3.1
The Creation of All Things
We believe that the Father, when it seemed good to him, created heaven and earth and all other creatures from nothing, by the Word- that is to say, by the Son. God has given all creatures their being, form, and appearance and their various functions for serving their Creator. Even now God also sustains and governs them all, according to his eternal providence and by his infinite power, that they may serve humanity, in order that humanity may serve God. God has also created the angels good, that they might be messengers of God and serve the elect. Some of them have fallen from the excellence in which God created them into eternal perdition; and the others have persisted and remained in their original state, by the grace of God. The devils and evil spirits are so corrupt that they are enemies of God and of everything good. They lie in wait for the church and every member of it like thieves, with all their power, to destroy and spoil everything by their deceptions. So then, by their own wickedness they are condemned to everlasting damnation, daily awaiting their torments. For that reason we detest the error of the Sadducees, who deny that there are spirits and angels, and also the error of the Manicheans, who say that the devils originated by themselves, being evil by nature, without having been corrupted.
Gen. 1:1 · Gen. 2:3 · Isa. 40:26 · Jer. 32:17 · Col. 1:15-16 · 1 Tim. 4:3 · Heb. 11:3 · Rev. 4:11 · Ps. 103:20-21 · Matt. 4:11 · Heb. 1:14 · John 8:44 · 2 Pet. 2:4 · Jude 6 · Gen. 3:1-5 · 1 Pet. 5:8 · Eph. 6:12 · Rev. 12:4, 13-17 · Rev. 20:7-9 · Matt. 8:29 · Matt. 25:41 · Rev. 20:10 · Acts 23:8
3.2
The Doctrine of God's Providence
We believe that this good God, after creating all things, did not abandon them to chance or fortune but leads and governs them according to his holy will, in such a way that nothing happens in this world without God's orderly arrangement. Yet God is not the author of, and cannot be charged with, the sin that occurs. For God's power and goodness are so great and incomprehensible that God arranges and does his works very well and justly even when the devils and the wicked act unjustly. We do not wish to inquire with undue curiosity into what God does that surpasses human understanding and is beyond our ability to comprehend. But in all humility and reverence we adore the just judgments of God, which are hidden from us, being content to be Christ's disciples, so as to learn only what God shows us in the Word, without going beyond those limits. This doctrine gives us unspeakable comfort since it teaches us that nothing can happen to us by chance but only by the arrangement of our gracious heavenly Father, who watches over us with fatherly care, sustaining all creatures under his lordship, so that not one of the hairs on our heads (for they are all numbered) nor even a little bird can fall to the ground without the will of our Father. (Matt. 10:29-30) In this thought we rest, knowing that God holds in check the devils and all our enemies, who cannot hurt us without divine permission and will. For that reason we reject the damnable error of the Epicureans, who say that God does not get involved in anything and leaves everything to chance.
John 5:17 · Heb. 1:3 · Ps. 115:3 · Prov. 16:1, 9, 33 · Prov. 21:1 · Eph. 1:11-12 · Jas. 4:13-15 · Jas. 1:13 · 1 John 2:16 · Job 1:21 · Isa. 10:5 · Isa. 45:7 · Amos 3:6 · Acts 2:23 · Acts 4:27-28 · 1 Kings 22:19-23 · Rom. 1:28 · 2 Thess. 2:11 · Deut. 29:29 · 1 Cor. 4:6 · Matt. 10:29-30 · Gen. 45:8 · Gen. 50:20 · 2 Sam. 16:10 · Rom. 8:28, 38-39