# Confession Of The Waldenses And Albigenses, Drawn Up By Those Of Merindol And Cabriere, And Sent To The King Of France.

12th century (source section) · Historical source

Source: Martyrs’ Mirror. Original heading: CONFESSION OF THE WALDENSES AND ALBIGENSES, DRAWN UP BY THOSE OF MERINDOL AND CABRIERE, AND SENT TO THE KING OF FRANCE.

Century of containing source section; exact event date not assigned

I. 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, raiment and food, as
well as of health and sickness, prosperity and adversity;
him we love as the author of all good, and
fear him as the discerner of our hearts.

II. 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 unto men, whereby
we may be saved. In his name alone we worship
the Father, and pour out no prayers before God,
save those contained in the holy Scriptures, or
which fully agree with the sense of the same.

III. 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 operation we are regenerated. This
Holy Ghost operates in us all good works, and by
him we are led into all truth.

IV. We believe in a holy church, the congregation
of all the elect (believers) of God, from the
foundation (or beginning) of the world unto 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 out of which church there is no salvation.

V. It is an established rule with us, that the ministers
of the church, namely, the bishops and the
pastors, must be blameless in manner and doctrine;
and if not, that they must be removed, and others
put in their stead, who do better fill their place and
office. No one takes unto himself this honor, unless
he is called of 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, intercourse,
love, faith, and purity.

VI. 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; hence we are in duty bound to show them
all proper honor, and to pay tribute; and no one
can evade this subjection, if he would 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.

275

The last clause is translated by J. M. V., in Hist.
Wald., thus: Who himself would pay tribute, but
was not willing to accept of worldly dominion.

VII. 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.

VIII. 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.

IX. We confess, that marriage is good, honorable
and holy, yea, instituted by God himself, and
that therefore no one ought to be prohibited from
marrying, unless the word of God intervene.

X. We believe, that the godly and godfearing
ought to conduct themselves praiseworthily before
God, keeping themselves engaged in good works,
which God has ordained that they should walk
therein; these works are: love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
kindness, piety, modesty, temperance, and
other good works commanded in the Scriptures.

XI. 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 cause them
to adhere to the creatures, and put one’s confidence
in them; to neglect the good works commanded us
in the holy Scriptures, and to follow the fables of
men.

XII. We hold the Old and the New Testament
as the rule of our faith, and follow the Symbol or
Creed of the Apostles. If any one be found who
says that we confess another doctrine, we shall show,
if 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, p. 65. A. Mell.,
2d book, fol. 446, col. 1, 2, 3, from Joh. Crespin.
Acta Mart., lib. 3. Lancelot du Voisin Poplin. Poplinerii
Hist. Franc., lib. 1, edition 1585, fol 26.
Joach. Camer. Hist. Narrat., p. 565. To be found
in Car. Molin’s book, De Manarchia Francorum,
in the third volume of his works, edition Paris,
A. D. 1612, part 2, pp. 578, 579, 616, 617. Also,
Jean Paul Perrin, Hist. of the Wald., 1st part,
1st book, cap. 13, pp. 49, 50.

Abraham Mellinus, having noted said 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., 2d book, fol. 446, col. 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 A. Mellinus
endeavors to draw them to the Calvinists or
so-called Reformed. For, to speak of but a few
points, just look at their confession in the article
concerning God; what do the Waldenses say there?
“We believe,” say they, “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,
by the confession of the Waldenses in this
point, the truth of Father, Son and Holy Ghost
constituting the one God, is not excluded; neither
is this done in any way by the Baptists.

Besides the preceding, consider the article concerning
the Son of God, or of the incarnation of
Christ. What is the confession of the Waldenses in
this respect? “We believe,” say they, “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, but that 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,” Col. 1:15; and again: “In
him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily,”
Col. 2:9, as is also declared in the confession of the
Anabaptists.

Further, observe the article of the Waldenses respecting
the office of authority. “We confess,” say
they, “that kings, princes, and magistrates are
ordained by the Lord as his ministers, unto 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? O 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; even as also the Anabaptists confess.

Continuing, notice their article respecting baptism.
“We believe,” say they, “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 latter is nevertheless so
276
strenuously maintained at the present day, by the
Calvinistic church? O 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 said 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, unto a new life? In said
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, who, before baptism, never lived after the
flesh? Hence 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, fol. 447, col. 1.

Here it is to be observed, that 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 said 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
wise.

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, but much rather, agreed
with, the Anabaptistic Christians.





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