The catechisms are means of teaching children and adult believers the faith. The best known of them is the Westminster Shorter Catechism with it's famous opening question and answer, "What is the chief end of man? - The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever." The Heidelberg is probably next to the Westminster in its popularity although it is not as familiar. There are many others, including "A Catechism" which appears in the Book of Common Prayer.

Creeds, confessions and catechisms are not a substitute for Scripture, nor does their authority rival that of God's word. The creeds are maps to help us find our way through God's revelation in Scripture. If there is a contradiction between a catechism and the Bible we say that the catechism is in error, just as we would a map if it did not correspond to the place when we got there.

The Heidelberg Catechism is an early reformed confession which dates back to 1559 in the town of the same name. It was commissioned by Frederick III and written by Caspar Olevianus and Zacharias Ursinus. The latter probably had the main part in the work. It was undertaken in the atmosphere of doctrinal controversy concerning the sacrament of the Lord's Supper between the Lutherans and Calvinists. The intention was to clearly refute the Lutheran doctrine of consubstantiation which may be likened to Roman Catholic teaching concerning the transforming of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ (called transubstantiation). As a result of this background the Catechism devotes what we might regard as a disproportionate space to the sacraments. Nevertheless, the remainder is a most marvellously balanced statement of evangelical teaching.

The difference between the Westminster and Heidelberg Catechisms is that the former is more theoretical and the latter, pastoral. This is in evidence in the contrast between the first question in the Westminster quoted above and that in the Heidelberg: "What is thy only comfort in life and in death? - That I with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own, but belong unto my faithful Saviour..."

As is the case with other catechisms, the Apostles Creed, the Ten Commandments and the Lord's Prayer are included and expounded as substantial parts of the instruction. There are three main parts to the content. Following the first two introductory questions, there are sections which deal with man's GUILT, God's GRACE, and our duty of GRATITUDE. The first is the shortest and, rightly, the second the longest section. These are the three things which we need to study if we are to know the comfort of the Gospel. This three-fold division has also been the order adopted in reformed patterns of worship: we confess our guilt, reflect on God's grace and then express gratitude. This is surely a most evangelical approach which allows the believer to rehearse the Gospel at every service and declares the message to the unconverted that come among us.

Usually the Heidelberg Catechism is printed with the questions divided up into fifty-two Lord's days of the year. The idea was that each week a section of the Catechism would be explained to the members of the church at a service. This being done year in year out people would come to have a very firm grasp of the teaching. Of course, the text itself was expected to be learnt by heart - at least the answers were to be memorised with proof texts. This is still done by a few. We have witnessed young people of the Presbyterian Church of America accurately reciting answers and the relevant Bible verses.

The Catechism has been translated into more languages than any other work apart from the Bible, Thomas a Kempis Imitation of Christ and John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. It was popular in every reformed church in the early days. Even after the writing of the Westminster Catechism, it retained influence even in Scotland which has been so dominated by the Westminster standards (the Westminster Confession, Westminster Catechisms and Westminster Directory of Worship). Today it is mainly used by the Dutch reformed churches in the Netherlands and in the United States.