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
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 6th 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.
[1] G.I. Williamson, The
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