This Day in Protestant History

Published on by D. G. Hart

Four hundred fifty years ago Roman Catholic clergy professed a faith that said “not gonna happen” to Protestants. The Tridentine Profession of Faith became obligatory for all bishops, priests and clerics charged with teaching. It reads:

I, N, with a firm faith believe and profess each and everything which is contained in the Creed which the Holy Roman Church makes use of. To wit:

I believe in one God, The Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Only-begotten Son of God. Born of the Father before all ages. God of God, Light of Light, true God of true God. Begotten, not made, of one substance with the Father. By whom all things were made. Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven. And became incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary: and was made man. He was also crucified for us, suffered under Pontius Pilate, and was buried. And on the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and His kingdom will have no end.

And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of life, Who proceeds from the Father and the Son. Who together with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, and who spoke through the prophets.

And one holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. I confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins and I await the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.

The Apostolic and Ecclesiastical traditions and all other observances and constitutions of that same Church I firmly admit to and embrace.

I also accept the Holy Scripture according to that sense which holy mother the Church has held, and does hold, and to whom it belongs to judge the true sense and interpretations of the Scriptures. Neither will I ever take and interpret them otherwise than according to the unanimous consent of the Fathers.

I also profess that there are truly and properly Seven Sacraments of the New Law, instituted by Jesus Christ our Lord, and necessary for the salvation of mankind, though not all are necessary for everyone; to wit, Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, Holy Orders, and Matrimony; and that they confer grace; and that of these, Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders cannot be repeated without sacrilege.

I also receive and admit the accepted and approved ceremonies of the Catholic Church in the solemn administration of the aforesaid sacraments.

I embrace and accept each and everything which has been defined and declared in the holy Council of Trent concerning original sin and justification.

I profess, likewise, that in the Mass there is offered to God a true, proper, and propitiatory sacrifice for the living and the dead; and that in the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist there is truly, really, and substantially, the Body and Blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ; and that a conversion takes place of the whole substance of the bread into the Body, and of the whole substance of the wine into the Blood, which conversion the Catholic Church calls Transubstantiation.

I also confess that under either species alone Christ is received whole and entire, and a true sacrament.

I steadfastly hold that there is a Purgatory, and that the souls therein detained are helped by the suffrages of the faithful. Likewise, that the saints, reigning together with Christ, are to be honored and invoked, and that they offer prayers to God for us, and that their relics are to be venerated.

I most firmly assert that the images of Christ, of the Mother of God, ever virgin, and also of other Saints, ought to be kept and retained, and that due honor and veneration is to be given them.

I also affirm that the power of indulgences was left by Christ in the Church, and that the use of them is most wholesome to Christian people.

I acknowledge the Holy Catholic Apostolic Roman Church as the mother and teacher of all churches; and I promise true obedience to the Bishop of Rome, successor to St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles, and Vicar of Jesus Christ.

I likewise undoubtedly receive and profess all other things delivered, defined, and declared by the sacred Canons, and general Councils, and particularly by the holy Council of Trent, and by the ecumenical Council of the Vatican, particularly concerning the primacy of the Roman Pontiff and his infallible teaching.

I condemn, reject, and anathematize all things contrary thereto, and all heresies which the Church has condemned, rejected, and anathematized. This true Catholic faith, outside of which no one can be saved, which I now freely profess and to which I truly adhere, I do so profess and swear to maintain inviolate and with firm constancy with the help of God until the last breath of life. And I shall strive, as far as possible, that this same faith shall be held, taught, and professed by all those over whom I have charge. I N. do so pledge, promise, and swear, so help me God and these Holy Gospels of God.

Do Protestants get any thanks for provoking such remarkable clarity?

25 thoughts on “This Day in Protestant History”

  2. This true Catholic faith, outside of which no one can be saved, which I now freely profess and to which I truly adhere, I do so profess and swear to maintain inviolate and with firm constancy with the help of God until the last breath of life.

    But Rome hasn’t changed dogma even though it now recognizes that essentially everyone is on their way to heaven. After all, as Francis said, “Who am I to judge?”

    Are the CTCers paying attention?

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  3. Robert, CtCers don’t pay attention they pontificate. Particularly the recently converted. It’s like Calvary Chapel but not, but yet, yes.

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  4. It is worth mentioning, isn’t it, that this profession of faith is not currently in use, & hsn’t been since 1967?

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  5. I kept posting at CtC until I got my pound of flesh, sean. We shall see how much longer James can pretend.

    G’night peeps.

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  7. Here is a transcript, verbatim, from a recent caller on Catholic Answers Live with Jimmy Akin

    Caller’s Question: “I have a Jewish friend and I was just wondering if he would be going to Hell in the Catholic faith.”

    (A poorly worded question but you get the gist.)

    Jimmy Akin’s answer: “The Catholic church doesn’t claim to judge the state of individual souls and so the church recognizes that God calls all people to belong to the church and that if someone knowingly knows that it’s God’s church and that it’s God’s will for them to become Catholic and they just refuse to do so then they are putting a barrier between themselves and God which can result in their loss. But we can’t presume that in any individual case because only God knows the conscience of an individual and he is able to work with people even when they don’t have full knowledge of his will. And so there are Jewish people and people of other religions who are cooperating with God’s grace. And based on the understanding they have of God, those people can be saved through Jesus Christ. They may not realize in this life that it’s Jesus Christ they’re being saved through but they can be in a saving relationship with God and we’ll find out who they are in the next life but we can’t know in this one.”

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  8. Will, well that is post-V2 RC’sm. Good for Jimmy. May his beard grow longer and redder.

    But that hardly comports with all those papal claims about the keys given to Peter — they always claimed to have power to open and close heaven. Now they just run a valet service?

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  14. Robert: But Rome hasn’t changed dogma even though it now recognizes that essentially everyone is on their way to heaven. After all, as Francis said, “Who am I to judge?

    They don’t have to “change” a dogma for it to have a wholly new meaning. Here is Raymond Brown: “Past statements are not rejected but are requoted with praise and then reinterpreted at the same time.”

    Thus, “there is no salvation outside of the church” is still a true statement; however, the “scope” of “the Church” has expanded. So you, on the strength of your Christian baptism, and pagan unbelievers, on the strength of their good intentions, are “are put in a certain, although imperfect, communion with the Catholic Church.”

    http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p123a9p3.htm#838

    Too bad the “Tridentine fathers” never knew of this little factoid. Lots of lives could have been spared.

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  15. John B., reminds me of Machen (not everything does):

    The creedal character of the churches is differently expressed in the different evangelical bodies, but the example of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America may perhaps serve to illustrate what is meant. It is required of all officers in the Presbyterian Church, including the ministers, that at their ordination they make answer “plainly” to a series of questions which begins with the two following: “Do you believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God, the only infallible rule of faith and practice?” “Do you sincerely receive and adopt the Confession of Faith of this Church, as containing the system of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures?” If these “constitutional questions” do not fix clearly the creedal basis of the Presbyterian Church, it is difficult to see how any human language could possibly do so. Yet immediately after making such a solemn declaration, immediately after declaring that the Westminster Confession contains the system of doctrine taught in infallible Scriptures, many ministers of the Presbyterian Church will proceed to decry that same Confession and that doctrine of the infallibility of Scripture to which they have just solemnly subscribed! . . .
    The men whom we mean are seeking not membership in the Church, but a place in the ministry, and they desire not to learn but to teach. They are not men who say, “I believe, help mine unbelief,” but men who are proud in the possession of the knowledge of this world, and seek a place in the ministry that they may teach what is directly contrary to the Confession of Faith to which they subscribe.(Christianity and Liberalism, 163-64)

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  16. DGH, I keep thinking that Rome is the first, and worst offender. The church is harmed by many, in many different ways, but Rome was the first and the most persistent, and historically has done (and continues to do — “Pope Francis”!) tremendous harm. Many other offenders follow Rome’s pattern. In that way, Rome has been the teacher.

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  18. I as a prot. who “knowingly” rejects the claims of Rome cannot be saved but a Muslim, Mormon, whatever, can be saved, as they are “cooperating with God’s grace” all the while believing abominable unbiblical things about Jesus. What a deal!

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  19. “…Erik, nothing for UofM to win today. For us, an excuse to stock up at Trader Joe’s…”

    Ever since reading this post early this morning I haven’t been able to get this vision of DGH slinging empty Two-Buck Chuck bottles that he bought at TJ’s along Michigan Avenue on his way home.

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  20. Last Romanist priest I worked with took the oath. My guess is he was ordained in the 60s. An older chap. Although from California, he took all his training from a seminary in Rome. He was faithful, pious (in terms of daily use of his Breviary), not too bright, and very anti-Protestant. Very anti-Protestant. I’d like to know if Jorge (Mr. Bertoglio, or, Francis 1 for some) took the anti-Protestant oath?

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  21. I should qualify that the aforementioned Muslim, Mormon or whatever, who is unfamiliar that one must believe the Marian dogmas to be saved, will be saved cuz they’re “cooperating with the grace of God”. Let the bushman worship water and a tree or whatever, as long as he’s “cooperating with the grace of God”.

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