Girolamo Zanchi (1516–90) is certainly not a household name in Christian circles. He was very well known among seventeenth-century Reformed Christians, however. For just one example, Puritan Thomas Goodwin wrote that Zanchi was “the best of Protestant Writers.”1 So why are many Reformed Christians today unaware of Zanchi? There are a few reasons, I suppose, but the leading one is that only a small number of his numerous books and articles have been translated into English. That is changing. In the past few years, Patrick O’Banion has translated Zanchi’s commentary on Philippians and his book titled The Spiritual Marriage between Christ and His Church and Every One of the Faithful. Most recently, O’Banion translated Zanchi’s Confession of the Christian Religion (hereafter CCR). In this review, I would like to focus on CCR and recommend it to readers.
The background of CCR is interesting. In 1577, Lutheran churches in Germany gathered to compose the Formula of Concord. In light of the Lutheran Formula, Reformed churches decided to write their own confession. Initially, both Zanchi and Zacharias Ursinus (b. 1534) were selected, but Ursinus declined. Although Zanchi had some serious reservations about writing such a confession, he began the project in 1586 at the age of seventy.2 While he was writing the confession, support for the project diminished and fizzled out. Because he had spent so much time and energy on it, Zanchi later published CCR as a private confession. More specifically, here is how Zanchi described his reason for publishing Confession: “I want nothing more than, before I die, to leave behind in the church the kind of confession of faith that, having been diligently examined according to the touchstone of the Holy Scriptures, is approved by every pious and learned man and, consequently, by the whole of the truly catholic church” (40). CCR was reprinted several times afterward, including in two English translations (xxv).
Confession of the Christian Religion is structured like other Reformed confessions. It moves through the various heads of doctrine, beginning with Scripture and moving on to God. After explaining the fall, CCR expounds on the work of Christ, the doctrine of salvation, and the sacraments. Zanchi also explains biblical concepts like faith, repentance, justification, good works, the church, and the magistrate. Finally, CCR concludes with paragraphs describing death, final judgment, and eternal life. In a way, Zanchi’s Confession reads like a short systematic theology book full of Scripture references and helpful quotes from the early church fathers. CCR definitely aims to stay true to the teaching of Scripture and in line with the historic Christian church. Zanchi was careful to avoid theological novelty and to stay very much in the realm of historic Christian orthodoxy.
While I was reading CCR, it did occur to me that in many ways Zanchi’s work sounds similar to the Westminster Confession, the Belgic Confession, and other similar Reformed confessions. However, CCR is lengthier than many other Reformed confessions. For example, there are fifteen paragraphs describing Holy Scripture in CCR. Zanchi’s explanation of the church militant is comprised of twenty-four paragraphs. Overall, Zanchi’s Confession is around 220 pages. Although there is debate about the proper length of a Christian confession, I did appreciate some of the more detailed discussions in CCR. One that sticks out is chapter 24, entitled “The Governance of the Church Militant and Ecclesiastical Ministry.” In this chapter, Zanchi talks about the call to ministry, the authority of ministers, marriage, church buildings, and discipline—just to name a few.
This 2025 edition of CCR also includes Zanchi’s dedicatory letter to his patron and dear friend, the Count of Barco. Zanchi’s introductory letter to the reader is also included in this volume. One can even find Zanchi’s own sixty-five-page commentary (“observations”) on his Confession in this book. These comments or observations are something like footnotes in which Zanchi explains why he wrote what he did or elaborates a bit more on some topics. CCR contains Zanchi’s more detailed elaboration on chapter 11 of the confession, which is entitled “Christ the Redeemer.” Finally, this 2025 edition of Zanchi’s Confession also includes his defense of certain articles of the Christian faith in light of the various heresies of his day. His defense is basically a list of major Christian doctrines that various heretics had twisted. For example, Zanchi defends Christ’s bodily resurrection and ascension in one part of his defense. His defense expands over eighty-four paragraphs and gives many biblical explanations and citations that have to do with Christ’s resurrection and what it means that Christ’s body is glorified in heaven. With all these other writings included, the 2025 edition of Zanchi’s CCR is 442 pages long, including the bibliography, Scripture index, and subject index.
In order to give readers a sense of Zanchi’s Confession, I will summarize the chapter on good works (chapter 21). In the first paragraph on good works, Zanchi explains from John 15 that those who are “grafted onto Christ” have life and bring forth fruit, that is, good works. In the second paragraph good works are defined as “any action or work done by the regenerate on account of a precept of the divine will revealed in the Word and from a living faith in Christ and, hence, from a pure heart through the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:5, etc.; 1 Tim. 1:5)” (175). The third paragraph explains the fact that the ability to do truly good works comes from the Holy Spirit. Next, Zanchi notes that “good works are not the cause but the effect of our being united with Christ and of our justification and life” (175).
In the fifth paragraph, Zanchi stated that although Christians are not justified by their works, their works do edify others, set a good Christian example for others, and glorify God. Zanchi clearly states that the Christian’s good works should not be disapproved of or condemned (paragraph six). Paragraph seven is a lovely paragraph in which Zanchi gives biblical reasons why believers should pursue and perform good works. Of course, good works glorify God. That is primary. But they also bless our neighbors and profit ourselves. The eighth paragraph of chapter 21 is a short explanation of how we are rewarded for our good works by grace on account of Christ’s merits. The last part of this chapter is a refutation of errors such as good works being meritorious and good works being unnecessary or an indifferent matter.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading Zanchi’s Confession of the Christian Religion. It is very similar to other Reformed confessions, so it is not groundbreaking. But Zanchi’s way of discussing theological truths is insightful and edifying. His constant references to Scripture and various citations of church fathers such as Augustine, Ambrose, and Cyprian stimulated my theological thinking. If you are looking for a historic, Reformed, and concise systematic theology-like confession, I highly recommend CCR. In fact, most students of Reformed theology who appreciate this type of literature should benefit from this book. A careful and contemplative reading of Zanchi’s Confession will, I believe, accomplish his own wish, that readers would “be stirred up more and more to serious study of the Holy Scriptures, to growth in the knowledge of truth, and consequently, to persevering in piety” (27).
Notes
- Thomas Goodwin, The Works of Thomas Goodwin (Grand Rapids: Reformation Heritage Books, 2021), 1:37.
- For a more detailed explanation of the background of Zanchi’s CCR, see xxi-xxii.
©Shane Lems. All Rights Reserved.
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Shane Lems
Shane Lems is a graduate of Westminster Seminary California and has a DMin from RTS Orlando. He has been a church planter and pastor in the URCNA. Since 2013 he’s been serving as pastor of Covenant Presbyterian Church (OPC) in Hammond, WI. He is married and has four children. Shane has written numerous articles for Modern Reformation, New Horizons, and other publications. He is also the author of Doctrines of Grace: Student Edition and manages a book blog, The Reformed Reader.
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