# The Heidelberg Catechism and God's sovereignty in salvation (Theodorus VanderGroe)



## Reformed Covenanter (Dec 9, 2019)

My only desire is to say that the [Heidelberg] Catechism presents to us a religion in which all of its doctrines culminate in attributing nothing to man and everything to God. Consequently, it causes man completely to look away from the creature so that he seeks and finds his comfort, peace, and salvation exclusively in the triune God.

Theodorus VanderGroe, _The Christian's Only Comfort in Life and Death: An Exposition of the Heidelberg Catechism_, trans. Bartel Elshout, ed. Joel R. Beeke (2 vols, Grand Rapids MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 2016), 1: 2.

Reactions: Like 1 | Amen 2


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## Reformed Covenanter (Dec 9, 2019)

On the same subject:

[T]here is but one object in which this true comfort can be sought and found: the all-sufficient God and His blessed communion. This is the only and highest good, and apart from this good there is none other in which a wretched sinner could find this true and essential comfort for his poor soul. The soul has miseries, needs, and desires that are infinite in dimension, and everything apart from God is finite and deficient.

Theodorus VanderGroe, _The Christian's Only Comfort in Life and Death: An Exposition of the Heidelberg Catechism_, trans. Bartel Elshout, ed. Joel R. Beeke (2 vols, Grand Rapids MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 2016), 1: 5.

Reactions: Amen 1


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## Reformed Covenanter (Dec 9, 2019)

@Reformed Bookworm - have you any idea when this exposition of the catechism was originally written? I could find nothing in the biographical introduction to the book or elsewhere online to give an exact date. I do not think it was published in his lifetime.


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## Regi Addictissimus (Dec 9, 2019)

Reformed Covenanter said:


> @Reformed Bookworm - have you any idea when this exposition of the catechism was originally written? I could find nothing in the biographical introduction to the book or elsewhere online to give an exact date. I do not think it was published in his lifetime.



It was published posthumously between 1838-1844.

Reactions: Informative 1


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## Regi Addictissimus (Dec 9, 2019)

A little interesting tidbit. VanderGroe appears to have been fond of Scottish theologians. He translated Ebenezer Erskine and George Hutcheson into Dutch.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Reformed Covenanter (Dec 9, 2019)

Reformed Bookworm said:


> A little interesting tidbit. VanderGroe appears to have been fond of Scottish theologians. He translated Ebenezer Erskine and George Hutcheson into Dutch.



It is somewhat odd that so many English speaking writers were translated into Dutch, but so few Dutch speaking writers were translated into English.


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## Seeking_Thy_Kingdom (Dec 9, 2019)

Reformed Covenanter said:


> It is somewhat odd that so many English speaking writers were translated into Dutch, but so few Dutch speaking writers were translated into English.


Dat is tegelijkertijd raar en teleurstellend.


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## Regi Addictissimus (Dec 9, 2019)

Reformed Covenanter said:


> It is somewhat odd that so many English speaking writers were translated into Dutch, but so few Dutch speaking writers were translated into English.


Agreed. Voetius was quite active in collecting and translating Puritan works into Dutch. One title he translated that had a significant influence on the Nadere Reformatie was Lewis Bayly's Practice of Piety. 
One of my favorite ventures of RHB is translating these gems that have been tucked away in Dutch for so long.

Reactions: Like 1 | Rejoicing 1


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## Regi Addictissimus (Dec 9, 2019)

Seeking_Thy_Kingdom said:


> Dat is tegelijkertijd raar en teleurstellend.



Strange and disappointing, indeed.

Reactions: Funny 1


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## Phil D. (Dec 9, 2019)

So is Vander Groe's _Keystone of True and False Grace_ (1752) a separate exposition on the Heidelberg?


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## Seeking_Thy_Kingdom (Dec 9, 2019)

Reformed Bookworm said:


> Strange and disappointing, indeed.


A+ brother!


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## Regi Addictissimus (Dec 9, 2019)

Phil D. said:


> So is Vander Groe's _Keystone of True and False Grace_ (1752) a separate exposition on the Heidelberg?


That appears to be a separate title that was published in his lifetime. According to Google translate, a rough translation of the title would be_ "Touchstone of True and False Grace, Discovering in the Heroic Light the Pure Reformed Truth Contained in the Heidelberg Catechism." _

Reactions: Informative 1


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## Seeking_Thy_Kingdom (Dec 9, 2019)

Reformed Bookworm said:


> That appears to be a separate title that was published in his lifetime. According to Google translate, a rough translation of the title would be_ "Touchstone of True and False Grace, Discovering in the Heroic Light the Pure Reformed Truth Contained in the Heidelberg Catechism." _


Almost! Heroic is wrong. The word is “helderschynende”, which is no longer in modern use. Helder is clear, schydnende is an old Dutch spelling of shining. “_a clear and shining light of Pure Reformed Truth_”

Reactions: Informative 1


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## Phil D. (Dec 9, 2019)

Interesting. Then add to the mix that there was another exposition on the Heidelberg Catechism also entitled _The Christen's only Comfort in Life and Death_ (1742) by the Dutch Reformed divine Bernard Smytegelt (1665-1739).


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## Seeking_Thy_Kingdom (Dec 9, 2019)

Phil D. said:


> Interesting. Then add to the mix that there was another exposition on the Heidelberg Catechism also entitled _The Christen's only Comfort in Life and Death_ (1742) by the Dutch Reformed divine Bernard Smytegelt (1665-1739).


There are many works on the Heidelberg in Dutch from that period. Herman Ferree wrote 4 volumes on it. 
http://www.prdl.org/author_view.php?a_id=2981


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