Documents

Creeds, Catechisms and Confessions

The creeds and confessions expand over the entire existence of the church. There are many creeds and confessions out there and compiling an exhaustive list is quite difficult. The below section was compiled from Philip Schaff’s Book on Creeds of Christendom, with a History and Critical notes. Volume I. The History of Creeds. You can get a copy of this from Christian Classics Ethereal Library CCEL) Creeds.

While every denomination has a different theological stand point, this list is to provide an easily accessible resource for finding and downloading the specific confession or creed you are looking for. If there is a copy out there that is not available here, please contact me and would be more than happy to upload it and update the site.


The Ecumenical creeds


Apostles Creed 340 – PDFePUB
The Nicene Creed 325PDFePUB
Athanasian Creed c.500 – PDF – ePUB
Chalcedonian Creed 451PDFePUB

The creeds of the Reformed church


Swiss


67 Sixty Seven Articles 1523PDFePUB
The Ten Theses of Berne 1526PDFePUB
The First Confession of Basle. A.D. 1534PDFePUB
The First Helvetic Confession, A.D. 1536
The Second Helvetic Confessions 1562PDFePUB
The Catechism of Geneva. A.D. 1536 and 1541PDFePUB
The Consensus of Tigurinus Zurich. A.D. 1549PDFePUB
The Consensus of Geneva. A.D. 1552
The Helvetic Consensus Formula. A.D. 1675PDFePUB
French


Gallican/French Confession of Faith 1559PDFePUB
The Declaration of Faith of the Reformed Church in France. A.D. 1872
The Belgic Confession. A.D. 1561PDFePUB
Canons of Dort 1618-1619PDFePUB
German


The Tetrapolitan, Strasburg or the Swabian Confession 1530PDFePUB
Heidelberg Catechism 1563PDFePUB
The Confession of Sigismung 1614
The Colloquy at Lipzig 1631
The Waldensian Catechism 1488PDFePUB
The Bohemian Confession 1521, 1535PDFePUB
The Second Bohemian Confession 1575
England


The Ten Articles 1536PDFePUB
The Bishops book 1537
The Six Articles 1539PDFePUB
The Thirteen Articles 1538PDFePUB
Forty-two Articles 1552
39 Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion 1571PDFePUB
Book of Common Prayer 1549 PDF ePUB
The Elizabethan Articles. A.D. 1563 and 1571
The Lambeth Articles of 1595PDFePUB
The Irish Articles 1615PDFePUB
The Articles of the Reformed Episcopal Church. A.D. 1875

The creeds of the Lutheran church


95 Ninety-Five ThesesPDFePUB
Augsburg Confession 1530PDFePUB
The Apology of the Augsburg Confession, A.D. 1530–1531PDFePUB
Luther’s Large Catechism 1526PDFePUB
Luther’s Small Catechism 1529PDFePUB
Smalcald Articles 1537PDFePUB
Formula of ConcordPDFePUB
Book of ConcordPDFePUB
The Saxon Confession. The Würtemberg Confession 1551
The Saxon Visitation Articles, 1592

The creeds of the Presbyterian church


The Scotch Confession of Faith 1560 – PDF – ePUB
The National Covenant or Second Scotch Confession 1581 and 1638PDFePUB
The Solemn League and Covenant 1643PDFePUB
The Westminster Confession of Faith 1643-1649PDFePUB
The Westminster Larger Catechism 1643-1649PDFePUB
The Westminster Shorter Catechism 1643-1649PDFePUB
Confession of 1967PDFePUB
Lanark Declaration 1682 – PDF – ePUB
The Belhar Confession of 1986PDFePUB
The Book of Confessions 2014PDFePUB
The Book of Confessions 2016 with BelharPDFePUB
The Book of Church Order 2013 – 2015PDFePUB

Other creeds of the Modern Church


Baptist


Schleitheim Confession (Annabaptist) 1527PDFePUB
Dordrecht (Mennonite) Confession of Faith 1632PDFePUB
London Baptist of Faith 1689PDFePUB
New Hampshire Confession of Faith (Baptist) 1833PDFePUB
Abstract of Principles (Baptist) 1858 – PDF – ePUB
The Baptist Faith and Message 2000PDFePUB
Congregational


Savoy Declaration 1658PDFePUB
Methodist


Articles_of_religion (Methodist) 1784PDFePUB
Assembly of God


Assembly of God Statement of Truth 1916PDFePUB
Ecumenical


Lausanne Covenant 1974PDFePUB
Evangelical


Theological Declaration of Barmen 1943PDFePUB
Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy 1978PDFePUB
Seventh Day Adventist


Seventh-day Adventist 28 Fundamental Beliefs – PDF – ePUB

The creeds of the Greek church


Catechetical lectures of Cyril of JerusalemPDFePUB
The Seven Ecumenical councilsPDFePUB
The Confessions of Gennadius, A.D. 1453
The Answers of Patriarch Jeremiah to the Lutherans, A.D. 1576
The Confession of Metrophanes Critopulus, A.D. 1625
The Confession of Cyril Lucar, A.D. 1631PDFePUB
The Orthodox Confession of Mogilas, A.D. 1643PDFePUB
The Synod of Jerusalem and the Confession of Dositheus, A.D. 1672PDFePUB
The Synods of Constantinople, A.D. 1672 and 1691

The creeds of the Roman church


The Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent 1545PDFePUB
The Profession of the Tridentine Faith, 1564
Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church, 1566PDFePUB
The Papal Bulls against the Jansenists, 1653 and 1713
The Papal Definition of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, 1854
The Papal Syllabus, A.D. 1864
The Vatican Council, 1870
The Vatican Decrees. The Constitution on the Catholic Faith 1870
The Baltimore Catechism of 1891 – PDF – ePUB
The Liturgical Standards of the Roman ChurchPDFePUB

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