As a pastor I find, more than in any time since I can remember, people are ill-at-ease, suspicious and easily unsettled. There are many reasons for this I suppose. The world is changing. The average person sitting in our pews might not be able to say what’s bothering him. In one sense the changes are bigger than we can see, but we can feel that something is not right. The newsworthy events that we can see merely confirm and enhance our anxiety; The threat of terrorism, the war with Iraq and the instability of the financial markets …. On the day the Columbia Space Shuttle disintegrated I had a chill down my spine and a sensation that some unknown danger was stalking me.
In such times of anxiety and uncertainty I am looking for ways to encourage confidence in God and comfort for troubled hearts. I turn first to the Scriptures. “Jesus said, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me” John 14:1. I turn also to the riches of Christian history: I find great confidence knowing that through each of the shifting epochs for the past 2,000 years, God’s people have not only survived, but thrived. And I turn to the riches of Christian teaching: the Church has always found ways to teach God’s truth in order to meet the challenges of the changing times.
In looking for ways to encourage comfort and assurance, I am especially attracted to the teaching of the Heidelberg Catechism. Written in Heidelberg, Germany, primarily as a guide for the instruction of children in the Reformed Protestant movement in 1563, it has served as a spiritual guide for generations of Reformed Christians. It has been most widely embraced by Reformed Christians of Dutch descent. However it deserves a much wider use. It is part of the PC(USA) Constitution found in the Book of Confessions.
The famous first question of the Heidelberg Catechism asks, “What is my only comfort in life and in death?” The answer it gives was sufficient for the times in which it was written and it is sufficient for us as well. “That I belong— body and soul, in life and in death—not to myself but to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ, who at the cost of his own blood has fully paid for all my sins and has completely freed me from the dominion of the devil; that he protects me so well that without the will of my Father in heaven not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, that everything must fit his purpose for my salvation. Therefore, by his Holy Spirit, he also assures me of eternal life, and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now to live for him.”
The Problem Of The Catechism
History And Culture
The comfort offered by the Heidelberg is sufficient for us … almost. It was written in a time when Christendom held sway. God, sin, heaven, hell, angels and demons were part of the fabric of life. In the 21st Century, a sweeping process of secularization has resulted in God and a Christian understanding of life exiled from the center of society to its edges. Likewise, God and things Christian have been moved to the edges of our minds. Similarly, instructional methods like a catechism were “normal.” Today, however, people are inclined to overlook the riches of the Heidelberg because it seems “canned” and “formal.” The result is that comfort offered in the Heidelberg requires some work on our part if its teaching is going to touch our hearts. In this introductory study and the ones to follow, we will seek to penetrate its comforting truths.
The Point Of The Catechism
Saving Sovereignty Of God
Central to the Reformed understanding of life is the sovereignty of God. Many have taken the doctrine of the sovereignty of God to be a cold hard doctrine that heartlessly assigned people to hell. In the first question of the Heidelberg we see the pastoral intent of caring warmth that the Reformers intended—the “saving sovereignty” of God. The good news at the heart of the Catechism is that nothing is beyond his caring providential control, “… all things must fit his purpose for my salvation.”
The Structure Of The Catechism
The Catechism has 129 questions. For the sake of instruction, since its third edition it was divided into 52 sections so that it could be preached and taught in a yearly cycle. The second question lays out the internal structure of the Catechism. “How many things must you know, that you may live and die in the blessedness of this comfort?” The answer: “Three. First, the greatness of my sin and wretchedness. Second, how I am freed from all my sins and their wretched consequences. Third, what gratitude I owe to God for such redemption.”
The knowledge of sin is developed in the first and shortest of the three sections. It contains 13 questions and is to be taught over three weeks. The second section, the longest, explores how we are delivered from our sin. It contains 65 questions and is to be taught over 26 weeks. The third section explores how we are to be thankful to God for his deliverance. It has 34 questions and is to be taught over 20 weeks. Central to the Catechism are the traditional elements of basic instruction used in other catechisms, the Apostle’s Creed, the Ten Commandments and the Lord’s Prayer.
The Structure Of This Study
This article is the first in a series of studies for Theology Matters that will explore the Heidelberg Catechism. The series is designed to have a total of fifteen installments and will follow the outline below:
- 1. Preamble: Lord’s Day 1 (2 questions)
- THE KNOWLEDGE OF SIN AND MISERY: Lord’s Day 2-4, 3 weeks
- 2. The Knowledge of Sin (13 questions)
- THE KNOWLEDGE OF DELIVERANCE: Lord’s Day 5-31, 26 weeks
- 3. The Nature of our Redeemer (5 questions)
- 4. The Content of the Christian Faith (4 questions)
- 5. God the Father (4 questions)
- 6. God the Son (24 questions)
- 7. God the Spirit (7 questions)
- 8. The Gift of Righteousness (6 questions)
- 9. The Sacraments (3 questions)
- 10. Baptism (6 questions)
- 11. The Lord’s Supper (9 questions)
- 12. The Keys of the Kingdom (3 questions)
- GRATITUDE: Lord’s Day 32-52, 20 weeks
- 13. Good Works (6 questions)
- 14. The Law of God (24 questions)
- 15. True Prayer (14 questions)
A brief moment’s reflection on the preceding outline leads to the insight that, while not an exhaustive exploration of the themes of classic Reformed theology, it addresses the essential ones.
Questions For Discussion
In addition to introductory commentary the studies in the coming months will include questions intended for personal reflection or group discussion.
- What is your own personal sense of anxiety and where do you sense a need for comfort?
- How does the first question of the Heidelberg Catechism address our current need for comfort?
- The first question of the Heidelberg Catechism is a concise summary of the Christian Faith. What essential truths does it touch on?
- How would you describe the character of God from just reflecting on questions 1 and 2?
- Question 2 is an outline of the Heidelberg Catechism. What questions and expectations come to mind as you prepare to study it?
- Isaiah 40 provides a scriptural background for the Catechism. Read through the chapter looking for ways in which the prophet proclaims the comforting sovereignty of God as Israel was held captive by the superpower Babylon.
- In times of uncertainty we are tempted to feel like God is standing at a distance. How does Isaiah 40:27-31 speak to our anxiety?
- Chapter 40:1-3 begins “Comfort, comfort my people says your God.” What parallels can you find between these verses and the first two questions of the Heidelberg?
This study first appeared in Theology Matters, Vol. 9, No. 3 (May/Jun 2003).
