Get a 1562 Belgic Confession (Major)
The Belgic Confession was first published in 1561. At least two editions of the Belgic Confession were published in the following year. There may have been more, but only two from 1562 are extant. N.H. Gootjes (The Belgic Confession: Its History and Sources) distinguishes these as the “major” and the “minor,” based on the length of the edition. The “major” is longer, the “minor” shorter.
The Post-Reformation Digital Library recently pointed out a link to a .pdf of the “major” 1562 edition of the Belgic Confession. This is the same edition as the one photographed by E.M. Braekman for the IDC Guy de Bres collection of microfiches, however it is a different copy.
As I was comparing the “major” and “minor” again this morning, I noticed something else that Gootjes doesn’t mention. The remonstrance to the magistrates at the end of the “minor” is incomplete. A page is inserted with articles 36 and 37. This supports Gootjes’ conclusion: “Overall, the presentation of the confession in the Major is much better than that of the Minor.” Whoever published the “minor” did a sloppy job of it.
In this earlier post, I also noted another difference between the “major” and “minor.”
[…] intro to the Belgic Confession (which I reviewed somewhere) and Wes Bredenhof has some interesting follow up notes about two 1562 […]