Heidelberg Catechism Inspires Conference Participants
14-05-2011
"Inspiring and Informing," is how Ineke Middag, director of Erfgoedcentrum DiEP of Dordrecht, characterized the conference "450th Anniversary of the Heidelberg Catechism," which was held March 3-5 in Emden in preparation for the three exhibitions in 2013.
Ineke has gained many ideas and new contacts, and now "is hungry for more." Also Pieter Veerman, a Reformed minister in Lopikerkapel who is working on a dissertation on prayer and the Heidelberg Catechism, expressed his enthusiasm, saying that for him the three days in Emden were "positive and interesting," not least because of the chosen plan: a theme looked at from different angles. Another Dutch gentleman, Kees de Wildt, who is working on a doctoral study of the Reformed Church in Leiden in the 16th century, particularly appreciated the exchange of learning and meeting the authors, which he had only known from their books. He liked that the program was a little less full, despite the fact that five speakers were missing.
The conference in Emden on March 3-5 had enough input for the three exhibitions in 2013 on the occasion of the 450th anniversary of the Heidelberg Catechism. That was the conclusion of the organizers of this exhibition. Also more than 50 attendees of the conference on the Heidelberg Catechism in Emden expressed satisfaction with the selection in words, images, and sounds that was presented them during the three days.
On the second and third days of the conference, speakers from the Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland highlighted several aspects of the Heidelberg Catechism or gave information on the time and place where the document was published at that time.
Dr. Johan ter Molen and Dr. Paul Rem, the director and curator respectively of the National Museum Paleis Het Loo, have prepared an exhibition in Apeldoorn for 2013. From their lectures it was clear how art and religion played a role among the various members of the House of Orange and in the beautifully carved banks of pews in which they sometimes sat during Sunday church services.
A large number of prints and paintings, which include among others the history of the city of Heidelberg, and showed its princes and inhabitants, were displayed by Dr. Frieder Hepp, director of the Kurpfälzisches Museum Heidelberg. Dr. Klaus Winkler from Heidelberg took the attendees through the musical arts at the court of the Electors of the Palatinate and let them enjoy its words, images, and sounds.
Theology and church history were discussed again on the second and third days of the conference, for example, the contribution of Dr. Frank Engehausen from Heidelberg on the theme of "Confessional Change" (Konfessionswelchsel) in the 16th century. Dr. Wim Verboom also gave an enlightening overview of catechesis in the Netherlands. In his presentation, he indicated that it is on one hand surprising to see that the Catechism is still relevant to many Protestants in the Netherlands, but on the other hand only a small trace of that the character of the Heidelberg Catechism (according to Verboom this is the confession of the believer from a personal relationship with Jesus Christ) has successfully been preserved. Dr. Arie Baars of the Theologische Universiteit Apeldoorn gave an overview of the catechism preaching in the Netherlands in the 17th and 18th centuries. According to him, generally it did justice to the teaching of this confession, but he also indicated that there was a greater tendency to preach the form of the assumed dogmatic theses.
Dr. Herman Selderhuis’ lecture focused on the question why the treatise experienced such great success. It is at least remarkable that a treatise printed in Heidelberg, then via Emden (where the first Dutch translation appeared in 1563) found its way into many places throughout the whole world, and today is still doing well. According to Selderhuis, this has to do with its method, in which the question is always asked what one must do to be a believer, but also the fact that quite early on the treatise gained a place in the church book. As an illustration, Herman Selderhuis played a clip of an orphanage in Chennai, India, where boys and girls rapidly managed to say the questions and answers of the Heidelberg Catechism.
Dr. Peter Opitz from Zürich, showed the Swiss relationship with the Heidelberg Catechism, and Dr. Johannes Ehmann from Heidelberg informed the public regarding the catechism in the city of Heidelberg. Lastly, Dr. Strohm took his audience into the context of the catechism in the 16th and 17th centuries. For him, the Heidelberg Catechism represents a document of a Kurpfalz compromise theology.
In the corridors here and there, lines were drawn to today. Mostly in the form of questions: What can we do today with a catechism? What does the church do with the hole created when the confessions are no longer used? How do we present content from the Catechism in a way that is attractive to people today, living in a religiously diverse society?
The multicolored nature of the program today in Emden is promising for the three exhibitions in 2013 (two in Heidelberg and one in the Royal Palace Het Loo at Apeldoorn). The lectures will be published in due course in a book that will accompany the exhibitions, for which Refo500 is responsible.
Text and images: Refo500
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