Luther's Small Catechism: Introduction

For all intents and purposes, Martin Luther was the igniting spark of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century. On 31 October 1517, Luther published and posted his Ninety-Five Theses to the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg, Saxony. Luther's Theses outlined what he considered the errors and abuses in the Church, which at that time was essentially united under the Pope.

The errors which Luther saw included the sacrament of penance, the extent of papal authority, the role of the priesthood in the remission of sins, and the buying of indulgences. In large part, Luther's complaint against the Church was not, at root, theological, but mostly ecclesiological. That is, the main thrust of Luther's 95 Theses was that the Pope was not running the Church in a corrupted manner; rather than that the Church was grossly errant in its theology.

Thus, in 1517 Luther was advocating for reform and not revolution. Most notably, the 95 Theses do not contain any reference to many of the doctrines which would later become the hallmarks of the Protestant Reformation. There is no reference to faith, much less 'faith alone'; Luther does not advocate for 'Scripture alone'; and he certainly does not announce a break from Rome.

Nonetheless, Luther's boldness did indeed threaten the authority of the Church, by suggesting that it was errant in its practices. In response, the Church began to build a case against Luther on the charge of heresy. When Luther was brought to Augsburg a year later to be examined by theologians, Luther pronounced the papacy to be unbiblical, escalating the matter precipitously.

Over the next few years, as the rift between Luther and the Church became more pronounced — and specifically as he preached through the psalms, Hebrews, and Galatians — Luther became more convinced that many of the Church's doctrines were simply incorrect and published his theology. Among these publications were On the Bondage of the Will and On the Freedom of the Christian, both of which remain widely read. In 1521, Luther was formally condemned as a heretic, excommunicated from the Church, and given a death sentence. Refusing to recant his position, Luther became a fugitive, though one protected by various sympathetic princes within Germany.

Over the next decade, Luther's teaching spread throughout Germany and became more and more accepted by many of the princes within the Empire, trickling down also to theologians and lay Christians. When combined with the Peasants Rebellion of the 1520s, the Protestant Reformation quickly became a wide-scale revolution, as more and more churches broke from Rome and adopted the doctrines of Luther and his fellow reformers.

By the end of the decade, however, Luther became more aware of how uneducated many German Christians were, both the clergy and the laity. To combat this ignorance, Luther wrote two catechisms, that is aids to learning doctrine. Like his translation of the Bible, the catechisms were written in German, providing clear doctrinal instruction to the people which had been thereto unknown. Luther sought to bring a unity to Christian doctrine, stating, 'young and simple people must be taught by uniform, settled texts and forms, otherwise they easily become confused when the teacher today teaches them thus, and in a year some other way....'

Thus the Small Catechism was written primarily to that end — for laypersons themselves to learn — and used a combination of both precision and clarity which could be understood by children and adults alike. The Large Catechism was written for the preacher, as an aid for teaching the Small Catechism to their congregation — almost a commentary on the Small Catechism. As such, the Large Catechism is much more detailed in the doctrine it defines while forsaking the mnemonic merits of the Small Catechism.

Written in 1529, Luther's Catechisms represent an early, yet mature and pastoral, statement of Luther's theology, rather than the merely anti-papal calls for reform of just 12 years later. What exactly is that theology? What did Luther think it essential that all Christians understand? Those are questions which we will be answering over the next few months.

Luther's Catechisms are divided into several sections corresponding to the teaching of: 1) The Ten Commandments; 2) The Apostle's Creed; 3) The Lord's Prayer; 4) Baptism; 5) Confession; and 6) the Lord's Supper. As we'll see, Luther's decision to use these fundamental elements of the Christian religion would be a pattern followed by other confessions and catechisms during the Reformation.

Even though it is now nearly 500 years old, the Small Catechism remains a vital part of confessional Lutheran churches and is still often used to educate children in the church and prepare them for confirmation. Since many of the questions are rather brief and are understood best in conjunction with surrounding questions, we will work through the Catechism in a somewhat irregular matter. Some posts will address only one question, while others may address a few at a time.

A final note: I'm hoping to post all of the introductory material to the seven documents in time to begin on 31 October — 495 years to the day from when Luther posted his Ninety-Five Theses.