Luther’s Catechetical Writings: God’s Call to Repentance, Faith and Prayer
Overview
This book contains Luther’s small and large catechisms, which grew out of practical religious needs, and ultimately out of the institution of the confessional. He was grieved by what he considered the spiritual wretchedness of Christians, and he saw it as his duty to teach them the doctrine of eternal salvation. These catechisms were meant both for schoolchildren and for adults, and Luther believed that they contained all the doctrinal information necessary for salvation. The three principal parts of the catechism—the Ten Commandments, the Creed, and the Lord’s Prayer—was the basis of popular education in the church. Luther valued them highly, declaring that they contained the substance of the Scriptures, all essential homiletic material, and the essentials of Christian knowledge.
Top Highlights
“our strength must come from God’s Word alone as our daily bread” (Pages 282–283)
“When your own will is foiled, God’s will is done; that is, the more adversity you suffer, the more is God’s will done, especially in death. It has been so determined, and nobody shall alter the fact, that there shall be tribulations for us in the world, but peace in Christ.” (Page 281)
“Father, give us this day our daily bread. That is, Father, comfort and strengthen me, a poor, suffering man, with thy divine Word. I cannot endure thy hand, and yet I shall be condemned if I do not bear it. Therefore, strengthen me, Father, that I may not despair.” (Page 282)
“We are surrounded with temptations on all sides and cannot escape them, but, O our Father, help us not to enter into them, that is, not to consent to yield to them and so be overcome and overthrown.” (Page 303)
“they want to be their own helpers and deliverers, instead of waiting until God delivers them from their crosses” (Page 281)
- Title: Luther’s Catechetical Writings: God’s Call to Repentance, Faith and Prayer
- Author: Martin Luther
- Series: The Precious and Sacred Writings of Martin Luther
- Volume: I
- Publisher: Luther Press
- Print Publication Date: 1907
- Logos Release Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subjects: Lutheran Church › Catechisms; Lutheran Church
- Resource ID: LLS:LUTCATECHETWRIT
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2022-02-12T04:28:14Z
Martin Luther (1483–1546), one of the most significant figures in Western history, was a key figure in the Protestant Reformation. Over the course of his life, Luther was a monk, a priest, a professor of biblical literature, a Reformer, a husband, and a father.
Luther is most noted for his Ninety-Five Theses (1517), in which he argued that indulgences were not acts of penance which could replace true repentance. His refusal to retract all his writings, demanded by Pope Leo X in 1520 and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Worms in 1521, resulted in his excommunication by the pope and condemnation as an outlaw by the emperor.
Luther has been both praised and vilified for what he preached and wrote. Luther’s translation of the Christian Bible into the vernacular greatly influenced the church. His works continue to impact all Christians and animate the movement that bears his name. Luther’s Works (55 vols.) contains many of Luther’s writings, including commentaries, sermons, and lectures.