In this special deep-dive episode of The Reformed Standard, we explore Articles 3-7 of the Belgic Confession focusing on the doctrine of Scripture (Bibliology). Written in 1561 by Guido de Brès during intense persecution, this confession articulates the Reformed understanding of the Bible’s origin, authority, and sufficiency. The episode examines how Scripture was divinely inspired yet written through human authors, how the canon was recognized (not created) by the church, and why the 66 books of the Bible are uniquely authoritative compared to the Apocrypha. Most importantly, it unpacks the doctrine of Sola Scriptura—that Scripture alone is our infallible rule for faith and practice—while distinguishing it from the error of Biblicism, which rejects the value of creeds and church tradition in biblical interpretation.



Key Takeaways




Dual Authorship: Scripture was written by human authors who were “carried along” by the Holy Spirit, preserving both divine inspiration and human agency in the writing process.



Recognition of the Canon: The church doesn’t bestow authority on Scripture but recognizes the authority inherent in the text through apostolicity, orthodoxy, catholicity, and the internal witness of the Holy Spirit.



Distinguishing Canonical Scripture from Apocrypha: The canonical books show marks of divine inspiration through their majesty, unity, and spiritual power that are absent in the Apocrypha.



Sufficiency of Scripture: The 66 books of the Bible “fully contain the will of God” and everything necessary for salvation, requiring no additional revelation.



Sola Scriptura vs. Biblicism: While Sola Scriptura holds Scripture as the final authority, it doesn’t reject the value of creeds, confessions, and church tradition as helpful subordinate guides to interpretation.



Perspicuity of Scripture: The central message of salvation is clear enough that any literate person can understand what is necessary for salvation, without requiring secret or specialized knowledge.




Key Concepts



Dual Authorship of Scripture



The Belgic Confession carefully preserves the mystery of how God’s Word came to us through human authors. Drawing on 2 Peter 1:21, it describes the biblical writers as being “carried along” (pherómenoi) by the Holy Spirit—the same term used for a ship driven by wind. This organic view of inspiration avoids two dangerous extremes: the mechanical dictation theory that reduces human authors to mere secretaries, and the liberal view that sees the Bible as merely human reflections about God. Instead, the Reformed understanding is that God sovereignly prepared each author—their background, personality, and skills—to produce exactly the text He intended. From Amos’s prophetic boldness to Luke’s historical precision, God used the full humanity of the authors while ensuring every word was divinely inspired or “God-breathed” (theopneustos). This doctrine maintains both the divine authority of Scripture and the rich human diversity of its composition.



Sola Scriptura vs. Biblicism



While superficially similar, Sola Scriptura and Biblicism represent fundamentally different approaches to biblical authority. Sola Scriptura affirms Scripture as the sole infallible rule for faith and practice—the final court of appeal that binds the conscience. However, it does not reject the value of subordinate authorities like creeds, confessions, and church tradition. The Reformed tradition has always valued these historical witnesses as faithful summaries of biblical teaching that protect us from the dangers of individualistic interpretation. Biblicism, by contrast, claims “no creed but Christ, no book but the Bible,” rejecting these historic guides and elevating private interpretation above the collective wisdom of the church. This seemingly pious stance often leads to a form of intellectual arrogance, where individuals claim unmediated access to the “true” meaning of Scripture that the historic church somehow missed. True Sola Scriptura leads to humility, driving believers to read the Bible within the communion of saints, testing personal understanding against the great confessions of faith.



Memorable Quotes



“The Reformed view, grounded in Scripture itself, is that God sovereignly ordained and prepared every moment of each author’s life—their upbringing, their personality, their skills—to bring us the exact text He wanted.”



“For these believers, the Bible was not just a book on a shelf; it was a lifeline. And in a world where it was often unsafe to even possess a copy, they understood its value in a way we often forget.”



“The church is like a herald proclaiming who the rightful king is; she is not a parliament voting someone into kingship. She doesn’t bestow authority on the Bible; she submits to the authority that is already inherent in the text.”



Full Transcript



Today, we’re doing something a bit different. As we move through the catechism, we’ll occasionally pause for a special Wednesday deep-dive episode, giving us the space to explore a foundational doctrine more thoroughly by looking at another of the great Reformed confessions. And for our first one, we’re turning to the Belgic Confession and its articles on the nature and authority of Holy Scripture.



[00:00:31] Context of the Belgic Confession



Before we jump into the text, we need to understand the context. The Belgic Confession was written in 1561 by Guido de Brès, a pastor in the Netherlands, during the reign of the Spanish tyrant, Philip II. This was not an academic exercise conducted in the safety of a library. This was a confession written in the midst of fierce persecution by the Counter-Reformation and the Spanish Inquisition. This was a time when possessing a Bible, let alone preaching from it, could get you arrested, tortured, and executed. De Brès himself was martyred for his faith just a few years after he wrote this.



For these believers, the Bible was not just a book on a shelf; it was a lifeline. And in a world where it was often unsafe to even possess a copy, they understood its value in a way we often forget. That it hasn’t always been safe to read God’s Word, and may not always be that way for us, is a sober reminder for Christians living in a post-Christendom world. This confession was written to draw a clear line in the sand, to declare what they believed and what they were willing to die for.



[00:01:41] The Origin and Dual Authorship of Scripture



The confession begins in Article 3 by establishing the origin of Scripture. It affirms that the Bible wasn’t delivered by the will of man, but that “men spake from God, being moved by the Holy Spirit,” as the apostle Peter says; and that afterwards God, from a special care which He has for us and our salvation, commanded His servants, the prophets and apostles, to commit His revealed word to writing.



This presents us with a concept often called “dual authorship,” and we must be precise here. The confession quotes 2 Peter 1:21, where Peter says that “no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” That Greek phrase for “carried along,” pherómenoi, is the same word used to describe a ship being driven by the wind. The human authors were not passive secretaries taking dictation, but they also weren’t the ultimate originators of their message. The Holy Spirit was the divine wind in their sails, directing their course and moving them to write the very words of God.



This is what Paul is getting at in 2 Timothy 3:16 when he says that all Scripture is “God-breathed,” or theopneustos. It is the very out-breathing of God Himself. This doctrine of organic, providential inspiration protects us from two deadly errors. On one side, it protects us from a mechanical, dictation theory of inspiration that erases the human author, turning him into a mere typewriter. On the other, it protects us from the liberal view that the Bible is just a collection of inspiring human writings about God.



No, the Reformed view, grounded in Scripture itself, is that God sovereignly ordained and prepared every moment of each author’s life—their upbringing, their personality, their skills—to bring us the exact text He wanted. Amos’s rugged background as a shepherd gave his prophecy its raw power. Daniel’s training as a statesman in a foreign court gave his writing its unique perspective. Luke’s precision as a historian, Paul’s sharp theological mind, David’s poetic heart—these were not accidents. They were the instruments God perfectly prepared over a lifetime to produce His infallible, inerrant Word.



[00:03:59] The Canon of Scripture



This leads us to the next question: which writings are these Holy and Divine Scriptures? Article 4 simply lists the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments.



And this, of course, raises the question of how we know this specific list is the right one. This is the question of the canon. Article 5 gives us the classic Reformed answer. It says, “We receive all these books, and these only, as holy and canonical, for the regulation, foundation, and confirmation of our faith; believing without any doubt all things contained in them, not so much because the church receives and approves them as such, but more especially because the Holy Spirit witnesses in our hearts that they are from God, and also because they carry the evidence thereof in themselves.”



This is a critical distinction. The Roman Catholic view, solidified at the Council of Trent, is that the church determines the canon. The Bible is authoritative, in their view, because the institution of the church has declared it so, placing tradition on a co-equal level of authority. The Reformed view is that the church recognizes the canon. The boundaries of the canon are an ontological reality—they are determined by what the books actually are. A book of Scripture is Scripture the moment it is inspired by God, whether a human recognizes it or not. The church is the creation of the canon, not the creator of the canon. The church is like a herald proclaiming who the rightful king is; she is not a parliament voting someone into kingship. She doesn’t bestow authority on the Bible; she submits to the authority that is already inherent in the text.



So how did the church recognize these books? The early church looked for certain fingerprints of divine authority. First, Apostolicity: was the book written by an apostle or a close associate of an apostle? This grounded the New Testament in the eyewitness testimony of those Christ commissioned. Second, Orthodoxy: did the book conform to the ‘rule of faith,’ the basic gospel message that had been passed down from the beginning? Third, Catholicity: was the book widely recognized and used by churches throughout the known world? But ultimately, these are just the external signposts. The definitive proof, as the confession says, is the internal witness of the Holy Spirit. Jesus says in John 10:27, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” The church, as the body of Christ, is supernaturally equipped by the Spirit to recognize the voice of her Shepherd in the written Word.



[00:06:38] Marks of the Shepherd’s Voice



So, what are these marks of the Shepherd’s voice? Article 6 makes this practical by distinguishing the canonical books from the Apocrypha, stating they “are far from having such power and efficacy that we may from their testimony confirm any point of faith.” For a clear structure, we can borrow the language from the Westminster Larger Catechism.



First, the scriptures manifest themselves by their “majesty and purity.” There is a transcendent quality, a divine grandeur to the canonical Scriptures that is simply absent elsewhere. Compare the opening of John’s gospel—”In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”—with a passage from Tobit, which details how to use the gall of a fish to cure blindness. One is sublime theology revealing the nature of the Godhead; the other has the character of folklore.



Second, the catechism points to the “consent of all the parts, and the scope of the whole, which is to give all glory to God.” Sixty-six books, dozens of authors, multiple continents, over 1,500 years, yet they tell one unified story of redemption that culminates in Jesus Christ. The Old Testament sacrificial system in Leviticus finds its perfect fulfillment in the book of Hebrews. The Apocrypha, however, contains noticeable doctrinal and historical contradictions. It teaches things contrary to the rest of Scripture, such as praying for the dead in 2 Maccabees or salvation through almsgiving in Tobit. Furthermore, you find historical and geographical errors, such as Nebuchadnezzar being called the king of the Assyrians in the book of Judith. And importantly, neither Jesus nor the apostles ever quoted the Apocrypha as authoritative Scripture, a striking silence given how heavily they quoted the Old Testament.



These books do not harmonize with the grand orchestra of Scripture; they introduce discordant notes.



Finally, the catechism speaks of the Scripture’s “light and power to convince and convert sinners, to comfort and build up believers.” As Hebrews 4:12 says, the Word of God is “living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit.” This is not just a collection of wise sayings; it is the living and active Word of God. It has a unique, regenerative power that no other book possesses. The Apocrypha may contain instructive history, but it does not have the power to create new life. It is the Spirit of God, bearing witness by and with the canonical scriptures in our hearts, who persuades us that they are the very Word of God.



[00:09:20] The Sufficiency of Scripture



This brings us to the final and most pastorally critical point in Article 7: the sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures. We believe that these 66 books “fully contain the will of God, and that whatsoever man ought to believe unto salvation is sufficiently taught therein… it is unlawful for any one, though an apostle, to teach otherwise than we are now taught in the Holy Scriptures: ‘nay, though it were an angel from heaven,’ as the apostle Paul says.”



This doctrine, Sola Scriptura, is the foundation of the Reformation. It functions as both a shield and a source of profound freedom. Think of a roller coaster. Without the safety harness, it’s a death trap. With the harness, the ride becomes a thrill. In the same way, the sufficiency of Scripture provides the safe boundaries within which we are free to enjoy God. God’s law, revealed in His Word, is the harness that makes the joyful thrill of knowing and walking with Him possible.



This sufficiency gives us not only freedom from error, but freedom for worship. Because Scripture is our only rule for faith and practice, it is also our only rule for worship. This is what theologians call the Regulative Principle of Worship. It means we don’t invent our own ways to approach God; we come to Him on His terms, as He has revealed in His Word. This is a protection against our own foolishness and a guarantee that our worship is pleasing to Him.



This doctrine also protects us from the tyranny of men. Paul’s warning in Galatians 1 is absolute: even if an angel from heaven preaches a different gospel, let him be accursed. The message is held to the standard of the Word, not the other way around. 



[00:11:06] Sola Scriptura vs. Biblicism



But this is also where we must draw a sharp distinction between the biblical doctrine of Sola Scriptura and the dangerous error of Biblicism. On the surface, they can sound similar, but they are worlds apart. Biblicism is the idea that the Bible is the only source of knowledge, that there is no value in creeds, confessions, or the historical testimony of the church. It often operates under the banner of ‘no creed but Christ, no book but the Bible,’ which sounds pious, but in practice, it becomes a form of intellectual arrogance. It elevates the individual’s private interpretation above the collective wisdom of the church throughout the ages. This is a practical Gnosticism, where one believes they have a direct, unmediated access to the ‘true’ meaning of the text that the historic church somehow missed.



But Sola Scriptura does not mean that. The doctrine of Sola Scriptura means that Scripture is the sole infallible rule for faith and practice. It is the final court of appeal. It doesn’t eliminate the value of subordinate authorities. The Reformed tradition has always cherished the creeds and confessions—like the one we’re studying today—not as equals to Scripture, but as faithful summaries of what Scripture teaches. True Sola Scriptura gives God’s Word the final say, not our own interpretation of it. It leads to humility, driving us to read the Bible with the communion of saints, testing our understanding against the great confessions of the faith to protect us from the pride of private judgment.



This protects us from the tyranny of pop psychology, political litmus tests, or the claims of “new revelations.” The confession says “we reject with all our hearts whatsoever does not agree with this infallible rule.” This isn’t just a historical argument. Today, the tyranny of men can come in softer forms. It comes from the pastor who binds the consciences of his people on matters where Scripture is silent. It comes from the political movement that demands total allegiance as a test of faithfulness. It comes from the therapeutic culture that offers its own gospels of self-fulfillment. Sola Scriptura, rightly understood, is our shield against all of it.



And in doing this, it makes all believers equal. It means, as William Tyndale dreamed, that the plowboy with his Bible can know the Word of God as well as any scholar. 



[00:13:34] Conclusion and Final Thoughts



For Scripture to be sufficient, it must also be clear. Theologians call this the perspicuity of Scripture. This doesn’t mean every verse is easy to understand. But it does mean that the central message of the gospel—who God is, who man is, what Christ has done, and how we must respond—is so clearly taught that any literate person can read it and understand what is necessary for salvation.



There is no secret, higher knowledge. There is one Lord, and one Word that binds the conscience. And in that Word, we find everything we need for life and godliness. It is sufficient. It is our only rule. And it is our firm foundation.

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