I grew up attending multiple different churches but looking back I realized that none of them had much “historical rootedness.” What I mean is, I didn’t even know there were such things like the Apostles’ or Nicene Creed. I had no idea what a “confession of faith” was. Some of you may be able to relate. The same can be said for catechisms. The word “catechism” simply means “teaching” and they are a summary of Christian doctrine in the form of questions and answers used for the instruction of Christians.
During the Reformation, the production of confessions and catechisms took off, which resulted in popular ones such as Martin Luther’s Small Catechism, The Westminster Catechisms–both the Larger and Shorter versions–and The Heidelberg Catechism. A few years ago, the New City Catechism was released by The Gospel Coalition with versions for both adults and children.
Catechisms were once widely used by many Christians, with almost every denomination and tradition in church history having some form of catechesis for the religious education of Christian children and adults. Parents would use them in order to teach their children the truths of the faith. Sadly, in more modern times they’ve largely fallen out of favor and sometimes are even viewed with suspicion. However, catechisms still hold immense value for teaching essential doctrinal truths of the faith and in my view should be utilized more in both the lives of Christians individually and in the church corporately.
…catechisms still hold immense value for teaching essential doctrinal truths of the faith…
This brings us to the Heidelberg Catechism. This catechism was produced during the period of the Reformation in the year 1563 in Heidelberg, Germany. The German Reformer Zacharias Ursinus was the primary writer of the catechism, and it comprises of 129 questions and answers covering the doctrines of sin and redemption, an explanation of The Apostles’ Creed and the sacraments, and the final section colors in the details of the Christian life using the outlines provided by The Ten Commandments and the Lord’s Prayer. The catechism was eventually divided into 52 Lord’s Days, so that it can be worked through in its entirety in one year. It is the most widely used and praised catechism of the Reformation period, having been translated into many different languages around the world.
So, as a church, for the next year we are going to walk through this catechism on Sunday mornings, walking through all 129 questions and answers. This catechism uses what is at times beautiful language to describe doctrinal truths and I believe you will find yourself enriched and educated as we walk through it week after week.
Now, some of you may feel a little nervous–isn’t the Bible our ultimate authority? Are we putting a human-made document on par with the Bible? Well, yes, it is true that the Bible is our ultimate authority, but creeds, confessions, and catechisms are helpful to the extent that they summarize biblical truths. Every question in the Heidelberg has multiple Bible verses footnoted to show where their teachings come from. However, there are a couple of places where we would disagree with the catechism’s teaching because we don’t believe it reflects biblical teaching (on infant baptism, for example), so we will simply skip those questions. Again, catechisms are useful to the extent they reflect biblical teaching! By and large, the Heidelberg does this extremely well.
So, every week you will receive our questions and answers in the weekly email so you can know and think about them ahead of time, and I encourage you to review them. If you want to take a look at the entire Heidelberg Catechism for yourself, you can find it here. If you want to explore the historic creeds, confessions, and catechisms of the church more for yourself, I highly recommend this book found here.
We Christians in the 21st Century face a slew of teachers through television, movies, social media, and websites, and it is important for us to have a standard of guidance such as creeds, catechisms, and confessions that provide summaries of what the Bible has to say about key doctrines. I hope that this exercise over the next year will not only grow you in the knowledge of the faith and ability to detect and reject error, but also grow you in your love for God and for the Gospel of His Son. I hope you come ready on Sundays to learn and rejoice in the truths of our faith through this widely used and praised catechism.