An Explanation of Luthers Small Catechism | Page 2

oral explanation and questioning; and secondly, to
furnish a sufficiently complete summary by means of which the
catechumens may review the lesson and fix its salient points in their
minds. No text-book can, of course, adequately supply the parenetical

side of the catechetical instruction or take the place of the living
exposition by the pastor. But it can and should support his work, so that
what he explains at one meeting may not be forgotten before the next
meeting, but may be fixed in the minds of the catechumens by study at
home.

Since the task of the pastor in catechization is not only
to impart religious instruction, but to impart it on the basis of that
priceless heritage of our Church, Luther's Small Catechism, the
explanation here offered follows the catechism closely. The words of
the catechism are printed in heavy-faced type and are used as headings
wherever possible; and thus the words of the catechism may be traced
as a thread running through the entire explanation.

Wherever
he deemed it necessary, the author has added a fuller explanation of the
text of the catechism than that which Luther gives, and has
supplemented its contents with such additional matter as the needs of
our catechumens require. He does not agree with those catechetical
writers who maintain that the pastor, in his catechization, must confine
himself to an explanation of Luther's explanation. Such a
principle would exclude from the catechetical class much which our
catechumens should be taught. But all such additional matters are
introduced under an appropriate head as an organic part of the whole
explanation, thus preserving its unity.

This book is written in
the thetical form instead of the traditional form of questions and
answers. There is nothing in the nature of catechization which would
require the use of the interrogative form in such a text-book, and
accordingly the thetical form has for years been employed by numerous
writers of text-books for the catechetical class in Germany. While
questions have an important place in catechetical instruction, the matter
and not the form is the vital thing. Catechization is not a
method of instruction by means of questions and answers. Neither
the original meaning of the word nor the history of catechization
justifies such a definition. (See my article, "A Brief History of
Catechization," in the Lutheran Church Review, January, 1902; comp.
v. Zezschwitz: System der christl.-kirchl. Katechetik, vol. i. pp. 17 seq.,
and vol. ii., 2. 1., pp. 3 seq.) And since Christian truth is not something
to be brought forth from the mind of the child by means of questions,
but something divinely revealed and hence to be communicated
to the child, the most natural form in which to set it before him in a

text-book is the thetical. Luther's catechism itself is, indeed, in the form
of questions and answers. But his catechism is confessional as well as
didactic, and its words, memorized by the catechumen, are to become a
personal confession of faith. The explanations of a text-book, on the
other hand, are not to be memorized, but are meant to aid the
catechumen in grasping the thoughts of the catechism. For this
purpose, the thetical form is better than the interrogative, because the
explanation is not continually broken by questions, and is thus better
adapted to give the catechumens a connected idea of the doctrines
taught.

Each chapter of this explanation is followed by a
number of questions. After the pastor has explained a lesson at one
meeting, the catechumens should prepare themselves to give an answer
to the printed questions in their own words at the next meeting.
The pastor may, of course, substitute other questions, assign additional
ones, or eliminate some. The proof passages for the teachings set forth
are cited in the margin. The more important passages, particularly those
which the catechumens may be expected to memorize, are specially
indicated by a dagger (+), and are printed in full at the end of the
chapter. The use of a Scripture lesson is, of course, optional with the
pastor. One is indicated, however, for each chapter, and may be read in
class or be assigned to the catechumens to be read at home. The
Scriptural illustrations are cited for the convenience of the pastor in his
oral exposition. The division into chapters has been regulated by the
subject-matter, and will, it is hoped, aid in the survey of the contents of
the book as a whole. It is not intended that each chapter shall
necessarily constitute one lesson. Some lessons will doubtless include
only a part of a chapter, while others will include several chapters, as
the pastor may determine.

While the author, in the preparation
of this explanation of Luther's catechism, has gone his own way,
careful consideration has been given to