Heidelberg Castle
In 1563 the Lord blessed His church with a remarkably clear and warm-hearted statement of biblical Christianity. The Heidelberg Catechism was written by two men in their twenties, yet it has served as a book of comfort to the international Reformed movement for four-and-a-half centuries. It is doctrinal, experiential, Christ-centered, and practical.
Let me invite you to two opportunities to make use of its historic 450th anniversary to enrich yourself personally and spiritually.
This winter, on January 18–19, 2013, Canadian Reformed Seminary in Hamilton, Ontario will host a special conference on the Heidelberg Catechism. Lyle Bierma, Herman Selderhuis, Jason van Vliet, and I will speak about the rich heritage we have in the catechism.
This summer, on July 11–19, 2013, Dr. Van Vliet and I will lead The Legacy of the Reformation Tour through Germany and the Netherlands. In addition to learning more about the history and doctrines of the Reformation, you will enjoy delightful scenic excursions to the Het Loo palace and gardens, the Bad Bentheim castle, the Gothic Dom church in Cologne, a cruise on the Rhine River, and, of course, Heidelberg Castle.
Those interested may also register for the Heidelberg Conference on Reformed Theology from July 18–21, 2013. It will be a fitting way to cap off our tour through Europe to Heidelberg. Speakers include Lyle Bierma, Michael Horton, Jason Van Vliet, Jon Payne, Victor d’Assonville, Sebastian Heck, and myself.
Dr. Beeke,
What modern translation in English of the Heidlberg Catechism would you recommend?
Yours in our Lord,
Mike Neeley
Yelm, Wa
I should probably have asked this a few days ago when you were talking about the NCFIC, which featured several cospeakers who are reconstructionists/theonomists (as seem to do all their conferences). I have been looking at “a Puritan Theology” and don’t see that you seem to discuss whether theonomy was held by a sector of the British puritans, in the sense of the mosaic civil laws still being literally applicable to all societies (rather than just extracting general moral principles from those laws). Was there an argument going on back then about this topic? But I may have missed it, it is a long book. Frankly I can’t see eg. Owen advocating this from what I have read of him, although he was politically powerful. Theonomists love to point at Cromwell; did he really want to bring back Mosaic civil laws? And how would the authors of the Heidelberg confession stand on this? To me most theonomists are way off base, obtusely missing some of the important discontinuities between the 2 covenants. You discuss the puritans various senses of the continuity between the 2 covenants, but do not bring up this issue of mosaic civil laws as far as I can see.