Journal: Westminster Theological Journal
Volume: WTJ 74:2 (Fall 2012)
Article: Guy de Brès And The Apocrypha
Author: Wes Bredenhof

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Guy de Brès And The Apocrypha

Wes Bredenhof

Wes Bredenhof is pastor of the Providence Canadian Reformed Church, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

I. Introduction

The Belgian martyr Guy de Brès (1522–1567) is mostly remembered as the author of the Belgic Confession (1561). Recent research by N. H. Gootjes, however, confirms that de Brès should also be accounted as the most significant reformer of the sixteenth-century Low Countries.1 When de Brès was in prison on death row, the Roman Catholic Church sent Bishop François Richardot, its foremost theologian and polemicist in the region, to debate with him.2 If providence had allowed a longer life, more literary output from de Brès could reasonably have been expected. As it happened, besides the Belgic Confession, we have two major works plus some assorted smaller writings. In this study, we will explore de Brès’s use of the Apocrypha. How do these writings function in his theology?

The question arises out of two observations. First, there is article 6 of the Belgic Confession. This article is found in a section of the Confession that deals with the Scriptures. Article 3 introduces this section by stating that Scripture has come to us through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Article 4 lists the sixty-six books recognized as canonical by Protestants. Article 5 states that only those sixty-six books are received “as holy and canonical, for the regulation, foundation and confirmation of our faith.”3 Article 6 outlines the differences between the canonical and the apocryphal books.

The article first lists the books: 3 and 4 Esdras, Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, additions to Esther, the Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Young Men in the Furnace, Susannah, Bel and the Dragon, the Prayer of Manasseh, and 1 and 2 Maccabees.4 The Confession then asserts the following:

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The church may read and take instruction from these so far as they agree with the canonical books. They are, however, far from having such power and authority that we may confirm from their testimony any point of faith or of the Christian religion; much less may they be used to detract from the authority of the holy books.

This can be recognized as a classic Reformed position on these books.

Our second observation is also in regard to the Belgic Confession. The first editions (1561/1562) contained biblical proof-texts in the margins. Among these proof-tex...