Kort Begryp vande Principaelste Hooftstucken der Christelicke Religie

Aldegonde’s catechism, Kort Begryp vande principaelste hooftstucken der Christelijcke Religie (A Compendium of the Principal Points of the Christian Religion)¹⁴ was published in the late sixteenth century as a pamphlet. The original text was in French and was translated by David Mostart into Dutch as a parallel version¹⁵ of the same catechism. He explained that his purpose was “om de teere jeucht Godts H. Woorden in te planten” (to plant God’s Holy Word in the minds of young people).¹⁶ Being an ideal educational tool, Kort Begryp was translated into the Malay language in 1612 by Albert Ruyl.¹⁷ According to Candidius’ letter (and Campbell’s note above), this catechism (or an altered version of it) was circulating in Formosa before Junius compiled his catechisms.

The reason why Candidius adopted the Kort Begryp instead of the Heidelberg Catechism as educational material for Formosan Christians is unclear. One may infer that, since the Kort Begryp discusses God’s creation and the human vocation in the first section, it would be more apropos for the Formosan aborigines than to launch immediately into a discussion on human depravity (as the Heidelberg Catechism does), since, as we have seen, the Sirayan concept of “sin” was completely different from that of Christianity.

The compiler of the Kort Begryp, Aldegonde, was a Reformed author, diplomat and scholar in the Southern Netherlands in the late sixteenth century. During that time, persecution and suffering by the Catholic Church was a daily experience for Reformed Christians. Therefore, the Netherlands’ Reformers struggled by military means and spiritual power to liberate themselves from Spanish political tyranny and from the Roman Catholic religious yoke. Participation in this battle was a duty for a faithful individual like Aldegonde. Consequently, he had two objectives in compiling

14 Aldegonde, Kort Begryp van de principaelste hooftstucken der Christelicke Religie (‘s Gravenhage:

Aert Meuris, 1626).

15 Both languages placed side by side, i.e. Dutch on the left and French on the right.

16 Aldegonde, Kort Begryp.

17 Albert Cornelissen Ruyl was a merchant and non-clergymen served as minister who served in the East Indies in 1605. Fluent in the Malay language, he translated this catechism into that language.

C.A.L.van Troostenburg de Bruyn, Biographisch Woordenboek van Oostindische Predikanten, 372.

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a catechism: to clarify what the Reformed faith was and to fight against Catholic teaching on certain issues. In short, this catechism served as a confession and a weapon, in those days of religious and political conflict.

This analysis shows some significant points. First, the contents of this catechism are not evenly arranged, with some issues taking precedence over others according to the compiler’s theology. For example, the first article of the Apostles’ Creed, “I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth,” consists of 62 questions, while the sixth article, “I believe in the holy catholic church,” consists of only two. It shows clearly how Reformed scholars deliberately intended to counterbalance the Roman Catholic overemphasis of ecclesiology.

Second, within the total number of 224 questions, 31 questions are taken up with refuting Roman Catholic theology. These critical statements may be listed under four headings: God does not reside in the Papist Church; Roman Catholic Church worship is idolatrous; Reformed Christians believe in only one mediator, i.e., the Lord Jesus Christ; Christ alone is the Head of the church; and believers are the body of the church. These four areas are all dealt with within the section on the Apostles’ Creed. It is noteworthy that despite the fact that the Reformed Church and the Roman Catholic Church had very different theological beliefs and practices regarding the sacraments, the Kort Begryp says nothing about this issue. Perhaps Aldegonde assumed that, since his readers would mostly be young believers or believers without much understanding of complicated theological arguments, he chose to omit such a discussion.

Furthermore, for reasons that remain unclear, the Kort Begryp did not include the Lord’s Prayer.

The Kort Begryp was critical of the statues of saints and iconic ornaments in the Roman Catholic Church and argued that this is an infringement of the second commandment forbidding the worship of idols. Aldegonde goes on to expound on the text by saying that God is eternal and living; that God gives life to everything; and that God is not a block of stone. Aldegonde indicates that we may know God through God’s work but, because of our corrupt nature, we are not able to know God completely through our own efforts. Consequently, every Christian must obey the Law and believe in the Gospel in order to know God.

Although the first part of this catechism focuses on God’s creation, it has a different structural arrangement than the Heidelberg Catechism. In the section on creation, significant questions for Reformed theology are included, and they echo the first part of the Heidelberg Catechism, especially concerning the corruption of human nature. For example, we read in the Heidelberg Catechism:

Question 4. What does the Law of God require of us?

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Jesus Christ teaches this in a summary in Mathew 22:37-40 You shall love the Lord God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind; this is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself..

Question 5. Can you keep this all perfectly?

No. For by nature I am prone to hate God and my neighbor.

In Kort Begryp, Aldegonde enlarges the above question in two significant ways. He says that, due to the corruption of our human nature, we cannot know God completely from his works, and we sinful human beings are unable to fulfill God’s requirecments even when we do know them because of that same corruption. He states this as follows:

Xl. Vraghe. Kunnen wij Godt wt sijne wercken volkomenelicken leeren kennen?

(Can we know God completely from his works?) Ant. Neen wij. (No, not at all)

Xlj. Vra. Waerom ? (Why?)

Ant. Om dat wij al te verdorven zijn. (Because we are corrupt.)¹⁸ Xlvij. Wat is de somma vande Wet? (What is the summary of the Law?)

Ant. Ghij zult Godt den Heere liefhebben van gantscher herten/ wt alle uwe ziele/

wt alle uwe kracht/ ende uwe naesten ghelijke u zelven. (You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might, and love your neighbor as your self)

Xlviij. Kunnen wij dat wel volkomelick volbrenghen? (Can we fulfill that completely?)

Ant. Neen wij. (No, not at all) Xlix. Waerom? (Why?)

Ant. Om dat wij al te verdorven zijn (Because we are corrupt).¹⁹

Because human nature is corrupt, we are incapable of knowing God’s work completely by our own efforts. Hence, we must read the Law and the Gospel, namely the Bible, to know God. Then comes the second question, and the answer is that even those persons who do “know” God through reading the Bible and who know that the summary of God’s Law is to love God and their neighbor as themselves cannot fulfill what God requires because of their corrupt natures. As a result, people are cursed by God.

18 Aldegonde, Kort Begryp.

19 Ibid.

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L. Vra. Maer zijnse niet alle vervloeckt/die het niet volbringen? (But aren’t they all cursed if they cannot fulfill these requirements?)

Ant. Ja sij. (Yes, they are)

Lij. Vra. Wat zeght hij dan? (What did he say then?)

Ant. Vervloeckt is hij/ die niet en doet al wat hier in gheschreven staete. (Cursed is he who does not do what the Scripture teaches.)²⁰

This analysis shows that the core message of the first part of this catechism is that human beings, due to their corrupt nature, are unable to know God. It is by reading the Bible that they come to know God’s requirements, but they still cannot fulfill them and are cursed as a result. He goes on to say that, because of this, Jesus, the Savior took all our curses on Himself on the cross and saved all those who believe in Him.

Lx. Vra. Heeft u Christus dan aen het Cruijce verlost? (Does Christ deliver you from the Cross?)

Ant. Ja hij (Yes He does.)

Lxj. Vra. Zoo zijt ghy dan een Christen? (So, you are a Christian then?) Ant. Ja ick. (Yes, I am.)

Lxij. Vra. Waerom heet ghy een Christen? (Why you are a Christian?) Ant. Om dat ick aen Christum gheloove. (Because I believe in Christ.)²¹

In comparing the Kort Begryp and the Heidelberg Catechism, we see that despite the two catechisms having very different structural arrangements, their core messages are similar. That is, human beings are corrupt by nature and either lack the ability to know God, are unwilling to know him and to act accordingly (Kort Begryp), or prone to hate God and their neighbors (Heidelberg Catechism), and both are cursed by God as a result. In such a condition, humans need God’s mercy, given through Jesus Christ’s salvation. Salvation thus becomes the second major topic of discussion.