This is an updated version of a previous review (#122). A new hymn study will be released shortly to replace #122 – ed.
Almost everyone is familiar with question and answer number one in the 1645 Westminster Shorter Catechism. “What is the chief end of man? Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.” But not as many are familiar with the first question in the 1563 Heidelberg Catechism. The Westminster Catechism was written in London by English pastor/theologians, and has been part of the confessional standards in Presbyterian churches, especially in Scotland and America. The Heidelberg Catechism was written by German pastor/theologians in Heidelberg, Germany and has been part of the confessional standards of Reformed churches, especially in the Netherlands and in America.
The Heidelberg Catechism is one of the “Three Forms of Unity” for Reformed churches with a Dutch heritage today. It was first published in 1563, about eighty years before the English Puritan Westminster Confession of Faith. The series 129 of questions and answers are divided into 53 sections, one for each Lord’s Day, so that pastors had this structure to use for their preaching through key doctrines each year, something that many American Reformed churches have done in their Sunday evening worship services. It continues today to be probably the most frequently read Reformed confessional text worldwide.