比利时信条 The Belgic Confession
(1561)
（洛杉矶华⼈改⾰宗恩约教会译版）
第一条 ~~ 第十条
第十一条 ~~ 第廿条
第廿一条 ~~ 第三十条
第三十一条 ~~ 第三十七条
第十一条 ~~ 第廿条
第十一条 论圣灵的神性
Article 11: The Deity of the Holy
Spirit
第十二条 论创造
Article 12: The Creation of All
Things
第十三条 论神的护理
Article 13: The Doctrine of God’s Providence
第十四条 论人的受造与堕落
Article 14: The Creation and Fall of
Man
第十五条 论原罪
Article 15: The Doctrine of Original
Sin
第十六条 论永远的拣选
Article 16: The Doctrine of Election
第十七条 论堕落之人的恢复
Article 17: The Recovery of Fallen
Man
第十八条 论耶稣基督的道成肉身
Article 18: The Incarnation
第十九条 论基督的二性
Article 19: The Two Natures of
Christ
第二十条 论神在基督里的公义与怜悯
Article 20: The Justice and Mercy of
God in Christ
第二十一条 论赎罪祭
Article 21: The Atonement
第十一条 论圣灵的神性
我们相信并承认，圣灵从永恆由父与子发出，因此圣灵既非受造，亦非受生，乃只由圣父、圣子所出；在次序上说，圣灵是三位一体的第三位，与圣父、圣子有同一本质、尊严与荣耀。
因此，正如圣经所教导的，圣灵乃是真实、永恆的上帝。
Article 11: The
Deity of the Holy Spirit
We believe and confess also that the Holy
Spirit proceeds eternally from the Father and the Son—neither made, nor
created, nor begotten, but only proceeding from the two of
them. In regard to order, he is the third
person of the Trinity— of one and the same essence, and majesty,
and glory, with the Father and the Son.
He is true and eternal God, as the Holy
Scriptures teach us.
第十二条 论创造
我们相信，圣父借着道，就是祂的儿子，从无到有创造了天地万有，并且祂看着都甚好。
祂将存有、形状、样式，以及各样功能赐给一切受造之物，以服事他们的创造主。
甚至如今，祂仍按照永恆的护理与无限的能力来托住并管理万有，让它们服侍人，好叫人可以服侍上帝。
祂也创造了善良的天使，作为祂的使者，并为选民效力。
有些天使从上帝所造优越的地位上堕落到永远的灭亡中；其余的天使，靠着上帝的恩慈，仍然继续坚守，居于本位。魔鬼及恶灵如此败坏，以至于成为上帝与众善的仇敌。他们像贼一样埋伏等候教会及一切信徒，使用他们的权势，透过各样诡计来败坏一切。
所以，因着他们自己的邪恶，应受永远的刑罚，天天等候可怕的苦刑临到。
因此我们反对并恨恶撒督该人的错谬，他们拒绝承认诸灵与天使的存在；我们也拒绝摩尼教派，他们说魔鬼是自存的，牠们的邪恶是出于牠们的本性，并非出于堕落。
Article 12: The
Creation of All Things
We believe that the Father created heaven
and earth and all other creatures from nothing, when it seemed
good to him, by his Word— that is to say, by his Son.
He has given all creatures their being,
form, and appearance, and their various functions for serving
their Creator.
Even now he also sustains and governs them all,
according to his eternal providence, and by his infinite power, that
they may serve man,
in order that man may serve God.
He has also created the angels good, that they might be his
messengers and serve his elect.
Some of them have fallen from the
excellence in which God created them into eternal perdition; and
the others have persisted and remained in their original state, by
the grace of God.
The devils and evil spirits are so
corrupt that they are enemies of God and of
everything good.
They lie in wait for the church and
every member of it
like thieves, with all their
power, to destroy and spoil everything by their deceptions.
So then, by their own wickedness they
are condemned to everlasting damnation, daily awaiting their torments.
For that reason we detest the
error of the Sadducees, who deny that there are spirits and
angels, and also the error of the Manicheans, who say that
the devils originated by themselves, being evil by nature, without
having been corrupted.
第十三条 论神的护理
我们相信，这位良善的上帝，在创造万物之后，并没有把它们弃之命运或机遇，而是按照祂圣洁的旨意，带领、治理它们，以至于若没有祂秩序的安排，世上没有什么事会发生。
虽然如此，上帝并非罪恶之源，也不需要为各种罪恶的发生受攻击或责难。因为祂的能力与善良是如此伟大与不可测度，以至于即使当魔鬼与恶人行不义时，祂仍然以最优越与最公正的方式，来安排并执行祂的工作。
我们不以过分的好奇去探究祂所作的，这超越人类的理解，在我们所能明白的限度之外。反而用最谦虚、敬畏的心去赞扬神公义的判断。这些事对我们是隐藏的，我们当以身为基督的门徒为满足，只学习上帝在祂话语中向我们所启示的那些事情，不越过其界限。
这教义给了我们不可言喻的安慰，因为它教导我们，没有任何事临到我们是出于偶然，一切都是出于我们恩慈的天父的安排。祂以慈父般的关怀看顾我们，使一切受造之物都在其全能掌管之下，若没有天父的允许，没有一根头发（我们的头发都被数过），或一只麻雀会落在地上。1
在这思想中我们得安息，知道上帝控制那恶者和我们所有的仇敌，若没有祂的许可和旨意，牠们断不能伤害我们。
因此我们拒绝伊比鸠鲁派的危险错谬，他们说上帝什么都不管，将凡事归诸机遇。
1太10:29-30
Article 13: The
Doctrine of God’s Providence
We believe that this good God, after he created all things, did
not abandon them to chance or fortune but leads and governs them according
to his holy will,
in such a way that nothing happens in
this world without his orderly arrangement.
Yet God is not the author of, nor can he be charged with,
the sin that occurs.
For his power and goodness are
so great and incomprehensible that he arranges and does his work very
well and justly even when the devils and wicked men act unjustly.
We do not wish to inquire with undue curiosity into
what he does that surpasses human understanding and is beyond our ability to
comprehend. But in all humility and reverence we adore the
just judgments of God, which are hidden from us, being content
to be Christ’s disciples, so as to learn only what he shows us in
his Word, without going beyond those limits.
This doctrine gives us unspeakable comfort since it teaches
us that nothing can happen to us by chance but only by the
arrangement of our gracious heavenly Father. He watches over
us with fatherly care, keeping all creatures under his control, so that not one
of the hairs on our heads (for they are all numbered) nor even a
little bird can fall to the ground without the will of our Father.20
In this thought we rest, knowing that he holds in check the
devils and all our enemies, who cannot hurt us without
his permission and will.
For that reason we reject the damnable
error of the Epicureans, who say that God involves himself in
nothing and leaves everything to chance.
20 Matt. 10:29-30
第十四条 论人的受造与堕落
我们相信，上帝用地上的尘土造人，并按照祂自己的形像而造，是善良、公义、圣洁的，在凡事上能行合乎上帝旨意的事。
然而，人虽在尊荣的地位中却不自知，也不知道其优越性。1反而自愿受罪的辖制，听从魔鬼的话，以至于受咒诅而死。
他干犯了从上帝领受的生命诫命，因着他的罪与上帝隔离，上帝就是他真正的生命，于是败坏了他的整个本性。
因此，他使自己陷在罪中，承受身体、灵魂的死亡，在他所行的一切事上成为邪恶、歪曲、败坏，丧失了他从上帝所领受优越的恩赐；虽只残存一小部份而已，但这就足以叫人无可推诿。
因为在我们里面的光已经变为黑暗，正如圣经所教导我们的：“光照在黑暗中，黑暗却不接受光。”2使徒约翰在这里称人为黑暗。
因此我们拒绝与圣经相违背的自由意志说，因为人已经成为罪的奴仆；若不是从天上赐的，人就不能得什么。3
谁敢夸口，说他能靠自己行什么善事呢？因为基督说：“若不是差我来的父吸引人，就没有人能到我这里来。”4
当人明白“凡体贴肉体的就是与上帝为敌”，5有谁还能夸自己的意志？人既然知道“属血气的人不领会上帝圣灵的事”，6还有谁敢夸口自己的知识呢？简言之，有谁能自己产生片刻的思想，因为他知道“我们凭自己配不得把什么算做出于自己”，“我们的能力乃是出于上帝”。7
因此使徒说的对，“你们立志行事，都是上帝在你们心里运行，为要成就祂的美意。”8
因为没有人的意志或人的悟性，是与上帝的旨意相符合的，乃是基督在人心中运行；正如祂所教导我们的：“离了我，你们就不能作什么。”9
1诗49:20
2约1:5 3约3:27 4约6:44 5罗8:7 6 林前2:14 7林后3:5 8 腓2:13 9 约15:5
Article 14: The
Creation and Fall of Man
We believe that God created man from the dust of
the earth and made and formed him in his image and likeness— good,
just, and holy;
able by his own will to conform in all
things to the will of God.
But when he was in honor he did not understand it21 and
did not recognize his excellence. But he subjected himself willingly to
sin and consequently to death and the curse, lending his ear
to the word of the devil.
For he transgressed the commandment of life, which he had
received, and by his sin he separated himself from God, who was his
true life, having corrupted his entire nature.
So he made himself guilty and subject to
physical and spiritual death, having become wicked, perverse, and
corrupt in all his ways. He lost all his excellent gifts which
he had received from God, and he retained none of them except for
small traces which are enough to make him inexcusable.
Moreover, all the light in us is turned to darkness, as the
Scripture teaches us: “The light shone in the darkness, and
the darkness did not receive it.”22 Here John calls men “darkness.”
Therefore we reject everything taught to the contrary
concerning man’s free will, since man is nothing but the slave of
sin and cannot do a thing unless it is “given him from heaven.”23
For who can boast of being able to do anything good by
himself, since Christ says, “No one can come to me unless my Father
who sent me draws him”?24
Who can glory in his own will when he
understands that “the mind of the flesh is enmity against God”?25 Who
can speak of his own knowledge in view of the fact that “the natural
man does not understand the things of the Spirit of God”?26 In
short, who can produce a single thought, since he knows
that we are “not able to think a thing” about ourselves, by
ourselves, but that “our ability is from God”?27
And therefore, what the apostle says ought
rightly to stand fixed and firm: “God works within us both to will and
to do according to his good pleasure.”28
For there is no understanding nor will conforming to God’s
understanding and will apart from Christ’s work, as he teaches
us when he says, “Without me you can do nothing.”29
21 Ps. 49:20 22 John 1:5 23 John 3:27 24 John 6:44 25 Rom. 8:7 26 1
Cor. 2:14 27 2 Cor. 3:5 28 Phil. 2:13 29 John 15:5
第十五条 论原罪
我们相信，由于亚当的悖逆，原罪就蔓延遍及全人类。1
这是整个人性的败坏，是一种遗传的堕落，连母腹中的婴孩也受到了感染，它是在人心中产生各种罪的毒根。因此，在神面前它更显得邪恶与可憎，以至于它足以使全人类都被定罪，并且它无法被消灭或完全根除，甚至连洗礼也不能；众罪就是从这被污染的源头不断涌出。
然而，它却没有被归算在上帝的儿女身上来定罪，而是借着上帝的恩慈与怜悯，被赦免了。这并不是让他们要安于罪中，而是要让他们意识到这败坏，使他们时常悲伤叹息，盼望脱离这“取死的身体”。2
因此我们拒绝伯拉纠派的错谬，他们认为罪只是从模仿而来的。
1罗5:12-13
2 罗7:24
Article 15: The
Doctrine of Original Sin
We believe that by the disobedience of Adam
original sin has been spread through the whole human race. 30
It is a corruption of all nature—an inherited depravity
which even infects small infants in their mother’s womb, and
the root which produces in man every sort of sin. It is therefore
so vile and enormous in God’s sight that it is enough to condemn the human
race, and it is not abolished or wholly uprooted even by baptism, seeing
that sin constantly boils forth as though from a contaminated spring.
Nevertheless, it is not imputed to God’s children for
their condemnation
but is forgiven by his grace
and mercy— not to put them to sleep but so that the
awareness of this corruption might often make
believers groan
as they long to be set free from
the “body of this death.”31
Therefore we reject the error of the Pelagians who
say that this sin is nothing else than a matter of imitation.
30 Rom
5:12-13 31 Rom.
7:24
第十六条 论永远的拣选
我们相信，亚当所有的后裔，既由始祖的犯罪而堕落到败坏与灭亡中，上帝就借此来彰显祂的本性：恩慈与公义。
祂是恩慈的，因为祂按照祂永恒不变的旨意，从这永劫中救拔了那些在我们的主耶稣基督里所拣选、选择的人，这是照着祂自己纯粹的良善，不考虑他们任何的行为。
祂是公义的，因为祂把其余的人留在自取的灭亡与堕落之中。
Article 16: The
Doctrine of Election
We believe that—all Adam’s descendants having thus fallen
into perdition and ruin by the sin of the first man— God showed
himself to be as he is: merciful and just.
He is merciful in withdrawing and saving from this
perdition those whom he, in his eternal and unchangeable counsel, has
elected and chosen in Jesus Christ our Lord by his pure goodness, without
any consideration of their works.
He is just in leaving the others in their ruin and
fall into which they plunged themselves.
第十七条 论堕落之人的恢复
我们相信：我们良善的上帝，以祂的智慧与良善，看到人把自己陷入身体与灵魂的死亡和悲惨之中，就来寻找他，尽管人战兢，躲避祂的面。
并且祂安慰他，应许要赐下祂儿子，“为女子所生”，1祂要打碎蛇的头，2使人蒙福。
1 加4:4 2 创3:15
Article 17: The
Recovery of Fallen Man
We believe that our good God, by his
marvelous wisdom and goodness, seeing that man had plunged himself in
this manner into both physical and spiritual death and made
himself completely miserable, set out to find him, though man, trembling
all over, was fleeing from him.
And he comforted him, promising to give him his Son, “born
of a woman,”32 to crush the head of the serpent,33
and to make him blessed.
32 Gal. 4:4 33 Gen. 3:15
第十八条 论耶稣基督的道成肉身
因此我们承认，上帝的确成就了祂借着先知的口对列祖所应许的，当祂在所定的时候，差遣祂独生的、永恒的儿子到世上来。
圣子“取了奴仆的形状，成为人的样式”；1真的取了真实的人性，连同其一切的软弱，只是没有罪；借着圣灵的大能，而不是借着任何人为的方法，在蒙大恩的童女
马利亚腹中成孕。
祂不但取了人的身体，也取了人真正的灵魂，成为真正的人。因为既然人的灵魂与身体都已丧失，祂就必须取这二者，好拯救二者。因此我们反对那拒绝基督从祂的母亲马利亚取了人的肉身的重洗派，承认基督成了儿女血肉之体；2按肉体说，是大卫腰间的果子，3从大卫后裔生的；4在童贞女马利亚腹中怀胎；5为女子所生，6是大卫的后裔，7从耶西的根生出的嫩芽；8从犹大支派所出；9按肉体说，是从犹太人所出；亚伯拉罕的后裔；祂既为亚伯拉罕的后裔，就在凡事上与祂的弟兄相似，只是没有犯罪。10
这样，祂实在是我们的以马内利，就是与我们同在的上帝。11
1 腓2:7 2 来2:14 3 徒2:30 4
罗1:3 5 路1:42 6 加4:4 7 提后 2:8 8 罗15:12 9来7:14 10来2:17，4:15 11
太1:23
Article 18: The
Incarnation
So then we confess that God
fulfilled the promise which he had made to the early fathers
by the mouth of his holy prophets when he sent his only and eternal Son
into the world at the time set by him.
The Son took the “form of a servant” and was made in the “likeness
of man,”34 truly assuming a real human nature,
with all its weaknesses, except for sin; being conceived
in the womb of the blessed virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit, without
male participation.
And he not only assumed human nature as far as the body is
concerned but also a real human soul, in order that
he might be a real human being. For since the soul had been lost as well as the
body he had to assume them both to save them both together. Therefore
we confess, against the heresy of the Anabaptists who
deny that Christ assumed human flesh from his mother, that he “shared the very
flesh and blood of children”;35 that he is “fruit
of the loins of David” according to the flesh;36 “born
of the seed of David” according to the flesh;37 “fruit
of the womb of the virgin Mary”;38 “born of a woman”;39 “the
seed of David”;40“a shoot from the root of Jesse”;41 “the
offspring of Judah,”42 having descended from the Jews
according to the flesh; “from the seed of Abraham”— for he “assumed
Abraham’s seed”
and was “made like his brothers except
for sin.”43
In this way he is truly our Immanuel— that is: “God with us.”44
34 Phil. 2:7 35 Heb.
2:14 36 Acts 2:30 37 Rom. 1:3
38 Luke
1:42 39 Gal.
4:4 40 2
Tim. 2:8 41 Rom. 15:12 42 Heb.
7:14 43 Heb.
2:17; 4:15 44 Matt. 1:23
第十九条 论基督的二性
我们相信，如此成孕的圣子，其位格与祂的人性联合不分；所以没有两个上帝的儿子，也不是两个位格，乃是二个本性联合于一个位格里，然而二性各自保留其独特的属性。
因此，祂的神性永远为非被造，无生之始，无命之终，1充满天地；
照样，祂的人性也未失去其属性，继续保有受造物的性质——有生之始，有限，并保留真实肉体的一切属性。虽然，祂的复活使身体有了不朽之性，然而，祂仍未改变祂人性的真实性；因为我们的救恩与复活，也必须倚靠祂真实的肉身。
但这两个本性是如此紧密地联于一个位格，甚至死亡也无法使这二者分开。
因此，当祂死的时候，祂交在父神手中的是真实的、离开肉体的人的灵魂。但与此同时，当祂躺卧在坟墓中的时候，祂的神性仍然与其人性联合；祂的神性从未离开祂，正如祂在婴儿时期，虽然一时不能显明，但祂仍是上帝。这就是我们承认基督是真上帝与真人的原因——祂是真上帝，好以祂的大能胜过死亡；也是真人，好叫祂在肉体的软弱中为我们受死。
1 来 7:3
Article 19: The
Two Natures of Christ
We believe that by being thus conceived the
person of the Son has been inseparably united and joined together with
human nature, in such a way that there are not two Sons of God, nor two
persons, but two natures united in a single person, with
each nature retaining its own distinct properties.
Thus his divine nature has always remained uncreated, “without
beginning of days or end of life,”45 filling heaven
and earth.
His human nature has not lost its properties but continues
to have those of a creature—it has a beginning of days; it is of a finite
nature and retains all that belongs to a real body. And even though
he, by his resurrection, gave it immortality, that nonetheless
did not change the reality of his human nature; for our salvation and
resurrection depend also on the reality of his body.
But these two natures are so united
together in one person that they are not even separated by his
death.
So then, what he committed to his Father when he
died was a real human spirit which left his body. But meanwhile
his divine nature remained united with his human nature even when he
was lying in the grave; and his deity never ceased to be in him, just
as it was in him when he was a little child, though for a while it did not show
itself as such.
These are the reasons why we confess
him to be true God and true man— true God in order to conquer death by
his power, and true man that he might die for us in the weakness of his
flesh.
45 Heb. 7:3
第二十条 论神在基督里的公义与怜悯
我们相信，上帝既完全怜悯，又十分公义，祂差遣祂的儿子取了那犯悖逆之罪的人性，好在人性中借着最悲惨的痛苦与死亡担当罪的刑罚。
因此，上帝在祂儿子身上彰显了祂的公义，祂为我们的罪受罚，却在我们身上倾倒出祂的怜悯与仁慈，我们是有罪的，应受咒诅，但上帝出于祂完全的爱，把祂的爱子为我们舍了；又叫祂复活，使我们称义；好叫我们可以借着祂得到不朽和永生。
Article 20: The
Justice and Mercy of God in Christ
We believe that God—who is perfectly merciful and also very
just—sent his Son to assume the nature in which the
disobedience had been committed, in order to bear in it the punishment of sin
by his most bitter passion and death.
So God made known his justice toward his Son, who was
charged with our sin, and he poured out his goodness and
mercy on us, who are guilty and worthy of damnation, giving to us
his Son to die, by a most perfect love, and raising him
to life for our justification, in order that by him we
might have immortality and eternal life.
