Anabaptist Spirituality and the Heidelberg Catechism

Although the Anabaptists are not explicitly mentioned in the Heidelberg Catechism, it is generally acknowledged that the catechism influenced by the debates with the so-called radical reformation. This paper assesses Zacharias Ursinus’ Commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism and the report of the 1571 Frankenthal disputation in order to get a clearer picture of this influence. It concludes that the implicit polemics against the Anabaptists regard the relationship between the Old and the New Testaments and Christology. The spirituality of the Heidelberg Catechism stresses the continuity between creation and recreation, between ‘Paradise Lost’ and ‘Paradise Regained’. Over against the restitution of the church it advocates its reformation and instead of a new creation it expects the redemption of the fallen world from the power of sin and death