Reformation Theology

THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM - historical background

The Heidelberg Catechism was written in Heidelberg, Germany at the request of Elector Frederick III, ruler of the most influential German province, the Palatinate, from 1559 to 1576.

This pious Christian prince commissioned Zacharius Ursinus, twenty-eight years of age and professor of theology at the Heidelberg University, and Caspar

Olevianus, twenty-six years old and Frederick’s court preacher, to prepare a catechism for instructing the youth and for guiding pastors and teachers. Frederick obtained the advice and cooperation of the entire theological faculty in the preparation of the Catechism.

The Catechism was soon divided into fifty-two sections, so that a section of the Catechism could be explained to the churches each Sunday of the year.

The Heidelberg Catechism has been translated into many languages and is the most influential and the most generally accepted of the several catechisms of Reformation times. Recently in an ecumenical effort, the Heidelberg has been updated. This new version has been approved by the Presbyterian Church of USA in 2014.

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, having declared: “Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the things written in the book of the law.”

11 Q. But isn’t God also merciful?

A. God is certainly merciful, but also just. God’s justice demands that sin, committed against his supreme majesty, be punished with the supreme penalty—eternal punishment of body and soul.

12 Q. According to God’s righteous judgment we deserve punishment both now and in eternity: how then can we escape this punishment and return to God’s favor?

A. God requires that his justice be satisfied. Therefore the claims of this justice

must be paid in full, either by ourselves or by another.

13 Q Can we make this payment ourselves?

A. Certainly not. Actually, we increase our debt every day.

 

{US Supreme Court Building, Washington DC}