an eternal God; and there is no other; Him I confess to be an eternal God, namely, an eternal Father, and I also confess His only Son to be one with His eternal Holy Spirit. Thus He is a perfect God, and besides Him there is no other, namely, Father, Son and Holy Ghost. First John 5. According to my belief and the testimony of the holy Scriptures they are one. Amen. The almighty, eternal God, with His eternal, almighty Son, who is also the Word of the Father; to this great, incomprehensible, blameless, and invisible God, who by His eternal Word made the world, and without Him nothing was made that was made, that is in heaven and upon earth, the invisible became visible; to this eternal Son, who also is the Word of the Father, be praise forever and ever. Amen. John 1, verses 1 and 2; Colossians 1, verse 10.

Of Him we want to speak, of this eternal Son, who was with His Father, and was with Him in essence or in divine form, through whom and with whom He worked from everlasting; for by Him the world was made, and all that is in it, and without Him nothing is made; to this eternal Son, who is one with His eternal Father, who is from the beginning of the creation of God (Revelation 3, verse 14), without beginning and without end, to Him be praise and glory forever and ever. Amen.

For when God made man, He created him after His image, and made him ruler over all things, and gave him a commandment which he was not to transgress. But as man was frail, and the devil subtle and cunning, and deceived man by fair pretenses, the devil induced him to transgress the faith; and man thus transgressing, sin was brought into the world; and he was ashamed and hid himself from the face of God, and thus the curse came upon the whole world; so that God said: "Cursed is the ground for your sake." And thus man remained under the curse; so that no one could make atonement for sin, since it was impossible for man, because he was weak through the flesh, and was beset with infirmities, by sin or weakness, according to the holy Scriptures. Hence sin could not be taken away or atoned for by man, because all were subject to sin. Now since it was not possible that reconciliation for sin could be made by man, God promised His eternal Son, even as He often spoke to the people through the prophets, that He would raise up Jesus, the Savior, whom He had promised through many generations, as we find written in Matthew 1. These promises were fulfilled from Abraham to Jesse, the father of David; from David to Jacob, the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, the pure virgin, whom God honored, and who also waited for the promise that the Savior should be raised up, and was not unbelieving when the angel said to her: "Behold, you shall conceive in your womb, and bring forth a son, and shall call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest." Luke 1, verses 31 and 32. Here we have the assurance that the promises are fulfilled which He had promised from generation to generation, Matthew 1, which are now fulfilled in that generation; hence there is fulfilled the word, Acts 13, verse 22. I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, who shall fulfill all my will. Of this generation was born the Savior Jesus, the Son of the most High God, though He existed before; but He was manifested in the latter days, to redeem us, and to gather those who were scattered, of whom Paul says that He gave many precious promises in the Holy Scriptures concerning His Son, who was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; and declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit. Romans 1, verses 2 and 4.

One of the judges said to me: "If Christ is not of Mary's flesh, then the promise is not fulfilled yet." I said: "It is not written that Christ is of Mary's flesh." This dean said to me: "It is written; you lie, for it is written: 'That holy thing which shall be born of you shall be called the Son of God.' Again: 'A virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son.' Again: 'That he was born of the seed of David, according to the flesh.' " I said: "My lords, it is true; but it is not written as you have said. Hear, my lords, I call you to witness, he has brutally called me a liar; nevertheless, it is not written so." Again he said: "You lie." I replied: "If I were inclined to call you a liar, I would say that you lie yourself." I said: "My lords, listen: Luke 1, verse 26, and so on. The Angel was sent from God to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary, and she was a pure virgin. And the angel came in to her, and said, 'Hail, you that are highly favored, the Lord is with you: blessed are you among women. You shall conceive in your womb, and bring forth a son. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give to him the throne of his father David, and of his kingdom there shall be no end.' Mary said: 'How shall this be, seeing I do not know a man?' The angel said to her: 'The Holy Ghost shall come upon you, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow you: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born shall be called the Son of God.' That which was conceived in her was of the Holy Ghost. Matthew 1, verse 20. It does not say there that He is of Mary's flesh." One of the judges again said: "The promise is not fulfilled yet." I replied: "It is fulfilled; if you will listen to me, I will tell you." I then told him that the Savior and Redeemer came, and suffered much here for our sakes, even as is written that Christ the Savior Himself said

'God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.' John 3, verse 16. And thus He came into the world. And He left us an example, that we should follow His steps. First Peter 2, verse 21."

Again Zachariah truly said: "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he has visited and redeemed his people, and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David; as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets, who have been since the world began: that we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; to perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant; the oath which he swore to our father Abraham, that he would grant to us, that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life." Luke 1, verses 68 to 75. Thus we find indeed that the promise is fulfilled; but that Christ is of Mary's flesh, this we find nowhere written. The Dean of Ronse asked me: "How then did He become flesh?" I told them that He who was from everlasting with His Father, by whom all things were created and made, that are in heaven and upon earth, visible and invisible, indeed, the living Word of the Father, who was with the Father, came from His kingdom on high, and became man, and thus came into the world, and saved us with His own blood. Revelation 1, verse 5. The dean asked: "Did He then become changed?" I told him as it is written: "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." John 1, verse 14. The dean said to me

"You are the vilest sect that ever was upon earth." I told him that he was a rotten sect, in the presence of all the judges, or the court; and (said I) I will prove to you that you are a sect; for your people cannot prove a single point of all that you observe, with the Word of the Lord; and Christ says

"Every plant which my heavenly Father has not planted shall be rooted up." Matthew 15, verse 13. I then asked him where he found anything written concerning the institutions observed by them, such as the christening of bells, tonsure, the consecrating of water, that one wears shoes with holes, and another stockings without toes, each in his own way, all of which is certainly not sanctioned by the Word of God. I further said: "My lords, I have offered to dispute from the holy Bible, publicly, before the whole court." The dean said to me: "You will be thrust into a bag, and suffocated with a ball in your mouth." I said: "You hypocrite, do you not fear the Word of the Lord, which says that with the breath of His lips He shall slay the unmerciful? Isaiah 11, verse 4. Again: 'A man who does violence to the blood of any person shall flee to the pit; let no man stop him.' Proverbs 28, verse 17. 'You serpents, you generation of vipers, how can you escape the damnation of hell?' Matthew 23, verse 33. 'Repent, and believe the gospel; for your days may be brief.'" Mark 1, verse 15.

He asked me how I knew that the Gospel is the Gospel. I said to them: "This is a strange question; but if you will listen to me, I will tell you. Should I not know, said I, that it is Gospel, that Almighty God said and taught: 'Repent, and believe the Gospel?' and that He came down from His kingdom above, and suffered so much for our sins; indeed, He who was rich became poor, that we through His poverty might become rich; when He called men to Him, that they should follow Him, and commanded His apostles to preach it throughout all the world: 'He that believes it, and is baptized, shall be saved; but he that does not believe shall be damned.'" Matthew 28, verse 19; Mark 16, verse 16. They asked how I knew that His apostles had written this; and said: "Other men printed it; you have never spoken with or seen the apostles how then do you know it? There are other evangelists whom you have never seen: how then do you know whether this is the Gospel? Men wrote this to suit themselves."

O subtle devil, I thought in my heart, and told them that the holy Scriptures were given through the Holy Ghost, and not without Him, since Paul says: "I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ has not worked by me, to make the Gentiles obedient, by word and deed." Romans 15, verse 18. And, as the apostle Peter has said, that no prophets ever produced the Scripture by human will; but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. Second Peter 1, verse 21. Thus, the Holy Ghost bears testimony, that the Gospel which we have, is the word of the living God, which He has given us, that we should live according to it, and thus be saved at the last day; even as it is written that these words are written, that we might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you might have life through his name. John 20, verse 31. A monk asked me concerning infant baptism, whether I did not think it good. I said

"Baptism does not belong to children, but to believers." Mark 16, verse 16. He said: "Are the children damned, then?" I replied: "No; the kingdom of heaven belongs to them." Matthew 19, verse 14. He said "Those who are not baptized are damned." I said "This is nowhere written, neither that children are to be baptized." He said: "It is written." I said

"It is not; children have no faith; but they are assured of eternal life." Matthew 19. He said: "It is written: 'Except you be born of water and of the Spirit, you cannot enter into the kingdom of God.'" John 3, verse 5. I said: "They cannot be born again, for they have no sin." He said: "They have; for it is written that all are under sin." I asked him what sins children had. He said: "Original sin." I asked him why Christ had died. He said that He had made atonement; but that we must first be baptized, before original sin is taken away. I said: "This is speaking contrary to the Word of God; for when John saw the Lord coming to him, he said: 'Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, After me comes a man who is preferred before me; for he was before me.' John 1, verses 29 and 30. Of whom it is also written that He Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree. First Peter 2, verse 24. As John tells us, that He was manifested to take away our sins (First John 3, verse 5), and as Paul says that they are justified freely by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Romans 3, verse 24. Paul further tells us, that we should thank Him who has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has brought us into the kingdom of His dear Son: in whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1, verses 12 to 14. The apostle says that He upholds all things by the Word of His power, and has by Himself purged our sins. Hebrews 1, verse 3. Again Paul says: 'But God commends his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, and thus reconciled to him, we shall be saved from wrath.' Romans 5, verses 8 and 9. He says: 'Therefore, as by the offense of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation: even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men to justification of life.' Verse 18. Even as the prophet Isaiah says

'He took our sins upon him.'" Isaiah 53, verse 11. They asked me whether I had not yet changed my mind. I asked them: "In regard to what should I have changed my mind?" They replied: "In regard to your errors." I said: "I do not err; but I trust in the living God, in His holy Word, and in nothing else; and from this I will not depart, for Christ has said: 'He that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved.'" Matthew 24, verse 13. They said: "Shall none be saved but you people, who began only twenty or thirty years ago, while our church has existed already fourteen hundred years, and has remained united; shall we all be damned?" I said: "The Word of the Lord, which was before ever your church existed, shall judge men in the last day; it shall judge all men. John 12, verse 48. This [Word] is given us through His Holy Spirit, that through teaching we should observe all things whatever He has commanded us. Matthew 28, verse 20. Hence, those who will not observe it have no promise of eternal life, but indignation, wrath, tribulation, and anguish will come upon them. Romans 2, verses 8 and 9. Indeed, He will take vengeance on those who have not known God, and have not obeyed the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction. Second Thessalonians 1, verses 8 and 9. We must therefore believe that which has been spoken and written through the Holy Ghost, as it is written that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished to all good works. Second Timothy 3, verses 16 and 17. Therefore we are assured concerning the holy Scriptures which we have, that they were written by the apostles through the Holy Ghost, as Peter has said: 'We have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear him.' Should we not then believe these words, where he says: 'We have also a more sure word of prophecy, to which you do well that you take heed?' and thus we do take heed to these words."

They asked me concerning the sacrament of the altar. I told them that I found nothing written about it; but of a supper which the Lord observed with His apostles, when the time had come that He was to fulfill that for which He had come, that it might be fulfilled which was written of Him, and that He should return to where He had come from. When it was yet two days until Easter, He said: "The Son of man shall be delivered up, to be crucified." And His disciples asked Him: "Lord, where do You want us to eat the Passover?" He told them a place to which they should go, and went with them. And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and gave thanks, and broke it, and said: "Eat; this is my body: likewise he took the cup, saying

Drink all of it; for this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many; this do in remembrance of me." Matthew 26, verse 20; Mark 14, verse 17; Luke 22, verse 14. I also asked them: "Did each eat His body, as He was with them, in flesh and blood?" They said: "Yes; they there ate His flesh, and drank His blood." I asked them once more: "How did they eat Him? Just as He was with them? Did each eat a Christ?" They said: "Yes; just as He hung on the tree of the cross." I said to them: "But He had only one body, and that had to be given as a ransom for the sins of the world, and was delivered into the hands of the Jews, and they hung Him on the tree of the cross, and killed Him, and thus He redeemed us with His blood, even as is written. First Peter 1, verse 19. He took upon Him our sins, and bore them on the tree." Second Peter 2, verse 24. They said that they had also now had Him even as He had hung on the cross. I said to them: [n832-1] "I do not believe that such a great Lord is eaten by you people, who are utterly contrary to the Word of God, and full of wickedness, and disobedient to the Word of the Lord; but I believe that He ascended to heaven, and is sitting at the right hand of God His Father in heaven (Acts 1), from where we also look for Him to come again (Philippians 3, verse 20); and that you do not have Him; for if you had Him, He would be crucified once more; hence, you people cannot be believed, since you all act contrary to the Word of God; for it is found written that the apostles of God held their supper with a unanimous faith; and were all of one

mind, and continued steadfast in all that they had seen of God (Acts 4, verse 32); nevertheless they did not teach or say that they ate Christ's flesh, and drank His blood, just as He hung on the tree of the cross; but that He ascended to heaven, and is sitting on the right hand of God, this they taught. First Peter 2, verse 2; Mark 16. Yet all that they taught was through the power of the Holy Ghost, and they continued steadfast in the faith which God had commanded them. For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Christ, and upon this His apostles laid their foundation, and I want to remain upon it, without ever departing from it." Hence I said to them: "If you want to dispute with me publicly, with the Holy Bible, I shall answer you with the Word of God, concerning all that you shall speak with the Word of the living God. He that is right shall be listened to; but he who is wrong shall proclaim and confess that to this day he taught a false doctrine." This is a small part of the words which we had with the judges, the bailiff, and the ecclesiastics.