The Second Helvetic Confession

The Second Helvetic Confession is a book by Heinrich Bullinger, first published in 1566. Written originally in Latin as Bullinger’s mature statement of faith (composed in the early 1560s and revised before publication), the Confession sets out a comprehensive Reformed summary of doctrine—treating Scripture, the Trinity, Christology, providence and predestination, the nature of the church and ministry, the sacraments, and practical matters of worship and discipline. Calm in tone but thorough in content, the Second Helvetic Confession became one of the most widely adopted Reformed confessions in post-Reformation Europe and shaped the doctrinal life of Reformed and Presbyterian churches for centuries. Its emphasis on sola scriptura, measured Calvinist theology, and pastoral ordering of church life made it useful both as a teaching document and as a unifying standard across Swiss, Scottish, Hungarian and other Reformed churches, and it remains an important historical source for students of Reformation theology, confessional history, and ecclesial practice.