# Der Lutheraner_St. Louis Missouri_1847 05 04_S95
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

Der Lutheraner.

"God's Word and Luther's teaching shall pass away neither now nor evermore."

Edited by C. F. W. Walther.

St. Louis, Mo., May 4, 1847.

No. 18.

Volume 3. —

Terms: The Lutheraner appears once every two weeks, at a subscription price of one dollar for out-of-town subscribers, who must pay half of this in advance and bear the postage. — In St. Louis, each individual issue is sold for 5 cents.

(Submitted by Pastor Keyl.)
The Daily Practice of the Catechism, According to Dr. Luther's Counsel and Example.

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If Dr. Luther, says Mathesius, had accomplished and brought about no other good in the course of his life than that he brought both catechisms back into homes, schools, and the pulpit, and brought back into homes the prayer before and after meals and upon going to sleep and rising, the whole world could never sufficiently thank or repay him for it. But oh, how few Lutherans recognize what a precious gift of God Dr. Luther's two catechisms are, what a great treasure they have especially in the Small Catechism! What other church can boast of such a thing? Who among our own has ever produced such a masterpiece, or even a better one? With full right we call the catechism, following Dr. Luther's own example, an extract of the whole Holy Scripture, the true layman's Bible, because in it is summed up the right, old, true, pure, divine doctrine of the holy Christian Church. The first chief part, the Law, teaches man to recognize his sickness, namely his sin; the second chief part, the Christian faith, teaches him to find the remedy, or grace; the third chief part, the Holy Lord's Prayer, shows him how he should seek this remedy through humble prayer. These first three chief parts of the catechism have from ancient times been cultivated preeminently in Christendom, and were preserved even in the dreadful times of the papacy—indeed, it is they which even then preserved the Church; but they would now be understood just as little correctly as they were then, had Dr. Luther not opened up their understanding to us through his unsurpassable exposition; this exposition, as is well known, is contained in the answer to the question, "What does this mean?" and is, for the most part, composed not only in purely biblical words but also in the true biblical sense, that is, in full agreement with the pattern of the whole wholesome doctrine of Holy Scripture; it is brief and yet thorough, simple and yet forceful, easy to grasp and yet inexhaustible. The same holds true of the treatment of the three following chief parts, on Holy Baptism, on Confession, and on the Holy Lord's Supper; how wisely the proof-texts from Scripture are chosen in them, how masterfully the main doctrines are derived from them and summed up in question and answer. The remaining sections too, which are usually, but wrongly, regarded as a mere appendix to the catechism, are of great importance; for Dr. Luther's instructions for the daily prayers will, for those who faithfully use them, retain the prize above many similar instructions; the Table of Duties teaches, with the most fitting sayings of the Bible, each of the three holy estates of which Christendom consists to know the truly good works, and shows every Christian how he should walk in his own estate and calling and please God; the questions on the Lord's Supper, finally, give sufficient information on everything that matters for the wholesome use of the Holy Supper, and are therefore the oldest, shortest, and yet most instructive and comforting communion booklet of the Lutheran Church.

Yet it is not only the composition of the Small Catechism, but also its introduction into churches, schools, and homes that we owe to Dr. Luther; he introduced it into the churches, for on his advice the Small Catechism, or at least its first three chief parts, was read aloud after every sermon, so as to make it ever more familiar to the hearers; sermons on the catechism, including the Table of Duties, were held on Sundays or during the week, in such a way that within one year it was explained entirely; with these so necessary and wholesome catechism sermons, the catechism examinations of the youth were very fittingly combined, so that the content of the sermon was repeated in the examination that immediately followed. Into the schools Dr. Luther introduced the Small Catechism, and gave proven instructions for its fitting use; thus, for example, the teacher should always keep to one and the same form of the catechism, and should at first teach the children only the text, then the exposition, and finally, from the Large Catechism, a nearer and fuller understanding of it; in this way the whole catechism was to be taught twice a year, and thus not at great length, but briefly and concisely.

Into the homes Dr. Luther brought it by exhorting the heads of households to question their children or servants on the chief parts daily, or at least once a week, and in doing so to inquire whether they also understood them; or they should, as Dr. Bugenhagen advises, take up one chief part on each day of the week, beginning on Sunday with the first and closing on Saturday with the Table of Duties. Indeed, Dr. Luther makes it a duty for all Christians, as spiritual priests, to instruct and examine others out of the catechism who are still without understanding and weak; and those who heard it were obligated to accept it, too, as God's Word.

In particular, Dr. Luther gives all Christians the counsel to practice daily, at the very least, in the first three chief parts of the catechism, because these, as he says, are the highest sermons, which every Christian must always learn anew. It is remarkable that no other teacher has recommended this so easy yet so wholesome exercise; how earnestly Dr. Luther did this is sufficiently evident from the prefaces to his two catechisms, which, unfortunately, are read and valued only by the fewest. The content of the preface to the Large Catechism is already fittingly indicated in its very title: "A Faithful Christian Exhortation of Dr. Martin Luther to all Christians, but especially to all pastors and preachers, that they should diligently exercise themselves daily in the catechism, which is a short sum and extract of the whole Holy Scripture, and should always be engaged in it." From this preface, which is nothing but spears and nails for lazy hearts, I will here communicate only the following passage, in which the necessity of the daily practice of the catechism is proven from God's command and our daily need, while, on the other hand, contempt for this exercise and weariness with it is rebuked in powerful words.

"And even if this (namely, that we need God's Word as daily nourishment for our soul, as well as a daily weapon against our enemies) were not enough as an exhortation to read the catechism daily, God's command alone should still compel us sufficiently—which command, in Deuteronomy 6, earnestly enjoins that one should always keep his commandment in mind, whether sitting, walking, standing, lying down, or