Heidelberg Catechism (1563)
Q. 1. 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.
Q. 18. Who then is that Mediator, who is in one person both very God and a real righteous man?
A. Our Lord Jesus Christ,5 who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.
Q. 21. What is true faith?
A. True faith is not only a certain knowledge, whereby I hold for truth all that God has revealed to us in His Word, but also an assured confidence, which the Holy Ghost works by the gospel, in my heart; that not only to others, but to me also, remission of sin, everlasting righteousness and salvation, are freely given by God, merely of grace, only for the sake of Christ’s merits.
Q. 26. What believest thou when thou sayest, “I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth?”
A. That the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (who of nothing made heaven and earth, with all that is in them; who likewise upholds and governs the same by His eternal counsel and providence) is, for the sake of Christ His Son, my God and my Father; on whom I rely so entirely, that I have no doubt but He will provide me with all things necessary for soul and body; and further, that He will make whatever evils He sends upon me, in this valley of tears, turn out to my advantage; for He is able to do it, being Almighty God, and willing, being a faithful Father.
Q. 28. What advantage is it to us to know that God has created, and by His providence doth still uphold all things?
A. That we may be patient in adversity; thankful in prosperity; and that in all things which may hereafter befall us, we place our firm trust in our faithful God and Father, that nothing shall separate us from His love; since all creatures are so in His hand, that without His will they cannot so much as move.
Q. 31. Why is He called Christ, that is, anointed?
A. Because He is ordained of God the Father, and anointed with the Holy Ghost, to be our chief Prophet and Teacher, who has fully revealed to us the secret counsel and will of God concerning our redemption; and to be our only High Priest, who by the one sacrifice of His body has redeemed us, and makes continual intercession with the Father for us; and also to be our eternal King, who governs us by His Word and Spirit, and who defends and preserves us in (the enjoyment of) that salvation He has purchased for us.
Q. 32. But why art thou called a Christian?
A. Because I am a member of Christ by faith, and thus am partaker of His anointing; that so I may confess His name, and present myself a living sacrifice of thankfulness to Him; and also that with a free and good conscience I may fight against sin and Satan in this life, and afterwards reign with Him eternally over all creatures.
Q. 39. Is there anything more in His being crucified than if He had died some other death?
A. Yes [there is]; for thereby I am assured that He took on Him the curse which lay upon me; for the death of the cross was accursed of God.
Q. 44. Why is there added, “He descended into hell”?
A. That in my greatest temptations, I may be assured, and wholly comfort myself in this, that my Lord Jesus Christ, by His inexpressible anguish, pains, terrors, and hellish agonies, in which He was plunged during all His sufferings, but especially on the cross, hath delivered me from the anguish and torments of hell.
Q. 47. Is not Christ then with us even to the end of the world, as He hath promised?
A. Christ is very man and very God; with respect to His human nature, He is no more on earth; but with respect to His Godhead, majesty, grace, and spirit, He is at no time absent from us.
Q. 49. Of what advantage to us is Christ’s ascension into heaven?
A. First, that He is our advocate in the presence of His Father in heaven; secondly, that we have our flesh in heaven as a sure pledge that He, as the Head, will also take up to Himself, us, His members; thirdly, that He sends us His Spirit as an earnest, by whose power we seek the things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God, and not things on earth.
Q. 52. What comfort is it to thee that “Christ shall come again to judge the quick and the dead”?
A. That in all my sorrows and persecutions, with uplifted head I look for the very same person who before offered Himself for my sake to the tribunal of God, and has removed all curse from me, to come as judge from heaven; who shall cast all His and my enemies into everlasting condemnation, but shall translate me with all His chosen ones to Himself, into heavenly joys and glory.
Q. 53. What dost thou believe concerning the Holy Ghost?
A. First, that He is true and co-eternal God with the Father and the Son; secondly, that He is also given me, to make me by a true faith, partaker of Christ and all His benefits, that He may comfort me and abide with me for ever.
Q. 54. What believest thou concerning the “holy catholic church” of Christ?
A. That the Son of God from the beginning to the end of the world, gathers, defends, and preserves to Himself by His Spirit and Word, out of the whole human race, a church chosen to everlasting life, agreeing in true faith; and that I am and for ever shall remain, a living member thereof.
Q. 56. What believest thou concerning “the forgiveness of sins”?
A. That God, for the sake of Christ’s satisfaction, will no more remember my sins, neither my corrupt nature, against which I have to struggle all my life long; but will graciously impute to me the righteousness of Christ, that I may never be condemned before the tribunal of God.
Q. 57. What comfort doth the “resurrection of the body” afford thee?
A. That not only my soul after this life shall be immediately taken up to Christ its Head; but also, that this my body, being raised by the power of Christ, shall be reunited with my soul, and made like unto the glorious body of Christ.
Q. 58. What comfort takest thou from the article of “life everlasting”?
A. That since I now feel in my heart the beginning of eternal joy, after this life I shall inherit perfect salvation, which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive,4 and that, to praise God therein for ever.
Q. 65. Since then we are made partakers of Christ and all His benefits by faith only, whence doth this faith proceed?
A. From the Holy Ghost, who works faith in our hearts by the preaching of the gospel, and confirms it by the use of the sacraments.
Q. 66. What are the sacraments?
A. The sacraments are holy, visible signs and seals, appointed of God for this end, that by the use thereof He may the more fully declare and seal to us the promise of the gospel, namely, that He grants us freely the remission of sin and life eternal, for the sake of that one sacrifice of Christ accomplished on the cross.
Q. 67. Are both Word and sacraments, then, ordained and appointed for this end, that they may direct our faith to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross as the only ground of our salvation?
A. Yes, indeed; for the Holy Ghost teaches us in the gospel, and assures us by the sacraments, that the whole of our salvation depends upon that one sacrifice of Christ which He offered for us on the cross.
Q. 69. How art thou admonished and assured by holy baptism that the one sacrifice of Christ upon the cross is of real advantage to thee?
A. Thus: That Christ appointed this external washing with water, adding thereto this promise, that I am as certainly washed by His blood and Spirit from all the pollution of my soul, that is, from all my sins, as I am washed externally with water, by which the filthiness of the body is commonly washed away.
Q. 75. How art thou admonished and assured in the Lord’s Supper that thou art a partaker of that one sacrifice of Christ, accomplished on the cross, and of all His benefits?
A. Thus: That Christ has commanded me and all believers to eat of this broken bread and to drink of this cup in remembrance of Him, adding these promises: first, that His body was offered and broken on the cross for me, and His blood shed for me, as certainly as I see with my eyes the bread of the Lord broken for me and the cup communicated to me; and further, that He feeds and nourishes my soul to everlasting life, with His crucified body and shed blood, as assuredly as I receive from the hands of the minister, and taste with my mouth the bread and cup of the Lord, as certain signs of the body and blood of Christ.
Q. 86. Since then we are delivered from our misery merely of grace, through Christ, without any merit of ours, why must we still do good works?
A. Because Christ, having redeemed and delivered us by His blood, also renews us by His Holy Spirit after His own image; that so we may testify by the whole of our conduct our gratitude to God for His blessings, and that He may be praised by us; also, that every one may be assured in himself of his faith by the fruits thereof; and that by our godly conversation others may be gained to Christ.
Q. 103. What doth God require in the fourth commandment?
A. First, that the ministry of the gospel and the schools be maintained; and that I, especially on the sabbath, that is, on the day of rest, diligently frequent the church of God, to hear His word, to use the sacraments, publicly to call upon the Lord, and contribute to the relief of the poor, as becomes a Christian. Secondly, that all the days of my life I cease from my evil works, and yield myself to the Lord, to work by His Holy Spirit in me; and thus begin in this life the eternal sabbath.
Q. 117. What are the requisites of that prayer which is acceptable to God and which He will hear?
A. First, that we from the heart pray to the one true God only, who hath manifested Himself in His Word, for all things He hath commanded us to ask of Him; secondly, that we rightly and thoroughly know our need and misery, that so we may deeply humble ourselves in the presence of His divine majesty; thirdly, that we be fully persuaded that He, notwithstanding that we are unworthy of it, will, for the sake of Christ our Lord, certainly hear our prayer, as He has promised us in His Word.
Q. 120. Why hath Christ commanded us to address God thus: “Our Father”?
A. That immediately, in the very beginning of our prayer, He might excite in us a childlike reverence for and confidence in God, which are the foundation of our prayer, namely, that God is become our Father in Christ, and will much less deny us what we ask of Him in true faith than our parents will refuse us earthly things.
Q. 129. What doth the word Amen signify?
A. Amen signifies, it shall truly and certainly be; for my prayer is more assuredly heard of God than I feel in my heart that I desire these things of Him.
Herman Bavinck (1854-1921): “Their [i.e., the Reformers’] description of the faith also answers to this standard. With them faith is not hope and opinion, not guess and conjecture, not even knowledge and assent, but certain knowledge and firm trust, a consciousness and conviction so strong and final it excludes all doubt and fear. Just listen to the humble but at the same time bold language in the Heidelberg Catechism of the Christian who gives an account of the hope that is within him. He is firmly assured that he is a living member of Jesus’ church and that he will eternally remain so. He lives in the childlike trust that not only others but he personally has been forgiven and granted eternal righteousness and salvation by God out of pure grace, and only on the merits of Christ” (The Certainty of Faith, trans. Harry der Nederlanden [St. Catharines, Ontario: Paideia Press, 1980], p. 40).
Louis Berkhof (1873-1957): “If we turn to our Confessional Standards, we find that the Heidelberg Catechism also [i.e., in accordance with the teaching of the Reformers] takes the position that assurance is of the very essence of faith. Its classic reply to the question, ‘What is true faith?’ is well known. ‘It is not only a certain knowledge whereby I hold for truth all that God has revealed to us in his Word, but also a hearty trust which the Holy Ghost works in me by the Gospel, that not only to others, but to me also, forgiveness of sins, everlasting righteousness and salvation, are freely given by God, merely of grace, only for the sake of Christ’s merits.’ This answer of the Catechism can be traced back to the Smaller Catechism of Ursinus, which, in turn, is dependent on his Larger Catechism. In the former we read: ‘Faith is a strong assent by which we accept all that is revealed to us in the Word of God; and a sure confidence created by the Holy Spirit in the hearts of God’s elect, whereby each one feels assured that, through the merits of Christ alone, remission of sins, righteousness and eternal life are freely given by God, only for the merits of Christ.’ This answer, as was said, may again be traced back to the Larger Catechism: ‘Faith is a firm assent to every Word of God, and a firm confidence, by which every one holds that forgiveness of sin, righteousness and eternal life are given him by God, freely, on account of the merits of Christ; and through confidence is an illumination in the hearts of the elect by the Holy Spirit, making us living members of Christ and producing in us true love of God and prayer.’ There can be no doubt as to the standpoint of the [Heidelberg] Catechism on the question of assurance” (The Assurance of Faith).
G. C. Berkouwer (1903–1996): “One of the most striking things about the Reformed faith is that we hear this fundamental tone [of the saints’ perseverance by God’s grace] sounding in concert with the consolation and the assurance of salvation … This is very much the case with the Heidelberg Catechism. The consolation of God’s grace stands so much in the centre here … even at the beginning the consolation theme is very evident … Already in Question 1 there is the confession that one’s only consolation in life and death is that he is a possession of Jesus Christ … The Heidelberg Catechism also views the fact that one is a possession of Christ in the perspective of the future: ‘yea, that all things must work together for my salvation’ (Q. 1). At the same time it is confessed that God assures us of eternal life through the Holy Spirit … Of Christ it is confessed that He shall never depart from our side (Q. 47), and of the Holy Spirit that He shall remain with us forever (Q. 53) … in the Catechism, the ‘I’ and ‘my’ constantly appear …” (Faith and Perseverance, trans. Robert D. Knudsen [Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1958], pp. 19, 20, 21, 31).
