In some ways, article 4 of the Belgic Confession might not seem that exciting and interesting in that it is a list. Just because it is a list does not mean that it is not important — my grocery list is not very exciting to read (and at times, not even legible, which can be a problem at the store!) but it is something essential for myself and my family are going to be able to have food that week. Similarly, article 4, which consists of a list of the 66 books (technically sixty-five are on this list but we will not get to that in a moment), might not seem overly exciting to read but is really important. It is important because it defines for us what writings fit into what was discussed in article 3 as well as the articles to come on the authority (article 5) and sufficiency (article of 7) of Scripture; Scripture means that it is our guide and rule, but what writings does this include? Even the term “canon,” which is in the title to this article (“canonical books”) has this idea of rule and guide in that the word “canon” comes from the idea of a “measuring stick.” Therefore, article 2 says that God gave us a word to reveal himself to us, article 3 tells us how, and article 4 tells us where.

The context for the Belgic Confession also explains a bit of the context of this article, which we may take for granted today as we have written copies of God’s word readily available. You see, there was some dispute at the time of the Reformation over what books are authoritative for the church, with the Roman Catholic Church at the Council of Trent (which was around the time the Belgic Confession was written, lasting from 1548-1563) including what are called the Apocrypha  or “Deuterocanonical” books. The Reformers, however, rejected these books as being on par with the other books found in the Bible, as indicated in this article and later in article 6 (I still wonder a bit why article 4 and 6 are separated). This list is important even for us now, as scholars will occasionally try to put other texts on par or above the books found in the Bible (for example, the so-called Gnostic Gospels) or will try to undercut the authority of the books found in Scripture. This is the list of books, to which there should be no addition or subtraction; as it says, there should be no quarrel or dispute over these books.

The Belgic Confession then goes through the list of books that are to be the guide for Christians (with some comments by me): 5 books of Moses, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy (sometimes called the Pentateuch); the books of Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles (this two-volume work which the confession notes is also called Paralipomenon, referring to “things passed over” as the books of Chronicles both supplement Samuel and Kings but also come alongside of the whole Old Testament in starting the genealogies with Adam), the first book Ezra (we only have Ezra in our Bibles, but there were other writings with his name on them floating out in the time), Nehemiah, Esther (this section of books is often labelled the Historical Books); Job, the Psalms of David (who wrote the majority of the Psalms), the three books of Solomon – Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song (of Songs) (a section often labelled the Poetic Books); the four major prophets (due to length, not importance) – Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel; and the twelve minor prophets (due to length, not importance) – Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. These are the books that were accepted by the Jews, with this list likely deriving from before Jesus’s time. In the New Testament, there are four gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the Acts of the Apostles, 14 letters of Paul (from Romans to Hebrews according to the confession), seven letters by other apostles (James, Peter, John, Jude), and the Revelation to John. One historical note is that the original version of the Belgic Confession (1561) often just listed categories (eg., five books of Moses), but the revision at the Synod of Dort was where it got more specific.

One minor note to point out on this list that you might overlook is that there is no mention of the book of Lamentations, that 5 chapter book that is found after Jeremiah. Does that mean that de Bres and the persecuted Christians of the southern Netherlands did not think that it is Holy Scripture and that we should not? This does not seem to be the case, as the reason Lamentations seems to be omitted is that it was included with the book of Jeremiah (the book of Lamentations was listed in the French confession of which the Belgic was an adaptation), as Jeremiah was seen as the author (which is why this book is included with the prophets and not with the poetic books).

Another minor point about this list is that the Reformers include Hebrews as written by Paul when the majority of scholars today do not think that Paul wrote it (the author is unknown but linked to Paul), something that was true of many early writers as well; in fact, that Hebrews is included after the other letters of Paul that are grouped into letters to churches (Romans to 1 and 2 Thessalonians) and then to individuals (1 Timothy through Philemon) in descending order would seem to point to early leaders not seeing this letter as being by Paul since it is not included in his collection of letters, as the letter is longer than many of the other letters that come before it (e.g., Ephesians, Colossians). In addition, one must note that nowhere in the letter to the Hebrews does it say that Paul its author (it is anonymous) while every other letter that is attributed to Paul notes its author at the beginning; therefore, the confession goes beyond what the Bible itself says when it states that Paul is the author of this letter. This is a good example of how the confession is not put on par with Scripture and there might be points of dispute at places, but the disputes must always take us back to the Bible itself and what it says. In addition, it should be noted that the bottom line of the confession here is that Hebrews is one of the authoritative books for the Christian life, not who wrote it.

Something that I think should not be forgotten in this discussion is that each and every one of these books is said to be inspired (from God) and Scripture (to guide us). Both the Old and the New Testaments are important and every single book of both Testaments should be examined. In fact, this article seems to have been written in part to distinguish Reformed Christians from other groups at the time that only stressed the New Testament because it saw the Old Testament as showing a God of wrath. We might have particular books that are our favorite because they connect with us, perhaps fitting our personality style or guiding us in difficult circumstances of life, but we should not fail to read and study it all; the church should not fail to proclaim it all in the course of its life and ministry. Christians in our day and age are not likely to exclude any of these books from their Bible, but we need to make sure that we do not exclude any of these from our lives.

In addition, I love how the confession begins in that these are the canonical books “with which there can be no quarrel at all.” It is also a great reminder that Christians from different traditions might differ and quarrel over certain points, and the Belgic Confession will highlight some places the Reformed tradition differs from others, but we are using the same source for our discussion, as we are discussing (or quarrelling!) over what the Bible says, not what the Bible is. If a group has the same Bible, then we stand together and in the same family; we can have discussions and quarrels because we share so much in common. Above all, we stand together in our rule for belief and life, one that differs from the world around us.

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