January 2 – LD 1, Day 2: The Personal Approach of the Catechism
by Prof Herman Hanko
Romans 11:5, 6; Ephesians 2:8, 9
The Heidelberg Catechism
has a very attractive feature about it: It is personal and experiential. It
does not discuss the truths of Scripture from an abstract and impersonal way,
such as one might find in a Dogmatics;
it speaks directly to the believer and insists that the believer answer out of
his own experience. Notice the very first question: “What is thy
only comfort in life and death.”
This personal approach to
the truth of Scripture means that the believer who answers these questions
always looks at the truth from the viewpoint of the blessedness that truth has
for him.
The Heidelberg Catechism
has as its theme, “Comfort.” Added to the personal approach of the Catechism,
is the great theme of the comfort the truth means to the believer. The truth is
comforting and the believer is asked to explain how each truth is indeed of
comfort to him.
Comfort is sorely needed
by the believer. This world of sin and death, of sickness and pain, of sorrow
and grief, of trouble and heartache, is hungry for something that will comfort
him. My mother, sick all her life, often said, “The best of
life is nothing but weariness and sorrow.”
The Roman Catholic
Church, out of which God’s people came at the time of the Reformation, could
find no comfort in masses and candles, fastings and
ceremonies, purgatory and penance. The theology of the Roman Catholic Church
was one of saving one’s self through the prescribed rituals of the church. But
there was no comfort in it. Martin Luther tried in his years as a monk, but
could not find peace though he was the most rigid observer of the church’s
rules. The problem was that
Imagine what a startling
message the Reformer brought to