Source Library

Zacharias Ursinus and Caspar Olevianus · 1563

Commissioned by Elector Frederick III to unify the churches of the Palatinate, the Heidelberg Catechism organizes the whole of the Christian faith around a single question: what is your only comfort in life and in death? Its 129 questions and answers move through guilt, grace, and gratitude, and it remains one of the most widely recited catechisms in the Reformed world today.

Guido de Brès · 1561

Guido de Brès wrote this confession as a formal defense of Reformed doctrine, reportedly throwing a copy over a castle wall to appeal to King Philip II for tolerance of Protestants in the Low Countries. De Brès was executed for his faith three years later. Its 37 articles remain one of the Three Forms of Unity and a foundational statement of Reformed belief in the Dutch tradition.

Synod of Dort · 1619

Convened to settle the controversy raised by the followers of Jacobus Arminius, the Synod of Dort met for over six months with delegates from across Reformed Europe. The Canons answer the Arminian objections point by point across five heads of doctrine — the source of what later became known as the five points of Calvinism.

Westminster Assembly · 1647

Drafted by an assembly of English and Scottish theologians during the English Civil War, the Confession became the doctrinal standard of Presbyterianism worldwide. Its thirty-three chapters offer one of the most systematic statements of Reformed theology ever produced, treating everything from the nature of Scripture to the last judgment.

Westminster Assembly · 1647

Written to instruct children and new believers, the Shorter Catechism distills Reformed doctrine into 107 memorable questions and answers. Its opening question — what is the chief end of man? — is among the most quoted lines in Reformed literature, and generations have learned the faith by memorizing its answers.