The Heidelberg Catechism

Part I

Of Man's Misery

LORD'S DAY 2

Q. 3. Where do you learn of your sin and its wretched consequences?

A. From the law of God.

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

A. Jesus Christ teaches this in a summary of Matthew 22:37-40: "You shall love the Lord your 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. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets." (Cf. Luke 10:27.)

Q. 5. Can you keep all this perfectly?

A. No, for by nature I am prone to hate God and my neighbor.