Basel, Confessions of

The two earliest Protestant confessions of faith: the Basel Confession of 1534 (sometimes called the Confession of Mühlhausen) and the First Helvetic Confession of 1536 (sometimes called the Second Confession of Basel). Both were based on the principles of the Swiss religious reformer Ulrich Zwingli.

In 1529, under the guidance of Ulrich Zwingli's supporter Oecolampadius, the Swiss city of Basel broke with Rome and joined Zwingli's Christian Civic Alliance. The Basel Confession of 1534 was written by Oswald Myconius (1488–1552) but based on the work of Oecolampadius, and is a confession of moderate Zwinglianism, fully endorsing Zwingli's view of scripture. It held its place in the Church of Basel until 1872.

The First Helvetic Confession was compiled by Heinrich Bullinger and, though also essentially Zwinglian, it has a Lutheran influence.