A Journey through the Small Catechism

Opening of The Preface of the Small Catechism

Martin Luther to All Faithful and Godly Pastors and Preachers:

Grace, Mercy, and Peace in Jesus Christ, our Lord.

The deplorable, miserable condition which I discovered lately when I, too, was a visitor, has forced and urged me to prepare [publish] this Catechism, or Christian doctrine, in this small, plain, simple form. Mercy! Good God! what manifold misery I beheld! The common people, especially in the villages, have no knowledge whatever of Christian doctrine, and, alas! many pastors are altogether incapable and incompetent to teach [so much so, that one is ashamed to speak of it]. Nevertheless, all maintain that they are Christians, have been baptized and receive the [common] holy Sacraments. Yet they [do not understand and] cannot [even] recite either the Lord’s Prayer, or the Creed, or the Ten Commandments; they live like dumb brutes and irrational hogs; and yet, now that the Gospel has come, they have nicely learned to abuse all liberty like experts.

It would be easy to skip the preface and just start reading the Catechism at the Ten Commandments. But it is important to look at a couple of the reasons why Luther thought it so important to have this book. Right away we see a key reason for this short treatise on the basics of Christianity- “The deplorable, miserable condition which I discovered lately when I, too, was a visitor, has forced and urged me to prepare this Catechism, or Christian doctrine, in this small, plain, simple form.” When Luther took a tour of the churches that had broken away from the Catholic Church he found that they were not learning about the faith that they could grow in maturity and understanding. The Christian faith is a growing experience, and we need to know the basics! What helps us to grow in our faith is not simply knowing the Lord’s Prayer or the Apostle’s Creed by rote but by learning them we learn to ask questions about God, the world, and how we all fit into it. It also gives us words to speak prayers and words of confession.

Luther does not mince in this preface and the language may strike us as harsh, but Luther is speaking from a place of passion and of love. He wants the people he is leading to know why they believe what they believe. He wants to give their faith roots and strength. I think one of the reasons we might struggle with our faith as we get older is that our roots are not as strong as they could be. We have not fully delved into the core of our beliefs and doctrine in a way that allow space for struggles and questions and the true weight of life. We might have memorized it as a kid, but we failed to see how the Lord’s Prayer connected to our daily life. Or we see the Ten Commandments as a set of rules for being a good person instead of way to live into our relationship in a way that points people towards God. And for some, this is entirely new and our roots are just beginning to take hold. I believe that the catechism was mainly intended for learning and planting roots for our faith. It gives us strength and an anchor as we grow up and gives us a guide for the challenges that we face in life. In the core doctrines of our faith- the Creed, the Sacraments of Baptism and Communion, the Lord’s Prayer we learn more about God and how God is calling us to live in relationship with him and others.

Through the next blog posts, we will walk through each section of the Small Catechism: The Ten Commandments, the Apostle’s Creed, Baptism, Communion, Daily Prayers, Blessings, Table of Duties, and Christian Questions with Their Answers. I hope in this journey we will learn something new about God and our faith, be challenged, and especially see how our faith connects with our daily life.