The name "Palatinate" or "Heidelberg" Catechism indicates its original home. The principal territory of that part of ancient Germany, the electoral Palatinate, with its capital city Heidelberg, lay on both sides of the Middle Rhine. It also included the Upper Palatinate with its capital city of Amberg. Today these provinces belong to Bavaria. It was not one of the German provinces in which the Reformation found its welcome in the very beginning. Only in the year 1545 did the Elector Frederick II yield to the urgent demands of his subjects, but the work of the Reformation was carried forward indifferently.

The situation improved when in 1556 the Count-Palatine Otto Henry became Elector. At first he favored the Lutheran confession, but later he inclined toward the Reformed, so that he appointed Reformed theologians as professors in the University of Heidelberg and as pastors in Palatinate congregations. At his death the majority of the preachers and people were more reformed or "Zwinglian" than Lutheran, so that the course followed by his successor, Frederick III, did not involve a violent change, but only gave expression to what had previously been developed, and by extending it completed the Reformation of the Palatinate.

Frederick was born February 14, 1515, in the little town of Simmern. His father was the Count-Palatine John II, an intelligent and learned man but a strict Catholic, who was very anxious to rear his twelve children, especially his oldest son Frederick, in his own faith. For this purpose he sent him to Bishop Eberhard of Liege, a zealous enemy of the Reformation, and afterwards to the court of the Emperor Charles V. But man proposes and God disposes. By that time already Frederick had discovered that the Bible is the only source of truth, and Christ the only Savior. After having in 1537 married Margravine Mary of Brandenburg-Bayreuth, who with all her heart believed in the gospel, he soon identified himself openly and freely with the evangelical faith, prepared to risk everything for it. When he was to attach his signature to the Regensburg Interim (1541), with which it was proposed to sup­press the Reformation, Frederick said to the Emperor: "Rather than do this, I will by God's help suffer anything; and if I am not safe in this country on account of my faith, I may be able to live at some other place with God."

Frederick's father, whom he with filial devotion had steadfastly sought to lead to the knowledge of the truth, died in 1557 with the confession that his hope was fixed upon the merit of Christ alone and with fervent prayers to God, which Frederick in later years frequently recalled with a grateful heart. He now became Duke of Simmern and at once introduced the Reformation in his province. But his work at Simmern, both as a ruler and a reformer, was only a training school for a greater work to which God had chosen him.

In the year 1559 the Elector Otto Henry of the Palatinate died at Heidelberg, and Frederick III became his successor. At that time the Palatinate of the Rhine, the so-called Lower Palatinate, was in a state of excitement and confusion. At Heidelberg in particular the two tendencies in the church were arrayed against each other over the doctrine of the Lord's Supper. Thus the new elector had to adjust and settle disputes in the very beginning. He did so with great wisdom and firmness. On the advice of Melanchthon, a native of the Palatinate, he directed that thereafter in the administration of the Lord's Supper, the words of Paul from 1 Corinthians 10:16 should be used: "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?" He also instituted the Reformed order of worship, removed the crucifixes, images, candles, altars, and baptismal fonts from the churches, where this had not been done under Otto Henry. To take the place of these he introduced communion tables and baptismal bowls, and instead of the Latin Church hymns which had previously been in use, he introduced the singing of the Psalms in German. Frederick would not allow his theolo­gians to dictate to him in his work of reformation. He himself was a theologian and of deep Christian experience. At the same time he was ready to receive advice, and the men who stood nearest to him and influ­enced him most were the theologians Olevianus and Ursinus, young in years, but rich in gifts, faith, and learning.

Casper Olevianus was born at Treves on August 10, 1536. His father was a baker, a trades official, and a city councilor, a respected and wealthy citizen. In his fourteenth year, young Olevianus went to France to study jurisprudence in the celebrated law-schools of Paris, Orleans, and Bourges. There he attached himself to the persecuted Reformed congregations, having been already awakened at home. It was at this time that an event occurred which led him to give himself fully to God and to conse­crate himself to His service. At Bourges, a son of Frederick was drowned before his very eyes in the Auron river. Olevianus rushed to his assistance in vain and brought his own life into imminent peril. Out of the depths he cried unto the Lord and promised that if the Lord would preserve his life, he would devote it entirely to the service of the divine Word. In a marvelous manner he was rescued from a watery grave.

He now began to study the Bible and Calvin's works most earnestly. Then he went to Geneva, Lausanne, and Zurich. In his twenty-third year he returned to his native town, full of enthusiasm for his work, and there he accepted the position of professor of the Latin language. But he did not forget his vow, and soon he began to preach in his schoolroom to many hearers. When forbidden to preach there, he obtained the consent of the council and citizens to use the pulpit of St. James church, and there he continued his preaching. Most of the citizens were for the Reformation, and a large evangelical church was organized, so that the Elector Frederick and Duke Wolfgang of Palatinate-Zweibruecken sent Super­intendent Flinabach to Olevianus' assistance. But his joy was of brief duration. In 1560 the archbishop of Treves invaded his city with an army of mercenaries, cast Olevianus into prison, and expelled the citizens who refused to give up their evangelical faith. While still in prison, Olevianus was called to Heidelberg by the Elector as court-preacher, and at the Elector's request he was released at the end of ten weeks. In his new position he enjoyed the fullest confidence of his sovereign.

Zacharias Ursinus was born July 18, 1534, at Breslau, where his father was a clergyman. From his youth he was distinguished for excellent intellectual talents, a spiritual temper, and great industry. In his sixteenth year, he entered the University of Wittenberg, where he formed a special attachment for Melanchthon, who in return opened his heart to his pupil. In order to complete his classical education, Ursinus fre­quented (in 1557) the celebrated universities of Switzerland and France, where he became more fully acquainted with Calvin, Beza, Bullinger, and Peter Martyr, whose teaching he accepted most ardently, without separating himself from Melanchthon, the friend of Luther.

Ursinus prosecuted his studies profoundly. In order to reach a settled conviction concerning the Reformed doctrine of predestination, he read the Bible from beginning to end, and finding this doctrine clearly and positively revealed in the Word of God, he, like Olevianus, adhered to it firmly as long as he lived.

On his return to his home he was appointed Professor of Theology in his native town. But, as there was opposition to him because of his Calvinism, he voluntarily resigned. When asked by his uncle where he would now go, he cheerfully and confidently wrote: "I am content to leave my native land when it will not allow one to confess the truth, which I cannot with a good conscience renounce. Since my beloved teacher Philip (Melanchthon) is dead, I shall turn to the theologians of Zurich, whose reputation, however small it may be here, is so great in other churches that it cannot be obscured by our preachers. They are pious, learned, and distinguished men, in whose society I have resolved to spend my life. As for the rest, God will provide." In this way, Ursinus was led to go to Zurich in 1560, where, upon the recommendation of Peter Martyr, he was called by Frederick III to Heidelberg as professor in 1562. Of the certainty of his faith and of his personal salvation he writes as follows in a private letter:

"If you mean that we cannot say with certainty that one will be saved, you are right when speaking of others; but with regard to oneself, or one's own conscience and conviction concerning oneself, such a concep­tion is both shocking and blasphe­mous, and subverts the very founda­tion of faith. Whoever has taught you such an idea has instructed you as would a devil, even though he came from heaven. I will say even more; if you are not certain in this world that you are an heir of eternal life, you will not be one after death. From such a fate the Lord deliver you. For faith itself is that certainty which is the beginning of eternal life, which beginning everyone must possess in this life who would have it hereafter. If you would remember the meaning of the word hope, that it is a certain expectation of eternal life, you would not write to me what causes my hair to stand on end. I would not accept a hundred thousand worlds and be so far away from my Lord as not to know certainly whether I am His or not."

These were Frederick's co-laborers in completing the Reformation in the Palatinate countries. The three were thoroughly grounded in Christ Jesus and labored together in rare unanim­ity of spirit. The greatest service they rendered not only to the Palatinate, but also to the entire Reformed Church, was the production of their catechism. The Elector found different manuals of instruction in his schools, and to unify the instruction, he wanted a book whose creed was decidedly Reformed, suitable both for the common and the higher schools. This labor he committed to Olevianus and Ursinus, but he himself took an active part in it, and nothing was incorporated in it, even as to expression, of which he did not approve, so that he could say of the book, "my catechism." It was rumored that Bullinger had prepared it for him. In a defense written by himself (dated Amberg, Dec. 1, 1566), the Elector declared in answer to that false report: "The report that I have had my catechism and Directory of Worship prepared in Zurich by Bullinger and his associates is an open and barefaced lie, and it can be demonstrated by my own handwriting that after I had received the catechism from my theologians and had examined it, I improved it in different places."

After the two divines had prepared outlines, the catechism soon assumed the form in which we have it to this day, and when we consider the shortness of the time and the excellence of the work, it is evident that God's blessing was resting in an extraordinary manner upon the authors. In January 1563, the Elector submitted for approval, at his own residence, the completed work to an assembly of all the superintendents, professors, and preachers of Heidel­berg. The discussions of this assembly on the catechism and the Directory of Worship continued eight days, and on the last day, January 16, 1563, all the members, with one exception, subscribed to it. On Sunday, January 17, they all partook of the communion with the congregation, at which perhaps for the first time the bread was broken; and on January 18 the elector solemnly dismissed them, after expressing to them his satisfaction with the result of their deliberations, and exhorting them to devote themselves zealously to the introduction of the catechism. The Elector's order for the introduction of the catechism is therefore dated Tuesday, January 19, 1563.

The catechism was speedily printed and published under the title: "Catechism, or Instruction in Christian Doctrine, as it is conducted by the schools and churches of the Electoral Palatinate." Then followed the Electoral coat of arms. It was printed in the electoral city of Heidelberg by John Mayer in 1563. The edict of the Elector, prefixed to the catechism, which was evidently written by himself in the official style of that time, is (in part) as follows:

I, Frederick, by the grace of God Count-palatine of the Rhine … extend grace and greeting to all superintendents, ministers, preachers, church and school officers of the electorate of the Rhine Palatinate, and hereby would have you to know, to wit:

Being mindful of God's Word, and feeling bound by natural duty and kinship, I have at last undertaken to carry on my divinely entrusted office, calling, and government, not only for preserving peace and quiet, and maintaining a pure, sincere, and virtuous life and conduct among my subjects, but also and particularly for instructing them in and bringing them to the true knowledge and fear of the Almighty and His saving Word as the only foundation of all virtue and obedience, and for advancing with all diligence from a pure heart their eternal and temporal interests, and as far as it is in my power to help maintain them in the same…

Now if both Christian and secular offices, power, and households cannot be maintained, and order, respectability, and all inestimable virtues cannot be developed and promoted in subjects without first and foremost instructing and training the youth in the pure and uniform doctrine of the holy Gospel and the true knowledge of God and continually exercising them therein;

I have deemed it of the highest necessity and as the chief duty of my administration to institute proper regulations, to correct the lack of uniformity and other abuses, and to bring about necessary reforms.

"To this end, with the advice and consent of my whole theological faculty, and all the superintendents and most prominent ministers, I have ordered a summary of instruc­tion, or Catechism of our Christian Religion, to be compiled from the Word of God, both in the German and Latin languages. In this way hereafter not only the youth in the churches and the schools will be piously instructed in these Christian doctrines, but also preachers and teachers themselves will have a certain and authoritative form and rule according to which they may instruct the youth without continually making changes according to their own fancy or introducing new doctrines.

"I, herewith, earnestly and graciously admonish and command each and all of you thankfully to accept this catechism or book of instruction to the honor of God, and to the profit and advantage of my subjects and your own souls, and to use it diligently according to its true sense for the instruction of the youth in the schools and churches, and of the people from the pulpit – to teach, to act, and to live according to the same. And I firmly hope and trust that when the youth are thus earnestly instructed and trained in the Word of God, God may grant reformation in life, temporal and eternal prosperity. That this be done as suggested, we look with confidence to you.

Issued at Heidelberg, Tuesday, January 19, in the year fifteen hundred and sixty-three after the birth of Christ, our dear Lord and Savior.

In the first editions of the catechism, the questions were not numbered and divided into Lord's Days, and the Scripture proofs in the margin were cited only by chapter. In subsequent editions an appendix was added, which contained the following: 1) "Table of Family Duties," with the heading, "Scripture passages, from which every one may learn the duties appropriate to his station in life"; 2) Morning, evening and table prayers; 3) Prayers for the Lord's Day and forms for Baptism, the Lord's Supper, and marriage, taken from the Directory of Worship; 4) "Questions which were to be asked the youth when for the first time they presented themselves at the Lord's Table" (namely, 60, 61, 68, 69, 71, 75-79, 81, 82). Concerning the Scripture passages, which were afterwards printed underneath the text of the questions, it was said in a prefatory note: "The Scripture proofs by which the faith of the children is confirmed are such only as have been selected with great pains, and have been added to each question and answer." In the first editions, one of the proofs from the Apocrypha had crept in, which soon disappeared.

Question 80, concerning the Roman mass, has a history of its own. Three editions of the catechism appeared in the first year of its publication (1563). In the first, the question did not appear. In the second, which soon followed, the question occupied its present place, closing with the following statement: "So the mass at bottom is nothing else than an idolatrous denial of the one sacrifice and sufferings of Jesus Christ." The statement immediately follows the words, "offered by the priests." The following note appears on the last page of the book: "To the Christian reader. Omissions in the first edition are now supplied at the command of his grace, the elector, 1563." In a letter to Calvin, dated April 3, 1563, Olevianus writes:

I send you, most worthy father, a copy of the Latin edition of the catechism. In the first German edition, a copy which was sent to Schringer (no doubt a native of the Palatinate who was now sojourning in Geneva), the question concerning the difference between the Lord's Supper and the Popish mass was omitted. At my suggestion, the Prince directed that in the second German and Latin editions it should be inserted. I trust it may be of service to our German people.

In the third edition, the closing statement of the question received its present form (after the words, "offered by the priests"), "and fur­ther, that Christ is bodily under the form of bread and wine, and, therefore, is to be worshipped in them; so that the mass at bottom is nothing else than a denial of the one sacrifice and sufferings of Jesus Christ, and an accursed idolatry." In this form, Question 80 was incorporated in the Palatinate Directory of Worship and is a part of the catechism as a confession of faith. The elector was no doubt incited to such sharp polemics by the decisions and anathemas of the Romish Council of Trent, which in the meantime had been published and brought to his notice.

At the same time that the second German edition was published, a Latin translation of the catechism appeared, prepared by the minister Joshua Lagus and the schoolmaster Lambert Pithopoeus, for the use of the higher schools. It was used also for a long time as a compendium, in connection with the lectures on dogmatics in the Reformed universities. Ursinus himself gave a series of lectures on it in the Latin language, out of which grew his larger catechetical work, Explicationes catecheticae, explanations of the catechism. This work appeared for the first time in the collected writings of Ursinus in 1584. In 1598, a special edition was issued by Pareus, which was enlarged from manuscripts left by Ursinus.

In the Lower Palatinate (of the Rhine), the new book of instruction was received with joy everywhere. In the Upper Palatinate, however, notwithstanding the fact that the book was printed several times at Amberg, its introduction was stubbornly resisted, at the instigation of the Lutheran ministers, who were supported in this matter by the governor, the crown prince Louis. The elector was not willing to coerce them, and in person, as well as through his best ministers, he sought repeatedly, though in vain, to win over the people of Amberg. It was the same Upper Palatinate that only a generation later allowed itself to be turned by the Jesuits to Catholicism.

No sooner was the Heidelberg Catechism published than it was fiercely assailed by Frederick's Lutheran fellow-princes, who were his neighbors, and in other respects, his closest friends. His own son-in-law, Duke John Frederick of Saxony, often attacked it in a most unbecoming manner; so also the most celebrated Lutheran theologians in the empire. Against the former, the elector himself led the defense; the latter he handed over to Ursinus after he had had Bullinger, of Zurich, prepare for him a written defense against them. This suggested to his adversaries the suspicion that the latter was also the author of the catechism.

Frederick sent the following reply, dated September 14, 1563, to the princes who opposed him:

My beloved, believe me in all kindness that I do not doubt that your remonstrance against the catechism was prompted by good and friendly motives, and the best of intentions. In this sense it is understood and received. And you may be assured, my beloved, that I am heartily thankful to everyone, even the least, from whom I learn any­thing out of God's Word, and that might at the same time promote my own salvation and that of my sub­jects, which I have more at heart than even their temporal prosperity. I clearly recognize that all of us, as long as we live, are not lords, but only disciples in the school of Christ; also that we are human and liable to err, and, therefore, stand in constant need of instruction and edification. On the other hand, I have at the same time learned so much, both from the divine Word and through long experience (God Almighty having awakened me since my entrance upon my electoral reign by numerous adversities, as well as by restless spirits, selfish and ambitious theologians, all of which nevertheless have proved to be fatherly visitations, and have been for my good), not to allow myself to be carried by every wind of heretical doctrine, nor to be diverted from the truth which I have accepted and confessed, but my immovable foundation and firm ground has always been, and still remains upon this: 'This is My beloved Son: hear Him.' To this as a pure and infallible standard I would cheerfully conform my whole life and the government entrusted to me by the grace of God; in this I would persevere, at the same time avoiding and removing everything possible that is contrary to it, and yet fulfilling my duties as they meet me … And likewise it has frequently happened since the beginning of the world, and even to the present time, that those who have been Christ-like in character and earnest in the discharge of the duties of religion, and have openly confessed the same, have been slandered and persecuted more than others. And I am not the first one that has fallen into such evil repute, for many others have suffered, more recent examples of which may readily be recalled, and yet the truth has always stood firm … And my catechism is not based upon the doctrines of men, but only and alone upon the Word of God, as is clearly proved by the marginal references to Scripture. And since the scriptural foundations upon which my catechism is built remain firm and unshaken, I cannot see that such a catechism contains false or pernicious doctrine on account of which it should be condemned, unless one is prepared at the same time to reject and condemn the Word of God itself.

Frederick was visited at Heidelberg by different friendly princes who sought to induce him to withdraw his catechism and to recede from the changes that he had introduced into the churches. Against all these influences he stood immovable. The dukes Wolfgang and Christopher sent an embassy to him proposing a conference, a colloquy, with their theologians. They reported the following answer of the elector to their sovereigns:

In answer to the proposal of a colloquy I would say that it is known and manifest to all what such colloquies have accomplished among our own people, as well as among our opponents. Your grace, the elector, would not be averse to discussing these matters familiarly and fraternally with his dear friends and cousins (the princes), but he will have nothing to do with the restless theologians.

His son-in-law, Duke John Frederick of Saxony, opposed the elector most vehemently. Frederick endured the invectives of the young man with the greatest patience and meekness. To him he wrote, March 30, 1563:

You have been unnecessarily anxious, as if I were in danger of being deceived by the devil's instruments; but thank God, I have attained to such an age, and to such knowledge and understanding of the divine Word that I am not moved about by every wind of doctrine. I would also most heartedly wish that all others, setting aside their own feelings, and the views of men, might be governed and led by God's Word alone. In other respects I acknowledge before God, as is proper, that I am a poor sinner, and I pray daily for the forgiveness of my sins, and that by the power of the Holy Ghost I may grow more and more in the knowledge of His dear Son, my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

The severest opposition to the elector and his catechism was yet to come. The emperor, Maximilian II, issued a call for a Diet at Augsburg in 1566, at which the war against the Turks was to be discussed. Thereupon several Lutheran princes, incited by their theologians, agreed, on account of his "innovation," to bring charges against the elector before the emperor and the Diet, accusing him of departure from the Augsburg Confession, and that he should, therefore, be excluded from the Religious Peace. It was rumored that it might even cost him his electorate, if not his life. With brotherly anxiety he was warned in two letters by his brother, Count-Palatine Richard of Simmern, not to go to Augsburg. Among other things Frederick said to his dearly beloved brother:

"I find consolation in the hope that the almighty power of my dear and faithful heavenly Father will use me as an instrument for the confes­sion of His name in these latter days in the holy empire of the German nation, not only by word of mouth, but also by act, as was done some time ago by my dear brother-in-law, Duke John Frederick of Saxony, elector of blessed memory. And although I do not have the presumption to compare myself with the said elector, I know on the other hand that the same God who kept him in the true knowledge of the holy gospel is still living, and is well able to preserve me, a poor, simple man, and, by the power of the Holy Ghost, will certainly do it, even if it should come to this, that blood must be spilt. And should it please my God and Father in heaven thus to honor me, I should never be able to thank Him sufficiently for it, either in time or in eternity."

In this heroic faith, Frederick went to Augsburg. There his princely opponents were stirred up by their theologians, while the Bishops of Worms and Speyer and the papal nuncio sought to influence the emperor. Frederick stood alone, but the Lord was with him. Upon the accusation of Duke Wolfgang of Zweibruecken and Christopher of Wurtemburg, his "good friends and true neighbors," the emperor ordered him to appear before the assembly on May 14, demanding of him that he set aside all the changes he had introduced into the churches, as well as the catechism, in order to prevent his being proceeded against with the utmost severity. Frederick retired from the assembly in order to prepare a defense, but soon appeared again, followed by his son, John Casimir, who as his "spiritual armor-bearer" carried after him the Bible. Not long after the Diet he wrote out the entire proceedings and his own defense, in which, among other things, he said:

With reference to matters of religion which I am called upon to change and set aside, I announce that in the sphere of faith and conscience I know but one Lord, who is the Lord of lords and King of kings; and therefore I say that this question does not pertain to 'a cap full of flesh' (i.e., his head), but to the soul and its salvation, which has been committed to me by my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and which I am in duty bound and prepared to preserve for Him. Therefore, I cannot concede to your Imperial Majesty the right of authority over it, a right which belongs to God alone, who is its creator. As far as my catechism is concerned, I am committed to it. It is fortified in the margin by proof-texts from the holy Scriptures to such an extent that it must stand immovable, and it is my hope that by the help of God it may continue so to stand. As for the rest, I comfort myself with the thought that my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has given me, together with all who believe on Him, the assured promise that everything which I shall lose for the sake of His honor or Name, shall be restored to me, in the world beyond, a hundredfold. With this I most humbly commend myself to the grace of your Imperial Majesty.

During his address, all eyes were turned upon the elector. According to an old tradition, when he had finished his speech, the Elector Augustus of Saxony approached him, and putting his hand upon his shoulder, said to him, "Frederick, thou art more pious than all of us."

So also, at the close of the session the Margrave Charles of Baden said to those standing around him, "Why do we persecute this prince? He has more piety than the whole of us!" And history has given Frederick the surname of "the Pious."

The emperor, however, was not at all satisfied with Frederick's defense. He afterwards stated in the presence of the princes, "This pest must be destroyed."

Boquinus rightly said of the elector at a later date in his Latin funeral oration, "If martyrdom consists in the righteousness of the cause, the temper of soul with which it is endured, and joyous resignation to suffering, then we may count this splendid elector among the martyrs of Christ."

Frederick left the Diet before it closed. He arrived at Heidelberg on Friday before Whitsunday, and the people received him with the greater joy because it had been rumored that he had been deposed at Augsburg, yea, even beheaded. On the following day he attended preparatory service in the Church of the Holy Spirit, and in the presence of all the people, he extended his right hand to his court-preacher, Olevianus, exhorting him to remain steadfast. On Sunday he and his family publicly partook of the Lord's Supper with the congregation.

Frederick III was a prince, by the grace of God, like whom there were but few: of eminent good sense, firm faith, dispassionate judgment, sincere piety, beloved by his people, and of blessed memory to this day. After God had preserved him many years to be a blessing to men, the hour approached for which he had been preparing himself all his lifetime. Earlier in life he suffered from the gout; in his later years he was afflicted with dropsy and suffered much pain. But the "only comfort," which sustained him earlier in conflict, now also supported him in suffering – "in life and death." On his deathbed he said to those standing around him:

I have lived long enough, both for you and the church. Now I shall be called to a better life. I have done for the church the best I possibly could, but have not accomplished a great deal. God, who can do all things, and who cared for His servants before my day, still lives and reigns in heaven. He will not leave you orphans, nor will He leave without fruit the prayers and tears which I have brought to Him on my knees in this room for my successors and for the church.

Then he said to his court-preacher, Olevianus, "The Lord may call me whenever it pleases Him. I have a clear conscience in Christ Jesus my Lord, whom I have served with all my heart; and I have lived to see that in my churches and schools the people are directed away from men to Him alone." He also said, "I have been detained long enough by the prayers of pious Christians. It is time that my earthly life should close, and that I should go to my Savior into heavenly rest." After he had directed that Psalm 31 and John 17 should be read to him, and he himself had prayed aloud, he gently fell asleep, assured of his salvation, at the age of 61 years, on October 26, 1576. Upon his tombstone was inscribed his motto: "Lord, as Thou wilt."

In his will, also, which was published by John Casimir in 1577, Frederick made express mention of his catechism in the following words: "I especially acknowledge allegiance to my published catechism and Directory of Worship, in which all the chief points of the Christian faith are explic­itly and clearly set forth in order, and many of them explained in detail."

As decisively as Frederick III was devoted to the Reformed confession, his eldest son and successor, Louis VI, held to Lutheranism. However, he lacked very much of having his father's spirit. As soon as he had come to Heidelberg from Amberg, where he had resided as governor of the Upper Palatinate, while his father's body yet remained unburied, he asserted himself most harshly by not allowing his father's faithful ministers to speak a word at the funeral, insisting that the Lutheran court-preachers, whom he had brought with him, should officiate. Anxious apprehension seized the people of the Palatinate, of whose very flesh and blood Reformed doctrine and practice had become a part. Petitions and representations of every kind, even those of his brother, John Casimir, as well as the entreaties and admonitions that his father had given to his successor in his last will, were of no avail with the new elector. He suppressed the Heidelberg Catechism, drove out six hundred Reformed ministers and schoolmasters, whom the Swiss received most kindly, and introduced Lutheranism into the entire Palatinate.

Under such circumstances, Count Palatine John Casimir could no longer remain in Heidelberg. He removed to Neustadt on the Haardt, having received Neustadt, Kaiseralautern, and Boeckelheim (with Frankenthal) as an inheritance from his father. In this territory, through his influence, the Heidelberg Catechism was retained. The title under which the book was now printed was "Catechism, or Instruc­tion in Christian Doctrine, as Conducted in the Churches and Schools of the Former Electoral, now Princely, Palatinate."

Louis was especially bitter against both of his father's spiritual advisers, Olevianus and Ursinus, and they were made to suffer his utmost displeasure.

After his dismissal, Ursinus was appointed professor in the new Reformed university which had been established at Neustadt on the Haardt as a substitute for the University of Heidelberg. Just as he had stood by the father in the defense of the catechism, so now he served the son, John Casimir. Several of his admirable defenses were published with the catechism after 1592. One such publication was on Dr. Martin Luther's interpretation of the breaking of the bread in the Lord's Supper. In this treatise there are printed on the face and on the back of the title-page two passages from Tertullian as a motto: "None but a wicked heart is offended at the good," and, "Neither time, nor human authority, nor custom, nor anything else can deprive truth of its right." The conclusion of the preface is as follows:

For ourselves we find sufficient comfort first and foremost in our own consciences, which appeal with joy and confidence from the accusations of our opponents to the just tribunal of Christ; in the next place, in the words of our Lord Jesus Himself, when He says to His disciples and to the entire church, both to warn and comfort them: 'Blessed are ye, when men shall hate, revile, and reproach you, and when they shall separate you from their com­pany, and persecute you, cast out your names as evil, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for My sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you' (Matthew 5:11; Luke 6:22). Since we find that such unjust and grievous complaining on the part of these troublesome people works great injury to the divine Word and to the churches of this section which we are called upon to serve by God's help and assistance, and grieves many pious and God-fearing Christians and disturbs many weak consciences, for these just and sufficient reasons we have felt constrained to prepare a scriptural vindication and Christian doctrine of these churches … Finally, we ask the Christian reader that each one, in the light of his own duty and for his own advantage, seek the truth with an impartial mind and avoid falsehood. And since we desire and wish nothing more than that our writings and those of our opponents be thoroughly examined in compari­son with each other and with the Word of God with all diligence, and with a sole design to know the truth; although our opponents make use of every effort and means with the authorities and with the people to have our writings torn from the hands of the people, to have them removed, and to prohibit their sale in city and country; every sensible man, therefore, may readily see which party is less afraid and anxious about its cause, and whose fault it is that Christian unity cannot be brought about through a knowledge of the truth. For if our opponents were as willing and ready as we are to search for and accept the truth by means of an amicable and impartial colloquy, we do not doubt that all dispute and dissension would soon be silenced, and the church would attain to blessed rest and peace. And we earnestly pray the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that by His Spirit of truth and peace He would move and incline all Christian hearts in this direction, for the sake of His dear Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

To the vindication of the doctrine of the catechism, which had been assailed, there is added a "conclusion in the form of an apology to Christian and peaceful people, who might think that parts of the vindication are perhaps unnecessary or too vehement." Following this the words of the church father Augustine are quoted: "That love for oneself is wicked which desires that others might be in error, in order that one's own error might be concealed."

These treatises, written with much ingenuity and ability, are rather of an apologetical than of a polemical character. Their chief aim is to prepare the people for the attacks of opponents and to establish them in the truth they had accepted.

Ursinus was not permitted to labor long in Neustadt. His vigor was exhausted by his excessive labors at Heidelberg; he was not only a professor, to whom fell the preparation of many writings, but also president of the "Sapienz-College," a theological seminary, whose only professor he was for a time, and whose economic management also depended upon him, on account of which he sometimes spoke of it in letters as his "treadmill." Over the door of his study he had placed the following inscription: "Friend, whoever thou art that enterest here, be brief, or go, or help me in my work." He was not of a contentious disposition, but sincerely loved and sought peace; at the same time he would not evade a conflict for the truth when forced upon him, however deeply it might wound his heart. He wrote to Bullinger: "From this conflict I carry a wound which I do not expect to be healed of in this life." He died May 6, 1583, only 48 years of age, and was buried in the choir of the parish church at Neustadt. His epitaph speaks of him as "a great theologian, victorious over heresies concerning the person of Christ and the Lord's Supper, endowed with great power as a speaker and a writer, a keen philosopher, a wise man, and an earnest teacher of youth."

Olevianus, after his dismissal from office at Heidelberg, was called by Count Louis of Wittgenstein, lordhigh-steward and friend of Frederick III, to Berleburg, here again to an active part in the development of the church. In the year 1584, he went to Herborn, where a Reformed univer­sity soon flourished under his direc­tion. The General Synod, over which he presided in 1586, adopted the presbyterial and synodical form of government for the districts of Nassau, Wittgenstein, Solms, and Wied. The following year he was overtaken by a critical illness, and he calmly looked forward to his end. In his last will and testament he said after introductory words:

In the first place, I thank my dear God, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, that He created me a rational creature in this world; then, in particular, that He efficaciously called me and bestowed upon me the gift of faith, that He quickened me in our only Mediator and Savior Jesus Christ, when I was dead in sin, and bestowed upon me in Him the righteousness of God through the only sacrifice of my Savior Jesus Christ, as well as the hope of glory, and that He has revealed unto me the riches of His grace, namely, that He predestinated me by grace to sonship in Christ, whence all these blessings flow, and that He has made me a partaker of the same through the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry 'Abba, Father.'

The subscription, written in his own hand, is as follows: "I, Caspar Olevianus, declare by my own signature and openly testify before the Holy Trinity that, by the help of God's Spirit and grace, I have taught, both in word and writing, the pure Christian faith, and that I, being sealed by the Holy Ghost, persevere in the same faith and doctrine by God's grace unto eternal salvation, relying on the grace which He has revealed to me in His Word. Amen, through Jesus Christ."

On his deathbed he said: "I have only learned to know in this sickness what sin is, and how great is the majesty of God, and that it is not sufficient for men only to desire companionship with God." Then he spoke of a vision he had: "Yesterday I was filled for more than an hour with unspeakable joy. It appeared to me that I was walking in a meadow resplendent with light, and while I was moving about, heavenly dew fell upon me, not in drops but in streams. Both my body and soul were filled with exceeding great joy."

His friend, John Piscator, said to him, "So the good Shepherd has led you into His green pastures?"

"Yes," he answered, "He has led me to the fountain of living water." He asked that Psalm 42, Isaiah 53, and other chapters of the Word of God be read to him, and then he exclaimed, "I would no longer post­pone my journey to the Lord. I desire to depart and be with Christ." He asked his friends who were standing at his bedside to sing the hymn "Now Pray We the Holy Ghost," he himself joining in the singing with a weak voice. Then he bade farewell to his aged mother and his friends, shaking hands with them and blessing them.

When Olevianus was at the point of death, his colleague, Alsted, approached him and said, "Dear brother, you are undoubtedly certain of your salvation in Christ, even as you have taught others?"

The dying man laid his hand upon his heart and said: "Certissimus!" i.e., "Most certain!" This was Olevianus' last word. He died March 15, 1587, in the 52^nd year of his age.

Thus the three authors of the Heidelberg Catechism lived and labored, thus they died, and both in their life and in their death they verified what they had professed.

After the death of Elector Louis VI in 1583, John Casimir, who administered the government for his nephew (subsequently the Elector Frederick IV), who was still underage, restored not only the old Directory of Worship, but also the Heidelberg Catechism in the entire Lower Palatinate, where, under the reigns of Frederick IV and Frederick V, it was again earnestly taught and was richly blessed.

A study of the history of the Heidelberg Catechism in the Palatinate reveals much persecution. We cannot, in this short presentation, include many details. The opposition to the catechism reached its climax under the reign of the Elector Charles Philip, when an attempt was made to suppress it altogether. In a proclamation issued at Heidelberg in 1719, he commanded his officers to seize, without exception, within the space of three months, all copies containing the eightieth question. The reason given was that this question was offensive to the Catholics. The catechism was not only removed from the schools, but it was also taken away from the families. Therefore the bailiff of the place went from house to house to collect the copies. The collected copies were to be delivered to the magistrates.

Another proclamation directed that the citizens in whose possession such books would thereafter be found must "pay to his gracious majesty a fine of ten florins for each copy." That the Elector's purpose was not only to prohibit its use in his own country, but, if possible, to destroy the catechism itself, is shown further by the circumstance that even the bookbinders were ordered, under the threat of punishment, to secure again and to hand over such copies as they had already sent to other countries. The copies that were collected were burned. The Catholic pulpits found pleasure in whipping the catechism with rods in the presence of the devout worshippers.

The Reformed Church Council at Heidelberg remonstrated against this, but all their efforts were in vain. The persecution continued. At Odernheim, one of Reformed persuasion was cast into prison and was given only bread and water because he would not comply with the order of the bailiff to search for copies of the catechism that were still concealed in the houses. Even the pope interfered in the matter and encouraged the elector to continue in his "praiseworthy" zeal. On the other hand, the Archbishop of Canterbury wrote a letter of encouragement to the Palatinate Consistory in the name of the Anglican Church, promising whatever assistance could be given.

The complaints against the prohibition of the catechism, and the taking away of the Church of the Holy Spirit from the Reformers and giving it to the Catholics, were finally brought before the Emperor and the Imperial Diet. The violation of the law on the part of the Elector was so apparent that even the Emperor had to decide against him, unwilling as he was. Although the Elector was ordered to permit the free use of the catechism, he endeavored in the course of the negotiation to secure from the Palatinate Consistory an alteration or modification of the language of Question 80. But the Consistory now also stood firm and declared that it was not authorized to make changes in a symbolical book of the church. Thus the Heidelberg Catechism emerged from this siege of persecution unaltered, and its use was continued for the time.

The electoral Palatinate was blotted out in the first French revolution, never to rise again. After Germany's deliverance from the French yoke, it was divided among the neighboring states. In different provinces the Palatinate Catechism remained in use, until it was displaced, like Luther's catechism, by other catechisms, yielding to the advance of Liberalism in church and state, in 1869.

The Heidelberg Catechism was first translated into the Dutch language in 1566 by Peter Datheen, and again a new translation, by C. Van der Heyden, appeared in 1580. At the Synod of Dort, at the 147^th and 148^th sessions, the resolution was passed to adopt the catechism. Dated May 1, 1619, it read as follows:

It is unanimously declared, with the heartiest approval of the foreign as well as of the Netherland theologians, that the doctrine embraced in the Palatinate Catechism is in accor­dance with the Word of God, and that it contains nothing which on the ground of dissonance with the Word of God needs to be altered or amended, and that it is also an exceedingly correct handbook of sound Christian doctrine adapted with special skill, not only to the capacity of youth, but also to adults, that therefore, it may hereafter be taught with much profit in the Netherland churches, and it must, by all means, be retained.

The catechism, however, was used before its acceptance by the Synod of Dort. It was first adopted as a book of instruction in Germany by the congregations of refugees from the Netherlands, the "Congregations of the Cross," by the Synod of Wesel, 1568, and of Emden, 1571, and thus it found its way into East Friesland, where a'Lasco's catechism had been used.

Subsequently the catechism was translated into many languages: into Greek in 1597; by order of the states of Holland into modern Greek and Spanish in 1648; into Polish and Hungarian in 1577; into Arabic and Singalese in 1741; besides into Hebrew, low Saxon, English, Scotch, French, Italian, Bohemian, and Malay.

The Heidelberg Catechism was first brought to the United States from the Palatinate by German immigrants, who, on account of the persecutions of the catechism by the Catholic electors, escaped with it across the ocean and settled, for the most part, in Pennsylvania. It was probably their descendants, who, many years later (1869) originated Ursinus College, in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, which still exists today.

In concluding the history of our beloved Heidelberg Catechism, one of the Three Forms of Unity of our Netherlands Reformed denomination, we will quote the opinions of some eminent theologians who have given it their highest praise.

Henry Bullinger (died 1575), successor to Zwingli at Zurich, wrote in 1563, soon after the appearance of the book: "The catechism of the illustrious lord and elector Frederick I have read with great interest, and in reading it I have heartily thanked God that the work which He commenced through Frederick has been crowned with success. The arrangement of the book is comprehensive; the doctrines are set forth in their purity and in accordance with the truth. Everything is clear and edify­ing. Its rich contents are put together in compact form. I am confident that no better catechism has made its appearance. God's name be praised for it. May He grant it abundant success."

David Pareus, professor at Heidelberg (died 1622), called it a "golden book," and said that "it is the general opinion of pious persons that there could scarcely be another catechism prepared that is so firmly grounded upon the Word of God, so clearly arranged, so perfectly finished, and so uniformly adapted to the intellectual capacity of adults and of youth, as is the Palatinate or Heidelberg Catechism."

The judgment of Heinrich Alting, professor at Heidelberg and later at Groningen (died 1644), was that "the Heidelberg Catechism is at the same time milk for babes and strong meat for adults."

When the delegation of English theologians returned home from the Synod of Dort, they said: "Our Reformed brethren on the continent have a small book, the Heidelberg Catechism, whose single leaves (pages) are worth more than tons of gold."

We conclude with the testimony of a German minister who is unknown to us, Max Goebel (died 1857), who wrote as follows: "The Heidelberg Catechism may be regarded in the truest sense of the word as the flower and fruit of the entire German and French Reformation. It com­bines in it Lutheran fervor, Melanchthonian clearness, Zwinglian simplicity, and Calvinian fire."

It is our sincere hope and prayer that the Lord may continue to bless this "book of comfort," not only for the edification of His people, but also for the instruction of our youth in the three things necessary to know – misery, deliverance, and gratitude – that they may live and die happily.

This brief history of the Heidelberg Catechism has been adapted for the most part from a book written by Rev. Otto Thelemann, a German Reformed minister in Detmold, Germany, and published in 1887. It is an explanation of each question in the catechism, followed by a brief history of the same. In the preface to this work, he writes: "As I stand in the fullest and most perfect accord, both from conviction and experi­ence, with the authors of the catechism, Ursinus and Olevianus, in relation to the creed of the Church, reformed according to God's Word, so my explanations of the catechism are true to the spirit and sense of their work, as is proved by the quotations from their Latin and German writings. I cite these, however, chiefly because the authors of the catechism are naturally the best, and have not yet been surpassed as interpreters of the same. At the same time the selections develop more fully the brief explanations which I have given, and will serve to restore to the church the rich inheritance which it possesses in the writings of these men."