History of Protestantism in the Netherlands - James Aitken Wylie

the Churches of France, "to show their union and
conformity with them." It was agreed that all the
ministers then absent, and all who should thereafter
be admitted to the office of the ministry, should be
exhorted to subscribe these articles. It was also
agreed that the Geneva catechism should be used in
the French or Walloon congregations, and the
Heidelberg catechism in those of the Dutch; but if
it happened that any of the congregations made use
of any other catechism agreeable to the Word of
God, they were not to be required to change it.[7]
While Alva was scattering and burning the
Netherland Church, its members, regardless of the
tyrant's fury, were linking themselves together in
the bonds of a scriptural organisation. While his
motto was "Raze, raze it," the foundations of that
spiritual edifice were being laid deeper and its
walls raised higher than before.
Footnotes:
1. Brandt, vol., 1., pp. 269, 270.
2. Ibid.
3. Brandt, vol. 1., p. 271.
288