Catechetical preaching, or preaching sermons based on the consecutive “Lord’s Days” of the Heidelberg Catechism, is a centuries-old tradition among Reformed churches and has historical roots in the Calvinistic reformation of sixteenth-century northern Europe.
Background
The Heidelberg Catechism was written in 1563 under the watchful eye of Elector Frederick III of the Palatinate. His hope was to create a simple ecumenical statement of doctrine which would unite the people of his realm in the spiritual direction set by the expanding Reformed movement. Zacharias Ursinus of the University of Heidelberg is credited with the theological substance of the catechism, though the name of Caspar Oleveanus, pastor of Heidelberg’s Holy Spirit Church, is always mentioned as well. The latter may have provided some of the pastoral sensitivity and emotional warmth that gives the Heidelberg Catechism its broad impact and continuing relevance.
As early as 1566, Peiter Gabriel, a prominent pastor in Amsterdam, began using the Heidelberg Catechism as a substantive teaching tool in the afternoon service of worship added to each Sunday’s observance. The practice of an additional worship service originated with several of the Reformers who were concerned about the spiritual immaturity and scriptural illiteracy in their communities. The second Sunday gathering was intended to be a doctrinal classroom, and the Heidelberg Catechism soon became the primary teaching material. In 1586, a Reformed synod in the Netherlands broadened this practice by legislating that each Sunday afternoon in the Reformed churches of the Low Countries, a sermon be preached from the catechism.
Not until the great Synod of Dordrecht in 1618-1619, however, did the practice of “catechetical preaching” become fully institutionalized. From its origins, the Heidelberg Catechism had a clearly developed three-part structure: I—Human Misery; II—Deliverance; III—Gratitude. But with the fourth edition, editors added a secondary structure or division that featured fifty-two “Lord’s Days.” These smaller groupings of material were intended to provide topical segments for a study spanning a full year’s weekly congregational gatherings. The delegates at Dordrecht declared that all Reformed churches were to have sermons explaining these Lord’s Days in succession each Sunday afternoon. That practice has been enshrined in nearly every Reformed church order since the Synod of Dordrecht and continues as a regular practice in many branches of the Reformed church today.
Method
What does it mean to preach from the Heidelberg Catechism? Because of the strong emphasis on expository preaching in the Reformed tradition, pastors have struggled with this perplexing issue for generations. Three related yet methodologically distinct approaches have resulted.
Catechism as Homiletic Text. Some pastors, following the original intent of the Synod of Dordrecht and the subsequent traditions of the Reformed churches, have indeed prepared sermons structured according to the individual answers in the Heidelberg Catechism. Thus, if a Lord’s Day contained three or four theological propositions in its explanation of some element of Christian doctrine or life, the sermon itself would have those propositions as its “points.” For example, Lord’s Day 17 reads as follows:
Question: How does Christ’s resurrection benefit us?
Answer: First, by his resurrection, he has overcome death, so that he might make us share in the righteousness he won for us by his death. Second, by His power, we too are already now resurrected to a new life. Third, Christ’s resurrection is a guarantee of our glorious resurrection.
A catechetical sermon using this approach would probably be preceded by the reading of a relevant Scripture passage (such as 1 Cor. 15 or 1 Pet. 1:3–9), but then would be developed as a three-point sermon expounding the three “benefits” of Christ’s resurrection outlined in the text of the catechism. If one were to challenge this approach because the “text” of the sermon came from the catechism rather than from the Bible, the answer would be that the catechism is merely a distillation of biblical statements and ideas. With this in mind, each line of the catechism’s 129 answers is footnoted to relevant scriptural passages.
Scripture Exposition. Most of the Lord’s Days of the Heidelberg Catechism, however, are much more complex. Lord’s Day 18, for instance, has four questions and answers, ranging in topics from the historical evidence of Christ’s ascension to issues of Christology and the nature of Christ’s present intercession and reign in heaven. The homiletic difficulties of trying to explain adequately all of these ideas in a single message have fostered a second approach to catechetical preaching. Here the preacher chooses a Scripture passage that seems to relate to many, if not most, of the theological propositions contained in a single Lord’s Day. The preacher then prepares an expository sermon based on that biblical text, rather than directly on the catechism propositions themselves. Elements of the catechism are usually brought into the sermon as illustrative material or as summary statements of belief.
Doctrinal–Topical. The third method of catechetical preaching is essentially topical. The pastor extracts a single topic from the collection of ideas contained in a Lord’s Day and then designs a sermon that develops that topic in ways both relevant to the congregation and consistent with the theological heritage of the denomination. The sermon doesn’t pretend to be expository, though it may include exegesis of one or more Scripture passages. Nor does it necessarily follow the Heidelberg Catechism’s development of a doctrinal statement. Instead, the primary emphasis is placed on the sound homiletical development of the topic.
Changing Traditions
Although these latter styles of catechetical preaching are more prevalent today than is the first, the Synod of Dordrecht clearly intended that preaching of the Heidelberg Catechism be in the form of teaching sermons that explain each of the theological propositions of a Lord’s Day in rote succession. In fact, whereas pastors in the Christian Reformed Church in North America at one time attempted to “hide” catechetical preaching behind exegetical or topical approaches, the Christian Reformed Synod of 1950 specifically mandated that the questions and answers of the catechism be read before the sermon. The synod’s reasoning was clear: the Lord’s Day must be stated as the doctrinal text on which the message is based and from which it receives its homiletic structure and development.
But traditions change, and many Reformed churches (including the Christian Reformed church) now encourage “confessional” preaching. Here the historic emphasis on using the creeds and confessions of denominational identity as teaching tools still remains, but now it is broadened to include other confessional statements besides the Heidelberg Catechism (such as the Belgic Confession of 1561 or the Canons of Dort, 1618-1619), or even some of the more contemporary expressions of faith. Few of these documents, however, are as succinct or as clearly didactic as the Heidelberg Catechism. For that reason, the changing tradition virtually requires a movement away from sermons that use the text of the confessional statements to structure the form and content of the messages themselves. Instead, the new practices invite more extensive use of the expository or topical methods of “catechism preaching.”
The best of catechetical preaching today is a hybrid. It combines the traditional strength of the Reformed emphasis on teaching the broad range of theological insights enshrined in its historic confessions with the warmth and pastoral sensitivity of insightful topical proclamation.