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The Heidelberg Catechism

The Heidelberg Catechism is an educational tool, following a question-and-answer format. It was created to help people learn the foundational truths taught in the Bible.

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What Is The Heidelberg Catechism?

Has someone ever asked you what you believe, and you weren’t sure of your answer? You needed a catechism. A catechism is a teaching tool: a series of questions and answers. It clearly and concisely summarizes what a group of people believes.

The Heidelberg Catechism emerged in 1563, birthed out of the minds and pens of three men: Fredrick (Elector Fredrick III), Caspar (Caspar Olevianus), and Zach (Zacharius Ursinus). Fredrick, a devoted Christian, ruled what was called, "the Palatinate"—one-seventh of the Roman Empire—what today would be Germany.

Martin Luther and John Calvin’s radical teaching that opposed Medieval Roman Catholicism had spread throughout the Roman Empire and taken root. Frederick wanted to . . .

by Bibles.net

HEIDELBERG CATECHISM

FULL TEXT

Read the entirety of the Heidelberg Catechism here.

READ THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM

FREE

Heidelberg Catechism Question I Phone Wallpaper

We have made a graphic so you can keep a portion of the Heidelberg Catechism on your phone as your background or screensaver!

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The History of The Heidelberg Catechism

Protestant Reformation

Martin Luther posted his “ninety five theses” protesting the Roman Catholic Church’s sale of indulgences, thus beginning the Protestant Reformation.

The Council of Trent

The Council of Trent met for 25 sessions over a period of 18 years, producing an anti-Protestant confession that dominated Roman Catholicism until the 1960s.

War Ends

The Peace of Augsburg ended wars in Germany between Lutherans and Catholics, allowing religious freedom for both per the adage “whose the rule, his the religion.”

Fredrick III’s Conversion

Prince Frederick III, ruler of the German region Palatinate, moved away from Lutheran theology toward the biblical Reformed faith promoted by John Calvin.

Document Drafted

Frederick commissioned Zacharias Ursinus (1534-1583), a professor at the University of Heidelberg, to draft a question-and-answer confession (“catechism”) to help teach biblical Reformed theology in the region in which he had oversight.

Catechism Defended

Frederick stood before the Diet of Augsburg to defend his use of the Heidelberg Catechism in his German province, with many believing it violated the Peace of Augsburg.

Fredrick III’s Death

Prince Frederick died and most of his province reverted back to Lutheranism.

Catechism Accepted

Along with the Belgic Confession and the Canons of Dordt, the Heidelberg Catechism was adopted as one of the “three standards” of Reformed doctrine.

Impact

The Heidelberg Catechism was one of the foundational documents used to develop the Westminster Shorter Catechism.

1517

1545-1563

1555

1561

1563

1566

1576

1619

1647

History of the Heidelberg Catechism

Quote

What is your only comfort
in life and death?
That I am not my own,
but belong with body
and soul, both in life and
in death, to my faithful
Savior Jesus Christ.

Heidelberg Catechism, Q&A #1, Lord's Day 1

Article: 7 Min

Why I Love the Heidelberg Catechism

by Kevin DeYoung at The Gospel Coalition

Verse

ISAIAH 52: 9-10 NKJV

Break forth into joy, sing together,
You waste places of Jerusalem!
For the Lord has comforted His people,
He has redeemed Jerusalem.
The Lord has made bare His holy arm
In the eyes of all the nations;
And all the ends of the earth shall see
The salvation of our God.

Verse

DEUTERONOMY 11:18-19 CSB

“Imprint these words of mine [the LORD] on your hearts and minds, bind them as a sign on your hands, and let them be a symbol on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”

Verse

ROMANS 15:4 NKJV

For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.

Article: 6 Min

The Heidelberg’s History

by Lyle Bierma at Ligonier Ministries

Message: 28 Min

A Detailed History
of the
Heidelberg Catechism

by Dr. Joel Beeke

Image

Proclaim things
consistent with sound teaching.

TITUS 2:1 CSB

Article: 5 Min

Using the Heidelberg Catechism With Your Family

by Erik Raymond at The Gospel Coalition

Image

Train up a child
in the way
he should go,
and when he is old
he will not depart from it.

PROVERBS 22:6 NKJV

What Does the Heidelberg Catechism Say?

Introducing you to the Heidelberg Catechism

by Bibles.net

The Heidelberg Catechism is easy to learn, because it exists in a question-and-answer format. It explains the Christian faith by asking questions of The Ten Commandments, The Lord’s Prayer, and The Apostles’ Creed.

It wonderfully summarizes the Bible’s teaching and gives us a tool to explain what we believe. It’s also a unifying statement, reminding us what all Christians believe.

The catechism is divided into numbered sections, each titled “the Lord’s Day”. It’s divided this way so that people could read one section every Sunday for a year. It’s devotional at heart, aiming to answer the searching heart, establish the wavering youngster, and encourage the seasoned saint.

Website

THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 1563 VERSION

BY LIGONIER MINISTRIES

Quote

Preface to the Heidelberg Catechism

Given at Heidelberg on Tuesday, January 19, 1563:
We do herewith affectionately admonish and enjoin upon every one of you, that you do, for the honor of God and other subjects, and also for the sake of your own soul’s profit and welfare, thankfully accept this proffered Catechism or course of instruction, and that you do diligently and faithfully represent and explain the same according to its true import, to the youth in our schools and churches, and also from the pulpit to the common people, that you teach, and act, and live in accordance with it, in the assured hope, that if our youth in early life are earnestly instructed and educated in the Word of God, it will please Almighty God also to grant reformation of public and private morals, and temporal and eternal welfare. Desiring, as above said, that all this may be accomplished, we have made this provision.

by Elector Fredrick III | Source

Video: 1 Min

"The Quest for Comfort"
Book Promo

This video makes us want to read the
story of three men who wrote a little book
about the only comfort in life and death—
The Heidelberg Catechism.

by Covenant Clips

Image

Encourage one another
AND BUILD ONE ANOTHER UP
JUST AS YOU ARE DOING.

1 THESSALONIANS 5:11 ESV

Folk | Indie

What Is My Hope?

by Tenielle Neda feat. John Van Deusen

Folk | Indie

My Only Comfort

by RYM Worship

Folk | Indie

I Am Not My Own

by Jeremy Benjamin

Praise & Worship

Catechism Song

by Redeemer Church Worship

Rap

Heidelberg Catechism

by Curtis “Voice” Allen

Read Artist Interview

Featured Album

Heidelberg: Songs from the Catechism

by Jeremy Zeyl | Folk

Jeremy spent nine months writing, studying, and praying to give us this beautiful album, which pairs the words of the Heidelberg Catechism with singable, modern music of various genres.

Books

The Good News We Almost Forgot

by Kevin DeYoung | Devotional

Difficulty: Easy

GET THE BOOK

Read Review

Historic Works

The Heidelberg Catechism

What Is The Heidelberg Catechism?

Heidelberg Catechism Question I Phone Wallpaper

The History of The Heidelberg Catechism

Protestant Reformation

The Council of Trent

War Ends

Fredrick III’s Conversion

Document Drafted

Catechism Defended

Fredrick III’s Death

Catechism Accepted

Impact

Why I Love the Heidelberg Catechism

by Kevin DeYoung at The Gospel Coalition

ISAIAH 52: 9-10 NKJV

DEUTERONOMY 11:18-19 CSB

ROMANS 15:4 NKJV

The Heidelberg’s History

by Lyle Bierma at Ligonier Ministries

A Detailed History of the Heidelberg Catechism

by Dr. Joel Beeke

TITUS 2:1 CSB

Using the Heidelberg Catechism With Your Family

by Erik Raymond at The Gospel Coalition

PROVERBS 22:6 NKJV

THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 1563 VERSION

BY LIGONIER MINISTRIES

Preface to the Heidelberg Catechism

1 THESSALONIANS 5:11 ESV

Folk | Indie

What Is My Hope?

Folk | Indie

My Only Comfort

Folk | Indie

I Am Not My Own

Praise & Worship

Catechism Song

Rap

Heidelberg Catechism

Heidelberg: Songs from the Catechism

The Good News We Almost Forgot

BE OF GOOD COMFORT, BE OF ONE MIND, LIVE IN PEACE;

and the God of love and peace will be with you.

2 Corinthians 13:11 NKJV

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A Detailed History
of the
Heidelberg Catechism

BE OF GOOD COMFORT,
BE OF ONE MIND,
LIVE IN PEACE;

and the God of love and peace
will be with you.