Several years ago, our pastor introduced us to the Heidelberg Catechism and spent a number of weeks in Sunday School walking through it. No names of individual men are attached to this piece of work, but it is known that it was a collaborative effort between "the theological faculty, the superintendents and the chief officers of the Palatinate church." This background information comes from its preface:
"From his castle in Heidelberg, Elector Frederick III...in 1562, commissioned the preparation of a new catechism for guiding ministers and teachers in instructing the people in the Christian faith.
"At the Synod of Dort in 1618-1619, delegates from the Reformed churches of Europe gave the Heidelberg Catechism high praise for its pedagogical and doctrinal features. It soon became the most ecumenical of all the Reformed catechisms and confessions...it has been translated into most of the European languages and into many Asian and Afican languages as well."
While we studied it, we were encouraged to memorize certain portions, including Question #1. This answer is laden with solace and it plays over and over in my mind, especially the first paragraph...
Question 1:
What is your only comfort in life and in death?
Answer:
"From his castle in Heidelberg, Elector Frederick III...in 1562, commissioned the preparation of a new catechism for guiding ministers and teachers in instructing the people in the Christian faith.
"At the Synod of Dort in 1618-1619, delegates from the Reformed churches of Europe gave the Heidelberg Catechism high praise for its pedagogical and doctrinal features. It soon became the most ecumenical of all the Reformed catechisms and confessions...it has been translated into most of the European languages and into many Asian and Afican languages as well."
While we studied it, we were encouraged to memorize certain portions, including Question #1. This answer is laden with solace and it plays over and over in my mind, especially the first paragraph...
Question 1:
What is your only comfort in life and in death?
Answer:
That I am not my own, but belong- body and soul, in life and in death- to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.
He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven: in fact, all things must work together for my salvation.
Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.
Thanks be to God for faithful pastors and ministers who compose confessions, creeds and catechisms for the building up of the People of God; and for those who continue to set them before us for our edification!
He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven: in fact, all things must work together for my salvation.
Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.
Thanks be to God for faithful pastors and ministers who compose confessions, creeds and catechisms for the building up of the People of God; and for those who continue to set them before us for our edification!
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