The Heidelberg Catechism
About this catechism
Commissioned by Elector Frederick III and written chiefly by Zacharias Ursinus at Heidelberg in 1563, this is the most beloved of the Reformed catechisms — notable for its warm, personal tone. Its 129 questions are arranged into 52 Lord's Days for weekly teaching, moving through three parts: our misery, our deliverance, and our gratitude.
Lord's Day 1 — Question 1
What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (KJV)
Q. What is thy only comfort in life and death?
A. That I with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own, but belong unto my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ; who, with His precious blood, hath fully satisfied for all my sins, and delivered me from all the power of the devil; and so preserves me that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head; yea, that all things must be subservient to my salvation, and therefore, by His Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life, and makes me sincerely willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto Him.
Lord's Day 1 — Question 2
O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
Romans 7:24-25 (KJV)
Q. How many things are necessary for thee to know, that thou, enjoying this comfort, mayest live and die happily?
A. Three; the first, how great my sins and miseries are; the second, how I may be delivered from all my sins and miseries; the third, how I shall express my gratitude to God for such deliverance.
Structure of the whole catechism
The remaining Lord's Days are being added to the library. The catechism's plan:
- Part I — Of the Misery of Man (Lord's Days 2–4, Q. 3–11)
- Part II — Of Man's Deliverance (Lord's Days 5–31, Q. 12–85): God the Father and our creation, God the Son and our redemption (the Apostles' Creed), God the Holy Ghost and our sanctification, the sacraments, and the keys of the kingdom
- Part III — Of Thankfulness (Lord's Days 32–52, Q. 86–129): good works, the Ten Commandments, and the Lord's Prayer