Always Ready - Chapter 5-6

Chapter 5: Revelation as the Foundation of Knowledge

The new man in Christ has new presuppositions and a new Lord over his thoughts. He is rooted in Christ and therefore there is neutrality to his thoughts. The Christian presupposes the truth word of God as his standard of truth and direction. This is in contrast to worldly philosophers today who either deny that there is absolute truth or else deny that one can be certain of knowing the truth. However, as Proverbs 22:17b asserts you must apply your mind to My knowledge. Man must think God’s thoughts after him.

David’s testimony was that The Lord my God illumines my darkness. [Ps. 18:28] God’s Word gives us light and understanding. [Psalm 119:30] We believe so that we can know. Similarly Proverbs 5:1-2: Attend unto My wisdom: incline you ear to my understanding in order that you may preserve discretion and in order that your lips may keep knowledge.

When God’s Word is your presupposition, your standard, your instructor, and your guide that means that you must denounce intellectual self-sufficiency which is the attitude that you are autonomous and able to come to knowledge apart from God. All knowledge which we have about the world has been given to us by God. It is only when we understand that the Word of God is the foundation of our knowledge that we will ever be able to have true knowledge. The foundation of knowledge is God’s revelation.

Key Texts: Proverbs 22:17b; Psalm 119:30; Proverbs 5:1-2

Chapter 6: Summary and Application:

God’s Self-Attesting Authority

1. All knowledge is deposited in Christ so that true knowledge begins with the fear of the Lord, and requires submission to God’s Word.

2. Philosophy which does not presuppose God’s Word is vain deception; suppresses truth; submits to human tradition; and leads to a dark mind and futile conclusions.

3. It is immoral to think that you can take a neutral stance in regards to the truth of God’s Word.

4. Neutralist thinking erases the Christian’s distinctiveness; blur the antithesis; endorses assumptions hostile to his faith.

5. The Christian is a new man having a new mind; new commitments; new direction; new goals; and hence new presuppositions in the world of thought. He renounces the human arrogance of human autonomy and unashamedly is grounded in the Word of God.

6. This leaves only two alternatives. Either ground all your thought in Christ’s Word and acquire true knowledge, or else follow the dictates of autonomous thoughts and follow vain philosophy.

7. Therefore, God’s Word has absolute authority for us and is the final criterion of truth.

Our knowledge is a reflection, a receptive reconstruction, of the primary, absolute, creative knowledge of God’s mind. God’s Word must be the standard by which we judge all things and the starting point of our thinking. The Lord Jesus taught with his own authority and anyone who calls the Word of Christ into question is building their lives on sand. [Matthew 7:26-27] The Word of God is self-attesting true and authoritative. It must be the rock bottom foundation of all our thinking. It is our presuppositional starting point. We must not depend on the changing opinions of men but upon the sure Word of God!

Always Ready - Chapter 3-4

Chapter 3 – The Nature of Unbelieving Thought

Word Definitions:

Philosophy – the love of wisdom

So far we have seen that neutral thinking: robs one of knowledge itself; is immoral in character; and is impossible for a genuine Christian. From Ephesians 4 and Colossians 2 let us consider the character of neutralist thinking.

q Paul in Ephesians 4:17 tells us that to have intellectual outlook apart from the LORD is to have a vain mind and darkened understanding. Neutralist thinking is characterized by intellectual futility and ignorance. To do so is trying to see in the dark when there is light available for our path. (Ps. 119:105) God therefore calls such reasoning vain. (Romans 1:21)

q In Colossians 2:8 Paul condemns any philosophy that does not have its starting point in Christ. (Col. 2:3) Any philosophy that does not begin with the truth of God, the teaching of Christ but rather in the accepted principles of the world’s intellectuals – in the traditions of men – is vain deception.

Vain deception is not in accordance to God’s word; is actually in opposition to God’s word; and against the truth of Christ. Paul describes it as the kind of philosophy as according to the tradition of men, after the fundamental principles of the world. Therefore a Christian who strives for neutrality in the world of thought is (1) not neutral at all, and thus (2) in danger of unwittingly endorsing assumptions that are hostile to his Christian faith. All men have their presuppositions; none is neutral. Therefore the question is: what are your presuppositions?

Chapter 4: The Mind of the New Man Rooted in Christ

The believer is directed to avoid philosophy which is rooted in worldly, humanistic, and non-Christian presuppositions. (Col. 2:8) His presuppositions must be the precepts and doctrines of Christ. Neutrality is a suppression of the truth and ultimately a denial of it.

When one becomes a Christian all of his thought patterns change. To receive Christ is to turn away from the wisdom of man and to rest upon the Holy Spirit for illumination and understanding. It is by the Holy Spirit that we have been brought to Christ and it is in him that we stand. Being a Christian means that we submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in every aspect of our lives. Every thought must be brought captive to Christ. (2 Cor. 10:5) Christ has authority in the area of thought and knowledge.

We are called as Christians to be rooted in him rather than the apostate presuppositions of worldly philosophy. Such firm presuppositional faith will reject the world’s demand for neutrality and reject the unbeliever’s standard of knowledge and truth. The Christian has new commitments, new presuppositions, a new Lord, a new direction and goal – he is a new man.

According to VanTil the Bible does not appeal to human reason as the ultimate in order to justify what it says...but rather calls us to subject our human reason to the authority of God’s Word. Further, as Christians we have not chosen the Christian position because we are wiser than others, but only by the grace of God. The Bible alone is the basis for truth!

Key texts: 2 Corinthians 10:5; Colossians 2:6-7; Ephesians 4:17-24

Always Ready - Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Immorality of Neutrality

Word definitions:

Antithesis – a counter propositions and denotes a direct contrast to the original proposition.

Agnosticism – basically meaning without knowledge or the denial that one can know with certainty

Epistemological method – the process by which we can acquire knowledge

Presuppositions – foundational truths with which everyone begins their arguments.

To try to arrive at truth apart from the authority of Jesus Christ is to be robbed through vain philosophy and deluded by drafty deceit. (see Colossians 2:3-8) Therefore a Christian should never surrender his religious beliefs so that he might arrive at genuine knowledge ‘impartially.’ That is to begin a journey which is impossible for the beginning of knowledge is the fear of the Lord. (Prov. 1:7)

Attempting to be neutral (and we never can be) will mean that it erases the antithesis between the Christian and the unbeliever. The line between the believer and unbeliever is obscured. “Such indiscrimination in one’s intellectual life not only precludes genuine knowledge (cf. Proverbs 1:7) and guarantees vain delusion (cr. Colossians 2:2-8, it is downright immoral.” Paul in Ephesians 4:17-18, commands believers not to walk as the Gentiles also walk, in the vanity of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance in them, because of the hardening of their heart. Therefore for a Christian to live, act, or think like an unbeliever is immoral!

One has to make a choice in his thinking – either to be set apart by God’s truth or to be alienated from the life of God. Either have the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16) or the vain mind of the Gentiles. (Eph. 4:17) Either bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor. 10:5) or continue as enemies in our mind. (Col. 1:21) We can never follow the intellectual principle of neutrality and at the same time honour the sovereign Lordship of God. The Christian is completely different from the world when it comes to intellect and scholarship; he does not follow the neutral methods of unbelief, but by God’s grace he has new commitments, new presuppositions, in his thinking.

“It should come as no surprise that, in a world where all things have been created by Christ (Col. 1:16) and are carried along by the word of his power (Hebrews 1:3) and where all knowledge is therefore deposited in him who is the truth (Col. 2:3; John 14:6) and who must be lord over all thinking (2 Cor. 10:5), neutrality is nothing short of immorality.

Does your thinking operate under the Lordship of Jesus Christ or have you become an enemy of God through neutral, agnostic, unbelieving thought patterns?

Key texts: Ephesians 4:17-18; Romans 1:21

Always Ready - Chapter 1

For the next several weeks I'll be posting reading notes on: Bahnsen, Dr. Greg L., Always Ready – Directions for Defending the Faith (Covenant Media Foundation: Texarkana, Arkansas, 1996) These were made to help one of my sons for an apologetics course at Providence Reformed Collegiate. This will probably make this a popular site for some of his fellow students! If you want these notes as a Word document, let me know, and I'll email them to you!

Section One:

The Lordship of Christ in the Realm of Knowledge

Chapter 1: The Robbery of Neutrality

Today you often hear a plea that Christians need to be neutral in their thinking in a number of different areas.

q Scripture – People claim that we should not bring in scriptural notions into their scholar work in other areas. They ask: Is it really necessary to hold to the teachings of the Bible if you are to understand properly the War of 1812, the chemical composition of water, etc?

q Apologetics – Some claim we must have a neutral mind if we are to be open to the perspectives of others.

q Education – Others plea for neutrality in regards to education. They claim that a Christian perspective shouldn’t change the ‘facts’ so public schools can teach that as well as Christian Schools.

However, neutrality in thinking would makes Christians impotent in their witness, aimless in their walk, and disarmed in the battle with the principalities and powers of this world and further, it would prevent sanctification in the Christian life. God’s Word demands unreserved allegiance to God and his truth in all our thought and scholarly endeavors. (Student’s memory cue – witnessing walk in the battle of sanctification)

A key text is Colossians 2:3-8 where Paul notes that All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hid in Christ. Note he states that all wisdom and knowledge are in Christ! Every academic pursuit and thought must be related to Jesus Christ! To put aside your Christian commitment when it comes to defending the faith or sending your children to school is willfully to steer away from the only path of wisdom and truth found in Christ! The beginning of knowledge is to fear God – not the end or middle! (Proverbs 1:7; 9:10)

Paul, in Colossians 2, declares that all knowledge must be related to Christ. This means that neutrality is impossible in our thinking about every subject area! Therefore we must be radically and unashamedly be committed to Christ in all our thinking. To allow anything else is to let secular humanism rob you by means of philosophy and vain deceit. (Colossians 2:8)

Are you rich in knowledge because of your commitment to Christ in, scholarship, apologetics, and schooling, or have you been robbed by the demands of neutrality?

Key texts: Colossians 2:3-8; Proverbs 1:7; 9:10

Why Study the Catechism? Part 2

Means to Study the Catechism for its Purpose

1. Study the Catechism frequently. It is better to study the Catechism for 10 minutes a day for the entire week than to spend one hour on it the evening of catechism class. This is not only best for learning the objective contents of the Catechism but is also the best way for the truths of Scripture as they are expressed in the Catechism to benefit you spiritually! In fact, I have a rule in my class – if you spend more than 10 minutes each and every day on memorizing your catechism and you still have difficulty learning it come and see me and I’ll make adjustments to the amount of memory work you will need to learn. After several years of catechism I’ve never had anyone come to me to ask me to re-evaluated the amount of memory work – and that is not because it is always been perfect – but rather I suspect because they could not honestly say they spent 10 minutes each and every day on the memorization of their catechism. Yes, study your catechism frequently.

In fact, I know a way you can learn your catechism perfectly every week without it taking one extra moment of your time. Do you want to know how? This is what you do. On the morning after your catechism class write out your memory work on a little 3x5 card. In the St. Thomas FRC we even provide the students with this card. You place the card in your pocket and then through the day read it several times – when you’re walking from the bus to the school; when your walking from your car to the shopping plaza; or at any other time when you can read your memory work while doing something else. If you do that 10x per day for 6 days I’m sure that almost everyone will know the answers perfectly; without it taking one extra moment of your time! Study your catechism frequently! It is a way to learn it easily and thoroughly!

2. Learn the precise text of the Catechism. Sometimes students ask at the beginning of the year if it is all right if they simply learn the truths of the Catechism and put it in their own words. This sounds all right – for it seems to reason that if a student is able to put it in their own words that they must have come to understand what they are learning. But I’ve always said – and I’m convinced that it is best – that the actual text of the Catechism should be learned. This will enable you to precisely and completely express the answer. When giving liberty to the students to express it in their own words my experience shows that they often leave out parts – or else they word the answer in a way which is at times even heretical! The precise wording of the Catechism was very carefully chosen and the best way to learn it is as it is written.

Further it is fallacy to think that as a student you need to understand everything that you are learning. Some of you have taught your very young children – or been taught - the answers to questions from a children’s catechism. The reality is that you can teach them the answers to questions which they don’t understand. You can teach them about the Trinity; the covenant of grace; the covenant of works; the necessity of faith; none of which they may fully understand. But why do you teach them? So that they learn that these are truths of Scripture! They may come to understand them – and most of it they will – but there are aspects of Scripture which none of us understand. Who of you can really explain the Trinity? Who of you can really understand the incarnation? Yes, you might be able to explain it somewhat – but that God became man? Therefore, it is best to learn the answers as they are written whether or not you understand them! Don’t make an excuse that you can’t learn them because the answer is beyond your understanding!

3. Study the Catechism by quoting it audibly. This will involve more of your senses in the learning of the Catechism. It has the further advantage of causing one to learn to confess the answers as their own rather than simply objective truth. You will notice as you orally confess the Catechism that it is written in such a style that to audible speak it results in confessing its truths. The pronouns of the Catechism speak of my God, my Saviour, your only comfort, … Let’s just do that for a moment with Question and Answer #1 from the Catechism. Here I use the same version our young people use in catechism classes. I’ll emphasize the personal pronouns. Read it out loud with emphasis on the personal pronouns.

What is your only comfort in life and ?

I am not my own, but belong with body and soul, both in life and , to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious , and has set me free from all the power of the devil. He also preserves me in such a way that without the will of my heavenly Father not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, all things must work together for my salvation. Therefore by his Holy Spirit he also assures me of eternal life and makes me heartily willing and ready from now on to live for him!

Do you see the advantage of quoting it audibly? Now, just imagine doing that 10-20 times a week! Do you see how this will begin to have an effect on your spiritually? Do you see how this will challenge you but at the same time comfort you? You see, it is no comfort at all if it is someone else’s comfort! It is only comfort if it is my comfort! It is no comfort at all if Christ is a Saviour unless he is my Saviour! It is no comfort if God is a Father, unless he is my heavenly Father! It is no comfort at all to know that there is salvation, unless it is my salvation! Do you see the advantage of quoting the Catechism audibly as you learn it? Do you understand how this will lead you not only to be acquainted with its truths but also actually to experience them?

4. Study your catechism by writing out the memory work. Again this will aid you in learning the Catechism more thoroughly and experientially. To write involves a more active part of the mind and requires one to work through the truths of the lesson systematically. It is by writing you will begin to understand the structure of each answer and the way that all the parts work together. If you write it out in the same format each time it will aid you in giving you a visual image of the answer making it easier to recite or write in the future.

5. Look up the biblical cross-references and see how they relate to the answer of the Catechism. This will convince you that the answer which you are learning, precisely and thoroughly expresses a truth of Scripture. Now this is an important truth because it is the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. [Hebrews 4:12] It is the Bible that shall not return unto LORD void, but it shall accomplish that which HE pleases, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto HE sent it. [Is. 55:11] Therefore in considering the biblical references to the Catechism you will become absolutely convinced that the truths it articulates are accurate to Scripture. It will also make you realize the preciousness and beauty of the Catechism. But it is also the study of the Word of God, which is a means that the LORD uses in both giving and nurturing faith! In this way the study of the Catechism accomplishes its purpose.

6. Study the Catechism prayerfully. In order that the Catechism might be something of both the heart and the mind it is necessary to prayerfully consider its contents and its application to daily life. Without the work of the Holy Spirit the truths of Scripture as they are expressed in the Catechism will never enter your heart and change your life.

Just knowing the truths of Scripture as they are expressed in the Catechism is no guarantee that they will impact your soul – nor that you will believe them in your heart. Just think of the unbelief of the Jews as recorded Romans 10. They had received all the oracles of God. No doubt their young people, as they do today, had to memorize large parts of the Torah, but that is no guarantee that these truths brought them to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. If the purpose of the Catechism is that you might learn to confess Christ properly from your heart you must pray that the Holy Spirit would indeed work with the Word in your heart!

Learning your catechism involves more than simply reproducing the answers to the questions on Sunday morning or Tuesday evenings – but it requires you to experientially become acquainted with its truths. That requires the Holy Spirit and should drive you to prayer. Just the knowledge of truth without appropriating it can never lead to your salvation. Remember what James said in his epistle: The devils believe and tremble. [James 2:19] That brings us to the next important application:

7. Study your catechism by meditating on its truths. What do I mean by meditate? Well, it means that you think about it; you pray about it; you consider it; you turn it over in your mind; you think of the implications of what you are learning; you consider applications of what you are learning; you think about situations in which you would find it helpful. You consider what you are learning about man in general and your life specifically through the question and answer. You consider what the questions and answer tells you about the character and attributes of God; does it speak about his justice; does it speak about his mercy; does it speak about his love or care. You consider what it says about salvation; how does this question and answer reveal my need; how does this question and answer show me the way of salvation; how does this question and answer show me how I must live before my God. When you meditate on the truths of Scripture as they are revealed in the Catechism you will not only be able you to grasp the objective answer, but also it will help to bring home to your heart and conscience the truth of Scripture. In this way you can take ‘ownership’ of the Catechism – not only memorizing its truths but making them your own. It is through reflection on the truths expressed in the Catechism that they are brought home to the heart.

As we conclude let me remind you again what it states in Romans 10:9-10 - That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the , thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. In other words, yes, confession must be made with your mouth – but it must ring from your heart. Confession of the mouth without believing in the heart is not an expression of saving faith and visa-versa claiming that one believes in the heart but never confessing with the mouth is also not a proper concept of faith. The subjective truths of the Catechism need to be individually and internally appropriated and these are means to accomplish that end! May the Lord bless each of you who are involved in either teaching or learning the Heidelberg Catechism!

Why Study the Catechism? Part 1

Introduction

If a book is extremely popular it might be in demand for a few months, but the Heidelberg Catechism is still popular over 400 years after it was written. Every year, as churches, we spend a great deal of time both teaching and learning the Heidelberg Catechism. Is this a useful exercise? Is the catechizing of our children an important task of the church? Is the Catechism still relevant considering that it was written more than 400 years ago? Is it really that important that we both teach and learn the actual wording of the Catechism? Isn’t it better that we simply teach and understand the doctrines of the catechism? Would we not be better off studying something more contemporary?

Purposes of Studying the Heidelberg Catechism

To catechize means to teach by question and answer. Therefore catechizing is a teaching tool – a way in which we can learn important truths. Catechism (from the Greek word catechesis) is simply instruction in the basic doctrines of the Christian faith. There are two main reasons in understanding why, particularly, young people should be studying our Heidelberg Catechism. There are probably other reasons that could be given but we’ll only consider two of them.

The first is: The Catechism helps us explain and understand the message of the Bible. Not every doctrine is clearly visible from one verse of Scripture. For instance, there is no individual text of Scripture that fully communicates the doctrine of the Trinity, but Lord’s Day 8 gives us an accurate summary. Similarly, we have to understand the whole of Scripture in order to understand individual texts. For instance, consider the sixth commandment. [Lord’s Day 40] This Lord’s Day brings many elements concerning the 6^th commandment together. The Heidelberg Catechism is an interpretation of the Bible but it is an interpretation that has proven itself over many centuries of study from all of Scripture.

But isn’t the Bible alone sufficient? Why do we need catechisms and confessions? Shouldn’t we just learn Bible texts? Sometimes you hear others say: Our church had no creed but Christ, and we needed no such man-made guides to faith since we depended upon the Bible alone. However, the practice of teaching and learning the Catechism, as properly understood, is the Christian equivalent of looking at the box top of a jig-saw puzzle before one starts to put all of those hundreds of little pieces together. It is very important to look at the big picture and have it clearly in mind, so that we do not get bogged down in details, or get endlessly sidetracked by some unimportant or irrelevant issue. The theological categories given to us in the Catechism, help us to make sense out of the myriad of details found in the Scriptures themselves. Catechism serves as a guide to better understanding Scripture. That being noted however, we need to remind ourselves that Protestants have always argued that creeds, confessions and catechisms are authoritative only in so far as they faithfully reflect the teaching of Holy Scripture. This means that the use of catechisms, which correctly summarize biblical teaching, does not negate or remove the role of Holy Scripture. Instead, these same creeds, confessions and catechisms, as summary statements of what the Holy Scriptures themselves teach about a particular doctrine, should serve as a kind of spring-board to more effective Bible study. When this is the case, these confessions, creeds and catechisms are invaluable tools to help us learn about the important themes and doctrines that are in Scripture.

Another helpful example is what G.I Williamson states:

…the catechism is something like a map. We could ask, “Why bother to study a map? Why not go out and study the surface of the earth instead?” The answer of course, is that one is wise to begin with a study of maps. After all, life is short and the world is big. One person, working by himself, could only map a small portion of the earth’s surface. That is why maps are so invaluable. They exist because many people over many years have made a study of the earth. And while these maps are not perfect, they are quite accurate. Thus, the best way to begin to understand the geography of the world is not to start with the world itself. No, the best way is to start with a good atlas. Then, after getting hold of the basics one can go out and test the atlas by actually visiting some of the places described in it.

It is much the same with the Bible. The Bible contains a great wealth of information. It isn’t easy to master it all – in fact, no one has ever mastered it completely. It would therefore be foolish for us to try to do it on our own, starting from scratch. We would be ignoring all the study of the Word of God that other people have done down through the centuries. That is exactly why we have creeds. They are the product of many centuries of Bible study by a great company of believers. They are kind of spiritual “road-map” of the teaching of the Bible, already worked out and proved by others before us. And after all, isn’t this exactly what Jesus promised? When he was about to finish his work on earth, he made this promise to his disciples: “When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you in all truth. (John 16:13) And Christ kept his promise. When the Day of Pentecost came, he sent his Spirit to dwell in his people. The Holy Spirit was poured out – not on individuals each by himself, but on the whole body of Christian believers together (Acts 2). And from that time until this, he has been giving his church an understanding of the Scriptures. It is no wonder that the church expressed itself from very early times through creeds.[1]

The second purpose is that the Catechism helps us to confess Christ properly from the heart. Now this doesn’t mean that learning the Catechism objectively means that it will lead us to confess Christ from the heart automatically. But yet, the memorization of the Catechism will drive home the truths of Scripture to our hearts with the Holy Spirit’s blessings. When we confess the language of the Heidelberg Catechism we should not just do this as a number of facts or truths. We must make sure that these truths we confess from the Catechism are truths which we confess from our heart. Not just a mind, but also a heart religion. Pray that these things might speak to your heart.

Notice that the Catechism helps us confess Christ from the heart because it is extremely personal. It is very easy to say that the Lord Jesus Christ is a Savior but now say the Lord Jesus Christ is my Saviour. The Heidelberg Catechism gives us the impression of warm and living faith not a cold treatise on theology. It explores the breath and depth of personal faith in Jesus Christ. Throughout the Catechism first person pronouns are used. My Lord, My Saviour, My only comfort! Now as you learn these truths and as you meditate on these truths it will result in asking yourself searching questions. Is that really true of me? Can I really make that confession? And the result is not as some claim of presumption – but rather of questioning whether the truths of the Catechism are really true! And this will also lead to the confession of faith in Jesus Christ as one struggles with these truths. Paul in Romans 10: 9-10 speaks of the importance of knowing, believing, and confessing these truths when he states: That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Again it shows the importance of audibly confessing Christ. If you learn your catechism by speaking it out loud, as it becomes your own, you will find yourself confessing Christ with your mouth

I remember having to re-learn the Heidelberg Catechism when I attended seminary. (Maybe because I didn’t learn it as well as I should have as a young man). The seminary required us to learn the Catechism perfectly and recite large parts of it audibly for the professor. I used to memorize the Catechism while walking down the road having printed it on little 3x5 cards. I was struck with the personal warm character of the Heidelberg Catechism as I recommitted it to memory. That led me to learn the truths the Catechism expounded not only in the mind but also in the heart over and over again. I don’t think any other confession of the church does this as well as the Heidelberg Catechism. It was a very precious experience for me to spend time meditating and confessing the truths of the Catechism. So learning the Heidelberg Catechism helps us to confess Christ properly from the heart.

So we have outlined two purposes for learning our catechism. The first was that it helps us explain the message of the Bible correctly and the second was that it helps us to confess Christ properly from the heart. Next time I want to give you several means that will assist you in accomplishing these two purposes.

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[1] G.I. Williamson, The Heidelberg Catechism – A Study Guide (Phillipsburg, N.J.: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1993

Email to the Apostle Paul

From: MissionCommittee@ReformedChurches.com

To: ApostlePaul@Greece.com

We recently received a copy of your letter to the Galatians. The committee has directed me to inform you of a number of things which deeply concern us.

First, we find your language to be intemperate. In your letter, after a brief greeting to the Galatians, you immediately attack your opponents by claiming they want to “pervert the gospel of Christ”. You then say that such men should be regarded as “accursed” and call them “false brethren”. Would it not be more charitable to give them the benefit of the doubt - at least until the General Synod has adjudicated the matter? To make the situation worse, you later say, “I would that they even were cut off which trouble you”. Is such a statement really fitting for a Christian minister? Paul we really feel the need to caution you about the tone of your epistles. You come across in an abrasive manner. In some of your letters you have even mentioned names. This practice has, no doubt, upset the friends of Hymenaeus, Alexander and others. After all, many persons were first introduced to the Christian faith under the ministries of these men. Although some of our missionaries have manifested regrettable shortcomings, it can only stir up bad feeling when you speak of these men in a derogatory manner. Paul, I believe you should strive for a more moderate posture. Should you not try to win those in error by displaying a sweeter spirit? By your outspokenness, you have diminished your opportunities for future influence. If you had worked more quietly, you might have been asked to serve on a committee appointed to study the issue. You could then have contributed your insights by helping to draft a good committee paper on the theological position of the Judaizers, without having to drag personalities into the dispute. Besides, Paul, we need to maintain unity among those who profess belief in Christ. The Judaizers at least stand with us as we confront the surrounding paganism and humanism which prevail in our culture. The Judaizers are our allies in our struggles against abortion, homosexuality, government tyranny, etc. We cannot afford to allow differences over doctrinal minutia to obscure this fact. Questions have been raised about the comments of your letter, as well as your style.

The committee questions the propriety of the doctrinaire structure of your letter. Is it wise to plague young Christians, like the Galatians, with heavy theological issues? In a couple of places, you allude to the doctrine of election. You also enter into a lengthy discussion of the law. Perhaps you could have proved your case in some other ways. Your letter is so doctrinaire, it will probably serve only to polarize the differing factions within the churches. We need to stress unity, instead of broaching issues which accent divisions. In one place you wrote, “Behold, I say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.” Paul, you have a tendency to describe things strictly in black and white, as if there were no gray areas. You need to temper your expressions, lest you become too exclusive. Otherwise, your outlook will drive people away. Church growth is not promoted by taking a hard line and remaining inflexible. Remember, Paul, there is no such thing as a perfect church. We have to tolerate many imperfections. By reflecting on your own past, you might acquire a more sympathetic attitude. Be patient, and give them some time to come around to a better understanding. In the meantime, rejoice that we all share a common profession of faith in Christ, since we have all been baptized in His name.

This fictious letter was adapted from an article by Kevin Reed which originally appeared in the Trinity Review.