Oeconomia Catechesis Palatinae. Praemisso prologo, de Catecheticis institutionibus in genere; & Catechesios, in specie, Palatinae origine & fatis. . .

Trajecti ad Rhenum [Utrecht, Netherlands]: Apud Guilielmum Kroon, 1729. FIRST EDITION. Title in red and black with engraved vignette, woodcut initials and tailpiece. Contemporary vellum, spine worn; interior excellent. . First edition of this fascinating group of sermons. The book contains outlines for a year-long cycle of sermons (52 Sundays) dealing with questions regarding the Heidelberg Catechism. “The Heidelberg Catechism (also known as the Palatinate Catechism) was composed in Heidelberg at the request of Elector Frederick III, who ruled the Palatinate, an influential German province, from 1559 to 1576. An old tradition credits Zacharius Ursinus and Caspar Olevianus with being coauthors of the new catechism. Both were certainly involved in its composition, although one of them may have had primary responsibility. All that is certain is reported by the Elector in his preface of January 19, 1563. It was, he writes, ‘with the advice and cooperation of our entire theological faculty in this place, and of all superintendents and distinguished servants of the church’ that he secured the preparation of the Heidelberg Catechism. The catechism was approved by a synod in Heidelberg in January 1563. A second and third German edition, each with small additions, as well as a Latin translation were published the same year in Heidelberg. Soon the catechism was divided into fifty-two sections so that one Lord’s Day could be explained in preaching each Sunday of the year. The Synod of Dort in 1618-1619 approved the Heidelberg Catechism, and it soon became the most ecumenical of the Reformed catechisms and confessions. The catechism has been translated into many European, Asian, and African languages and is the most widely used and most warmly praised catechism of the Reformation period.”

Van Alphen (1700-1758) was a professor of theology at Utrecht, the son of theologian Simon Hieronymus van Alphen (1665-1742) and grandfather of poet Hieronymus van Alphen (1746-1803).