Journal: Puritan Reformed Journal
Volume: PRJ 05:2 (Jul 2013)
Article: The Heidelberg Catechism As A Confession Of Faith
Author: Joel R. Beeke

PRJ 5:2 (July 2013) p. 231

The Heidelberg Catechism As A Confession Of Faith

Joel R. Beeke

But why art thou called a Christian?

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…

—Heidelberg Catechism, Q. 32

What is a confession of faith? How is it related to the truth revealed in God’s Word? Scotland’s Robert Shaw (1795-1863) provides this definition:

A Confession of Faith…is a declaration of the manner in which any man, or number of men—any Christian or any Church—understands the truth which has been revealed. Its object is, therefore not to teach divine truth; but to exhibit a clear, systematic, and intelligible declaration of our own sentiments, and to furnish the means of ascertaining the opinions of others, especially in religious controversies…. The question is not, therefore, one respecting God’s truth, but respecting man’s truth—not respecting the truth of the Bible, but respecting man’s apprehension of that truth.1

In other words, a confession of faith is not simply a summary of statements taken from Scripture. Nor is it an exercise in exegesis, the science of drawing the precise meaning out of a Scripture text. The exegesis of

PRJ 5:2 (July 2013) p. 232

Scripture is the necessary, but preliminary work, which furnishes the foundation of biblical truth on which the confession is based.

A confession of faith is an exercise in hermeneutics, the science of interpreting and applying the results of sound exegesis or “searching of the Scriptures” (John 5:39; Acts 17:17). Exegesis answers the question of “What precisely does the text say?” Hermeneutics answers such questions as “What does it mean to us? How do we understand it and apply it?”

The most important truth revealed in Scripture is the way of salvation in Christ. What precisely is the good news, the gospel? How are sinners saved? What does it mean to be a Christian? Hence the remarkable starting point for the Heidelberg Catechism is its statement of the Christian’s only comfort in life and in death.

Unique among all confessions of faith, ancient and modern, the Catechism begins with the good news that Christ has fully satisfied the price of all our sins with His precious blood, and delivered us from all the power of the devil. Those who belong to Christ are justified, emancipated, preserved, adopted by God as His children, indwelt by the Sp...