Heidelberg Catechism Project

CREED AND CULTUS: WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE RELATION OF THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM TO THE PALATINATE LITURGY.

Br H. HARBAUGH. D.D.,
LEBANON, PA.

Our Saviour carries forward in His Church, and hy her ministrations, His threefold remedial office of Prophet, Priest, and King. These offices, which existed in the Old Testament economy in separate persons, were united and fulfilled in Him; and by Him they are perpetuated in His body, the Church, in which He lives on in His fulness, as the perennial source of grace and salvation to all men.

As in Christ, so in His Church, prophet, priest, and king are not three separate offices, but one office in a threefold form. They are all embodied in one and the same Christian minister. Their functions unite in his ministrations in every complete divine service. He is a prophet in his pulpit teaching, a priest in the altar service, and a king in the exercise of the power of the keys. The Church fulfils its functions only as it carries forward in its bosom this threefold ministration in unity and symmetry. In the due use of this threefold function consists its true, free, and proper cultus.

Thus the Church must ever embrace in its remedial activities the threefold interest of Creed, Ritual, and Government, as these find expression in Confession or Catechism, Liturgy, and Code of Laws. Hence, Church History is made up of doctrine, worship, and government; and these three, like the divine offices of prophet, priest, and king which underlie them, are one. They complement and energize one another. They must be consistent with each other. There must ever be an inward harmony between them. As one is honored, all are honored; as one suffers, all suffer with it.

It may be easily shown, from the history of the Church, that a failure to use these three functions in its ministrations, each in its due degree and proportion, has always wrought evil tendencies and produced disastrous results in the general cultus of the Church. Previous to the Reformation the prophetic office had not its full, free honor and exercise; when, as a consequence, the priestly office grew arrogant, and the kingly tyrannical. Since the Reformation, in the Protestant Church the tendency has been the other way. The prophetic office has been plied beyond its proportion, while the priestly and kingly have suffered corresponding undervaluation, neglect, and tacit dishonor.

When the Church falls back in the due exercise of either of these offices, those which are unduly plied in consequence will themselves ultimately suffer, — on the principle that a disease in one vital organ of the body, though it may for a time throw the pressure of a forced activity upon others, will at length reduce all to its own level of weakness and morbid action. Hence it will be found that those branches of the Church which start out without Liturgy start out also without Catechism; and those which lose their Liturgy in a gradual neglect of the proper priestly function, in the same process of defection, also suffer their Catechism to fall into disuse; whilst the kingly function, at the same time, loses its nerve and vitality. The use and honor of the Creed in the priestly office of worship is the measure of its use in the prophetic office; the use of the power and virtue of the keys in the priestly office of binding and loosing, in the liturgical absolution, is the measure of their honor and power in the kingly functions of discipline and government. What God has joined together for good, man cannot sunder without evil.

In the history of our holy religion, as exhibited in the Old Testament and the New, the prophetic office ever points toward, sets forth, and defines the priestly and kingly offices, determines their character, demands their proper exercise, detects deviations, and presents the test for discrepancies and inconsistencies. The creed of a Church must ever perform the same service. Its worship “in spirit” must ever be a worship “in truth,”—that is, according to a true ritual,—as well as a worship “decent and in order;” and both of these interests can only be properly directed and conserved by its prophetic or teaching function. Creed determines worship and discipline. As is the Catechism, so is the Liturgy and so is the Government.

The relation which the kingly office, as represented in government, sustains to the prophetic and priestly offices, is intimate and important. It is required to stand in full consistency and harmony with the other two offices by a necessary law of relation. This part of the general subject we must, however, here pass by; devoting our present discussion to the relation which the prophetic and priestly offices sustain to each other.

Confining our inquiry to the Reformed Church, and taking the Heidelberg Catechism as its doctrinal standard, we propose to exhibit and explain the relation which this standard sustains to its correlative department of ritual; or to show what kind of cultus and worship is required by, and consistent with, the Heidelberg Catechism.

We shall have to begin with a historical inquiry. With what kind of cultus and worship was the Heidelberg Catechism originally associated in the bosom of the Palatinate Church, to which it owes its origin ?

The Heidelberg Catechism and the Palatinate Liturgy rose together out of the same reformatory movement in the Palatinate under Frederick III. The want of a settled faith, which led to the production of the Catechism in 1568, called forth in the same year the Liturgy which it was designed should provide for and represent the worship of the Church as the Catechism did its doctrine, and be, as Gobel says, “a part of it.” Hence the Heidelberg Catechism was printed in full in the Liturgy as a part of it, and is variously referred to in its rubrics. Much of its language is also embodied in its offices, in the way of free allusion; and the second prayer for the Service of the Lord’s Day is compiled of the very language of the Catechism, as found in its answers expository of the Lord’s Prayer. This Liturgy was the guide of worship in the Palatinate, so far as it was Reformed, for nearly two centuries: editions of it, some with slight changes, having been published in 1567, 1585, 1587, 1601, 1655, 1685, 1704, 1724, 1763.

In his preface to the Liturgy, dated at Mosbach, November 15, 1563, the Prince Frederick HI. informs us that as he had, the previous January, published a Catechism to promote purity and uniformity in doctrine among his subjects, so now, in order that the same end might be attained “aa regards the Ceremonies, the administration of the Holy Sacraments, and other Church Services,” in which hitherto not a little diversity had been felt and found, he had now, ” through his most prominent Theologians, Superintendents, Ministers, and other pious, learned men and counsellors, caused a Liturgy to be prepared and printed, according to which form the ministers shall uniformly regulate themselves in the preaching of the word, the administration of the Holy Sacraments, and other services. We require, accordingly, herewith, of all and each of you, and graciously enjoin upon you, that you be stirred up to receive our Liturgy and follow the same with earnest industry.” To Olevianus was intrusted the preparation of -this work, some time in the year 1562. A Synod, composed of the superintendents and the most prominent ministers, carefully reviewed it in all its particulars. The preparatory work of Olevianus met with decided favor in ?the Synod. Several timid ones, who were still inclined to vacillate, received no countenance. Only the offices for the administration of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper were somewhat abridged.* On the 25th of October, 1563, Olevianus was enabled to write to Bullinger that the Lit? urgy was finished, had received the approbation of the prince and his council, and was then in press.

It does not appear tViat any copies of the first edition of this Liturgy are now extant. Dr. Daniel, in his Codex Liturgicus, gives the Palatinate forms from the edition of 1585. “Collata est editio anno 1585 typis excusa,” is his note, vol. iii. p. 65. Dr. Ebrard says he has in his possession a copy of the edition of 1585, and also an exact reprint of the same published in 1704. From this it would appear that neither of these prominent Liturgists had access to the original edition of 1563, though the edition of 1585 is an exact reprint of it. This edition of 1585 was in use in the Palatinate Churches till 1601; when it was again issued by the Prince Palatine Frederick IV., “who, at the instance of his counsellors and principal theologians, after it had been in a few places improved and explained,f ordered it to be republished.” In the reign of Prince Palatine Charles, when “but very few copies could any longer be had,” he ordered it to be “printed anew;” from which words we may judge that it was an exact reprint, not of the edition of 1585, but of the “improved” edition of Frederick IV. This edition of Prince Charles bears date January 29, 1684.

Thus far the changes in the successive (editions are slight. In the later editions, however, the original work seems to have been subject to more important changes. In comparing these—as, for instance, the copies known in this country—with the parts given by Daniel from the edition of 1585, we find that some rubrics are .omitted, some enlarged, some changed. In the opening of the regular Lord’s Day service, the old greeting—”Grace, peace, and mercy,” &c.—is omitted; the Lord’s Prayer is placed after the Confession and Absolution, whereas in the original the general prayer immediately succeeds. In the Baptismal Service an important rubric is omitted; two introductory paragraphs are added; and, what is far more important, that old prayer which in old editions alludes to the Flood and to the passage of the children of Israel through the Red Sea as prefiguring Holy Baptism (as in our New Liturgy, p. 204) has this part omitted, which changes the entire character of the prayer. In the sacramental services important rubrics are omitted, and other changes made. The services for the sick and dying are very much changed. This will answer as a specimen of these changes. No doubt a comparison of the rest of the offices would reveal similar ones.

In the formation of the Palatinate Liturgy, considerable use was made of the Netherland Liturgy. During the reign of Frederick HI., 1559-1576, the Heidelberg Reformers of that time, Ursinus, Olevianus, and Tremellio, stood in cooperation with De Lasky, who had prepared a Liturgy for the Netherland congregation in London, 1550, and which was afterward published in an abridged form by Martin Micronius, at Emden, “for the Nctherland congregations in Christ.” This work of De Lasky, itself based on a Liturgy prepared in 1549 by Polanus, pastor of the “Walloon Church in Strasburg, became also the basis of the Liturgy which, at the establishment of the Reformed Church of the Netherlands, was constructed by Dathenus, 1566, adopted for the use of the Netherland Churches, at the Synod of Wesel, 1568, and at the Synod of Emdeu, 1571, for the use of Churches of the Lower Rhine, which was also gradually introduced, and is still in use. Owing to the relation in which De Lasky stood to the Reformers of the Palatinate, Dr. Ebrard thinks that from 1560 forward his Liturgy may have exerted an influence on the cultus of the Palatinate, which at that time does not seem to have had a Liturgy of its own, and states that reference was had to it and use made of it in the formation of the Palatinate Liturgy,.and adds that the Palatinate Liturgy “is at bottom only a remodelling of the Netherlaud Liturgy.” Use was, however, also made of Calvin’s Genevan Liturgy of 1543, though, in form, only to a limited extent.

To what extent the Netherland Liturgy is used in the Palatinate appears from a comparison. The Baptismal Service, as a general whole, and even also in single parts, agrees verbally with that of the Netherland, but it is fuller. The Form of Preparation for the Lord’s Supper is new, and is wanting in the Netherland Liturgy. The Form for the Administration of the Lord’s Supper agrees word for word with that of the Netherlaud Liturgy, taken from the abridgment of Micronius. The Confession does not follow the text of the Netherland Liturgy, but that of the French. The Absolution and prayer after the sermon are new. The prayer which in the Netherland Liturgy comes after the weekday sermon is here found as the prayer after the afternoon sermon. The prayers before and after catechetical instruction are new. The Netherlaud prayer after the principal sermon is here found as Prayer for a Day of Prayer, but in an abridged form. The Morning and Evening Prayer are identical with those of the Netherland Liturgy; the first enlarged. The Form for Marriage is the same as that in the Netherland Liturgy, only somewhat abridged. The Forms for the Visitation of the Sick, the Dying, and the Prisoners are new, as also is the Form for the Burial of the Dead.

The fact thus brought to light by Dr. Ebrard that the Palatinate Liturgy has prevailingly a Dutch or Netherland origin, in connection with the additional fact that Calvin’s Liturgy was also made use of in its construction, explains an important peculiarity of it,—namely, its somewhat heavy, stiff, didactic features, and its deficiency in liturgical glow and, devotional warmth. In these features it differs in a marked manner from the spirit of the Heidelberg Catechism, as all acknowledge, just as the rigid Calvinistic scholasticism of the so-called Commentary of TJrsinus differs from the free, warm, practical, devotional fervor of the Catechism itself. Hence, even in the Palatinate, it has long since gone out of use, as having the radical defect which characterizes all liturgies produced from the stand-point and in the spirit of the old Calvinism.

The Palatinate Liturgy makes full provision for all the services of the Church, and in its rubrics points out distinctly and definitely how the newly reformed public worship shall be conducted. Dr. Ebrard says that in the preparation and introduction of this Liturgy Frederick HI. has not made any substantial change in the worship of the Palatinate, but rather enriched than simplified the divine service.* It is necessary to present, as briefly as possible, the contents of this Liturgy, that we may have before us a picture of the Churches as they worshipped in the Palatinate. This Liturgy is divided into four parts.

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I. OF DOCTRINE.

Under this head it furnishes us the matter indicated by the following subdivisions:—

1. Regulation for sermons, whence they are to be derived, and what end they are to hold in view. Here we arc taught that all sermons are to be drawn from the canonical Scriptures, but that the order of the Catechism shall be followed by the ministers in their preaching.

In the Preface to the first edition it is ordered: “The ministers shall not of themselves undertake to explain any book of the Holy Scriptures without the counsel and previous knowledge of their Superintendents, who shall then see to it that the books of the New Testament, which are most profitable to the common people and most edifying to the Churches, are in preference presented and explained on Sundays.” There is added, says Daniel, in the edition of 1585, in which the same order is repeated, what approaches more nearly to the Lutheran customs: “Otherwise, generally, the Sunday Gospels, as they are called, shall remain. Still, the people shall be reminded what the gospel is, and that the same is to be found in Paul no less than in the Evangelists.”

2. General introduction to all sermons. Here the minister is instructed always to begin thus :—

” Grace, peace, and mercy, from God the Father, and His beloved Son Jesus Christ, our Lord, and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, be with us all. Amen.”

Or thus:—

” The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.”

Then follows an “Exhortation to prayer, to be used occasionally by the Minister before the sermon, especially on “Weekdays.” This occupies the same place, and is to the same purpose, as the address which introduces the Confession of Sin in the Lord’s Day Service of the Provisional Liturgy. It closes with the Lord’s Prayer.

3. Regulations for preaching on Sundays. A sermon shall be preached on every Sunday morning at eight o’clock, in all cities, towns, and villages, which, as all other sermons, shall not exceed an hour in length: the sermon shall be introduced by one of the forms prescribed as above, and closed by a prayer designated. A catechetical discourse shall be delivered every Sunday afternoon. So important was this service regarded that, ” in larger towns and cities, where two sermons are delivered in one afternoon,” before the beginning of the first sermon, and after singing and prayer, “the Summary of the Catechism, together with the texts of the five principal parts, shall be distinctly read to the people, when half an hour shall be employed in explaining several questions of the Summary,” after which the youth shall be examined on the questions explained. “In the other service, to be held toward evening, the principal points of Christian doctrine contained in the Catechism shall be explained somewhat more fully and in detail, for the benefit of the adults aud the aged. The introduction shall be the same as in the case of other sermons, namely, the prescribed greeting, singing, and prayer.” The conclusion shall be made with the prayer provided for the catechetical service. ” In the country, however, where only one service is held in the afternoon, the youth shall assemble at the second ringing of the bell, to be examined and catechized; when this has been done, the bell shall be rung the third time, that the whole congregation may come together. Then, as an introduction, after singing and prayer, the Summary of the Catechism, together with the texts, shall be read; after which half an hour may be spent in explaining several questions.” The service shall be concluded ” with the usual prayer.”

4. Sermons on Weekdays. In every city or large town, two sermons shall be preached during the week, namely, on Wednesda}’ and Friday; and in villages, one on “Wednesday, or some other suitable day. German Psalms and Hymns shall be sung both before and after sermon; and the service shall be concluded ” with the particular prayers designated under the proper head.”

5. The first “Wednesday of every month shall be observed as a special day of prayer, when ” both young and old, men and women, and servants, shall, as far as possible, meet together according to the special proclamation made.” A suitable sermon shall be delivered; “before and after the sermon, penitential Psalms shall be sung, and the service shall then be closed with the prayer designated for such occasions.”

6. Sermons on Festivals and Holy-days. ” On Christmas and the day following, the basis of our salvation, namely, the Incarnation of the eternal Son of God, and the personal union of the two natures in Christ, shall be explained, together with the benefits flowing to us therefrom, as all this is contained in the Second Part of the Catechism.” On the Sunday between Christmas and New Year, being the time when new elders are elected, a sermon shall be preached on the duties of the elder’s office. On Easter-day and the Monday following, the history of the resurrection of Christ shall be the subject of the sermon; it shall also be shown how His resurrection is related to our own. In order that the history of Christ’s resurrection may be better understood, and that the people may derive more profit therefrom, ministers shall begin to explain the history of the sufferings and resurrection of Christ on the Sunday Invocavit,—which is the first Sunday in Lent,—and continue until Easter. On the Festival of the Ascension, the minister shall preach on the ascension of Christ, His sitting at the right hand of God, and His coming to judge the quick and the dead. On Whitsuntide and the Monday following, the second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles shall furnish the subject of preaching.

7. Morning and Evening Service. ” In all the larger towns, on all weekdays, the people shall be assembled every morning, and, without singing, have a chapter of the sacred Scriptures distinctly read to them, the substance of which, together with such of the principal doctrines therein contained as are most profitable for comfort, exhortation, and instruction, shall be briefly and simply pointed out. This shall be followed by the regular Morning Prayer in connection with the Lord’s Prayer; the whole service not to be extended much over half an hour.”

” In like manner, every evening, the minister shall conduct a similar service at a suitable hour, reading a chapter, explaining and improving it as above, and concluding with the Evening Prayer, in connection with the Lord’s Prayer.”

8. On the afternoon of the day preceding the administration of the Lord’s Supper, a sermon shall he delivered on the benefits and the right observance of the same. At the same time also a true Christian self-examination shall be instituted, according to the directions which the minister shall find in the Catechism, and in the formulary for administering the Lord’s Supper. On this occasion the Evening Prayer for the day may be omitted.

9, 10. The Catechism and Catechization. Here the nature and use of a Catechism, and the reasons for diligently catechizing the young, are carefully explained. In addition to the catechetical services to be held every Sunday afternoon, it is also directed ” that in all villages and smaller towns, on all Sundays on which the Lord’s Supper is not celebrated, the minister before the sermon , shall distinctly and clearly read from the pulpit several questions of the Catechism, so that the entire Catechism may be publicly read at least twice in each year.”

11. Then follows a synopsis of the Heidelberg Catechism, in twenty-five questions and answers, under the three heads of Sin and Misery, Our Deliverance from Sin, and the Gratitude due to God for our deliverance.

12. Passages of Holy Scripture, whereby every one may see, in any station, age, or condition, what his calling requires him to do. These passages are arranged under the heads of Kings and Princes; Councils, Officers, Counsellors, and Judges; Subjects; Ministers, Elders, and Deacons; Hearers; Schoolmasters, Schoolmistresses, and Scholars; Married persons in general; Husbands, Wives, Parents,

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Children, Masters and Mistresses, Servants and Handmaids; the Aged and the Young; the Rich and the Poor; closing

with General Passages.

n.

OF PUBLIC PRAYER.

After a rubric directing that ” before the Morning Sermon, especially on Sunday, Holy-days, and Fast-days, the following prayer shall be used,” the full service for the Lord’s day is given. After the greeting,—Grace, peace, and mercy, &c.—the opening prayer includes the following parts:—Confession of sin, followed by petitions for pardon, sanctification, and for grace rightly to understand and appropriate the word of God, closing with the Lord’s Prayer. Then follows the sermon. After the sermon follow the Confession and Absolution, introduced by this rubric: “On Sundays, after the Morning Sermon,* the minister shall say:—

” Beloved In The Lord :—Since in the commandments of God we see, as in a glass, how great and manifold our sins are, on account of which we deserve temporal and eternal punishment, let us heartily confess the same to our faithful Father.

” Therefore say with me thus:—

” I, a poor sinner, confess before Thee, my God and Creator, that I have grievously and in manifold ways sinned against Thee, not only by gross outward sins, but much more through inward natural blindness, unbelief, doubts, despondency, impatience, pride, covetousness, secret envy, hatred, malice; these, and other sinful affections, which Thou, my Lord and God, seest in me, and which, alas! I cannot with sufficient humility deplore, I repent of and bewail before Thee, and heartily beseech Thee for Thy mercy through Thy beloved Son Jesus Christ. Amen.

” Then shall the Minister announce to the believing the forgiveness of sins, and to the impenitent the judgment of God, saying:—

” Hearken now unto the sure comfort of the grace of God, which, in His Gospel, He promises to all believers.

“Thus saith the Lord Jesus Christ (St. John iii. 16): God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

” Unto as many of you, therefore, as abhor themselves and their sins, and trust that, through the merits of Jesus Christ alone, they are all forgiven them, and have resolved more and more to die unto sin, and to serve the Lord in true holiness and righteousness: to them, because they believe in the Son of the living God, I announce, by the command of God, that they are released in Heaven from all their sins, as He has promised in His holy word, through the perfect satisfaction of the most holy passion and death of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

” But unto as many among you as have still pleasure in their sins and shame, or continue in sin against their conscience, I announce, by the command of God, that the wrath and judgment of God abides upon them, and that all their sins are retained in Heaven; and that they cannot be released from eternal damnation, unless they be converted.

” Inasmuch as we now doubt not that we and our prayers, are sanctified by the sufferings of Jesus Christ, and acceptable before God, let us heartily call upon him, and say:—

“Our Father, who art in heaven, &c.”

This Confession and Absolution is then followed by the “Prayer for Sunday Morning after the Sermon,” for which two forms are given, either of which may be used. The first prayer contains the following parts in a kind of collect form:—Thanksgiving for bodily and spiritual mercies; petitions for the benefits to be derived from tbe word of God; for the civil authorities; for the fruits of the earth; for all men, especially for persecuted brethren, and for all in affliction. The second prayer is an enlargement of the successive petitions of the Lord’s Prayer. Both prayers conclude with the Lord’s Prayer. Then the minister says: “Praise the Lord in your singing.” After the singing the minister pronounces the Benediction: “The Lord bless thee, and keep thee,” &c.

This part of the Liturgy then proceeds to furnish the following forms:—The prayer to be used after the sermon on the Catechism; two prayers to be used after the sermon on weekdays; a prayer for special days of Fasting and Prayer. Then follow the prayers for the Festival days of the Church-year; prayer for Christmas after the sermon; prayer for New-Year’s’day; prayer for Good Friday; prayer for Easter after the sermon; prayer for Ascension day after the sermon; prayer for Whitsuntide after the sermon; two prayers for the daily Morning and Evening Service.

in.

ON THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE HOLY SACRAMENTS.

1. HOLY BAPTISM.

The children shall be brought to the church to be baptized. The most suitable time for the administration of this sacrament is Sunday, Holy-days, or at times in the week when the congregation is assembled. Care shall be taken that those presenting themselves as sponsors shall not be light and frivolous persons. It is most of all important that the views of the nature and efficacy of Baptism which underlie and reign in this baptismal service should be here exhibited. What efficacy is attributed to the sacramental mystery* may be best seen from the prayer which immediately precedes the sacramental act, together with the one that immediately follows. The first will show in what state the child is regarded as being before its baptism, what it is believed to need, and what is expected and desired in its behalf in the “mystery of baptism.” The prayer is as follows:—

“O Almighty, everlasting God, who, according to Thy strict judgment, didst punish the unbelieving and impenitent world by the Flood, but in Thy great mercy didst save believing Xoah: and didst overthrow Pharaoh with all his host in the Eed Sea; but didst lead Thy people Israel through on dry ground: whereby this Baptism was prefigured; through Thy boundless mercy, we beseech Thee, look graciously upon this, Thy child; by Thy Holy Spirit engraft it into Thy Son Jesus Christ, that it may be buried with Him in His death, also arise with Him in a new life, in which following Him daily it may cheerfully bear its cross, cleave to Him with a true faith, a steadfast hope, and fervent charity, that for Thy sake it may gladly forsake this life, which at best is nothing but a death, and appear at the last day without terror before the judgment-seat of Christ Thy Sou; through the same our Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son, who with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, liveth and reigneth forever. Amen.”

What is meant by the destruction of the unbelieving and impenitent world by the Flood, and the saving out of it of Xoah and his family,* the overthrow of Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea, and the safe bringing through of God’s people,—as prefiguringthis sacramental mystery,—cannot be misunderstood. The subject of baptism, it is believed and taught, will be rescued from the perishing world by being transferred into the ark of Christ’s Church, and thus be “saved by water: the like figure whereunto, even baptism, doth also now save us;” it is believed and taught that as Israel, passing the Red Sea, was transferred from the Egypt- ward to the Canaan-ward side, and thus divided from their enemies, so in baptism we are delivered from the old state of bondage and the pursuit of our old enemies, sin and the devil, and have our feet firmly placed on the vantage- ground of deliverance, where, though there be still a long and weary road to travel, and enemies to harass, the covenant-pillar now turns its bright-shining side toward us and its dark-frowning side toward our old enemies, at the same time moving on before us and dividing between us and them.

What they regarded as the state of the child after the sacramental mystery had been accomplished in its behalf, and what they believed was bestowed on it and confirmed to it through and in Holy Baptism, may be seen from the prayer immediately following upon the act of Baptism. It runs thus:—

“Almighty, merciful God and Father, we render Thee praise and thanks, that, through the blood of Thy beloved Son Jesus Christ, Thou hast forgiven us and our children all our sins, and through Thy Holy Spirit hast received us as members of Thine only-begotten Son, and thus also as Thy children, and hast sealed and confirmed to us all this| by Holy Baptism; we also beseech Thee, through the same Thy beloved Son, that Thou wouldst at all times govern this child by Thy Holy Spirit, that it may be brought up in a Christian and godly way, and grow and increase in the Lord Jesus Christ, that it may confess Thy Fatherly goodness and mercy which Thou hast shown to it and us all, live in all righteousness under our only Teacher, King, and High- Priest Jesus Christ, valiantly war against and prevail over sin, the devil, and his entire kingdom,* and exalt and praise Thee, and Thy Son Jesus Christ, together with the Holy Ghost, the only true God, forever. Amen.”

In this prayer the fact is recognized that through Baptism the child has received the forgiveness of sin, has been received as a member of Christ, made the child of God; all of which has been sealed and confirmed to it by Holy Baptism. Standing thus in the grace of Christ, it is asked, not that it may be brought into, but that it may be brought up in, a Christian and godly way; not that it may be united with Him, but that it may “grow and increase in the Lord Jesus Christ.” And so on, in all the rest of the prayer, it is assumed that the child stands now in grace, from which vantage-ground it is to “confess God’s fatherly goodness and mercy,” live righteously under the benefits of Christ’s prophetic, priestly, and kingly offices, war successfully against, and overcome, all its enemies, and exalt and praise God forever.

In another part of the service, speaking of the obligations that rest on us as baptized persons, it is said, “We promise God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, that by Hia grace we will acknowledge and confess Him alone as our only true and living God, call upon Him alone in all need, and live as obedient children, as this new birth requires,” which must be followed by a conversion of the entire life.f It is further taught that when a baptized person falls into sin through weakness, he shall recall his baptism, and by it arouse himself to seek forgiveness of Christ, ” and firmly believe that, for the sake of Christ’s shed blood, those sins shall nevermore be remembered before God, inasmuch as Holy Baptism is an undoubted witness that we have an everlasting covenant with God, and that we are baptized in the living fountain of the everlasting mercy of the Father, and the most holy Passion and death of Jesus Christ, through the power of the Holy Ghost.”

2. The Lord’s Supper.

It is directed that the Lord’s Supper shall be administered in the larger towns at least once a month, and in villages once in two months, and in either case always on Christmas, Easter, and Whitsuntide. As the edification of the Church may require, it is Christian and right to celebrate it oftener. The minister shall always give notice of the solemnity a week previous, exhorting the’ congregation to prepare for it; also that they may meanwhile instruct such of their children as are to receive the sacrament for the first time, that they may be presented on the following Saturday, or on some previous suitable day, to the minister, that he may further direct them.

On Saturday before the Holy Communion the Preparatory Service shall be held, according to the form prescribed for that occasion. On this occasion, also, those who are for the first time to commune shall be presented at the altar to make confession of their faith. They shall recite the Creed, the Ten Commandments, and the Lord’s Prayer, and be questioned from the Catechism in regard to the Lord’s Supper. Such as are not able to repeat all these, on account of backwardness, shall have them repeated to them by the minister, after which they shall with the rest make confession of them.

Then the minister reads before the congregation a form of examination and confession in questions, including the three general points treated of in the Heidelberg Catechism. 1. Confession of sin and misery. 2. Profession of faith in the deliverance promised in the gospel. 3. Promise to put away all sin and lead a Christian life. To each of these points, suitably enlarged, and presented in the question-form, the communicants are required to respond with an audible Yes. Then the minister says:—

“All who now find all this in their hearts must not doubt, that through the holy Passion and death of Christ they already have the forgiveness of all their sins, and shall certainly continue to have the same so long as they persevere in these purposes, even though there be yet many infirmities remaining in them, which by the same Passion and death of Jesus Christ are also covered: in view of which, let every one who from hia heart desires this say—Amen.

“Kneel down, and pray as the Lord has taught us:

“Our Father, who art in heaven, &c.”

Then the benediction is pronounced. It is added, in a closing rubric, that “if the circumstances of the congregation make it necessary, and time permits, the minister shall yet instruct the people in the principal points of religion, from the Summary of the Catechism. This he shall also do in the plainest and simplest way possible in his sermons, both in connection with the Preparatory Service and that of the Holy Communion. Should any one have any private matter of concern upon his mind, in regard to which he would desire to speak with his minister, the opportunity ehall be afforded him.”

In the “Form for celebrating the Holy Supper,” the rubric directs that on those days when the Lord’s Supper is celebrated, a sermon on the death of Christ and in reference to the Lord’s Supper shall be delivered, in which shall be treated of the institution, order, occasion, benefit, and fruit of the Holy Supper; and in this sermon the minister shall study brevity, on account of the Service which is to follow, in which the Supper is also further explained. Before the Service is read, the Prayers appointed for Sunday shall be offered.

Having seen in the Office of Baptism how firmly this Liturgy holds the doctrine of sacramental grace, we may expect a priori to find the Office of the Lord’s Supper consistent therewith, and hence the assuming of this fact would seem to be the fundamental canon for its true and consistent interpretation. The fact, moreover, that the great controversy in regard to the Lord’s Supper—not merely between the Lutherans and the Reformed, but as it reigned more especially in the bosom of Lutheranism itself between the “true Lutheran party,” as they were called, and the Melanchthonian tendency—became the direct and main occasion of the founding of the Palatinate Eeformed Church, may account for any caution and conservation in the statements characterizing this Office of the Holy Eucharist.

Hence it is that in the exhibition of the nature and efficacy of the Sacrament in this office, evident and great care is taken not only to give no countenance to what the Reformed movement was combating in the Roman Church, but also to keep as far as possible away from the views of those in the Lutheran Church who persisted in extreme statements—whatever they may have regarded as the truth underlying them—over against the Swiss and Calvinistic theologians, as well as Melanchthon and those who sympathized with what is called the Melanchthonian tendency, out of which, beyond doubt, sprang the Reformed Church of the Palatinate.* Hence the idea of sacramental grace is less prominently brought out here than in the Baptismal Service ; and thus quotations might easily be made from this Service which would seem, in an isolated form, to favor the memorialistic theory of the Lord’s Supper, just as the Heidelberg Catechism could be quoted to the same purpose, if its system, as it lies in ite three divisions or parts, and its ground-tone, were ignored. This would, however, in either case be unfair, and unworthy of any one making serious inquiry into the subject.

The true Reformed doctrine of the Holy Supper, as held by Calvin, Melanchthon, the authors of the Heidelberg Catechism, Ursinus and Olevianus, and as exhibited in all the reigning symbols of the Reformed Church, lies in and pervades this Service as its muscles and its life-giving blood. A few quotations from central parts of the service will sufficiently justify this remark.

In the Preparatory Service the communicant is assured, and encouraged to believe, “that Christ now again by His Holy Supper, as with certain letters and seals, confirms, by the operation of the Holy Ghost in his heart, to each one among them in particular, the salvation which He has promised and bestowed upon him once in Holy Baptism.” He is also assured that by His Holy Supper “the Lord Jesus Christ Himself does, with His crucified body and shed blood, by the operation of the Holy Ghost, feed and nourish his hungry and contrite heart and weak soul unto eternal life, as certainly as he receives from the hand of the minister and eats and drinks with his mouth the holy bread and cup of the Lord in remembrance of Him.”

In the prayer which immediately precedes the consecration of the elements, occurs also this passage:—”Merciful God and Father, we beseech Thee, that in this Holy Supper, in which we celebrate the glorious remembrance of the

Luther’s influence, shared also in Melanchthon’s views of the Lord’s Supper. As regards cultus, it remained free from puritanism, and throughout homogeneous with the Lutheran Church.—Ebrard’s Dogmatik, vol. i. p. 64.

bitter death of Thy dear Son Jesus Christ, Thou wouldst Bo operate in our hearts through Thy Holy Spirit, that we, in true confidence, may surrender ourselves more and more to Thy Son Jesus Christ, that our weary and contrite hearts ma^ be nourished and quickened by His true body and blood, even by Him, true God and man, the only heavenly bread, through the power of the Holy Ghost, so that we may no more live in our sins, but He in us, and we in Him.”

The bread was given with the words: ” The bread which we break is the communion of the body of Christ.” The wine with the words: “The cup of blessing which we bless is the communion of the blood of Christ.” In the edition of 1585: ” The body of our Lord Jesus Christ, given unto death for you, strengthen and preserve you in faith unto eternal life.” “The blood of our beloved Lord Jesus Christ, shed for your sins, strengthen and preserve you in faith unto eternal life.” The concluding prayer is introduced with the words: ” Beloved in the Lord, inasmuch as the Lord has now, at His table, fed our souls, let us together give thanks and praise His name.” This has a strong objective tone.

The sacramental doctrine of this Office is that of’ a spiritual real presence of Christ, and a real communion, on the part of him who worthily partakes, with the life of Christ Jesus, by the power of the Holy Ghost; which view the Reformed Church of the Palatinate held in common with the primitive Church, and in harmony with the views of Calvin and Melanchthon. It holds that the sacramental mystery is effected, not as the Roman Church held, by the pronunciation of the words of institution, but by the efficacious union with the elements of the Holy Ghost,—which union, constituting the consecration, is effected by ” the powerful benediction of the Holy Ghost upon the elements of bread and wine,”—and that it is by the power of the same Holy Ghost, dwelling at the same time both in Christ and in the communicant, as the true Spirit of Christ, that His life, in the communion of His Body and Blood, is cornmunicated to His people. This is the doctrine of the Heidelberg Catechism, of which this Liturgy is the companion. In Question 76 we are taught that in the Holy Supper we are “more and more united to His sacred body by the Holy Ghost, who dwells both in Christ and in us,”—so “that we live and are governed forever by one Spirit, as members of the same body are by one soul.” In Question 79 it is said that we are ” really partakers of His true body and blood, by the operation of the Holy Ghost.” In Question 80 it is affirmed that the Lord’s Supper testifies to us “that we by the Holy Ghost are ingrafted into Christ.” Thus the Holy Ghost mediates Christ and the Sacrament, and also the communicant and the Sacrament,—His union with the Sacrament, and our union with Him through the Sacrament. The presence of the Holy Ohost, as Christ’s Spirit, in the Sacrament, makes Christ’s presence spiritual and real in the sacramental transaction; and the presence of the Holy Ghost at the same time in us makes it spiritual and real to us,—makes it the mystery and means of our communion with the life of Christ, as at once concealed and revealed in the sacramental mystery of His Body and Blood.

IV.

OF OTHER CHURCH CUSTOMS AND SERVICES.

This part begins by making provision for the Festival and Holy-day services. It is directed that “Holy-days shall be observed in the same manner as Sundays.” Besides Sundays, ” Christmas with the day following, New-Year’s day, Easter with the day following, Ascension day, and Wlritsunday with the day following, shall be regularly observed.” Suitable services for these holy-days are prescribed, the preaching regulated, and appropriate prayers provided.

That the Reformed Church carried its reformatory measures also into the Church-year is well known. Though disposed to set aside more of its details than the Lutheran Church, yet it never let go its hold of the fundamental parts of it The Swiss Reformed Church, in this respect, in the Reformation of Worship, proceeded with great conservatism. The fundamental points in the Church-year were from the very first firmly retained. The Liturgy of Basel, 1539, directe that Christmas, Easter, Ascension day, and “Whitsuntide shall be celebrated. . Although it states that ” many holy-days are not to be praised,” it yet adds, “that the services, the exalted virtues, and the blessedness of the Virgin Mary, the holy Apostles, John the Baptist, and the beloved Martyrs, may be celebrated earnestly and unchanged, in the preaching .of the divine word, on the days assigned to them in the Calendar, since early prayer and preaching are held every day.”*

The Ulmer Order of Church Service, prepared under the influence of (Ecolampadius, Blaurer, and Bucer, in 1531, favors the abrogation of holy-days and festivals, on the ground that they have been made to serve superstition and luxurious indulgences, but recommends, meanwhile, that the ministers hold service on those days, and use them in such a way as shall have a tendency to improve the people and call them back from superstition.

The desire to purify these Festivals from their abuses led the early Reformed Liturgies to confine the celebration of the prominent festivals to a single day. The Hessian Liturgy of the year 1526 directs that, “Besides tbe Lord’s Day no Festivals shall be celebrated except only these : the Birth of Christ, His Circumcision, the Epiphany, the Presentation of Christ in the Temple, the Annunciation of the Incarnation of the Word of God, the Resurrection on the first day of Easter, the Ascension, the first day of Whitsuntide, the Visitation of the blessed Virgin Mary.” In regard to the commemoration of John the Baptist—on which day his Birth, as well as his Beheading, is to be had in remembrance—the Holy Apostles and Evangelists, and the Martyr.

St. Stephen,it is indeed appointed “that immediately after the morning service a public sermon is to be delivered,” but it is also immediately added, ” which being done, they go to their labors in the name of the Lord.”

The later Hessian Liturgy of the year 1566, on the other hand, ordains that ” Christmas with the day following, the Circumcision, the Epiphany, the Purification, the Annunciation, Easter with the day following, the Ascension, “Whitsuntide with the day following, the day of John the Baptist, and the Visitation, shall be celebrated the same as Sunday, by refraining from worldly labor. On the Apostles’ days, Magdalene, Michael, the conversion of St. Paul, Maundy-Thursday, Good Friday, and on the third day of the three principal Festivals, only an early service is to be held.”* From these facts it is clearly seen that much of what was at first merely tolerated, and even in part discountenanced (only, however, on the ground of its prevailing abuse), was gradually reinstated, from conviction, as a proper part of the cultus.

” In the course of time, the practice of the Swiss and German Reformed Churches assumed a fixed and uniform order, according to which the following Festivals were included by both in their Church-year. 1. Christmas, celebrated during two days, with a preparatory vesper-service on Christmas-eve. 2. New-Year, with a vesper-service the evening before as the close of the year. 3. Palm-Sunday: Maundy-Thursday (celebrated only by a weekday service) and Good Friday. 4. Easter, celebrated two days. 5. Ascension day. 6. Whitsunday, two days. 7. Trinity Sunday. To this was added the day on which the Fall Communion was held; the yearly great Fast-day; the Harvest Festival, and the Reformation Festival.

“Besides this, it is to be noticed that already the older Liturgies, in regard to the liturgical prayers for the single Sundays, distinguish the seasons of the Epiphany, the Passion, Easter, Whitsuntide, and the last one from the Fall Communion to Christmas. To this must also be added the practice, introduced at a later period, of celebrating the four weeks before Christmas as the Advent season, and of beginning a new Church-year with the first Sunday in Advent.”

Dr. Strauss, in his work on the Church-year, speaking of the Evangelical Church-year as it now stands in its best sense, says, “As regards the Reformed Church, it started, out holding to its celebration in common with others, and has also in a great measure returned to it.” He also adds, that where this has not yet been wholly done, there is a growing disposition in that direction.

Dr. Alt says that at present the Reformed Churches of Switzerland and Germany have a Church-year quite similar to what he calls the German Evangelical Church- year,—the Church-year, namely, as it has \mfoldcd itself in its best form in the bosom of Protestantism. This point has not been violently attained, but is a result reached by a regular progress, carrying along with it the full convictions, mind, and heart of the Church.

” In the time of the Reformation,” says Dr. Herzog, “the great Christian Festivals were everywhere retained in Switzerland, except in Geneva, where, however, their solemn observance was soon again restored. In most of the cantons, besides the principal Christian Festivals, there were also celebrated days of Mary, the Apostles, and Saints; but they were very soon set aside: only the Annunciation has continued to this day in Bern, Waadt, and Aargau. Till very lately Good Friday has received no commemoration corresponding with the sacrcdness of the day; the reason of this was, that the day immediately preceding it, Maundy-Thursday, or Passion-Thursday, was celebrated as the true holy-day. In the most recent times, however, ecclesiastical action has been taken in regard to this point, which has resulted very favorably to the day. At present Good Friday is honored as a principal holyday in the whole of Reformed Switzerland, with the exception of the canton Glarus. In 1860 the first general celebration of the day took place, and, according to reliable report, everywhere with much solemnity and great earnestness. In all places, except in the canton Bern, the Lord’s Supper is connected with it. In the canton Waadt a churchly commemoration of the day had been resolved upon, and introduced immediately before the outbreak of the Revolution of 1845, which the Revolutionary times swept away; but on the 21st of January, 1861, the Great Council of that canton declared Good Friday as a principal holy-day.”

A Ilymn-Book, ” for use in Public Worship in the Reformed Churches of the Hessian and Hannauian Palatinate, and other neighboring countries, published at Marburg, 1746,” contains, together with the Heidelberg Catechism and most commonly used liturgical forms, “the Gospels and Epistles for every Sunday, as also for the great Festivals, and other Festivals, and Apostles’ days, throughout the whole year. To which are added, at the request of many, the prayers drawn from the Epistles (the Collects) for the promotion of Worship.” The Gospels, Epistles, and Collects are all printed at length. This same book substantially, but ” enlarged,” was published in this country by Christopher Saur, of Germantown, Pa., in 1763. It is stated on the title-page that this book is ” at present altogether used in the Reformed Churches of the Provinces of Hesse, Haunau Palatinate, and Pennsylvania, as well as other adjoining countries.” It contains also the Heidelberg Catechism, the Gospels, Epistles, Collects, and Prayers. We have before us the second edition.

In the German Reformed Church of America the principal Festival days of the Church-year have from the beginning been honored in the same measure and after the same manner as in the fatherland. During the first quarter of the present century, contemporaneously with the introduction of the English language, the customs of our forefathers were in danger of suffering some damage in this as in other respects. In the last two decades, however, a strong reaction has taken place; and there is at present in the German Reformed Church of America a healthy and growing respect for all the sacred Festivals of the Church-year.

The other Offices comprehended in this fourth part, as having a less central significance in cultus, need not here be particularly described. Directions are given concerning Psalmody and the minister’s dress; a form for the Annunciation and Administration of Marriage; for the Visitation of the Sick; Prayers for the Sick and Dying; an Office for the Administration of the Lord’s Supper to the Sick; Directions for the Visitation of Prisoners; and a Burial Service.

Necessary additional forms, as for the Ordination of Ministers, Elders, and Deacons, and for the Excommunication and licstoration of such as had violated the Discipline of the Church, were supplied in 1655 from the Netherland Liturgy.*

From this necessarily brief and general sketch of the Reformed cultus and worship as it was established and conducted in the Palatinate Church, we may form some conception of that rich and genial bosom of religious powers in the midst of which its members, old and young, learned and unlearned, rich and poor, were nurtured from day to day, from week to week, and from year to year, in the family, school, and congregation. Their cultus, as diligently plied in teaching, worship, and discipline, was an all-pervading, steady, every-day nurture and power around them. When we transfer ourselves into the midst of the religious activities of that age and country, we seem to be passing into a new, peculiar world of religious educational influences. There is nothing fitful, nothing wilful, nothing irregular, nothing left to individual caprice. How substantial, orderly, earnest, are all their religious ordinances and arrangements! The authority of the Church is honored, the office of the holy ministry respected. Faith in God’s covenant is implicit, and the holy sacraments are believed to bestow what they represent. Doctrine is carefully guarded and diligently inculcated in the family and school, in the pulpit, and in the catechetical exercises. Discipline is vigorously administered and humbly honored. “Worship is engaged in with reverence, sincerity, and godly delight. Christianity is with them not a fancy and a feeling merely, but a substantial, renovating, and nourishing power for the whole life. A religious element and atmosphere embosom every earnest interest of life, and pervade every circumstance and condition of society. How prominent, in all these religious activities, was the part acted by the Heidelberg Catechism and the Palatinate Liturgy!

The balance of this essay with footnotes may be read at CREED AND CULTUS: WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE RELATION OF THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM TO THE PALATINATE LITURGY.