The Heidelberg Catechism -Part I Misery

The Heidelberg Catechism, written in 1563, originated in one of the few pockets of Calvinistic faith. It is a remarkably warm-hearted and personalized confession of faith, eminently deserving of its popularity among Reformed churches to the present day.

Part I: Misery

Lord’s Day 2 

Question & Answer 3 

Q. How do you come to know your misery?

 

A. The law of God tells me. (1)

1. Romans 3:20; Romans 7:7-25

 

Question & Answer 4

Q. What does God’s law require of us?

 

A. Christ teaches us this in summary in Matthew 22:37-40:

"'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,

and with all your soul,

and  with all your mind.' (1)

This is the greatest and first commandment.

"And a second is like it:

'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' (2)

"On these two commandments hang

all the laws and prophets."

 

1. Deuteronomy 6:5

2. Leviticus 19:18

 

Question & Answer 5

Q. Can you live up to all this perfectly?

 

A. No. (1)

I have a natural tendency

to hate God and my neighbor. (2)

 

1. Romans 3:9-20; Romans 3:23; 1 John 18, 10

2. Genesis 6:5; Jeremiah 17:9; Romans 7:23-24; Romans 8:7;

    Ephesians 2:1-3; Titus 3:3

Lord’s Day 3 

Question & Answer 6

Q. Did God create people so wicked and perverse?

 

A. No.

God created them good (1) and in his own image, (2)

that is, in true righteousness and holiness, (3)

so that they might truly know God their creator, (4)

love him with all their heart,

and live with God in eternal happiness,

to praise and glorify him. (5)

1. Genesis 1:31

2. Genesis 1:26-27

3. Ephesians 4:24

4. Colossians 3:10

5. Psalms 8

Question & Answer 7

Q. Then where does this corrupt human nature come from?

 

A. The fall and disobedience of our first parents,

Adam and Eve in Paradise. (1)

This fall has so poisoned or nature (2)

that we are all conceived and born in sinful condition. (3)

 

1. Genesis 3

2. Romans 5:12; Romans 5:18-19

3. Psalms 51:5

Question & Answer 8

Q. But are we so corrupt that we are totally unable to do

any good and inclined toward all evil?

 

A. Yes, (1) unless we are born again by the Spirit of God. (2)

1. Genesis 6:5; Genesis 8:21; Job 14:4; Isaiah 53:6

2. John 3:3-5

 

Lord’s Day 4

 

Question & Answer 9

Q. But doesn't God do us an injustice by requiring in his law

what we are unable to do?

 

A. No, God created human beings with the ability to keep the law. (1)

They, however, provoked by the devil, (2)

in willful disobedience, (3)

robbed themselves and all their descendants of these gifts. (4)

 

1. Genesis 1:31; Ephesians 4:24

2. Genesis 3:13; John 8:44

3. Genesis 3:6

4. Romans 5:12; Romans 5:18-19

 

Question & Answer 10

Q. Does God permit such disobedience and

rebellion to go unpunished?

 

A. Certainly not. God is terribly angry with the sin we are born

with as well as the sins we personally commit.

As a just judge, God will punish them both now and in eternity, (1)

having declared: "Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey

all the things written in the book of the law." (2)

1. Exodus 34:7; Psalms 5:4-6; Nahum 1:2; Romans 1:18;

    Ephesians 5:6; Hebrew 9:27

2. Galatians 3:10; Deuteronomy 27:26

 

Question & Answer 11

Q. But isn't God also merciful?

 

A. God is certainly merciful, (1)

but also just. (2) God's justice demands that sin, committed

against his supreme majesty, be punished with the supreme

penalty-eternal punishment for body and soul. (3)

 

1. Exodus 34:6-7; Psalms 103:8-9

2. Exodus 34:7; Deuteronomy 7:9-11; Psalms 5:4-6; Hebrew 10:30-31

3. Matthew 25:35-46

Source: Christian Reformed Church

The Heidelberg Catechism -Introduction and Lord's Day 1

The Heidelberg Catechism, written in 1563, originated in one of the few pockets of Calvinistic faith in the Lutheran and Catholic territories of Germany. Conceived originally as a teaching instrument to promote religious unity in the Palatinate, the catechism soon became a guide for preaching as well. It is a remarkably warm-hearted and personalized confession of faith, eminently deserving of its popularity among Reformed churches to the present day.

 

Introduction

 

The Heidelberg Catechism (1563) was composed in the city of Heidelberg, Germany, at the request of Elector Frederick III, who ruled the province of the Palatinate from 1559 to 1576. The new catechism was intended as a tool for teaching young people, a guide for preaching in the provincial churches, and a form of confessional unity among the several Protestant factions in the Palatinate. An old tradition credits Zacharias Ursinus and Caspar Olevianus with being the coauthors of the catechism, but the project was actually the work of a team of ministers and university theologians under the watchful eye of Frederick himself. Ursinus probably served as the primary writer on the team, and Olevianus had a lesser role.

The catechism was approved by a synod in Heidelberg in January 1563. A second and third German edition, each with small additions, as well as a Latin translation were published the same year in Heidelberg. The third edition was included in the Palatinate Church Order of November 15, 1563, at which time the catechism was divided into fifty-two sections or Lord's Days, so that one Lord's Day could be explained in an afternoon worship service each Sunday of the year.

The Synod of Dort approved the Heidelberg Catechism in 1619, and it soon became the most ecumenical of the Reformed catechisms and confessions. It has been translated into many European, Asian, and African languages and is still the most widely used and warmly praised catechism of the Reformation period.

Most of the footnoted biblical references in this translation of the catechism were included in the early German and Latin editions, but the precise selection was approved by Synod 1975 of the Christian Reformed Church.

Lord's Day 1 

Question & Answer 1 

 

Q. What is your only comfort
in life and in death?

A. That I am not my own, (1)

but belong-

body and soul,

in life and in death-(2)

to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. (3)

He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, (4)

and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. (5)

He also watches over me in such a way (6)

that not a hair can fall from my head

without the will of my Father in heaven; (7)

in fact, all things must work together for my salvation. (8)

Because I belong to him,

Christ, by his Holy Spirit,

assures me of eternal life (9)

and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready

from now on to live for him. (10) 

1. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

2. Romans 14:7-9

3. 1 Corinthians 3:23; Titus 2:14

4. 1 Peter 1:18-19; 1 John 1:7-9; 1 John 2:2

5. John 8:34-36; Hebrew 2:14-15; 1 John 3:1-11

6. John 6:39-40; John 10:27-30; 2 Thessalonians 3:3; 1 Peter 1:5

7. Matthew 10:29-31; Luke 21:16-18

8. Romans 8:28

9. Romans 8:15-16; 2 Corinthians 1:21-22; 5:5; Ephesians 1:13-14

10. Romans 8:1-17

Question & Answer 2

 

Q. What must you know to
live and die in the joy of this comfort?

A. Three things:

first; how great my sin and misery are; (1)

second; how I am set free from all my sins and misery; (2)

third; how I am to thank God for such deliverance. (3)

1. Romans 3:9-10; 1 John 1:10

2. John 17:3; Acts 4:12; Acts 10:43

3. Matthew 5:16; Romans 6:13; Ephesians 5:8-10; 2 Timothy 2:15; 

    1 Peter 2:9-10

Source: Christian Reformed Church