With their movement rapidly gaining power, Protestant reformers knew they had to ensure that their followers could hold their ground in a volatile religious environment. In the mid-16th century, a German lord sympathetic to the movement commissioned the composition of a new Protestant Catechism for his territory. The resulting text—the Heidelberg Catechism—has served as a foundational document in Reformed Christianity ever since. In its current revised form, the Catechism consists of 129 questions and answers that fall under three main categories: the misery of man, the redemption of man, and the gratitude due from man.

Kathleen O'Bannon
CCEL Staff