Een beknopte geschiedenis van de openbare geloofsbelijdenis verbonden met Doop en Avondmaal

Churches in the Dutch Reformed tradition have a practice that is nowadays called ‘public confession of faith’. This used to be the entrance to participation in the Lord’s Table, but today there is puzzlement concerning the status and significance of the practice. Therefore, this article provides a concise history and analysis of the origins and development of the public confession of faith in the Netherlands to aid theological reflection on current practices. The Reformed practice of ‘admission questions’ for prospective communicants to ensure proper catechesis and thereby hopefully well-informed, lived faith, has developed into a relatively independent ritual. From the mid-20th century onwards, the public confession of faith has been increasingly characterized by the apostolic aspects of witnessing and taking responsibility. The author proposes to understand the (personal) public confession of faith not only as the postponed confession of faith related to one’s baptism for those who have been baptised as little child, but also as demanded confessing for celebrating the Lord’s Supper. The public confession of faith makes explicit what is implicated in celebrating the Lord’s Supper: the confession of the Lord.