Having gone through this ordeal, the suceesf of the book began. An assembly of emigrants from the Netherlands in Wesel in 1568 recommended it by the side of the catechism of Calvin. The Synod at Emden. in 1571. adopted it for the German-speaking Netherlandish con gregations in East Frisia and on the Lower Rhine. It entered also the ranks of the Reformed in J(ilich, Cleves, and Berg. Other German regions and indi vidual congregations (in Nassau-Siegen, Wittgen stein, Solms and Wied, Bremen, Lippe, Anhalt, Hesse Cassel, Brandenburg, Prusda, etc.) followed in the course of time. The Reformed churches of Hun-, gar-, _TraAMlvania, and Poland adopted it; and in 1619 the..Synod_ of . Dolt officially declared it one of the general- symbolical books of the Reformed Church. From Holland, and afterward also from Germany, ft was brought to Amedca, where it has always been the honored symbol of the Dutch and German Reformed churches.' The first reunited General-Aasemfaly of. the Presbyterian Church, at Philadelphia in .1870, , authorized its use. It has been traUdated3nta-a.Elunpean languages, also into Hebrew,,Arabic,.Malalt,_Singalese, and others, and numerous paraphrases, summaries, and expositions have appeared.
From the dogmatic point of view, the history of the origin of the Heidelberg Catechism frustrates every attempt to identify it with the doctrine of any individual theologian of the Reformation time. Its specifically Reformed character shows itself, apart, from the doctrine of the sacraments, by its continual goingback from all perishable authorities to the Bible; by its ethical rather than metaphysical mode of 'viewing Christ _as being gnointed by the Holy_Ghost for the execution of his work; by its peculiar manner of closely connecting the moral life of the Christian with faith as its subjective proof; finally, by its conception of the intimate social connection in the congregation and by its designation of the church or congregation as the real source of discipline. In an anonymous pasquil of 1566 the Heidelberg Catechism is said to have been compiled "by Bullinger and his associates," Quantitatively it contains more of Calvin's catechism than of Bullinger's. Bullinger's influence, however, may be recognized, perhaps, if- it be considered in its total impression; for it is true that the catechism does not shale the philosophical and intellectual traits- of Calvin, 511t~takes_ta._root_in the Christian experience, of-salvation which it repre sents practically and devotionally. The doctrine of elestiQu _?s..rete...9z'e._Cautiously than by_h11JAger. The doctrinQ_Qf..tha_Lord's Supper is distinguished less by clearness than by an effort to. bridge over existing .differences. In bringing the Lord's Supper into relation to the suffering of the Lord, the influence of Zurich may be recognized; the emphasis of a myAtical,.union_.of the believers. with the heavenly body. of Christ_.re_veals ,Calv_in's influence; and in order to reconcile the distrusting Lutheran adversaries, the confessional and oblig atory character of the celebration was given up.
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