Die Dordtse tradisie en binding aan die belydenis

Abstract

The church tradition of Dordt and subscription to the confessions
A thorough analysis of history shows that the National Synod of Dordrecht (1618-1619) declared that the confessions of the church, especially the three Formulas of Unity of the Dutch Reformed Churches, have confessional authority. That indicates authority on the doctrines the confessions formulate and confess because (quia) these are according to Scriptures. This insight helped some reformed churches up to now to deal with criticism levelled against non-doctrinal issues in, for instance, the Confessio Belgica. A case can be argued that a literal approach to the question of the authority of these confessions takes us back beyond Dordt. It ignores the history of 1618-1619, fails to get a grip on the very nature of confessions of faith or creeds and does not help to solve the problem.