Mrs. Connie Meyer has written and published a lovely and invigorating book on the Heidelberg Catechism. The book is unique and somewhat hard to classify. Does the book belong on one’s bookshelf in the creeds section? Yes, for it expounds the Heidelberg Catechism primarily but also several articles in the Canons of Dordt. Does the book belong on one’s bookshelf in the theology section? Yes, for it soundly sets forth the Reformed doctrines of God’s sovereign grace, God’s eternal election, God’s free justification of the sinner, and much more. Does the book belong on one’s bookshelf in the art section? Yes, for it not only instructs the reader in several principles of art, but it also contains beautiful photos of an old copy of the Heidelberg Catechism. Does the book belong on one’s coffee table? Yes, for the cover is done in vibrant and bold colors, and the contents are vibrant and comforting theology, so that the book will be sure to capture the eye and spark conversation. What a unique book. Even the difficulty of classifying it highlights what a fresh approach to the Heidelberg Catechism it takes. This reader found it to be invigorating, expanding my understanding and appreciation of the beloved confession that is the Heidelberg Catechism. Wherever you end up deciding that the book belongs on your shelves, it belongs in your hands first.  

The theme of the book is captured in the title: The Beauty of the Truth: An Artist Looks at the Heidelberg Catechism. The author’s thesis is that truth and beauty are one and that the beauty of the truth is on royal display in the Heidelberg Catechism. From the back cover:          

The Beauty of the Truth explores the beauty of the Reformed doctrine contained in the Heidelberg Catechism through the eyes of an artist. Author Connie L. Meyer explains how looking at the catechism from an artistic point of view yields a perspective that reveals not only its beauty but also its truth. The Heidelberg Catechism aptly demonstrates how truth and beauty are one. 

In the introduction, after observing that God used Zacharias Ursinus and Caspar Olevianus “to write a creed of uncommon clarity and beauty,” Mrs. Meyer explains: 

Because beauty and truth are one, in the end, this was, perhaps inevitable. “How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!” (Romans 10:15). Scripture has much to say about beauty, and that for much reason. Any summary of the truth, if it is a true and faithful reflection of that truth, will of necessity also be beautiful. When the Author of all truth is also the Creator of all beauty, form, and content will go together that way. Both the form and content of the Heidelberg Catechism reveal this as well, along with exhibiting great skill on the part of its writers. The writers’ ability in poetry undoubtedly played an important role in the catechism’s overall composition, for example. The whole document comprises one astoundingly artistic and beautiful piece of argumentation. At the same time, the solidly coherent reasoning that is woven throughout its deep and searching questions and answers is as thorough as it is indisputable. The combination of its art and argument, when seen together, is nothing short of breathtaking. 

Such beauty can be analyzed in order to be more fully appreciated. That is the purpose of this little volume. Just as a sculptor or painter might use the principles of design to construct an object of exceptionally eye-pleasing beauty, so might these same principles be seen and applied to artwork of all sorts including music, poetry, and prose. In prose, numerous types of writing can be included, such as fiction, nonfiction, reports, essays, and confessions. All of these may be more closely examined for the marks of beauty. Perhaps, especially, confessions. (3) 

The Beauty of the Truth is divided into two main sections, each taking up exactly half of the book. The first section is the author’s artistic exposition of the Heidelberg Catechism. In an introduction and three chapters, the author explores delights in, and extols the Reformed doctrine of the Heidelberg Catechism. The exposition is sound and thrilling. What makes the exposition so unique and refreshing is that the author analyzes the Catechism with an artist’s eye for beauty. Drawing on principles from painting, music, and poetry, the author shows how the Reformed doctrine of the Catechism is beautiful. Not only is the doctrine of the Catechism objectively and quantifiably beautiful, as the author shows in chapter 1, but the doctrine of the Catechism is also subjectively and experientially beautiful to the child of God, as the author shows in chapter 2. Chapter 3, “The Finale,” explains prayer, the final soul-stirring topic in the Heidelberg Catechism. 

Approaching the doctrine of the Catechism through the lens of artistic principles, the author’s purpose is not to exegete each Lord’s Day in the Catechism. Some of the Lord’s Days are explained in some detail, notably Lord’s Day 1, Lord’s Day 23, and Lord’s Day 24. But the author approaches the Reformed doctrine of the Heidelberg Catechism as a whole in order to show the unity of the truth, the focal point of the truth, and the comfort of the truth, among other things. I suppose The Beauty of the Truth could be considered a sort of “guide book” to the Heidelberg Catechism. 

The author’s exposition of the Catechism is moving and instructive. Some samples to whet the appetite: 

Even as one can find a variation of theme and melody in many well-known orchestral works where melodies become familiar throughout the whole piece while also being presented in various forms to stay fresh and thrilling to the end, so do the themes and patterns set forth in Lord’s Day 1 continue throughout the whole of the catechism in various manners. To call the Heidelberg Catechism a symphony in creedal and doctrinal form is no stretch. (7) 

There is a climax and center of interest in the whole of the catechism, even as a symphony will often climax at especially one particular point in its performance. And this focal point in the catechism is, indeed, placed near the center of the whole of the confession. Lord’s Days 23 and 24 demand our awe and careful study as the crowning, central ornaments of all the truth that was recovered and developed in the sixteenth-century Reformation. That central truth comes down to this: justification by faith alone. (13) 

With this most integral truth of the Reformation now undeniably set forth, the symphony can go on. The basis is there for the rest of the movements. Preaching, sacraments, commandments, and prayer-these are all correctly understood in light of the fact that we are righteous by faith alone in Christ alone to the glory of God alone. The truth is indeed profoundly harmonious and focused in its beauty. (19)  

Knowing that grace and love [of God] and living in that grace and love, that’s what the catechism is all about. In that, the catechism cannot get any more per- sonal. Jesus Christ died for all his own in grace and love simply because they belong to him and he loves them. And how is it that they came to belong to him? It was simply God’s good pleasure to own them and to love them. (30-31) 

The second half of the book is the Heidelberg Catechism as photographed by Mrs. Meyer, who, in this last section of the book, turns from author to artist. The photographs are of an 1888 edition of the Heidelberg Catechism. In successive photos all fifty-two Lord’s Days of the Heidelberg Catechism are captured as they appear in the 1888 edition. Other antique books are arranged on the Catechism to draw attention to the text that is being photographed. Colorful cut flowers, rich green leaves, branches, pine cones, and other elements of the creation are tastefully arranged on the desk and on the books in each composition. The mood of the photographs is cozy and inviting, so that this reader imagined sitting in a darkened study, surrounded by shelves of old tomes, with rain pinging against the window panes, the muted sounds of thunder in the distance, and a single reading lamp illuminating the Catechism lying open on the desk. I think that feeling is called chrysalism. Or maybe gezellig. Whatever it is, I passed a very pleasant quarter of an hour looking through the photos of the Catechism. 

I highly recommend The Beauty of the Truth. Its perspective will broaden and deepen the Reformed reader’s love for the true, beautiful confession that is the Heidelberg Catechism.