the Presbyterian churches in Scotland, England, and America. They follow these various churches
to all their missionary fields in heathen lands, and have been translated into many languages.
They are essentially agreed in the fundamental doctrines of catholic and evangelical religion.
They teach the articles of the Apostles’ Creed, the Ten Commandments, and the Lord’s Prayer;
that is, all that is necessary for a man to believe and to do in order to be saved. They thus exhibit
the harmony of the chief branches of orthodox Protestant Christendom.
But they also differ, and reflect the peculiar genius and charisma of these churches. The
Lutheran Catechism is the simplest, the most genial and childlike; the Heidelberg Catechism, the
fullest and the richest for a more mature age; the Anglican Catechism, the shortest and most churchly,
though rather meagre; the Westminster Catechism, the clearest, precisest, and most logical. The
first three are addressed to the learner as a church-member, who answers the questions from his
present or prospective experience. The Westminster Catechism is impersonal, and gives the answers
in the form of a theological definition embodying the question. The first two breathe the affectionate
heartiness and inwardness which are characteristic of German piety; the other two reflect the sober
and practical type of English and Scotch piety. The Lutheran and Anglican Catechisms begin with
the Ten Commandments, and regard the law in its preparatory mission as a schoolmaster leading
to Christ. The other catechisms begin with an exposition of the articles of faith, and proceed from
faith to the law as a rule of Christian life, which the Heidelberg Catechism represents as an act of
gratitude for the salvation obtained (following in its order the Epistle to the Romans, from sin to
redemption, and from redemption to a holy life of gratitude). Luther adheres to the Roman division
of the Decalogue, and abridges it; the others give the better division of the Jews and the Greek
Church, with the full text. The Lutheran and Anglican Catechisms assign to the sacraments an
independent place alongside of the Commandments, the Creed, and the Lord’s Prayer; while the
Heidelberg and Westminster Catechisms incoporate them in the exposition of the articles of faith.
The former teach baptismal regeneration, and Luther also the corporeal real presence, and private
confession and absolution; the latter teach the Calvinistic theory of the sacraments, and ignore
private confession and absolution. The Anglican Thirty-nine Articles, however, likewise teach the
Reformed view of the Lord’s Supper. The Westminster Catechism departs from the catholic tradition
by throwing the Apostles’ Creed into an appendix, and substituting for the historical order of
revelation a new logical scheme; While all the other catechisms make the Creed the basis of their,
doctrinal expositions.^735
The difference is manifest in the opening questions and answers, which we give here in
parallel columns: —
luther’s catechism
The First Commandment.
Thou shalt have no other gods.
What does this mean?
We should hear and love God, and trust in Him, above all things
The Second [Third] Commandment.
Thou shalt not take the name of thy God in vain.
What does this mean?
(^735) For a fuller comparison, see Schaff, Creeds of Christendom, I. 543 sqq.