When you hear the word catechism, you likely associate it with the Catholic tradition. While the Catholic Church is certainly known for the use of this form of instruction, Christian tradition as a whole has made use of catechisms. The word has its root in the Greek word katecheo, which means simply means “to teach”.  In more recent history, however, the word often refers to a book or a collection of questions and answers (often including biblical citations) that are written to teach core religious doctrines. For example, the Heidelberg Catechism, written in 1563 for Protestant believers in Germany, begins with this question and answer (the complete answer from the Heidelberg Catechism with its Scripture references will be at the bottom of this page):

         Question: What is your only comfort in life and in death?

Answer: That I am not my own, but belong body and soul, in life and in death to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.

As our church goes through the book of Ecclesiastes on Sunday mornings and in our Life Groups throughout the week, my mind has often turned to this particular question and answer. As the author of Ecclesiastes laments throughout his writing, this temporal, fallen life is vain and meaningless apart from God.

Modern-day hymnwriters, Keith and Kristyn Getty, along with Matt Boswell, Matt Papa, Matt Merker, and Jordan Kauflin, took inspiration from this part of the Heidelberg Catechism and wrote the song, “Christ Our Hope in Life and Death”. Even the structure of the song was inspired by the catechism as the verses ask questions and provide answers to those questions.

Verse 1
What is our hope in life and death?
Christ alone, Christ alone.
What is our only confidence?
That our souls to Him belong.

Who holds our days within His hand?
What comes, apart from His command?
And what will keep us to the end?
The love of Christ, in which we stand.

The first two verses follow this structure, but the chorus deviates from the questions and instead gives a worshipful response to the foundation of the truths sung in verses.

Chorus
O sing hallelujah!
Our hope springs eternal;
O sing hallelujah!
Now and ever we confess
Christ our hope in life and death.

The final verse also stylistically deviates. The first half of the verse follows the others with questions, but the second half asks no questions and only proclaims the future hope we have in eternity with Christ:

Verse 3b
There we will rise to meet the Lord,
Then sin and death will be destroyed,
And we will feast in endless joy,
When Christ is ours forevermore!

“Christ Our Hope in Life and Death” communicates in its structure, rather than in complex, poetic language, that our hope is in Christ alone. He is the only one who gives eternal life. He is good and lovingly cares for us in times of trial, and one day, we can look towards his promised return when all will be made right. These truths that we derive from Scripture and can learn from sources like catechisms should point beyond our knowledge of Christ to worship and adoration. We are to worship our God in spirit and in truth. John 4:23-24 says, “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth."

Below is the complete first question and answer from the Heidelberg Catechism along with its Scripture references. I have also included links to listen to “Christ Our Hope in Life and Death”. If you are interested in reading a modern, Christian catechism, there is a link to an online version of the New City Catechism.

Question One of the Heidelberg Catechism
Question
What is your only comfort in life and in death?

Answer
That I am not my own (1 Corinthians 6:19-20), but belong body and soul (Romans 14:7-9), in life and in death to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 3:23; Titus 2:14).

He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood (1 Peter 1:18-19; 1 John 1:7-9, 2:2),
and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil (John 8:34-36; Hebrews 2:14-15; 1 John 3:1-11).

He also watches over me in such a way (John 6:39-40, 10:27-30; 2 Thessalonians 3:3; 1 Peter 1:5) that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven (Matthew 10:29-31; Luke 21:16-18); in fact, all things must work together for my salvation (Romans 8:28).

Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life (Romans 8:15-16; 2 Corinthians 1:21-22, 5:5; Ephesians 1:13-14) and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him (Romans 8:1-17).

Listen to “Christ Our Hope in Life and Death”
Apple Music | Spotify | YouTube

The New City Catechism
Follow this link to read the online version of the catechism.