As reported earlier, "Thirty-two history and theology faculty members from the 10 Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) seminaries have signed a petition calling for a better translation of the 1563 Heidelberg Catechism." Below is the text of that letter.
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Restoring the Heidelberg Catechism for the Church
We write as faculty members of Presbyterian seminaries who teach theology and church history to express our support for overtures asking the General Assembly to provide for a better translation of the Heidelberg Catechism.
According to the PC(USA) Book of Order, “those who are called to office in the church are to lead a life in obedience to scripture and in conformity to the historic confessional standards of the church” (G-6.0106b).
As theologians and church historians we feel a particular responsibility to make sure that the translations of our confessional documents accurately represent the Reformed heritage that office holders pledge to uphold. We see this responsibility as in keeping with the mandate given to the Peace, Unity, and Purity taskforce: “to deepen our understanding of our Christian and catholic identity and clarify key themes of the Reformed theological and constitutional heritage” (PUP Report, lines 269-70). Though we have different perspectives on several of the issues that divide Presbyterians today, we are united in the desire to clarify the teachings of our confessional standards.
We are grateful to all who have come before us, preparing translations of historic texts for the edification of Christians and the upbuilding of the church. Yet because of key errors in translation, the version of the Heidelberg Catechism currently in the Book of Confessions presents at several points obstacles to contemporary readers who want to gain a clear understanding of the historic Reformed theological witness. Specifically, it distorts Reformed accounts of God’s covenant (4.019, 4.074) and of redemption and eschatology (4.055) and obscures the Reformed teaching of our adoption in Christ (4.033). Moreover, it misleads the reader by suggesting that this historic text took a clear stand on issues of sexual orientation and practice that are lively issues before us in the church today—when in fact these were not subjects of discussion in the sixteenth-century church (4.087).
Professor Edward Dowey, as chair of the Special Committee that oversaw the production of the Book of Confessions, has acknowledged that he and the committee as a whole failed to notice these errors, and are in this respect “guilty of negligence.”
Now is the time to set things right. An accurate translation of our confessional standards is critical for a church that requires its office holders be guided by them. Moreover, accurate translations of the Heidelberg Catechism are not in short supply. Several alternative translations are readily available, including contemporary translations that reliably render the original text in lively, contemporary English.
We therefore ask the church and its representatives to make use of the best tools available to us—the best and most faithful translations—to assist our students, and the church at large, as we seek seriously and honestly to engage the Reformed witness of the past for the sake of the church today.
Dr. Mark Achtemeier
Associate Professor of Theology and Ethics
Dubuque Theological Seminary
Ellen L. Babinsky
Professor of Church History
Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary
John R. Bowlin
Rimmer and Ruth de Vries Associate
Professor of Reformed Theology and Public Life
Princeton Theological Seminary
The Rev. Dr. Cynthia M. Campbell
President
McCormick Theological Seminary
Katie G. Cannon
Annie Scales Rogers Professor of Christian Ethics
Union Theological Seminary and Presbyterian School of Christian Education
Anna Case-Winters
Professor of Theology
McCormick Theological Seminary
Milton J Coalter
Library Director and William B. and Mildred L. Nivison Professor
Union Theological Seminary and Presbyterian School of Christian Education
James C. Deming
Associate Professor of Church History
Princeton Theological Seminary
Dawn DeVries
John Newton Thomas Professor of Systematic Theology
Union Theological Seminary and Presbyterian School of Christian Education
Christopher Elwood
Professor of Historical Theology
Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary
William Greenway
Associate Professor of Philosophical Theology
Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary
Johnny B. Hill
Assistant Professor of Theology
Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary
George Hunsinger
Hazel Thompson McCord Professor of
Systematic Theology
Princeton Theological Seminary
David H. Jensen
Associate Professor of Constructive Theology
Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary
Michael Jinkins
Academic Dean and Professor of Pastoral Theology
Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary
David W. Johnson
Director of Supervised Practice of Ministry and Certificate in Spiritual Formation Programs
Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary
Kathryn L. Johnson
Paul Tudor Jones Professor of Church History
Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary
William Stacy Johnson
Arthur M. Adams Associate Professor of Theology
Princeton Theological Seminary
The Rev. Gregory Love, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Systematic Theology
San Francisco Theological Seminary
The Graduate Theological Union
Elsie McKee
Archibald Alexander Professor of Reformation Studies and the History of Worship
Princeton Theological Seminary
Kathleen E. McVey
J. Ross Stevenson Professor of Church History
Princeton Theological Seminary
Daniel L. Migliore
Charles Hodge Professor of Systematic Theology
Princeton Theological Seminary
Martha L. Moore-Keish
Assistant Professor of Theology
Columbia Theological Seminary
Christopher Ocker
Professor of Church History
San Francisco Theological Seminary
Amy Plantinga Pauw
Professor of Doctrinal Theology
Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary
Charles Raynal
Director of Advanced Studies
Associate Professor of Theology
Columbia Theological Seminary
Cynthia L Rigby
W.C. Brown Professor of Theology
Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary
Kenneth Sawyer
Associate Professor of Church History
McCormick Theological Seminary
George W. Stroup
J.B. Green Professor of Theology
Columbia Theological Seminary
Haruko Nawata Ward, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Church History
Columbia Theological Seminary
Rebecca H. Weaver
John Q. Dickinson Professor of Church History
Union Theological Seminary and
Presbyterian School of Christian Education
John E. Wilson, Ph.D.
Professor of Church History
Pittsburgh Theological Seminary
