Early Reformation in Brazil: The Guanabara Confession

by Miguel D’Azevedo

As a seminarian and candidate for the Gospel ministry, I am thankful to be able to study at Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary and to be an intern at Woodruff Road Presbyterian Church. There is nothing more beneficial than integrating classroom learning and ministry experience under faithful ministers of the Gospel. As I plan to go back to Brazil to plant a reformed church, this integration of knowledge and practice is fundamental, especially in the context of the church in Brazil. The church in Brazil struggles in many ways, and a reformed and confessional pastor is still not always welcome. Reformed pastors are still persecuted for standing for sound doctrine and holding to their vows regarding the Westminster Confession of Faith and its Catechism. Early Christians from all times, along with those who brought reformation to Brazil, have not compromised their faith to avoid persecution and even death. They instead preferred to suffer and be persecuted for the cause of the Gospel.

The period of the Reformation has become officially known as a schism in early 16^th century Western Christianity, initiated by a German priest named Martin Luther. It was a movement that brought the practices and beliefs of the Christian faith back into line with the Word of God. Through defamation, persecution, torture, and war, the Roman Catholic church attempted to silence and stop the Reformation movement. However, the Reformation spread rapidly to other European countries over the 16^th century. In an effort to resolve the conflict between Catholics and Protestants, two meetings were held in the city of Speyer in 1526 and 1529.  These meetings became known as the 1^st and 2nd Diets of Speyer. At the Diets, Lutheran members protested against the measures of the Diet which they understood to be contrary to the Word of God; their action prompted the term “Protestants”, which is still used today.

The Protestants produced summaries and defenses of their theological agreements and disagreements in relation to Rome, many of which are still in use. Conservative Lutherans still hold to the articles of the Augsburg Confession produced in 1530. Dutch Reformed churches and subgroups hold to the “Three Forms of Unity,” as contained in the Belgic Confession of 1561, Canons of Dort of 1619, and the Heidelberg Catechism of 1563. Orthodox Presbyterians hold to the Westminster Confession of Faith of 1647.

During the time of the creation of these documents and expansion of the Reformation in Europe, political conquests were also being made. One such conquest was of a faraway land later to be called Brazil, discovered by the military captain, navigator, and explorer Pedro A. Cabral on behalf of the Portuguese crown in the year 1500.

In the year 1555, the French vice-admiral Nicolas Durand de Villegagnon arrived with 600 soldiers and colonists to a small island called Serigipe in the Guanabara Bay located in the Brazilian colonial city of Rio de Janeiro. At that time, Rio de Janeiro had not yet received significant Portuguese settlements, so it was an easy target for the French invasion of Portuguese territory and marked their first attempt to establish a French colony on the American continent. The invasion lead by Villegagnon was successful and resulted in a French settlement named France Antarctique. To gain support for his enterprise in Brazil, Nicolas Durand de Villegagnon sought the favor of French nobleman De Coligny and convinced him to help, on condition that France Antarctique would be a refuge for the Huguenot Protestants of France who were fleeing the persecution of the Roman Catholic church.

Villegagnon sent a letter to the city of Geneva in order to gain further support for his new settlement. In his letter, he requested that John Calvin send one or two preachers to “establish a Reformed Church according to the word of God”, as well as more people to colonize the land.

In 1557, fourteen Huguenots of France led and guided by Philippe de Corguilleray (or Lord du Pont), arrived in France Antarctique. Among them were the pastors of the church of Geneva Pierre Richier and Guillaume Chartier, and the student of theology Jean de Lery, who would later publish his testimony in the book History of a Voyage to the Land of Brazil.

A week after the Huguenots’ arrival, Villegagnon made an attempt to show his good intentions towards the Reformed faith by prescribing that aside from the public prayers, which were held every evening after day’s work, the ministers would preach for an hour on all working days and twice on Sundays. Furthermore, he “declared that he intended the Sacraments to be administered according to the pure Word of God, without any human addition.” Following this ecclesiastical policy, the Lord’s Supper was celebrated for the first time on Sunday in the Fort of Coligny in France Antarctique.

Everything appeared to be going according to the plan of establishing a refuge city in Brazil for the persecuted Christians of France. However, soon after the Huguenot’s settlement in France Antarctique, Villegagnon received a letter from Cardinal de Lorriane, the “Grand Inquisitor of France,” “reproving him very harshly for leaving the Roman Catholic religion, so that Villegagnon suddenly changed his plan out of fear.” Villegagnon then declared that he changed his mind about John Calvin, and called Calvin’s doctrine of the Lord’s Supper heretical, and started persecuting the people sent by Calvin to minister and to help in the construction of the Fort of Coligny.

Eventually, Pierre Bourdon, Jean du Bordel, Matthieu Verneuil, Andre La Fon, and Jacques Le Balleur, were imprisoned by Villegagnon because of the Gospel.  Villegagnon then “formulated a list of question about the faith, and sent it to the five Calvinists, giving them twelve hours to write their answer.” After praying and asking the help of the Holy Spirit, the four man, who were no theologians, and had only a copy of the Bible in their hands, started to write their answers. Their answers became known as the Guanabara Confession of Faith. Jean Bourdel was elected to write the document since he was the most educated among them and was fluent in the Latin language.

The confession was written in the form of a credo starting with “we believe.” However, its style, extension, and variety of subjects categorized it as a confession of faith from the time of the Reformation. The seventeen articles can be divided into six parts: 1-4 deal with the being of God; 5-9 deal with the sacraments. The authors of the confession were aware that the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper was a great point of controversy between them and Villegagnon; therefore, they spent four articles about the sacraments in order to explain the real meaning of the Lord’s Supper according to Reformed faith that emerged from Geneva.  Article 10 deals with free will and 11-12 deal with the power of the ministers to forgive sins. The authors of the confession quoted Augustine, saying, “pardon of sins belongs only to the word of God.” Articles 13-15 handle the matter of divorce, religious marriage, and celibacy vows. Their explanation about divorce asserted the Bible as the rule of life and broke with the Catholic teaching about marriage. The last part, 16-17 of the Guanabara Confession deal with intercession to the saints and prayers to dead.  The authors stressed that Jesus is the only intermediary between men and God. And that the Bible prohibits to prayer in favor of the dead.

In summary, The Guanabara Confession of Faith is a reflection of the controversies and teachings of the time of the Reformation. Its content is not vague, as would be expected from a confession formulated in 12 hours with only one Bible at hand. It is a clear and assertive confession written by lay men, yet it expresses a solid doctrinal foundation. The confession reveals a cohesive structure even though the authors wrote it in direct response to the questions made by Villegagnon. The text of the confession reveals a great knowledge of the Bible, theology and the history of the church by the authors. References are made to the Council of Nicaea and its creed, as well as to various Fathers of the Church: Augustine, Tertullian, Ambrose, and Cyprian. The document has a strong biblical and reformed content, highlighting points such as the centrality of Scripture, the symbolic nature of the sacraments, the supremacy of Christ, the importance of faith and election, among others. This confession is more than a set of doctrines written in the mid-sixteenth century. It is a monument erected by the mysterious and wise hand of Providence, urging future generations of Brazilian Christians to “contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.”  (Jude 3).

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Bibliography

Crespin, Jean. A tragédia da Guanabara: a história dos primeiros mártires do Cristianismo no Brasil. Translated by Domingos Ribeiro. Rio de Janeiro: Typo-Lith Pimenta de Mello, 1917. [Tragedy of Guanabara: The History of the Firsts Christian Martyrs in Brazil] (Translated by my-self)

Léry, Jean de, and Janet Whatley. History of a Voyage to the Land of Brazil, Otherwise Called America. 1. paperback print., [Nachdr.]. Latin American literature and culture 6. Berkeley, Calif.: Univ. of California Press, 2006.

Pierre Bourdon, Jean du Bordel, Matthieu Verneuil, and Andre La Fon. “The Guanabara Confession.” Translated by (Translated by my-self, 1558.