Bill Hassler on Presbyterian Amnesia

Bill Hassler and Shirley Smith visit after church

On Sunday, 06 February 2005, the Rev. William Hassler filled the pulpit to discuss "Presbyterian Amnesia." We Presbyterians, he said, suffer from theological amnesia, and that's too bad, because our denomination has a rich tradition and history.

When one becomes an officer for the church, for instance, one responds to this question: "Do you sincerely receive and adopt the essential tenets of the Reformed faith as expressed in the confessions of our church as authentic and reliable expositions of what Scripture leads us to believe and do, and will you be instructed and led by those confessions as you lead the people of God?" What are those essential tenets? They are the statements of faith expressed in our Confessions, and they are as fundamental as affirming the sovereignty of God or the belief that scripture is the word of God.

To illustrate his point about amnesia, Mr. Hassler talked about the Heidelberg Catechism. The Catechism represents our rich, contentious, reformation history and contains beautifully thought out, inspired sentiments. The first question of the Heidelberg Catechism says

Q. 1. What is your only comfort, in life and in death?
A. That I belong--body and soul, in life and in death--not to myself but to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ, who at the cost of his own blood has fully paid for all my sins and has completely freed me from the dominion of the devil; that he protects me so well that without the will of my Father in heaven not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, that everything must fit his purpose for my salvation. Therefore, by his Holy Spirit, he also assures me of eternal life, and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.

The Heidelberg Catechism came about because of a dramatic conflict between Lutheran and Reformed thought in Heidelberg (especially regarding the nature of the Lord's Supper: consubstantiation vs. spiritual feeding). At the behest of Frederick the Elector, two young men wrote the Catechism, completing it in 1562.

This Catechism came to America via Dutch Reformed protestants during their 17th c. settlement of New Netherlands (New York), and eventually became part of the Presbyterian Church (USA) Book of Confessions.

Mr. Hassler urged us to avoid amnesia by learning where we come from.

Psalm 2
2 Peter 1:16-21

For more on the essential tenets of our faith, I suggest these online resources:

• Q & A from Presbyterians Today
• The Book of Order, "Confessional Nature of the Church Report," pages xxv-xxvi, point III.D.1.c. (PDF document)
  
• On the "Essential Tenets," from Eugene TeSelle of the Witherspoon Society
  
• A summary of 10 Essential Tenets, according to Providence Presbyterian Church (Alabama)
• Called to Serve: The Essential Tenets of the Reformed Faith (20 of them, with subpoints), from VOX (Voices of Orthodox Women)